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

Re: Poll: British English vs American English

chikei1984 — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 02:17:26 GMT

Frankly, I prefer British English rather than American English. In my point of view, the former one is formal and traditional. The latter one contains lots of proverb that has enormous local color. Besides, I donât like the conversation speed either, it is too fast.

Therefore, I would choose British English.

Re: How - like - the way... aaaargh!

Spides — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 20:39:03 GMT

These are all acceptable ways of phrasing these sentences in colloquial American English. In more formal, careful English the use of "like" and "how" as subordinate conjunctions (Do it how I told you. Do it like I told you. And so forth) would not be as acceptable--meaning that the other sentences might be preferable in that context. But in everyday conversation, these constructions are interchangeable for most speakers.

Re: may or might

CalifJim — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 05:23:04 GMT

The following remarks are for American English.

may and might are equivalent when they mean that something is possible.

It may rain today. / It might rain today.
Both mean
It is possible that it will rain today.

Susan may be late for the meeting. / Susan might be late for the meeting.
Both mean
It is possible that Susan will be late for the meeting.

might is more usual in ordinary conversation. may is more usual in writing, especially academic writing.
__________

On the other hand, if you are asking permission, use can or may (usually with I). may is more formal and refined. Many people consider it more polite. But in most ordinary conversations, can is used.

Can I take this seat? / May I take this seat?
Can I buy you dinner? / May I buy you dinner?
Can I have your address? / May I have your address.

If you use might in these patterns, you are being very tentative, even timid. This formula with might is very rare in most ordinary conversations in the U.S.
__________

In summary, in AmE you rarely need the word may, except for formal situations. Use might for possibility and can for permission.

CJ

Re: When I have trouble...

Kooyeen — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:36:17 GMT

Hi Anon,
what Jim said makes a lot of sense, and we discussed it a little in another thread, I think.
The point was that teaching completely descriptively is impossible. The teacher would have to say: Mr X says this, Mr Y says that, and Mr Z says another thing. Now learn what they say and then decide what to do by yourself.
Every time a teacher gives advice or suggest something, they're being at least a little bit prescriptive.
So if you want a good teacher, you need a teacher who "prescribes" the most appropriate English for you.

Now, suppose I'm 17. The better you know English, the more it should sound like English spoken by native speakers (this should be true for every language). How can I be as similar to a native as possible? If am learning American English and I imagine I am a native speaker, I should imagine I am a 17-year-old American guy. If I found an American teenager to imitate, I would learn how to speak like my imaginary native clone.

So, why would a ESL student who is 17, listen to punk rock and don't care much about school and rules in society... why would he want to have a teacher who is 50, listen to classical music, and is a literature professor? Learning English from a punk like him is probably the best way to learn the best kind of English for him.

And as for females... sometimes girls talk a little differently. Vocabulary might be different, tipical topics in conversations are definitely different, and sometimes intonation might vary (example: uprising intonation).

Re: may, might and could - what's the difference

CalifJim — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 22:41:45 GMT

I am trying to formulate guidelines for learners of English as a foreign language with regards the use of may/might/could to express possibility. It seems to me that you can use these three modals (almost) interchangeably when expressing possibility.

For example, 'Where's Mary?' 'I'm not sure. She may/might/could be in her room.' or 'It may/might/could rain later on.'.

Are there any differences in use between these three modals? If so, what are they?

I assume your question is restricted to the "unconstrained modals of logic", and that you are not asking about the use of may for permission or could for ability, for example. There are a few differences, particularly with respect to could, which is, in my opinion, only an "honorary" member of the group.

1. could does not operate under negation in the same way as may and might. Whereas may not and might not express the possibility of the negated proposition, could not expresses impossibility unless some unusual stress pattern is provided by the speaker, maybe even with a slight pause after could.

She may be there. She might be there. She could be there.
She may not be there. She might not be there. *She could not be there. (in the intended reading) (Actually, even may not is a little suspect, as the 'permission' meaning of may might come through in that example.)

2. could almost requires a following be (in the intended reading).

The puppy is thin; he [might / may / could] be [hungry / lost / a stray].
That music sounds like a symphony; it [might / may / could] be by Mozart.
Susan says that the answer is 67, and she [might / may / could] be right.

Otherwise the unintended 'ability' reading or some other anomalous interpretation is too likely:

The drain is blocked; we [might / may / ?could] have to call a plumber.
Liz looks tired; she [might / may / ?could] want to take a nap.
The current rules are too confusing, so the committee [might / may / ?could] develop new rules.

There seems to be no problem if the verb is meteorological, however, because the 'ability' reading is blocked. The weather is not physically able to do things as an agent:

It [might / may / could] rain this afternoon.

The same reasoning applies with other non-agentive situations:

The cake is too big, but the cookies [might / may / could] fit in this box.

3. Unlike might and may, could does not occur with as well. This was mentioned in another post above. (It's debatable whether this is even a case of the "unconstrained modals of logic", but I'll mention it here anyway.)

This party is really dull; we [might / may / *could] as well leave.

