Search results for 'tag:American English tag:Grammar' matching tags 'American English' and 'Grammar'

Re: How to write letter?

Grammar Geek — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 21:06:01 GMT

We don't know what the cultural situation is where you live.

I've seen many letters written by people in India that include "Kindlly do the needful." If that was written in an American English business letter, it would be met with laughter. On the other hand, the abrupt style of American business English could easily be seen as rude and curt in Indian English. So we can help with grammar, but not with whether it is the appropriate style.

Think back on other letters you have seen at work. What sort of phrases do they include?

Re: For those ESL teachers...

seme — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 21:44:10 GMT

Well there's a big problem here ... which grammar rules? :D :D :D

There is no strict code in English of RULES, three textbooks can give three completely different "rules" for the same point of grammar, the "rules" taught in beginner levels often have to be unlearned later on (for example every single one of my Korean students has been taught that a gerund follows a preposition. There's no such rule in English, it's total nonsense ... plus it means they all come into class saying things like "I came here for studying English" which drives me nuts), then there are major differences between what is grammatically correct and what is common in spoken English, not to mention a few minor grammatical differences between British English and American English. It's absolutely impossible for any English teacher to know them all :)

Non-native speaking teachers tend to hold on to whatever rules they were taught when they learned English, while natives tend to play it more by ear. Most of us, through experience, know the important rules and then we just go by how it sounds. If a student asks me a question I usually ask for an example sentence to make it less about the "rule" and more about how to say what he or she wants to say correctly.

But there are also major disagreements about grammar among English teachers. Here's a good example:

The mountains that are covered in snow are safe to ski on.

The mountains, which are covered in snow, are safe to ski on.

When I was in school I was taught that 'that' and 'which' had different functions and different meanings. I like this "rule" because it's simple and functional. However at the last English school I taught at the Head Teacher disagreed and believed that 'that' and 'which' had the same meaning and that the commas were what changed the meaning of the sentence. We had a HUGE fight about this with both of us bring in multiple reference books that supported our opinion :)

dislike and dread

Tuongvan — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 00:33:19 GMT

Hi teachers,

Many grammar books say: "dislike/dread + v-ing" except "dread to think",but in my Mastering American English grammar book it says "dislike" and "dread" can be followed by either an infinitive or a gerund:

. I dread to think about that / I dread thinking about that.

. He dislikes to play bridge / He dislikes playing bridge .

Is there any change in meaning between:
" I dread to think about that " and "I dread thinking about that"
"He dislikes to play bridge" and "He dislikes playing bridge " ?

Thank you in advance

Re: Little / small

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:15:43 GMT

Small and little are both adjectives. We use small to talk about the size of something.
Your cat is very small.
Can I have two small pizzas please?

We can use little to refer to size, but we usually use it with another adjective to express an emotion.
You're a silly little boy.
Nobody's looking after that poor little dog.

In comparative and superlative form, small is more common in British English, and little is more common in American English.
That's the smallest phone I've ever seen. (British English)
That's the littlest phone I've ever seen. (American English)

from
http://www.eslbase.com/grammar/small-little

Re: if disclosure would...

wingedfish — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 10:48:08 GMT

Thank you very much for your reply :) It helps me a lot in the understanding of the sentence! However, I am still confused because most of the grammar books say that WOULD with a hypothetical meaning cannot appear in a subordinate clause. For example:

If a serious crisis would occur, the government should take immediate action.

Maybe that's a different sentence with the former one? And still, I learned that SHOULD here in the if-clause is quite right to suggest a hypothetical meaning. However, there are a lot of sentences like this (most of which are colloquial) in the corpus of contemporary American English.

Do you think that these sentences are only mistakes made by the native speakers?

Looking forward to your reply and thank you very much!

Re: very difficult question

Avangi — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 03:27:18 GMT

Grammar Geek
This is so highly unnatural in American English.
A path such as the one he chose to take is dangerous.

Is the comma in the first one a typo?

Hi GG, Sorry to ask - "This" refers to the one with the the second comma?

I guess I'm way older than you! - A.

Edit. If your example were "The path," then it would more closely resemble the OP, "Such a path," N'est-ce pas? That is, isn't the fact of the existence of the path essential to the OP?

(As you can see, I'm struggling to express this.)

