Search results for 'tag:Expressions tag:Contractions' matching tags 'Expressions' and 'Contractions'

Re: don't understand this extract

Avangi — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 23:44:44 GMT

Thanks for the context, Wholegrain. It is a difficult and somewhat unfamiliar style.

I think the author contrasts the business travelers (merchants on deck) with the other, more mysterious and concealed travelers, in "confidential passages," etc. I expect the merchants would be considered the lower class, by contrast, in this particular setting.

I'm still looking at 'change as a contraction for exchange. "Merchants on exchange" is/was probably a common expression for "travelling salesmen." I'll Google it when I get a chance.

The description of the ocean liner Fiddle focuses on it's hugeness and ability to "house" so much life and activity. There are two rows of portholes (for the cabins, etc.), one above the other. Within the ship, one may find every conceivable luxury.

Is "seem [to be]" elliptical?

This is the first time I've seen "present" used this way (intransitive) in a non-medical context.

- A.

Re: ain't

Ruslana — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 13:13:17 GMT

"Ain't" is a spoken contraction.

Generally, it is used instead of am not, but can also replace is not, are not, has not, have not, do not, does not, did not.

I ain't telling you... (used instead of "am not"),

I ain't tell you... (used instead of "do not", "did not"),

etc.

Re: contracion of 'to be' and 'to have'

Clive — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 02:36:17 GMT

Hi Hoa Thai,

I was told the use of contraction for 'be' and 'have' sometimes idomatically alters the meaning of an expression (e.g., that's vs. that is, you've vs. you have, etc...). Is this right? If so, could you please show me a few examples and explain the meaning behind each one of them?

Too bad that the person who told you this didn't offer you some examples. At the moment, I can't think of any.

You probably know that in speech, these contractions are extremely common.

One scenario where you might not contract is where you want to add stress. eg

A: You've made a serious mistake.

B: No, no, no, I haven't, I really haven't.

A: Yes, you have made a mistake. You have.

This last sentence also illustrates that the contraction is not used if nothing except a period follows it. eg You don't simply say That's. Again, you probably already know this.

Best wishes, Clive

contracion of 'to be' and 'to have'

Hoa Thai — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 02:21:52 GMT

Hello,

I was told the use of contraction for 'be' and 'have' sometimes idomatically alters the meaning of an expression (e.g., that's vs. that is, you've vs. you have, etc...). Is this right? If so, could you please show me a few examples and explain the meaning behind each one of them?

Thank you much in advance.
Hoa Thai

Re: Can we choose "mustn't have" to mean the same as "shouldn't have"?

CalifJim — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 18:46:25 GMT

My answer is the same as Yankee's, except that I'm fairly indifferent to whether contractions are used or not. must not is a bit more clear than mustn't, but I'd accept either.

I think you and Kooyeen are looking for something like these:

She was not allowed to go to the disco.
She was not supposed to go to the disco.
She was forbidden to go to the disco.
She was told not to go to the disco.
She was wrong to have gone to the disco.

There is no past of "deontic must", that is, the must that is about obligations (rather than about logical conclusions). In some cases you can resort to had to, but in the example above there's a negation that interferes. That's why the expressions above would be used instead.

*She had not to go to the disco.
*She had to not go to the disco.

Of course you could do something like this:

She had to stay away from the disco.

But that's not really the same meaning. It's much weaker and more vague.

CJ

Re: "...second-guess" "...foggiest idea..." "...going/ \immediately" Thank

CalifJim — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 18:44:37 GMT

1. Sounds natural to me.
2. Sounds unnatural to me, but not for the same reason as Yankee gives.
It's clearly an expression more often heard in conversation than seen in writing, so contractions should be used to make it sound more natural.

I haven't the foggiest idea ... has a slightly British flavor.

More commonly in American English: I don't have the foggiest idea ...

I have never heard the version with notion, and I would never use it. Could it be a regionalism? To me, notion sounds like a word my parents' or grandparents' generation would use. The most natural version in my opinion would be one of these:

I don't have the [slightest / foggiest] [idea / clue] [what time / when] the rehearsal is.

foggiest clue is the least felicitous combination, in my opinion.

