Taka  +  583571 Tue, 04 Nov 08 02:03 PM Does this sentence sound natural as English? You won't be able to learn English successfully only by inspiration or studying hard before the exams. Taka Joined on Tue, Sep 7 2004 Japan Senior Member 2,625 Learn English

	AlpheccaStars  +  583588 Tue, 04 Nov 08 02:39 PM It's OK, but it's not a complete thought. AlpheccaStars Joined on Sun, Oct 12 2008 Senior Member 3,508 The pen is mightier than the sword. Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873)

	Grammar Geek  +  583594 Tue, 04 Nov 08 02:54 PM Why isn't it a complete thought? It's not how I'd phrase it, but I can't find anything wrong with it. You won't be able to do X only though Y. You won't be able to learn Latin by sleeping with the book under your pillow. Same construction, isn't it? (Of course, I may be missing something. I was up late last night.) Grammar Geek Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006 Veteran Member 19,660 Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random! Constructions

	AlpheccaStars  +  583613 Tue, 04 Nov 08 03:50 PM Grammar Geek “Why isn't it a complete thought? It's not how I'd phrase it, but I can't find anything wrong with it.” The phrase "only by" begs a clause.. gramatically, it was OK, but I was left hanging for a completion You won't be able to learn English successfully only by inspiration or studying hard before the exams; you will have to practice speaking, too. AlpheccaStars Grammar, Clauses, Learn English

	Grammar Geek  +  583724 Tue, 04 Nov 08 09:41 PM Ah! Yes, I agree. Semantically incomplete, but grammatically okay.   Grammar Geek

	Clive  +  584115 Wed, 05 Nov 08 06:45 PM Hi, A small extra comment. It seems strange to me to speak of learning English by inspiration. How  one would do that is not clear to me. Clive   Clive Joined on Thu, Oct 28 2004 Canada Veteran Member 29,612 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 Learning English

	RayH  +  584125 Wed, 05 Nov 08 07:09 PM Clive “It seems strange to me to speak of learning English by inspiration. How  one would do that is not clear to me.” I took this to be the point, that you have to study, you can't just wait around for some magical inspiration to bestow mastery of the language on you. RayH Joined on Sat, Mar 22 2008 Contributing Member 1,555 Native speaker of U. S. English. Not a grammar expert. Learning English

	CalifJim  +  584132 Wed, 05 Nov 08 07:46 PM Taka “You won't be able to learn English successfully only by inspiration or studying hard before the exams.” The only by bothers me.  And so does the lack of parallelism between inspriration and studying, and between the lengths of the phrases.  Doing the least damage possible to the original, I would write You won't be able to learn English successfully [simply / merely] by waiting for inspiration or by studying hard before the exams.  CJ    CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,399 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche