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paco2004

#143097 Thu, 29 Sep 05 11:03 PM

Hello Teachers

I have found a sentence below in an article of the Japan Times.

"Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said Thursday he could not 'predict' how much oil or gas would turn up, but added that China hopes it and Japan could explore together."

What bugs me here is the phrase 'China hopes it'. I would take the pronoun 'it' as the substitute for 'Japan could explore together'. But as far as I have learned, the verb 'hope' is commonly used as an intransitive verb (except in the case of <hope + that clause> and so we should say 'hope so' rather than 'hope it'.

Do you think the 'China hopes it' in the sentence above is natural ?

paco

paco2004

Joined on Wed, Nov 17 2004

Senior Member (4,095)

In Japan today even dogs are learning how to bow-wow in English.

Articles, Clauses, Nouns, Pronouns, Verbs

Clive

#143101 Thu, 29 Sep 05 11:14 PM

Hi Paco,

"Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said Thursday he could not 'predict' how much oil or gas would turn up, but added that China hopes it and Japan could explore together."

'It' here refers to 'China'. An expanded version of this sentence would be '...... but added that China hopes that it and Japan can explore this question together."

Best wishes, Clive

Clive

Joined on Thu, Oct 28 2004

Canada

Veteran Member (21,095)

El tango argentino es un pensamiento triste que se puede bailar (The tango argentino is a sad thought which can be danced) Enrique Santos Discépolo

davkett

#143102 Thu, 29 Sep 05 11:18 PM

Paco2004 wrote:

"Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said Thursday he could not 'predict' how much oil or gas would turn up, but added that China hopes it and Japan could explore together."

Hi Paco,

Let's see if I've correctly caught your concern. 'China hopes it and Japan' means China hopes China and Japan could be partners in the exploration of oil and gas [resources?].

(Oops, writing at the same time, Clive.)

davkett

Joined on Tue, Jun 7 2005

Pennsylvania, USA

Senior Member (2,788)

"The rose stays fresh in its name..." -Bernard of Morlay

paco2004

#143110 Thu, 29 Sep 05 11:52 PM

Hello Clive and Dave

Thank you for the quick replies. I see! It is "China hopes China and Japan could explplore together". I completely mistook the meaning. I should learn more. Anyway thank you so much.

paco

paco2004