Search results for 'tag:Language schools tag:Verbs' matching tags 'Language schools' and 'Verbs'

Re: did you meant to say/did you mean to say

Yoong Liat — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 12:39:34 GMT

(1) "I had no idea there are so many Japanese language schools here..."

(2) "I had no idea there were so many Japanese language schools here..."

According to Cool Breeze, both sentences are correct but the second one is in keeping with the sequence of tenses and thus preferred by many.

To me:

The first sentence is correct because the sentence starts with "I had" ( a verb in the past tense). You say "I didn't know you were (not are) here" although the person referred to is there when you said that sentence.

I don't know what other members think of our views. Comments welcome.

Re: did you meant to say/did you mean to say

Cool Breeze — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 06:48:30 GMT

Yoong Liat wrote:
"I had no idea there are so many Japanese language schools here..."

"I had no idea there were so many Japanese language schools here..."

The first sentence is correct because the sentence starts with "I had" ( a verb in the past tense). You say "I didn't know you were here" although the person referred to is there when you said that sentence.

"Did you meant to say..."

"Did you mean to say..."

The second sentence is correct. The verb after "Did" should be "mean" (present tense). This is one of the rules of grammar.

"I had no idea there are so many Japanese language schools here..."

"I had no idea there were so many Japanese language schools here..."
Both sentences are correct but the second one is in keeping with the sequence of tenses and thus preferred by many.

"Did you mean to say..."
Correct, but 'mean' is not in the present tense. It is a plain infinitive, in other words, an infinitive without 'to'. The plain infinitive must be used because of the auxiliary 'do', which is in the past tense. Cf. I did know he said so.

Cheers
CB

Re: did you meant to say/did you mean to say

Yoong Liat — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 06:17:44 GMT

"I had no idea there are so many Japanese language schools here..."

"I had no idea there were so many Japanese language schools here..."

The first sentence is correct because the sentence starts with "I had" ( a verb in the past tense). You say "I didn't know you were here" although the person referred to is there when you said that sentence.

"Did you meant to say..."

"Did you mean to say..."

The second sentence is correct. The verb after "Did" should be "mean" (present tense). This is one of the rules of grammar.

Why omit 'to' ? & 'person' or 'people'

Jisu98 — Sat, 06 May 2006 03:42:05 GMT

Thank you in advance.

I've seen some sentences omitting 'to' when a verb used as a complement. For example, 'The saftest thing to do is stop and stand like a statue.' Is it a mistake, a colloquial ussage or an acceptible formal one?

And, I will post again about 'people' or 'person'. In fact, I posted the following question a few minutes ago but it's not on the list. If it is, sorry.

I took an exam and I saw a sentence 'According to the above story, Ida Lewis had saved at least 3 persons in trouble in the ocean.'

When I studied at a language school, teachers (at least 3 different teachers) emphasized that I have to use '1 person' or ' 2 people', '3 people' and so on. But, the above was in my midterm and I looked up a dictionay. According to it, '3 persons' are right. What's going on? Why my two Canadian teachers and an American teacher told me not to use '3 persons'? They told me to say '3 people. Is there any reason?

Re: Present perfect continuous in negative sentences

Mowgli — Thu, 08 Dec 2005 10:13:31 GMT

Hello,

excuse me. It shouhd have been: My grammar book says PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE is usual with all verbs in negative sentences. I have written PP continuous which was an accident. I try to translate exactly what this book says (ItÂ´s a Czech book for language schools - AngliÄtina pro jazykovÃ© Å¡koly, II, s. 30, 1988, but there are also new editions):

The present perfect simple is usual with the verbs to be, to have to know and all verbs in negative sentences instead of the present perfect simple. explanation if you canÂ´t understand my translation: in the context where we usually use with other verbs the PPcontionuous (The PPsimple in negative sentences expresses that the acction hasnÂ´t occured at all.):

examples from the book for the verbs to have, to be and to know : "IÂ´ve known him for ten years. ItÂ´s been hot since Monday. IÂ´ve had this camera for more than a year"

and negative: "It hasnÂ´t rained since Monday. X affirmative: "It has been raining since Monday."

