[title]Family quotes[/title] [description]Welcome to our family quotes section! Here you'll find some of the funniest (and wisest) quotes on the subject of family life![/description]
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Yankee  +  604627 Thu, 04 Dec 08 12:51 PM
Elida
“Correct me if I'm wrong.”
OK. You're wrong, Elly. Smile
Elida
“The examples above are a bit strange actually.”
I would say they seem "strange" to you simply because the usage is new to you.  The fact that a usage is new to you does not automatically mean it is grammatically incorrect.

You'd benefit if you tried to understand what Jim has written here.  The fact that you "don't hear much about these forms" is an indication that you still have a lot to learn about English -- any kind of English.  Jim's posts here have had nothing to do with slang.  The usage he wrote about here is neither "liberal" nor "lazy" English.  What in the world does "not pure" mean?  To be perfectly honest, you seem to equate the word "pure" with beginner level grammar -- i.e. overly simplified grammar rules.

Elida
“i'll write you when you'll get there”

As regards the second sentence in your first post (supposedly uttered by an Australian), it is not a sentence I would normally expect to hear any native speaker use.  However, it is also not correct to simply say that "will" can never follow "when".  I don't speak Australian English, and I don't know the broader context of the sentence you quoted.  In fact, I don't know whether the sentence was even correctly quoted.  However, I'd say the grammatical "correctness" of it could possibly depend on the broader context.  The use of will (you'll) could be grammatically justified this way, for example:

You are planning to visit someone and that person is taking care of arranging some things for you locally. After the person has finished making the arrangements, he is going to send you an e-mail with the details.  Perhaps an important detail is this: probable time of arrival.  "I'll write you when you'll get there" could have been used to mean this:

- I will write you an e-mail that will provide you with an answer to the following question:  "When will I get there?"

Elida
“It's kind of a "liberal" and "lazy" English, so it's obvious to get surprised to these ways of using some words obviously you can be surprised by some of the ways words are used.
Elida
“Other than that, there are some grammatical rules which aren't used in a daily speaking. ”
The use of the indefinite article ("a") is grammatically incorrect.  The statement is also incorrect.  You might say, however, that formal grammar rules are sometimes ignored in informal English.

Joined on Sat, Apr 15 2006
Connecticut, USA
Veteran Member 6,506
Amy "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." - Mark Twain
Elida  +  604688 Thu, 04 Dec 08 02:03 PM
Yankee
“I would say they seem "strange" to you simply because the usage is new to you.  The fact that a usage is new to you does not automatically mean it is grammatically incorrect.


No. I didn't say it's incorrect. I said they seem strange.
So yeah ... "strange" and "incorrect" are different.


Yankee
“What in the world does "not pure" mean?”

I didn't know what word to use instead..but I've heard some people use it and I used it too(though it's not correct).
in this case, "pure" meant "real English", "correct grammatical rules"

anyway thx.

Elly.
Joined on Fri, Dec 15 2006
Tirana, Albania
Full Member 236
Why "abbreviation" is such a long word??
Kooyeen  +  604985 Thu, 04 Dec 08 11:00 PM

CalifJim
“There is a shade of "requirement before result" in all the examples you cite.  It is almost a conditional formula.”


Hmm, this is confusing! This means the "rule" that says "don't use will after before, after, until, when, etc." just doesn't take some contexts into account.
I think I understand what those structures imply, but I think I would tend to use "to be going to" in those cases, instead of will. But maybe this "special usage of the future tense" is only used after "before", and not after other particles like "until" and "when".

If I got it right, you are saying they are used this way:

We're going to have to turn off all the lights before he'll leave. = We will have to do something before we get to a state where we can say something else will happen (it is possible for something else to happen).

And for that meaning, I would tend to use "going to" (don't ask me why):
We'll have to turn off all the lights before he's gonna leave. <--- Is this acceptable in American English? (...before he reaches a state when he's about to leave)

In any case, I would recognize such structures as "special structures" with a special meaning, as you said... a kind of "modal". If so, is it only possible before the particle "before"? In theory, it might work with "unless", "until", etc. too. But I am afraid it doesn't work that way.