3. ... going to bed immediately is the only version that sounds natural to me.

CJ

Re: How to Speak English Fluently

CalifJim — Sat, 12 May 2007 03:29:15 GMT

Another set of patterns occurred to me. These sometimes give learners trouble, and it's a good idea to practice them until they are automatic. They are drills on 'subject pronoun + auxiliary verb' contractions.

Type X1:
he's, she's, I'm, you're, we're, they're

Type X2:
he'll, she'll, I'll, you'll, we'll, they'll
he'd, she'd, I'd, you'd, we'd, they'd

Type X3:
he's, she's, I've, you've, we've, they've
he'd, she'd, I'd, you'd, we'd, they'd

Combine X1 with verbs in -ing or with adjectives or with other descriptive expressions. (She's eating chocolate. They're going home. I'm happy. We're on time.) Add always, never, or usually where appropriate: I'm usually happy. We're always on time. You're never late.
Combine X2 with the bare infinitive. (He'll help. They'll agree. We'd buy it.)
Combine X3 with the past participle. (He's been sick. I've bought the car. They'd seen the movie.) Add already where appropriate: I've already seen it. She's already done it.

I won't bother to write out all the negative contractions and the more complicated combinations because I think this is enough to give you an idea of what to practice.

CJ

Re: When shown to be wrong, I had to eat humble pie.

Jackson6612 — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 16:50:12 GMT

Hi Yankee,

Why is it very common in English to use contractions of various expressions? Like as you said: When shown to be wrong, I have to eat humble pie. = When I am shown to be wrong, I have to eat humble pie. Perhaps to natives like you just saying when shown to be wrong is correct even grammatically, but to foreigners like me such a sentence is not correct. There are various other expressions where contractions are used and I really find these contractions weird, probably reason for that is that in my native language contractions cannot be used/made in any of the sentences. But I believe every language has its own rules.

Re: Persuasive Essay Thesis Statement

Mister Micawber — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 07:20:33 GMT

Hi Crazy-- I finally got here. I have added some comments in brackets after underlined 'problems':

Do Sports and Drugs Mix?

Since the dawn of time [a ridiculous exaggeration; delete it] it seems that you canât [do not use contractions in essays: change to cannot] think of sports without some sort of drug scandal creeping into the thought as well. Itâs [contraction: it is] not just baseball that is tainted with scandal; it is every sport from football to gymnastics.

When you think of sports, what comes to mind? The different sporting events, the many unique players that make up their sport or the drug scandals spread throughout. Maybe itâs a little bit of each. [the first is not a complete sentence; the second is an afterthought: combine them into a single complete sentence: 'What probably comes to mind is....'] To level the playing field for those players that chose not to use performance-enhancing drugs, why donât the big wigs [slang: change to officials] drug test everyone before their game or events that they are in? Itâs [It is. I won't make this note for further contractions below] bad enough that sports players have more perks than the normal civilian [wrong word; civilian is the opposite of soldier; use e.g. person], if my brother, who played baseball in high school, would have used [wrong verb form: use had used] steroids to help his game he would have been kicked off the team. So [essentially conversational and meaningless; delete] why isnât the same true for professional sports players? Maybe the owners of the teams donât want to lose their star players, so they cover it up somewhat, but why not drug test each and every one of the players so that there arenât any favorites? That way, when someone comes up positive they can be reprimanded in the proper, professional manner.

OK, I'm going to stop here, Crazy, and leave you with some general comments to take into consideration for your essay revision.

First, I think your essay so far is quite good. Your flow of language is natural, easy to follow, straightforward and to the point-- and these are key features of a good essay. You have an admirable ease of expression.

