ESL General English Grammar Questions

Re: with beautiful smile

New2grammar — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:49:02 GMT

Grammar Geek
Within a room, if someone moves from one side to the other, we can presume she walked, rather than flew,

If I understand you correct, why stating the obvious with "walk to", right?

Re: with beautiful smile

Grammar Geek — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:16:12 GMT

N2G, I usually think of "walk to" as going to a destination, a physical location. We can walk to the store. My sister lives so close I can walk to her house.

If you are simply crossing the room, or the courtyard, or moving from one bench in the park to the other, you tend to say "she walked over to the other bench" or simply "she went to the book shelf." (Within a room, if someone moves from one side to the other, we can presume she walked, rather than flew, used a Segway, or crawled, unless we know more about the situation.)

And yes, use "people" for two or more. "Persons" is a noun, of course, but its use is much more limited in natural speech.

Re: with beautiful smile

New2grammar — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:37:35 GMT

I see. Just a suggestion. It helps us (learners) to be able to read experts' minds. It helps if hits/counts are accompanied with some inferences. A short one will do, like I still prefer this over that or they are about the same as shown. The difference between the numbers can sometimes be misunderstood by learners to mean the opposite. Of course, you are already helping us a lot by just answering our questions. But sometimes, short answers create confusion more than provide help. Of course, we can always ask for clarification and you will get more questions. Note: I don't have much problem with answers from other native speakers because they usually say what they feel even though in short sentences. I've no right to comment on a person's preference or style, especially it's voluntary work.Just a thought for what it's worth. Don't get me wrong. I truly appreciate what you and other experts have done for us. I can't thank enough.

Re: with beautiful smile

Marius Hancu — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:16:44 GMT

>I believe you do not mean ":walked over" is less natural than the others.

when the stats are this close, I couldn't have done that inference

I said:

Yes, or IMO "came/walked up to"

Re: with beautiful smile

New2grammar — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:12:34 GMT

I know what she said. I believe she made the suggestion on the basis of naturalness, therefore, I asked what walk to sounds to her ear that makes it not as natural.

With all due respect, the searches are abused (sorry, the word shouldn't be taken as offensive. I used it for a lack of a better word). For example, do a search for "I" and "him" or "John", can you infer than "John" is less natural? My point is some contexts occur more often than others but doesn't mean others are not natural. I believe you do not mean ":walked over" is less natural than the others. If so, ignore this message.

Re: with beautiful smile

Marius Hancu — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:03:41 GMT

GG said:

>You also might want to say "walked over to."

Yes, or IMO "came/walked up to"

GB hits:

721 on "walked over to them"

1208 on "came up to them"

753 on "walked up to them"

Re: with beautiful smile

New2grammar — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 01:58:56 GMT

GG, I know the meaning of 'over' in this context. I wonder why walk to is not as natural.

Re: with beautiful smile

Angliholic — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 01:57:04 GMT

Grammar Geek

The second makes it clear that it's the girl who has the smile. Why did you switch from people to persons?

You also might want to say "walked over to."

Thanks, GG and Marius.
Now I get it.
It has been my wrong concept that when it comes to a few people, it's better to use "persons."

Re: with beautiful smile

Marius Hancu — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 01:46:28 GMT

A lovely little girl (with) a beautiful smile (on her face), walked to the two people.

Re: with beautiful smile

Grammar Geek — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 01:45:38 GMT

The second makes it clear that it's the girl who has the smile. Why did you switch from people to persons?

You also might want to say "walked over to."

with beautiful smile

Angliholic — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:07:11 GMT

A lovely little girl walked to the two people with beautiful smile.

Hi,
Is it clearer to rewrite the above as the following? Thanks.

A lovely little girl with a beautiful smile walked to the two persons.