Search results for 'tag:Nouns tag:Translation' matching tags 'Nouns' and 'Translation'

Re: "any"-defining

Fandorin — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 17:18:36 GMT

Kooyeen

You can do that too, but it is not common, it's only used sometimes for emphasis. It's easy to build odd sentences that way, so I personally prefer to avoid using it that way, as a learner. When talking about one thing, using the article "a" (or "an") is the common way to say it...
Do you have a sister? Is there a hospital near here? I don't have a sister, you must be mistaking me for someone else...

I didn't consider uncountable nouns because they are not usually used in the plural, so they weren't part of our problem. I didn't consider idioms or exceptions either... I can think of a couple of them right now:
Is there any reason why you are not allowed to do that?
There isn't any way to find out the truth, I'm afraid.

The singular seems to be the idiomatic choice in those cases.

Yes, it's odd way not to use "a". Indeed, "any=some" implies itself plural noun to be used. So the difference in translation some of constructions in English seems to be slightly smoothed between two meanings you mentioned above. At least it's so in my language.

Re: imperative mood in the third person?

Tanit — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:42:53 GMT

Hi CJ,

Somehow, I "knew" you'd have stepped in here.

CalifJim
You can do that in English only with a few indefinite pronouns. Nobody move! Nobody touch Cain! Everybody sing together now! Someone do something quick, before we're all killed! Don't anybody eat those poison apples!

I find this particularly helpful, because I hadn't come across any practical suggestions like this one.

CalifJim
... your translation with let (the "official translation") or another with some other word might be used, but none of these has the force of an imperative to my ear -- not even in Italian -- ...

I am very glad my intuition got this one right. I read some sentences with "let" in one of my reference books, but I had a feeling they were weaker

Thank you very much! I guess I need some time to digest your post completely, but it's a great starting point.

Re: imperative mood in the third person?

CalifJim — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:16:04 GMT

You can do that in English only with a few indefinite pronouns. Nobody move! Nobody touch Cain! Everybody sing together now! Someone do something quick, before we're all killed! Don't anybody eat those poison apples! And with you: You do it; I don't want to.

Not *John sing! *The president resign! *Students learn these verbs!

Although Students, learn these verbs! or Learn these verbs, students! are OK.

Otherwise, your translation with let (the "official translation") or another with some other word might be used, but none of these has the force of an imperative to my ear -- not even in Italian -- but that's more your shtick than mine!

Let John eat the apple. John should eat the apple. John should have to eat the apple.

____

I don't know any references, off-hand.

Re: English article and proper noun

Anonymous — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 00:26:21 GMT

Hi, Thank you so much again.

Can anyone tell me why having the indefinite article 'a' is the right thing to do here? I don't think the italicized words are proper nouns, since among other reasons which I can't think of right now, they are not capitalized. They seem to be literal translation of the English words 'house' and 'academy' and that seem to be the reason why they have the articles "a's". Right?

A hanok is a traditional yangban wooden house that has remained ...
A seowon is a traditional academy.

.

Re: translation into English: text 11/03 (Patrick)

MrPedantic — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:10:37 GMT

Hello Hela, yes, it's nice to see you too! I'm not posting here much at the moment, because my pc is defective; but I hope to be re-kitted-out shortly...

Hela
Actually I wrote "he was leaving for Ireland for work", is it wrong too?

I think that would be ok too.

Hela
2) Do you accept
a) "he was going to work in Ireland as soon as
- his exams were [had been = wrong?] over
- he finished / had finished his exams

Yes, all fine except "had been".

Hela
b) "he was goint to work in Ireland right after
- he finished / had finished his exams
- he would finish / would have finished (?) his exams
- his exams would be / would have been (?) over"

- Is it also possible to use the present, even though it's reported speech, since the period referred to has not happened yet?

Only the first two versions. The present would be fine.

Hela
a) "he called me to say that he is going to Ireland as soon as
his exams are / have been (?) over OR he finishes / has finished (?) his exams

All ok except "have been over".

Hela
b) "he called me to say that he is going to Ireland right after
- he finishes / has finished his exams
- his exams will be over
- he will finish / will have finished his exams"

Only the first two.

Hela
3) Je ne me rappelles pas l'avoir entendu dire...
Are hearing and having heard both possible here? What's the nuance betwenn them?
"I don' / can't remember ever hearing / having heard (?) him talk about such daring plans"

I think it's a difference in focus: "hearing" is more immediate, "having heard" more remote. But I don't think it's a significant difference, for most users.

Hela
) Moi aussi j'aimerais beaucoup aller travailler en Irlande.
Which tenses should be used here, please?
a) I would quite / really like to work in Ireland as well (possible ?)
b) I wish I could work / I wish I worked in Ireland
c) I wish I went (?) to Ireland to work as well / too.

