Search results for 'tag:American English' matching tag 'American English'

Re: the use of ( a , the , of , in , on , none )

Clive — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 21:59:58 GMT

Hi,

ex1: I will try ( no sleeping / not to sleep ) Both OK, but 'not to sleep' is very much the normal thing to say.
ex2: I'm going to my work, ( for working / to work );to work
ex3: the tempreture today is about 30OK
ex4: I need to buy a shirt ( for the work / to ware it in the work ) for work or to wear at work
ex5 : I don't want to go to the shop ( for shoping / to do shoping ) today I don't want to go shopping . . Go shopping is a standard phrasei

I ~~read in~~ saw on the BBC news ( the tempreture is of 30 Celius) , is this true? or just the british people use the previous expressin , I need to learn american english language. It's incorrect to say the temperature is of 30 Celius. Just say the temperature is 30 Celsius.

Best wishes, Clive

Re: the use of ( a , the , of , in , on , none )

ashraf1978 — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:15:36 GMT

thank you Clive,

ex1: I will try ( no sleeping / not to sleep )
ex2: I'm going to my work, ( for working / to work )
ex3: the tempreture today is about 30
ex4: I need to buy a shirt ( for the work / to ware it in the work )
ex5 : I don't want to go to the shop ( for shoping / to do shoping ) today

I read in BBC news ( the tempreture is of 30 Celius) , is this true? or just the british people use the previous expressin , I need to learn american english language.

thanks a lot and best wishes.

Re: Why American English??

MrPedantic — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:10:12 GMT

Anonymous
Actually I'm wrong

Hats off, Anon! That may well be the first time that phrase has ever been uttered on an ESL forum.

MrP

Re: Why American English??

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:16:30 GMT

Actually I'm wrong according to wikapedia and the oxford english dictionary the use of Z's is not an Americanism, its correct english. The OED gives the Z spelling first with the S as an option. Read the wikapedia entry its very interesting. Well, you learn something everyday.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_spelling_differences

I still prefer S's.

Re: Why American English??

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 11:53:07 GMT

What makes this worse is that the English are now using Z's. I was at he Natural History Museum in London and all the information on the displays in the Dinosaur section used Z's not S's in spellings. 'What a F******* Liberty !.

A 'fruSHtrating demonSHtration'

DanielR — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:14:48 GMT

Hi!

Being a new member in this forum, I'd like to start with a specific question:

Only recently did I listen to an American lady, who I would have classified as a "Northerner" in the first place. But what struck and puzzled me was the fact that she pronounced the 's' in words like "frustrate" or "demonstrate" (thus before "tr") as if written "sh" (thus like "frushtrate" and "demonshtrate" respectively). Do you know whether this is specific to any regional accent of American English? Or did the lady simply have a minor speech defect?

Kind regards,

Daniel on the banks of the river Rhine

Re: Did you ever have a girlfriend?

Hector9 — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 18:57:59 GMT

Sorry Jackson but, why did you write "Did you ever have.."? Why not "Have you ever had.."?

Are both correct?

They're OK to me. The first one is in American English and the second one in British English, they're only different ways to say the same thing.

Did you ever have..? AmE

Have you ever had..? BrE

To be sure, wait for a native speaker.

The same happens with "Do you have.." (American) and "Have you got.." (British).

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: US intervention

shaved — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 17:25:19 GMT

Ruslana
I do not have anything against Americans themselves (American people, American citizens, American national pride, American flag, North America continent, dollar, the American English, and all other stuff like that related to America! ) but I simply don't like the USA government actions, along with Bush & Condoleezza Rice, and their puppets such as Saakashvili & Yushchenko?

I'm sorry you feel that way.

But here's something that a lot of the world doesn't understand about freedom, liberty, and representation.

I am an American.

I am my government.

When you tell me that you like Americans but not their government, what you're really saying is this: "I feel sorry for you that you have to live under a terribly oppressive regime that acts in your name without your approval." My response is this: "You realy don't understand how this country works, do you?"

If you think Saakashvili and Yushchenko are really puppets, what do you think about the governments before them that the popular representative movements ousted? Were those the will of the Ukrainian and Georgian people?

The answer is 'no', and you know that. Just because many Eastern European nations have thrown the Russians out and have tried to cozy up to the West for military and economic support doesn't mean that they are puppets. The fact that the Soviets oppressed them so hard for so many years is the driving force behind their desire for liberty. And they truly fear the Russians, for good reason.

Condoleezza Rice is a shining example of the freedom, liberty, and human dignity that this nation stand for. You may not like her, but she does a hell of a job as the toughest diplomat in the West.

Re: US intervention

Ruslana — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:45:58 GMT

LoL Laywee
But come oooooon, how many times shall I repeat that I do not have anything against Americans themselves (American people, American citizens, American national pride, American flag, North America continent, dollar, the American English, and all other stuff like that related to America! ) but I simply don't like the USA government actions, along with Bush & Condoleezza Rice, and their puppets such as Saakashvili & Yushchenko? I'll consider adding this red line to my profile or signature to avoid any further misunderstanding and misinterpretations.