Search results for 'tag:Prepositions tag:Conditionals' matching tags 'Prepositions' and 'Conditionals'

Re: real or unreal

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 01:33:41 GMT

Thank you.

You wrote:

If the preposition is in the middle of the sentence, [the pronoun] 'whom' would be necessary.

To me using the word "seem" in a "would" clause seems very peculiar. Omiting the word "would" from the "would" clause also seems peculiar.

To me, having a 'would' in a conditional sentence would stand out as 'wrong'. We only seem to use 'would' in a second conditional and rarely in a first conditional of the case involving mutual reciprocity like here.

If you would give me a pencil, I would give you a pen.
If you happened to give me a pencil, I would give you a pen.

real or unreal

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 06:45:14 GMT

Hi,

If you have an if-clause like the one below, does it have to be unreal and not real or some-extent doubtful?

I used/wrote this sentence to ask a question:
If the preposition was in the middle of the sentence, 'whom' seemed to be needed.

I used this sentence as sort of the reverse of the first conditional. Did I do right?

If the preposition is in the middle of the sentence, 'whom' seems to be needed.

This wasn't the focus of my inquiry though. I think this is an age-old? question but as I said at the start "If you have an if-clause like the one below, does it have to be unreal and not real or some-extent doubtful?"
If the preposition was in the middle of the sentence, 'whom' seemed to be needed.

How about this? Should a person writing a conditional sentence know how probable the 'if'?? factor?? is?

If he was in the park, he would be playing tennis. -- Oh, well, on a second thought, it would be hard to make a conditional sentence like this without setting up an unreal context and this should have 'were' instead of 'was'. Can you think of a situation where 'was' would prevail -- while maintaining the similar structure?

Re: corrections

Ant_222 — Fri, 09 May 2008 20:44:09 GMT

Â«If you hadn't stopped at the grocery store, we wouldn't have missed our flight and would be in Italy now (my preference - 2nd conditional), would have arrived in Italy now( 3rd) , would have been in Italy (3rd I guess but somehow lacking something :) )Â»

All correct except the last variation which _is_ lacking someting.

Â«If you hadn't stopped at the grocery store, we wouldn't have missed our flight and would have been in ItalyÂ» â if you think this sentence may be correct in a certain context, than please provide one and tell what it would mean. Otherwise I can't tell you anyting more about it...

Â«Let's push the event back in time by 10 years, the 2nd condition will fail because most likely it was just a vacation so you would have returned to yoru home country. In this case, the last choice stands out better, I think. On second thought, it would require changing the preposition from 'in' to 'to' or changing the verb to 'visited'Â»

Then, the right sentence would be:
Â«If you hadn't stopped at the grocery store we wouldn't have missed our flight and would have arrived to Italy on timeÂ» â Assuming they got to Italy by another plane, say on the next day, or
Â«If you hadn't stopped at the grocery store we wouldn't have missed our flight and would have visited ItalyÂ» â assuming they failed to go to Italy that year.

The verb "visit" is perfective while "be" is not â that's the problem with your original sentence, but I think it can be fixed by specifting the time:
Â«If you hadn't stopped at the grocery store we wouldn't have missed our flight and would have been in Italy by SundayÂ»

Re: corrections

New2grammar — Fri, 09 May 2008 20:20:07 GMT

Thanks Ant for your reply. I get it now.

REgarding the last point, I would have been in the hospital is, I think, a third conditional

For example,

If you hadn't stopped at the grocery store, we wouldn't have missed our flight and would be in Italy now (my preference - 2nd conditional), would have arrived in Italy now( 3rd) , would have been in Italy (3rd I guess but somehow lacking something :) )

What do you think?

(Edit, let's push the Italy event back in time by 10 years, the 2nd condition will fail because most likely it was just a vacation so you would have returned to yoru home country. In this case, the last choice stands out better, I think. On second thought, it would require changing the preposition from 'in' to 'to' or changing the verb to 'visited')

(Edit 2: I would have been in the hospital means "he would have been hospitalized and discharged" right?. A little help here. I'm not good at conditionals. I always struggle with them :( )

Re: I need clarification on this

Buddhaheart — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 02:06:47 GMT

1. We really appreciate your giving us your opinion regarding this issue. OK

2. We really appreciate you giving us your opinion regarding this issue. Not OK

What comes after the main verb âappreciateâ is a noun phrase âyour giving â¦â. âGivingâ is a gerund acting as a noun. What precedes a noun must be a determiner and in this case âyourâ. âYouâ is a pronoun and therefore is incorrect.

