In Constructions^x, Conversations^x

Hi Bokeh, Becasue of your reply, it made me take a second look at the original question. I also did some research and found this paper written on the subject of Semantic Composition of Subjunctive Conditionals by Michela Ippolito of MIT/Tübingen University. I am not completely sure if I...

Dear teachers, I have done the work again and answered the comprehension questions. Would you please have a look at it and give me your corrections? QUESTIONS: 1) How does Rene describe the old lady? “a crusty old stick” + “This is going to be a bit of an effort, and I plucked up courage and...

Dear teachers, Would you please correct my answers? But before that I’d like to ask you if I understood the meaning of the underlined expressions or ideas. Furthermore, I’d like to ask British teachers if they confirm what she says about the “British thing” and give me more elements about this...

Inchoateknowledge wrote:Yong,Slightly formal means it is slightly more frequent that this construction appears in formal speech than in informal one. Why did you think it is more like informal to say number has I had the impression that 'formal' is more correct, while 'informal' means that it...

I feel uneasy with these constructions, too. But people use them all the time, at least in casual conversation. I love that, I love it that, I love when, I love it when, I love how, I love it how These are all used. In my judgment, the forms with it are more common. I have used these...

The other day I was listening to a BBC Radio 4 podcast during which they interviewed an American Senator; forgive me but I can't remember his name. Anyway, at one point he mention the expression: "in the near term" Now initially, I thought that as he was speaking 'live' he had confused two...

Do you have any politician in your family? (Correct) - I'm not prepared to say that it is incorrect, but it is unnatural. You will hear the plural used in the "Do you have any..." construction almost every time. If the conversation were about politicians in general, and I remarked about my...

I don't know what you mean by "solo construction". I think that in a conversation where PERSON B is telling PERSON A about some planned event already understood by PERSON A previously, "go to" helps to reinforce this awareness:A) What are you doing tomorrow?B) Don't you remember? I am going to...

I'm using my intuition as a native speaker. Facts are essential, but native speaker intuition does count for something. I was referring to your remark that this construction was used consciously to stress a point. I don't think it is used consciously in normal conversation. You may be right that...

I'm fairly confident that what you meant to say was: One doesn't often mention lakes in an everyday conversation unless one comes from Minnesota or Finland. Compare: You don't often mention grandchildren in a conversation unless you are a grandparent. People don't usually enjoy speaking...