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

tune: When (tÅ«n, tyÅ«n)?? dipthongs

Mosca — Tue, 13 May 2008 13:12:18 GMT

Is 'tune' ever pronunced tyÅ«n in american english?

the dictionary says - but when/where/by whom is the second form used? is it ever heard?

Dictionary:

tune

(tÅ«n, tyÅ«n)

Re: Differences between English and your native language

Cool Breeze — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 08:21:53 GMT

CalifJim
I speak American English, and, in contrast to "English", I never use the words shall, may, ought, or whom.

Jim, I understand what you mean, of course, but if you had been Elvis Presley, you would have had to use some of those words in the recording studio:

"Is your heart filled with pain? Shall I come back again? Tell me, dear, are you lonesome tonight?" - Are You Lonesome Tonight

"I am yours and you are mine, come what may." - Come What May

Re: Differences between English and your native language

CalifJim — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 03:58:59 GMT

I speak American English, and, in contrast to "English", I never use the words shall, may, ought, or whom.

Re: What makes English so difficult to learn?

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 18:34:01 GMT

Hello, another English teacher here. I have been teaching English in China for about 2 and a half years now and also speak fluent French, decent Spanish and am learning Chinese (not as hard as you may think once you get the hang of those tones, easy grammar). Now I'll start off by saying that English seems to be an incredibly easy language to communicate with (and by this I mean to give the general idea of what you're trying to say). However, if you want to learn English like a native speaker then it's a completely different story. The pronunciation CAN be difficult to learn depending on your native language and also the age you attempt to learn it at. Training your tongue and mouth to move the same way a native speaker does can be difficult to do, especially if you're like many of my students who got their start at an older age or didn't have good teachers. I've also noticed that my younger students are able to mimic my speech much easier than the older ones speaking, both of whom are studying at the same level. I started learning French when I was 4 years old (Quebec French, I'm Canadian) and because of the quality of my teachers and my young age I was able to become quite good with my pronunciation. With my Chinese because I'm learning from scratch from native speakers my pronunciation is also decent (notice I said decent, not great, although when speaking Chinese I'm always understood). Native language has a lot to do with it too as the sounds you use in one language may be very different for another. I've taught in both the north and south of China and find that the people all have the same problems. Chinese people have problems with s (they often pronounce it as a sh sound) and with closing their mouth for the letter m ("sometimes" is a nightmare for them and they often say it like "suntine"). L and R can also be troublesome. One can't forget sentence stress as well as well as linking words together to make it go smoothly.

The vocabulary can also be a pain. Someone here mentioned 150,000 words in the English language but the number is actually much higher. The Oxford English Dictionary (2nd edition) contains over 600,000 definitions. Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged contains 475,000 main headwords and it is believed the language grows by 25,000 words a year. Don't believe me, check Wikipedia. There's also the difference in spelling and vocabulary between the different forms of English. British English and American English use different words and the words that are the same can be spelled differently. American English and Canadian English essentially share the same vocabulary to a large degree but the spelling of Canadian English in many ways is closer to British English. British English is pretty much the English form most Asian and European countries will learn but American pop culture will also have an influence, not to mention the American economy and it's impact. This can all be very confusing. To the person saying they are tired of using "well" as in "well, then..." there are many substitutes you could use.

The grammar is also a nuisance. It's not the hardest of things but certainly isn't the easiest. Sure French has a gender attached to all of it's nouns (which I hated when learning it), but English still has more exceptions to it's rules that need to me memorized. So many even native speakers have trouble with it. A language like Chinese that may seem hard to speak actually has very simple grammar. For example if you wanted to ask someone where they are you would say "ni zai na li" or simply "ni zai nar" (you where?). To ask a question in Chinese you merely ad "ma" to the end of a statement. "Ta hui shuo zhongwen" is "he/she speaks Chinese whereas "ta hui shuo zhongwen ma" is "does he/she speak Chinese?". Also in Chinese as there are no forms of he or she.

It's impossible to say which language is easy and which is hard when compared to each other because there are so many things that need to be taken into consideration. Let's just say that English has it's easy parts and it's ridiculously difficult parts as well. Speaking at a native speaker level can be done and I know people who have done this, but it takes a lot of hard work, good instruction, and a good learning atmosphere. I hope all that made sense, I stumbled onto this site a 2 in the morning and am quite tired.

Re: I'm going to marry him whatever they say!

Yankee — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 11:38:21 GMT

Milky wrote:
CalifJim wrote:
A native tells me that it does occur in such as the second example. The native must have misunderstood the question. Does it No., and if it does, why? And is it widespread? No.

"gonna" has to be followed by a verb. London isn't a verb!

I'm gonna London is totally impossible!