So, thatÂ´s why I suppose the following sentences should be wrong:

*** hasnÂ´t been raining since Monday.***

or the sentences from my previous post:

*** havenÂ´t been driving/smoking since 2000. ***???However, you have written: "These are OK, but would also be OK without the continuous".

I suppose the verbs which arenÂ´t usually used in the present continuos are also not used in the present perfect continous. So the list of the verbs {have, be, know} which are used in the the present perfect simple in the contexts where other verbs have present perfect continous isnÂ´t probably complete. (I mean not only: be, have and know. I would add other non progressive verbs / to hear, to see in the meaning of :with your eyes, to own and other)

I have a car now. (not *** I am having a car now.***)

so thatÂ´s why I say :

IÂ´ve had this camera for more than a year. and not: *** have been having this camera for more than a year.***

My example for the nonprogressive for the verb own: We have owned this house for ten years. (but: We have been rebuilding this house for ten years.) - both means to me: we still own the house, we are still rebuilding the house - own - nonprogressive verb

And now I am going to try how I understand the book of the Murphy (itÂ´s English Grammar in Use for Intermediate students, however, I donÂ´t have the book here and thatÂ´s why I cannot write it exactly, I am afraid. It concerns the verbs live and work:

It should be possible (according to Murphy) to use either PP simple or PP continuous in the same context with the verbs live and work:

An example from an other textbook (Enterprise III, Workbook, page 10, ex. 6, Express Publishing, 2000 (1997).

According to the key:

How long have you been working/worked there? (I suppose both means: You are still working/you still work there.)

One friend of mine says he knows the same rule for wait. So it should also be possible to say:

How long have you been waiting here/have yow waited here?

I have been waiting since eight oÂ´clock. / I have waited since eight oÂ´clock. - Is there any difference in meaning of those two sentences? (PPcontinous is probably more usual in this context - "since eight oÂ´clock", isnÂ´t it? - I would have said before: I have waited since eight oÂ´clock is wrong.- You have written : "ItÂ´s fine. In fact, since "wait" usually refers to a period of time, IÂ´d say continous is the more common form of the perfect tense of this verb. Does it (also) concern this special context, these two sentences, or is it probably meant in general?

(- You have also written: It is possible to use any verb in these two tenses. Does it also concern the non progressive verbs (have, be, know, own, see, hear, ...)? Can I also normally use them in the PP continuous? - for example: ???I have been having this camera for more than half a year.????

Thank you for your reply Mowgli

About an appositive

kk — Sun, 10 Oct 2004 09:18:00 GMT

thank you very much
can you tell me abour appositive regulation

I make some sentence,help me to check these sentences
The ROC,which is country,emphaisizes social welfare.
Carlos,a good language school teacher,comes from Cuba.
Some professor, who specialized in political science,urged something.

Television,quite the opposite of books that presented drama,comedy,and talk shows,afford entertainment dor idle hours.
I don't know whether ''presented is a verb in the appositive.
and ''that'' represents a conjunction.

Free online word games posted here (only free ones!)

hitchhiker — Sun, 17 Aug 2003 05:50:23 GMT

Here's a link to a game I made for a language school: "Lost words", find as many hidden words as possible

There are a number of mildly entertaining word games at www.games.yahoo.com.
You need a Yahoo! email account to play, which you can get for free here.

If you're up for a real challenge, try some of these cryptic crosswords.

Learn English (de) have hangman, wordsearch, crosswords and lots more. There's also a really good drill for irregular verbs in the grammar section.

English Banana.com - Lots of free online word games there!

If anyone has anymore reply to this post, and I'll put them here (only free stuff though)

Re: Phrasal Verb of the day

chris — Sun, 25 May 2003 19:03:15 GMT

We have around 30 English language schools in Malta most of which target teenagers in the summer months. I think the combination of learning English while being able to leave with a suntan is a wonderful combination! The same must apply for Mallorca.