In English grammar^x, Dialects^x

> Have the payments went outThis is some kind of a dialect in AmE these days. Of course, not educated speech. You can find that for the last 150 years or so, so it is native. <>This is what Donna Richoux says about it in another forum: -------- I'm not sure why you think this is...

The reason English is so difficult is because it's such a mishmosh language. Like a bad school-cafeteria casserole, it's got bits and pieces derived from many different languages, both existing and dead. It's primarily German, French, Latin, and Anglo-Saxon, but there's some old...

Hi everyone, I know nothing at all about Italian grammar, if I have to speak in Italian I just say what sounds good to me, what I've heard many times and I know it's ok. So if anyone made a "strange mistake", I would understand immediately that they are foreigner. Plus, regional...

I think that there are two issues being confused here with 'standard' English. Standard English with regards to grammar and so on, and a standard English accent. We may speak a regional (non-standard) English accent (this is what the only 12-15% figure is talking about) but most people still use...

Yes Mr P, the present participle in Old English did end with -ind. In the East Midlands dialect, it merged with -ing, which originally only named actions. However, the term 'present participle' itself comes from the study of Latin. Let's not forget though that the purpose of English Grammar...

I am not quite close to 'homeless'. I am living at my aunt's home because my granny invited 3 of her siplings to stay... aiya, according to my parents this is going to last 2 weeks or more. I am currently using my uncle's PC just to get here and take a look at what you say. Though I cannot come...

Randy_Tam wrote:That 'we are all abiding by some basic (prescriptive) rules of English grammar' amounts to me something like a tautology: a language is idiosyncratic in that it has some structural rules (instead of being arbitrary... let's do an experiment: say I you understand what won't... at...

That 'we are all abiding by some basic (prescriptive) rules of English grammar' amounts to me something like a tautology: a language is idiosyncratic in that it has some structural rules (instead of being arbitrary... let's do an experiment: say I you understand what won't... at any rate you will...

Randy_Tam wrote:All this draws me to the conclusion that there is no other justifiable reason than social status and the extent to which a language is used to distinguish between a 'dialect' and a language. Cantonese and Mandarin share the same written language, so it's harder to see the two...

Sir, When I read English grammar on net. I always presume that all rules are according to BrE. But when it comes to use in some excercise, I personally feel odd. e.g 1.---- on exam. 2.----- in exam. somebody says (1) is correct. Somebody says (2) is correct. How come I know that...