A big potential problem (and I say potential because it much depends on who is grading your essay) is that it is overall too informal in register: you are writing naturally, and much as you would speak. If your teacher requires a more formal approach to essay composition (and most do), then your use of contractions (isn't, don't), slang and casual English (bigwigs, kicked off, perks), and conversational structures (What comes to mind? The events, the players.... That way,...) are going to lose you points. In your revision, put your head to saying what you want to say in a more formal manner and with a more formal vocabulary. It is easy to go overboard on this (and most essayists in fact do, making their writing turgid and convoluted in the process), but trying to be bit more businesslike in language should improve your essay. For the rest below, I shall just embolden some areas to think about:

Not only do the players that use performance-enhancing drugs get an unfair advantage they also put themselves at risk for many different things from sterility, infertility, liver damage to even death. Are the risks worth all that? Some players may think so.

There are many different types of performance-enhancing drugs that players can use to help them in their sport. One type is Anabolic Steroids. This type of drug increases muscle strength by encouraging new muscle growth. They also allow the person using them to train harder and longer for any given period. Yet this drug has damaging side effects, liver damage, sterility in men and infertility in women, and it can lead to death.

Another type of performance enhancer is (hGH) Human Growth Hormone, while this natural and important for human growth, especially in children and teenagers, excessive hGH levels increase muscle mass. Some of the side effects of this drug include overgrowth of hands, feet, and face, enlarged internal organs, and heart problems.

If theses drugs were safe for use by athletes or anyone for that matter, then why can they lead to the playersâ early death? Because they over stimulate the natural growth of the body and itâs muscles and organs.

Sammy Sosa admitted to using performance-enhancers while playing baseball and stated â Steroids are very lethal and very bad for you.â Many fans of sports feel cheated having learned that some of their favorite athletes have admitted to using performance-enhancers to increase their âgame.â Dr. Dean Edell said âMost drugs, steroids, or supplements don't live up to their billing and even if they did, the side effects can be dangerous to your health.â If doctors will tell you that these drugs are not safe for consumption then why do people take them and use them on a regular basis? To make them feel good about themselves. To give them a better advantage over the âregularâ players. To make them stand out above everyone else in their game or sport. These seem like the logical answers.

One classmate of mine in high school used steroids for 3 [write out small numbers: three] years while playing football and was the quarter back of our team. Everyone thought he was going to make it to the NFL but during our senior year of high school he was drug tested before the homecoming game and was found to be positive. When confronted with this information only then did he admit that he had been using steroids on a regular basis for 3 years. He was immediately kicked off the team and stripped of the chance to play football in college. He was labeled a druggie and a fake by everyone in town. No one wanted to be associated with him from that point on. Fellow classmates wouldnât talk to him and so he and his family moved but not before he gave a speech to everyone in our school. He stated âI know what I did was wrong and I know the risks that I was taking when I chose to take steroids but I wanted to be the best player I could be and I thought this was the way to be that âStarâ player, it made me that star player for awhile. I am sorry that I hurt our school and my fellow players and I only wish that I could go back and undo the damage I have caused.â

So far so good. Study the use of the comma- there are a number of grammar websites. Do not abuse quotation marks.

Good luck!
MM

Re: Isn't she pretty?

CalifJim — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 05:30:01 GMT

Emma wondered if it was correct grammar to say, "Isn't she pretty?" because it would sound strange if you said, "Is not she pretty?"

Yes. It is perfectly grammatical.

Grammarians think of questions as being transformed forms of statements.
So, for example, the statement She is pretty can be made into a question by inverting the subject (she) and verb (is) to form Is she pretty?

Likewise the negative questions come from a corresponding negative statement.

She is not pretty.

In modern English the transformation of a negative statement into a question can be done in two ways:

1 Invert subject and verb.

Is she not pretty?
This gives a rather formal, even stilted sounding form, but is fine grammatically.

2. First contract the verb and the negative: is not > isn't
She isn't pretty.
Then invert the subject and the contraction.
Isn't she pretty?

There is no transformational rule (in modern English) that allows the movement of the negative not to the left across the subject except as a negative contraction connected to the verb. For this reason, Is not she pretty cannot be generated as a grammatical sentence (in modern English). The not must be expressed as an attached n't or it can't be inverted with a subject.

So, strange as it may seem, even though in most circumstances isn't is the same as is not, the two expressions are not absolute grammatical equivalents. They undergo transformations in different ways when forming questions.

CJ