You could turn these sentences into a complex one thus âWe really appreciate the fact that you considered our opinion regarding this issue.â

3. We are looking forward to your giving us your feedback. OK

âToâ here functions as a preposition and NOT as a marker of infinitive. Therefore âyour giving â¦â is noun phrase and the above reasoning also governs.

4. If it wasn't for my healing, he'd still be half dead. OK

Type II Conditional expressing unreal condition. He wasnât half dead because of me.

5. It was my talking that convinced him into believing us.

âConvincedâ means âcaused to believeâ. Consider revising the sentence thus: âIt was my sweet talking that convinced him.â or âI persuaded him to believe in us.â & etc.

6. It was my healing them that made them (to) win *won the fight.

The verb after âmadeâ is an infinitive without the marker âtoâ. A simple infinitive canât be in the past tense. For example, make me (to) cry (*cried); make me go (*went) away & so on

Re: Specific questions about translation of a CV

Feebs11 — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 20:28:40 GMT

Colombo wrote:
I'm trying to translate my CV into English, but I'm finding a lot of difficulties. Apart from the overall chronic style of the result, there are certain things that I find I don't know how to say. I'm copying a list here, in case someone can lend me a hand (for which I'd be immensely grateful). I am sorry to ask so many questions (I've tried to find the answers in dictionaries before asking), and I hope I'm writing in the correct forum (I think all my questions are more voabulary- than grammar-oriented).

- Should the names of institutions be translated? I don't do so, in general, but I wonder whether it could/should be done when the translation is literal and unequivocal (for example, like in "Polytechnic University of Madrid"), or when it might be useful to know what the institution is (like in "Programme for the Assessment of Teachers of the Spanish Office for the Assessment of Quality and Credentials"... Whatever that is - I hardly understand it, even in Spanish!) Not necessary to do so - if you feel there is a difficulty, put the translation in brackets.

- Which preposition must I use to indicate where I got a degree? "A degree from the University X"? Yes

- Talking of degrees, I'm not sure which one I've got. I know there are BSc, MSc and PhD, but I don't know very well how to determine whether what I've got is a BSc or a MSc. Does one choose between one and the other, or does one need to have a BSc in order to study a MSc? Here in Spain, one can choose between studying a short or a long degree (3 or 4 years in the first case, 6 in the second). After getting any of these degrees, one can start working towards a PhD directly (I mean, those people who have studied the short degree don't need to compensate by studying another couple of years before beginning their PhD studies). I've got one of the long degrees (6 years), so would that be a BSc or a MSc? I'd like to make it clear that it's been a long degree, but I don't know whether I should have made some kind of post-graduate studies in order to call it a MSc. And also, are the BSc and the MSc the same things in British and American English?   BSc = Bachelor of Science; MSc = Master of Science - the latter indicates you have taken a further degree. Put the Spanish name of your degree and explain its nature if asked.

- In these 6-year degrees, after one has passed all the subjects, a final research work must be done in order to get the degree. What's its name (if there's an equivalence) in the UK and the US? Post-graduate study/research.

- PhD degrees over here consist of two separate parts: two years of courses and two-to-infinite years of research work. Once you've finished the first of these parts, you get a certificate stating you've studied all those courses (in case someone knows the Spanish universitary structure, I'm taking about the "Diploma de Estudios Avanzados"). Is there anything equivalent in the British and American systems? I don't think I could call it a MSc, since this certificate's actually a part of the PhD degree. In the UK a university is free to admit anyone to a Ph.D. programme; however, in practice, admission is usually conditional on the prospective student having successfully completed an undergraduate degree with at least upper second class honours, or a postgraduate master's degree

- Is there any technical established term for a "course on work-related risks"? I've translated it directly from Spanish, but I don't know whether there is a better way to say it (although I think it's easily understood as it is). Not as such - there are many courses that include this topic, particularly those relating to Health and Safety or Physiotherapy.

- What is the technical term for a person who is in charge of a R&D project? "Head researcher"? Possibly "Supervisor".

- Is it right to say "Assistant PhD teacher" to indicate a job as assistant teacher for which a PhD degree is required (not a job as assistant teacher for PhD students). Not a term that is used in the UK. It would probalby be termed "Assistant Teacher. This post requires a PhD or equivalent."