Not "quite"; and I would change it to "go to work in Ireland"; and for me, b) and c) wouldn't quite capture the original. (Expression of a wish, rather than a desire.)

Hela
5) Is this use of pronoun acceptable ?
"One doesn't want to let everybody know what they want to do" ? Is "they" ambiguous or incoherent here, or is it all right ?

If "they" refers to "one", it's a little unusual; I would repeat "one".

Hela
) On se connaÃ®t depuis si longtemps, lui et moi
Even though it is not necessary to translate "lui et moi" in English would you say:
"It has been a such a long time since we have known one another, he and I [and not "him/he and me" ?

Not "it has been a such a long time"; perhaps "We have known each other for such a long time". If you had to translate "lui et moi", "he and I" would best suit the register.

Hela
7) Il n'est pas nÃ©cessaire de mettre tout le monde au courant de ce qu'on a envie de faire. Il y a des tas de gens qui rÃªvent bruyamment d'accomplir de grandes choses et ne sortent jamais de chez eux. Quant Ã son niveau d'anglais, un sÃ©jour de deux mois ne peut que l'amÃ©liorer.

a) Would you translate this passage this way?

"you don't have to / you neednât / there's no need to tell everyone what youâre up to / want to do / feel like doing all the time. Lots of people dream aloud (?) about accomplishing / achieving (?) great things they're going to do and then never give it a try (?) / make it real (?). As for his English, a two-month stay / sojourn (?) in England can but / just (?) improve it.

That's a bit too difficult to answer, in that form â there are so many permutations!

Hela
b) What you meant by the following:
My idea would be as yours, except:

"...to keep everyone posted...have grandiose ideas about accomplishing great things but never leave home...can only improve it."

is that you would not use "to keep everyone posted", "have grandiose ideas..." and "can only improve it" ?

Sorry, I meant I would use those phrases instead, in the relevant parts.

Hela
What's the meaning of "to harp on about something" then? How would you use it?

If I say that you're harping on about X, I mean that you are obsessively talking about X, in an irritating and excessive way. (It sounds quite tetchy.)

Have a good Wednesday!

MrP

Re: translation into English: text 11/03 (Patrick)

Hela — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 22:23:46 GMT

Good evening, Mr P, nice to read you again. I often ask questions on the site but you seem not to have seen my posts

I don't think it's necessary to translate "allait partir travailler" literally; "was going to leave to work" would sound too clumsy

Actually I wrote "he was leaving for Ireland for work", is it wrong too?

2) Do you accept
a) "he was going to work in Ireland as soon as
- his exams were [had been = wrong?] over
- he finished / had finished his exams

b) "he was goint to work in Ireland right after
- he finished / had finished his exams
- he would finish / would have finished (?) his exams
- his exams would be / would have been (?) over"

- Is it also possible to use the present, even though it's reported speech, since the period referred to has not happened yet?

a) "he called me to say that he is going to Ireland as soon as
his exams are / have been (?) over OR he finishes / has finished (?) his exams

b) "he called me to say that he is going to Ireland right after
- he finishes / has finished his exams
- his exams will be over
- he will finish / will have finished his exams"

3) Je ne me rappelles pas l'avoir entendu dire...
Are hearing and having heard both possible here? What's the nuance betwenn them?
"I don' / can't remember ever hearing / having heard (?) him talk about such daring plans"

4) Moi aussi j'aimerais beaucoup aller travailler en Irlande.
Which tenses should be used here, please?
a) I would quite / really like to work in Ireland as well (possible ?)
b) I wish I could work / I wish I worked in Ireland
c) I wish I went (?) to Ireland to work as well / too.

5) Is this use of pronoun acceptable ?
"One doesn't want to let everybody know what they want to do" ? Is "they" ambiguous or incoherent here, or is it all right ?

6) On se connaÃ®t depuis si longtemps, lui et moi
Even though it is not necessary to translate "lui et moi" in English would you say:
"It has been a such a long time since we have known one another, he and I [and not "him/he and me" ?

7) Il n'est pas nÃ©cessaire de mettre tout le monde au courant de ce qu'on a envie de faire. Il y a des tas de gens qui rÃªvent bruyamment d'accomplir de grandes choses et ne sortent jamais de chez eux. Quant Ã son niveau d'anglais, un sÃ©jour de deux mois ne peut que l'amÃ©liorer.

a) Would you translate this passage this way?

"you don't have to / you neednât / there's no need to tell everyone what youâre up to / want to do / feel like doing all the time. Lots of people dream aloud (?) about accomplishing / achieving (?) great things they're going to do and then never give it a try (?) / make it real (?). As for his English, a two-month stay / sojourn (?) in England can but / just (?) improve it.

b) What you meant by the following:

My idea would be as yours, except:

"...to keep everyone posted...have grandiose ideas about accomplishing great things but never leave home...can only improve it."

is that you would not use "to keep everyone posted", "have grandiose ideas..." and "can only improve it" ?