4. In American English, the difference between may and might is one of register. may occurs in official announcements and scientific papers, for example, and might occurs more often in ordinary conversation. (Percentages of probability have nothing to do with it!)

Employees may find this information helpful in choosing a health care plan.
For hydrocarbon molecules of this type, electrophoresis may give better results.
We might take a trip to Disneyland this summer.

could would probably not be used in any of the three examples immediately above (in the intended reading).

5. may is not often used in backshifts, but both might and could are.

I [might / may / could] be ready by 10.
I thought (that) I [might / *may / could] be ready by 10.

Re: accents

SillyMe — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 10:32:36 GMT

"You knew your brother did a bad thing, did you?"

"You knew your brother did a bad thing, did you?"

Is the difference between those two an accent matter, or a pronunciation matter?

Neither. The intonation is the key. You have used an intonation stress to emphasise those words in the sentences. It has nothing to do with an accent. A lot of languages have the same mechanism for this purpose. People rarely speak in a monotonic way. They need an intonation to emphasise their ideas.

If your friends have a hard time understanding you when you start speaking with a "stupid" accent, then you need to analyze if you're really learning the target accent or not. It's not the accent's fault. How can it be?

Ok, Iâll say it again: I am not learning an accent. I just made sure that everyone could understand me. All people have different abilities in languages. I donât want to make anyone feel inconvenient when they are listening to me. My goal is to speak as accessible as possible for EVERYONE. I see accents as the main obstacle on this way.

Now, accents are part of a culture... be it in a country or in regions of that country. It may seem useless to you, but learning the american accent has given me the ability of having great conversations with many many americans. What about british people? They have no problem understanding americans, so I'm sure they'll have no problem understanding me... and I have spoken with british people, too. No communication issues.

I have never spoken to people whose first language was English and I donât think that Iâll ever do. English is the second language for most people. Why should I make my speech inaccessible for them? If I know that their level will not allow them to understand even a half of my speech, why should I? Language is a great tool to convey your ideas, why should I make it more complex and inaccessible?

LOL! This one made me smile! They are not speaking fast, it's that you are listening too slowly.

I have never said that I was a slow listener. But most people used to complain to me that speech of native speakers was hard to understand. Well, their (not natives) language might be poor, but anyway I am trying to sound easy to for them and for everyone in general.

To be understood by Americans... well, chances are you need to learn American English to understand Americans

I donât think so. I have never spoken to an American. I watch only dubbed films and like them that way. I donât listen to contemporary music, I like classical music. So, I think American English isnât present in my life.

The same applies for americans: how can I tell them that they don't know how to speak their own language?

They actually do. They are natives and they know it better. But unfortunately a spoken language is totally different from a written one to some extent of course. An accent is one of the main things that make this difference bigger. Why should one learn it, if nobody uses a spoken language (of course you have American friends, your situation might be a bit different or you live there, I donât know)? Most foreigners communicate using a written language. Thatâs why I want to speak slowly and without any reduction in my words.

Re: talk/speak

CalifJim — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 19:52:01 GMT

You can talk to your dog, to plants, or to deceased relatives. The conversation is imaginary, of course, but you're allowed to have an imagination, even in English!

The distinction between can and may described by your teacher is really no longer valid. Nearly 100 years ago English teachers stressed the importance of making the distinction, but in the world outside the English classroom things were changing. Now can is used to indicate permission the same as may, and may is regarded nowadays as a very formal way to indicate permission. In American English it seems that may is being used less and less. A person can go for months and months without ever hearing it.

CJ

Re: that or who

JaneMay — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 13:24:18 GMT

Hi,

I'm a newbie, and have found this topic interesting, so I'd like to put in my 2 cents.

I know that in American English, especially in California, L.A. I heard people use "That" - for "who" or "which" in daily conversation.

As for me, I don't mind using "that" for most of the time, but in writing I try my best to use "who / which" correctly.

I'd love to hear from you all.

Best wishes,

Re: May/Might

CalifJim — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 21:52:58 GMT

Even on the pages of this forum you will find different opinions about the usage of may and might. The following are my personal feelings on the subject. Note that these are from the point of view of American English, and you may want to wait for further comments regarding British English.

To ask for something:

The most common is Can I go out and play?
More formal English has: May I go out to play?
More tentatively, more pleading: Might I go out to play?

The last two are very stiff and formal in American English. Only a small minority of American children would actually say them, especially the one with might.
_______

<<"That/this may/might have been the case..." "That/this idea might/may have some relevance">>
In these sentences I consider may and might entirely equivalent in meaning. In AmE may tends to be used more in formal writing and less in casual conversation, and might tends to be used more in casual conversation and less in formal writing.

CJ

Re: Using "and" in numbers

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 04:34:30 GMT

From my experience, the form "and" is used most naturally in North American English, however, many people have the form without the "and" in their idiolect, because math books caution against its used. Most math books insist that one should only use "and" when refering to a decimal point, and not to use it after hundreds. I used to use it until I was in grade 1 where the teacher insisted that it was more correct to use the "and-less" form. I usually use the "and" form in everyday conversation, because it sounds more natural to me
, but when I am reading math problems, I leave it out.