- Another question about prepositions: does one play an instrument in an orchestra?   Yes

- Is it right to say something like "2003: beginning of studies of x"? "began studies relating to...."/"started studies of...."

- Could anyone tell me where I can find the "official" names of the subjects in a music degree? Or, more specifically, I need to know the name of a subject in which the different musical forms and structures are studied. Some sites for UK universities:   http://www.admissions.ox.ac.uk/courses/musi.shtml:
http://www.ukwebstart.com/musicdrama-colleges.html
Thank you very much in advance for your help! I would have copied here the whole CV, but I thought that would be too much...

Re: Check my mistakes,please

CalifJim — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 02:23:47 GMT

<<Do we have to use the definite article "the" for each tense or not? >>
To be very strict about it, yes, but we frequently write telegraphically and leave out the the, especially on this site, where we use the names of the tenses so often.

<<1.In the use of the Present Simple. I would use the here, yes.
2.The Present Perfect Tense or Present Perfect Tense. Either, as explained above.
3.Translate the following sentences into the Past Unreal Conditional. With the is better.
4.Complete the sentences using Past Simple or the Past Simple. Either. >>

Adding the the sounds better when the tense name comes after a preposition.
_____________

<<Check the following sentences,please:
   A: Why didn't you prepare anything yesterday? OK.
   B: Because I didn't know they ~~will~~ would come. (Sequence of tenses. did - would)
       If I had known that they would come, I would have prepared everything. OK.
    - If they had told me they would come, I would have prepared everything. OK.
>>

<<1. This program is on the air ~~everyday~~ every day except on Sundays.>>

<<Which one is correct?
1. Why ~~I couldn't~~ get in touch with you yesterday?
2. Why couldn't I get in touch with you yesterday? >>

Only the second. You have to invert subject and verb for a question unless the subject is being questioned.(Which came first? or Who did that?)
____________

In the future it would be more convenient if you made separate posts for each of your questions instead of putting so many different ones all in one post.

CJ

Re: please correct this

Doll — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 13:56:38 GMT

1-... You yourself might have experienced those frustrating long hours sitting in a clumsy chair with your reading material on the desk that ..... Yourself is unnecessary here.

2-Let us honestly ask ourselves how effective those long hours were?... the place of honestly doesn't sound good to my ears.

3-...if you were sitting in a chair that fitted just right and supported your body well ... I would say a chair which fits and supports your body well... just to make the sentence shorter and easier to understand.

4-.. If you will say 'yes' to those four questions.. You cannot say will after if in a conditional sentence.

5- ...you have already grasp ... The correct form is you have already grasped.

6- qualified furniture

7- I would use for instead of the preposition to.

8- ... If you are worrying about your kid's ... I don't relish the idea of using present continuous with worry. Semantically, it makes your sentence strange. (maybe it just sounds to me like that) Say worry or feel worried ( this changes according to the meaning you want to give us) because parents generally worry about such things.

9- ...why not seriously consider attending this seminar? Why don't you seriously consider attending this seminar?

10- ...and learn what you can do to help him to study more effectively .. As far as I know the rule is help someone do something . So, I wouldn't use to here.

Re: preposition questions.

Grammar Geek — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 13:47:39 GMT

1. "Let's move at that specific time. They will have left." (context: you don't want to find yourself in the same room as some other people.) Do you mean "Let's GO then"? Let's go at 8. They will have left by then.

2. What are the correct sentences to say "she looks at nothing": "She stares into space" or "She looks in the empty" or "She is staring out in the empty" or "She focuses on nothing". She is staring off into space is commonly heard. Not the "empty" ones.

3. "You could've discover(ed) that secret." Yes, there's a conditional here. You could have discovered that secret IF...

4. "It is time to move / (The) Time has come to move" (which of the two looks best?) "It's time to move" sounds more natual. There is nothing ungrammatical about the other, but it makes me think of a Jabberwocky (sp?) from Lewis Carol.

5. Does one have to use the 's in that kind of situation: "The workers' money / The workers's money." Yes. The first is more than one worker, the second is one worker.

Hope that helped.

Re: preposition `to'

Philip — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 07:26:25 GMT

User_gary wrote:

It can help me understand the first conditional statements.

It can help me to understand the first conditional statements.

Is this preposition `to' necessary for this sentence?

It's o.k., but not necessary.