CJ

I don't think the native American English speaker misunderstood Molly's question: I do. Or else he/she wasn't being very precise with variations in pronunciation. Or maybe he/she isn't actually a native speaker of American English.

This is his answer to her above question:

<<What do you mean "only occurs"? If you use it, and it's understood by your interlocutor (um, that's the person to whom you are speaking), and you get a response from it, then it occurs, regardless of what your textbooks say.

The compilers of your textbook never went out into the real world, to a ticket clerk, and said "I'm gonna Boston, and I wanna ticket."

I tried it, and Norman-the-clerk smiled, and sold me a ticket to Boston. So he understood and accepted what I had said. Therefore, the construction occurs.>>

http://forums.lydbury.co.uk/grammar/viewtopic.php?t=5011&start=0

I'd say that "I'm going to Boston" might be pronounced like this: "I'm goin a Boston".
To me there is a world of difference between that and "I'm gonna Boston".
I agree with CJ.

Re: I'm going to marry him whatever they say!

milky — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 11:21:59 GMT

CalifJim wrote:
A native tells me that it does occur in such as the second example. The native must have misunderstood the question. Does it No., and if it does, why? And is it widespread? No.

"gonna" has to be followed by a verb. London isn't a verb!

I'm gonna London is totally impossible!

CJ

I don't think the native American English speaker misunderstood Molly's question:

This is his answer to her above question:

<<What do you mean "only occurs"? If you use it, and it's understood by your interlocutor (um, that's the person to whom you are speaking), and you get a response from it, then it occurs, regardless of what your textbooks say.

The compilers of your textbook never went out into the real world, to a ticket clerk, and said "I'm gonna Boston, and I wanna ticket."

I tried it, and Norman-the-clerk smiled, and sold me a ticket to Boston. So he understood and accepted what I had said. Therefore, the construction occurs.>>

http://forums.lydbury.co.uk/grammar/viewtopic.php?t=5011&start=0

Re: Are they correct again

Grammar Geek — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 17:38:58 GMT

Learnenglish,

"Whose do you want to buy?" requires the right context to be correct.

You want to buy a used bicycle. I have one that I can sell you. Jim has one that he can sell you. Now that you have seen them both, whose do you want to buy? (Do you want to buy his, or mine?)

In common, everyday spoken American English, you will just about NEVER hear "Whom do you want to meet?" although it is quite correct. Usually you don't hear "whom" unless it comes right after a preposition.

Re: Changing accent when you move to somewhere else

Marvin A. — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 02:50:53 GMT

Some people will even get a sort of neutral accent that has all of the unusual parts removed. The Western US accent was actually formed like that, because speakers from the North, Midlands, and South, all moved to the West, and their accents intermingled and the Western accent was sort of a neutral spot between them. It still is--the Northern US is going through a vowel shift that shifts the vowels in practically opposite directions as the Southern vowel shift. The Western accent for the most part has kept the vowels neutral, but fairly recently has developed its own characteristic system--the low back vowel merger, fronting of the back vowels, and California has developed a vowel shift that is spreading to other areas as well.

Some people are able to code-switch between accents/dialects. Everyone codes switches to a certain extent, but the most extreme example is African-American Vernacular English. People of the African-American cultural group often know two different dialects, and often will not speak pure African-American Vernacular English (which sounds very similar to a Southern accent), or pure General American, but will rather speak with an accent/dialect somewhere in between the two based on the situation: the formality of the situation, as well as to whom they are speaking. So, that is why even when they move to the North or the West, they still can speak in their original Southern-sounding dialect, or code-switch to a more neutral sounding accent. Often they do not pick up the local accent at all, because they identify with their cultural group, rather than region.

Some accents and dialects have nothing to do with region. There are cultural accents: not only is there AAVE, but also Spanish influenced dialects of American English. There are class accents: although much less so in North America than in, say the UK, but they still exist. For example, Middle class people often use prestige forms more often than working class, lower class, and even upper or upper-middle class people. There is also covert prestige: someone that works with working class people that have a distinctive way of speaking may modify his accent to fit in with the group that he is with.

Small children will speak with the accent of their peers, and will assimilate into the new accent more readily than adults and older children. People will often revert to their *original* accent when they are angry or emotionally distressed, as it is usually the accent that has the most meaning for them.

So, there are numerous factors.

Re: correct or not ?? Help me pls!

Pioussoul — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 03:40:00 GMT

Nona The Brit wrote:
Are you in Australia OP? Might be best not to use mad there. In American English it means angry but in British English it means insane.

Whom do you refer to by OP? If me, I'm PS, and I'm from Taiwan.

Re: question

CalifJim — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 00:04:33 GMT

Whom or who?

Who! In the case of conversation, and perhaps especially in American English, if you want to sound "authentic", you must learn to avoid whom at all costs! You can use it in formal writing and in English examinations, of course.

CJ