Sometimes, I'll order a coffee cake if i'm feeling...

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Mauriciolearner

#213017 Thu, 06 Apr 06 09:16 PM

Hey, i've got a question about the use of "'ll" in this sentence:

"Yesterday, I went to my favourite cafe and I ordered the usual: a vanilla latte... (...) ...Sometimes, I'll order a coffee cake if I'm feeling a little hungry.

Is it correct?

"Sometimes, I order a coffee cake.."

THANKS

Mauriciolearner

Joined on Thu, Apr 6 2006

CHILE

New Member (02)

Forbes

#213033 Thu, 06 Apr 06 10:42 PM

Yes, it is correct.

I think the use of the future here emphasises the habitual nature of the ordering (even though the word "sometimes" is used!)

Forbes

Joined on Thu, Jun 16 2005

Regular Member (837)

Clive

#213036 Thu, 06 Apr 06 10:44 PM

Hi,

"Yesterday, I went to my favourite cafe and I ordered the usual: a vanilla latte... (...) ...Sometimes, I'll order a coffee cake if I'm feeling a little hungry.

Is it correct?

"Sometimes, I order a coffee cake.."

Yes, there's really no difference in this context.

(Usually, we speak of some coffee cake rather than a coffee cake. They cut a slice for us.)

Best wishes, Clive

Clive

Joined on Thu, Oct 28 2004

Canada

Veteran Member (22,199)

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

milky

#213051 Thu, 06 Apr 06 11:35 PM

Mauriciolearner wrote:

Hey, i've got a question about the use of "'ll" in this sentence:

"Yesterday, I went to my favourite cafe and I ordered the usual: a vanilla latte... (...) ...Sometimes, I'll order a coffee cake if I'm feeling a little hungry.

Is it correct?

"Sometimes, I order a coffee cake.."

THANKS

Yes, it's "will" for habit or persistent action. It's not future time reference there, but general time.

milky

Joined on Thu, Jan 15 2004

Senior Member (3,149)

Hume said that if we had perfect or complete descriptive knowledge of reality, we could not, by reasoning, derive a single valid "ought".

milky

#213052 Thu, 06 Apr 06 11:36 PM

Forbes wrote:

Yes, it is correct.

I think the use of the future here emphasises the habitual nature of the ordering (even though the word "sometimes" is used!)

"Will" is not THE future.

milky

Mauriciolearner

#213119 Fri, 07 Apr 06 05:47 AM

Thank you!

Mauriciolearner

Thethenothere123

#213123 Fri, 07 Apr 06 06:39 AM

Clive wrote:
(Usually, we speak of some coffee cake rather than a coffee cake. They cut a slice for us.)

Best wishes, Clive

At certain places (Starbucks for instance), the coffee cake is pre-sliced and is displayed that way, so I think that a coffee cake would be perfectly acceptable in such a situation.

Thethenothere123

Joined on Fri, Mar 3 2006

Los Angeles, California

Full Member (187)

milky

#213225 Fri, 07 Apr 06 12:40 PM

Thethenothere123 wrote:
Clive wrote:

(Usually, we speak of some coffee cake rather than a coffee cake. They cut a slice for us.)

Best wishes, Clive

At certain places (Starbucks for instance), the coffee cake is pre-sliced and is displayed that way, so I think that a coffee cake would be perfectly acceptable in such a situation.

It's fine and common. I order a:

a tea and toast

a ham on rye

a coffee

a vanilla sponge

etc.

milky

Cool Breeze

#213227 Fri, 07 Apr 06 12:47 PM

Mauriciolearner wrote:
Hey, i've got a question about the use of "'ll" in this sentence:

"Yesterday, I went to my favourite cafe and I ordered the usual: a vanilla latte... (...) ...Sometimes, I'll order a coffee cake if I'm feeling a little hungry.

Is it correct?

"Sometimes, I order a coffee cake.."

THANKS

It should be: Sometimes I order a coffee cake if I feel a little hungry.
The Future Tense should not be used to refer to habitual action, nor should 'feel' be used in the Continuous Tense as it is a verb of emotion.

Cool Breeze

Joined on Fri, Apr 7 2006

Helsinki, Finland

Senior Member (2,962)

The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.- Mark Twain

Verbs, Tenses

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