Thanks. Smile
Joined on Thu, Dec 22 2005
Italy
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CalifJim  +  605175 Fri, 05 Dec 08 02:53 AM
Kooyeen
“the "rule" that says "don't use will after before, after, until, when, etc." just doesn't take some contexts into account. ”
Right.  It doesn't.  That rule is often given in elementary texts without the details so as not to confuse students with a list of exceptions that are not even going to occur within the rest of the textbook they are using.

Kooyeen
“only used after "before", and not after other particles like "until" and "when"”
I hadn't thought about it, but I think you're right about that.

Kooyeen
“used this way:

We're going to have to turn off all the lights before he'll leave. = We will have to do something before we get to a state where we can say something else will happen (it is possible for something else to happen).”
Yup!  You got it!

Kooyeen
“I would tend to use "going to" (don't ask me why):
We'll have to turn off all the lights before he's gonna leave. <--- Is this acceptable in American English? (...before he reaches a state when he's about to leave)”
I won't ask you why.  It's acceptable, but lower register.  (It's kind of funny, actually.  Don't ask me why.)

Kooyeen
“In theory, it might work with "unless", "until", etc. too. But I am afraid it doesn't work that way.”
I think you've just asked this twice.  See above.  Smile

I think that each of those subordinating conjunctions has its own grammar -- its own little quirky behavior that doesn't necessarily apply to the others.  You can never trust that what applies to one applies to others. 

CJ 

Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004
California
Veteran Member 22,465
"There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche
Elida  +  606486 Sat, 06 Dec 08 11:49 AM
CalifJim
Kooyeen
“the "rule" that says "don't use will after before, after, until, when, etc." just doesn't take some contexts into account. ”
Right.  It doesn't.  That rule is often given in elementary texts without the details so as not to confuse students with a list of exceptions that are not even going to occur within the rest of the textbook they are using.

 

hm...though I've been studying english for more than 12 years now, and  I knew the rule that Kooyeen was talking about, I still find it hard to accept these exceptions. :)
anyway, that's my problem.

Elly.

p.s. the only form, acceptable for me would be : "We will have to be there, before the rain starts.."

Kooyeen  +  606554 Sat, 06 Dec 08 01:31 PM

CalifJim

I think that each of those subordinating conjunctions has its own grammar -- its own little quirky behavior that doesn't necessarily apply to the others.  You can never trust that what applies to one applies to others. 



I'm afraid so. Anyway, I will probably come up with a specific example later on. I don't think I feel like speculating for now. Smile Thanks!

Elida, that's the problem when learning English: it's much more complex than the simplistic way it's described in grammar books. There are simply too many dialects and registers, so it's not uncommon to hear contrasting opinions. Some native speakers might tell you "No! That's unnatural", others might say "What's wrong with that? I say it all the time". I just don't rely on grammar books anymore, they are simply "one biased opinion" out of several possible opinions.
Yankee  +  606568 Sat, 06 Dec 08 01:46 PM

Kooyeen
We're going to have to turn off all the lights before he'll leave.
Hi Kooyeen
One thing to also keep in mind here is that "will" is quite commonly used when referring to "willingness". In the sentence above, I would interpret "before he'll leave" as meaning "before he is willing to leave".

I agree with Jim completely about grammar books.  What you find in ESL grammar books is limited, and the lower the level, the more simplistic they are.  Simplified grammar rules work in many cases, but they by no means work in all cases.
Kooyeen  +  606570 Sat, 06 Dec 08 01:53 PM

Yankee
“One thing to also keep in mind here is that "will" is quite commonly used when referring to "willingness". In the sentence above, I would interpret "before he'll leave" as meaning "before he is willing to leave".”

Hey Amy, long time no see. Wink
Yeah, that's true. However, the examples Jim gave seem to describe a more general phenomenon. Anyway, I don't want to get too confused, LOL, so I think I will come up with some specific examples one day... very soon, I think.  Smile
Elida, 355 days ago
Kooyeen


 Some native speakers might tell you "No! That's unnatural", others might say "What's wrong with that? I say it all the time". I just don't rely on grammar books anymore, they are simply "one biased opinion" out of several possible opinions.

that's actually true!

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