A dictionary

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:34:17 GMT

ãThis dictionary tells you about English words and how to use them in reading, writing and speaking English. It not only gives the meaning of words, it can also help you with spelling, word building, grammar and pronunciation.

ããTo use your dictionary correctly, you need to understand how the dictionary works. At the front of the book, you will find some exercises to help you make the most use of your dictionary.

ããIf you look up the word âcolourâ, you will find two spellings for this word. âColourâ is used in British English, while âcolorâ is used in American English. When such a thing happens, the dictionary shows it with the word âBrEâ for British English and âAmEâ for American English.

ããThe dictionay also helps you pronounce words correctly. It uses a special alphabet to show pronunciation. If you turn to the inside back face, you will see all the phonetic letters with some words to show you how they are pronounced. Just have a look this page when youâre not sure how to say a word.

ããThe most important reason for using a dictionary is to find out the meaning of a wordâits DEFINITION.

ããIn this dictionary, the definitions have been written using only 2000 words. This means that the definitions of even the most difficult words are simply explained and easy to understand.
ããWhen a word has more than one meaning, read all the meanings until you find the one that correctly tells the use of the word you are looking for

Re: took three months and five surgeries

optilang — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:53:59 GMT

New2grammar
It took doctors three months and five surgeries to remove the whole cancer.

Is the above correct?
Thanks.

I would say - five operations

I've never heard anyone say "I've had three surgeries/a surgery" "I've had three (surgical) operations/an operation".

I don't know if the term is used in American English.

Re: participle as a subject

CalifJim — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 01:48:17 GMT

Cool Breeze
I am walking. Walking is an adjective?

"allegedly" See below.

From Introduction to the Grammar of English (Huddleston, Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics)

... participles are said to be 'verbal adjectives'.

First example given:

He was telling the truth.

Later:

... a present participle ... allegedly has adjectival properties. I say 'allegedly' because it is difficult to see any significant functional resemblance to an adjective ... [in the first example on the list].

He goes on to say that the -ing words in such examples are clearly verbs, while in other contexts they are clearly adjectives.

_____

With respect to the original question then, I suppose the more accurate description is that participles are either parts of verb phrases or are adjectives. In either case, a participle -- being verb or adjective -- cannot be the subject of a sentence unless it is in the cleft sentence structure, as illustrated earlier in the thread by GG. I think that's the only structure that allows a participle or an adjective to be promoted to the status of a noun phrase so it can be a subject.

At least that's my claim. Maybe someone can provide a counterexample. That would be instructive.

Edit:

'Destroyed' is the best description of that town.

Here a participle (adjective) is promoted to a noun and is the subject of the sentence. So there are cases other than the cleft sentence structure that allow it. Nevertheless, note the quotes. It works in the same way that anything in quotes can be promoted to subject:

'Xygneoowytoeyy' is a nonsense word.

'got into the truck' is not a complete sentence.

_____

Your question opens up a good many sticky points in the terminology. Do we (Can we) talk about certain structures by naming them without regard to their function in context? Or not? Probably not. Is love a noun or a verb? Only context will tell.

Cool Breeze
To hear him sing is an unforgettable experience.

to hear him sing is a sentence with a non-finite verb used as a noun phrase in a higher level sentence. The idea is that the terminological identity of a word or group of words may change depending on which level in a hierarchy of clauses it is considered. At the lowest level of the "tree", to hear is indeed an infinitive (a non-finite verb), but in the context of the whole sentence (higher in the hierarchical tree), to hear him sing is the subject of the main clause, is nominal in nature, and is called a noun phrase. (Infinitives are often nominal in nature, so this is not surprising; for example, [I want + noun phrase] can take either of these forms: I want some pizza. I want to sing.)

Cool Breeze
Using an infinitive as a subject may not be common in American English

Actually, infinitives are used in AmE as subjects. The location geographically or historically has nothing to do with it. But infinitives (and their complement(s), if any), taken together, can make noun phrases.

To be absolutely precise, it is a noun phrase (NP) that must be the subject of a sentence. I oversimplified by saying 'noun or pronoun'.

Re: "...as from January 11"

Peaceblinkfriend — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:02:41 GMT

So American English is 'as of' whilst British English is 'as from'. A quick search on the internet gives that people tend to use 'as of' in Australia.

Grammar Geek

No wonder the ESL learners go nuts.

You got that right.

PBF