8)

("Harp on about" doesn't seem quite right here; I'm not sure about my "never leave home" â I feel there's a more natural alternative, but can't place it.)

What's the meaning of "to harp on about something" then? How would you use it?
Best regards,
Hela

Re: Google translation

Kooyeen — Tue, 27 May 2008 20:37:12 GMT

CalifJim
The student looked up "fly" and found "mosca" in the dictionary. Not realizing it was the insect "fly", he then constructed a sentence in Spanish intending to say that on his next vacation he was going to "fly" to Madrid. If you know Spanish, it may be funnier, because he actually attached the correct verbal ending on the noun! Voy a moscar a Madrid.

LOL, that's what happens when you don't have the slightest idea how to express a certain concept in another language. Dictionary, direct translation... total nonsense. That's why I believe every learner should use a monolingual dictionary "for learners", where everything is explained simply and there are plenty of examples to learn from. That way you are much less likely to use a simple verb or word the wrong way, because the most common usage patterns are highlighted.
Direct translation is what most automatic translators do, so as long as there are no machines with artificial intelligence that are able to learn a language like a human, automatic translations will always be of bad quality. I tried translating that text with Google... In Italian, you would understand the general meaning, what they are talking about, but some expressions are almost meaningless. Not too bad anyway, I thought it would come out worse, LOL. And "Employs" was translated as "gives work to" in Italian too...

EDIT: Ok, I'm going to post the translation, in case "some Italians" come across this thread.
L'autore, N. Taiwo, dÃ lavoro a un approccio molto singolare che svela le cause alla radice (fattori) che producono o erodere il rispetto tra le persone. Il risultato Ã¨ un potente rivelazione che offre una profonda esaminare comportamento umano e processi di pensiero che rimodellare il lettore sta pensando.
Il concetto di rispetto Ã¨ presentato in una nuova luce e prospettiva, e una forte caso Ã¨ fatto sul ruolo rispetto svolge nella definizione e promozione di successo nella vita. Genitori, giovani, adulti e giovani professionisti stand trarre enormi benefici da questo innovativo e intrigante all'autoresponsabilizzazione libro sul rispetto.

The underlined parts are where there is something wrong (either the term, or the grammar, or something missing).

Re: Another little question concerning the translation of SH

Huevos — Fri, 09 May 2008 21:11:59 GMT

Ant_222
I don't want to omit the article before "grey rocks". Is it possible?

Yes, it's possible but it changes the meaning. Use the definite article where the noun is already known to the listener/reader or has been introduced in a prior sentence.

Re: Any+singular or plural noun?

Anonymous — Mon, 05 May 2008 07:04:54 GMT

The problem with non native speakers could be because of the translation from their native languages. It could also because of the fact that most of the non native speakers think in their native languages when they have to speak and try to put words in english that would be of close match. If we start thinking in English, the problem can be resolve I guess.

Also, English as a language is very unscientific and has no logical reasoning. For many a things, we have to blindly agree.

All the best

Mistakes made by Chinese Learners

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 14:30:26 GMT

Hi everyone

I just wondered if anyone could help - I have to write a profile of a chinese learner of English (completely made up). In it I must put any difficulties that the learner has in learning English as an L2. I have got so far:

Intonation transfer from L1 may cause them to be perceived as rude/inconsiderate, more serious transfer may affect comprehensiveness.
No inflections in L1 - tenses difficult to learn in L2 as L1 has no true tenses and concept of time is expressed by adverbs/implicit or contextual assumptions.
Difficulty distinguishing [r] & - Does anyone know why this is as I can't find a reason?!!
Prepositions such as 'on', 'in' & 'at' have one chinese translation in many contexts, 'zai' - may be confused resulting in phrases such as 'on Taiwan' instead of 'in Taiwan'.
Use of awkward gerunds e.g. 'no noising', excessive use of verbs ending in 'ing' e.g. 'do not climbing', confusion of 'ed' & 'ing' verbs e.g. 'i am bored' vs 'i am boring' --- all of these errors occur because verbs are not conjugated in chinese, for tense or pronoun.
No equivalent word for 'the' so may be used excessively when not needed e.g. 'The China' or missed out when needed. May also be confused with 'a'/'an'.
Confusion over countable and uncountable nouns, use of 'how much?' vs 'how many?' - leads to phrases such as 'I want a soup' & 'a lot of shoe'. This is due to there not being plurals in chinese - no inflections.

Switching between 'he' & 'she' - Does anyone know why this is?

If anyone can think of anymore it would be greatly appreciated or if anyone knows the answers to my questions about gender switching and distinguishing [r] & this would also help a lot!!

Thank you in advance.

Shannon