Search results for 'tag:Present tenses tag:Uncountable nouns' matching tags 'Present tenses' and 'Uncountable nouns'

Re: lots of tought (to me) questions...will there be a good soul ;) ?

Grammar Geek — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 22:25:41 GMT

1. Here is a sentence from the key "But I hope you know what you're doing" I'm wondering... Can we say "I'm hoping" or rather not? and is it totally incorrect or in other contexts it would be ok? Grammatically it's okay, but "I hope" sounds more natural to me at the moment.

2. Just tell me if I'm right or not. The verb "to recognise" cannot have the gerund form, can it? Sure it can. After that terrible blow to his head left Petr without any memory, his recognizing his wife is a good sign.

3. "I can see from what you say that your mornings are very busy! But what do you do in the afternoons?"

a) could it be "...from what you are saying..." ? and what's the difference between these two? That's fine. No big difference that I can find.
b) If I wanted to ask about something temporary or someone's plans could I ask "What are you DOING in the afternoons" or not? Sure. With your wife away all week, what are you doing with your evenings? Can you come over and play some poker?

4. "Emerson is currently top of the driver's league" - why is there no "at" before "top" ? I don't know - I would have said "at the top" but I'm not familiar with the driver's league, so perhaps I'm not reading this correctly.

5. "The food tastes even worse now. You have put too much salt in" - why is there no "it" after "in" ? It's implied.

6. "I'm forever picking you hairs out of the bath!" your hairs.

a) why "hairs" instead of "hair" ? I always thought that "hair" is an uncountable noun..."Your hair" is that mass on top of your head and is uncountable. "Your hairs" are more than one of those individual strands that have fallen out.
b) why "forever" ??? what does it mean ??? does it mean "always" ? Yes, I keep having to do it over and over.

7. "Fortunately the baby now sleeps all night" - shouldn't "now" be at the end of the sentence? It can move around - I think it's fine there and really draws attention to the fact that it's a change from "before."

8. "I hear that you have been promoted!"

a) I don't understand why there is "hear" in the present tense instead of something like "heard" or "have heard" Does "hear" is equall in meaning with "heard" ? It's a very recent "learning." "I hear" in the present like this means "it's being discussed and I heard it."
b) what's the difference between "heard" and " have heard" ?

9. "I hope Sarah will be here soon. I'm depending on her" How is it different from "I depend on her" ? Any change of meaning? Yes, "I'm depending on her" means that you need her now, for this project. "I depend on her" is a habitual or ongoing need.

10. Tricky thing What is the difference between:

a) speak to
b) talk to
c) speak with
d) talk with

For example, I always have doubts whether to say "May I speak to..." or "May I speak with..." or "May I talk to..." or "May I talk with..." On the phone, they are quite similar, espcially if the same polite tone is used. Do a search on here on speak and talk and you'll find this discussed a lot.

11. "Jane is away on holiday." Does the word "holiday" has always the same form? Or maybe it can be used with -s ? "holidayS" ? Do a search on here for this one too.

12. Roght or wrong - the verb "to suspect" cannot be used like : "I'm suspecting her" ,can it? You can, but it's not that common. It means you suspect her now, but not recently, and you don't think you will later.

13. "I'm seeing how wide the door is"

a) hmm... "seeing" ??? what does it mean? You are in the process of measuring it, right then.
b) "door" or "doors" ? I don't know - are there two doors?

14. "I'm finding it really enjoyable to work here" Why not "I find it..." Any difference in meaning? Perhaps if it's a new job? You haven't had time to make this "finding" a permenent or habitual feeling.

15. How do you feel today? VS How are you feeling today? I don't see much difference.

16. Does the word "trouble" have the "troubles" form? and in what contexts? (which?) Yes, when you have distinct kinds of trouble. Man trouble, money trouble, job trouble - You face many troubles.

17. Is this sentence OK? "I'm wondering... Can we say "I'm hoping" or rather not? and is it totally incorrect or in other contexts it would be ok?" Sorry, I'm not sure what you're asking here.

Have I done any mistakes/errors in the above points? Perhaps you could post fewer at a time?

lots of tought (to me) questions...will there be a good soul ;) ?

Forum_mail — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 22:08:36 GMT

Hi folks! I know that I have A LOT OF questions... but I hope someone can at least take a look at them... let's start.

I've got some dobuts about the following :
(all examples come from Michael Vince's 'Advanced Language Practice')

1. Here is a sentence from the key "But I hope you know what you're doing" I'm wondering... Can we say "I'm hoping" or rather not? and is it totally incorrect or in other contexts it would be ok?

2. Just tell me if I'm right or not. The verb "to recognise" cannot have the gerund form, can it?

3. "I can see from what you say that your mornings are very busy! But what do you do in the afternoons?"

a) could it be "...from what you are saying..." ? and what's the difference between these two?
b) If I wanted to ask about something temporary or someone's plans could I ask "What are you DOING in the afternoons" or not?

4. "Emerson is currently top of the driver's league" - why is there no "at" before "top" ?

5. "The food tastes even worse now. You have put too much salt in" - why is there no "it" after "in" ?

6. "I'm forever picking you hairs out of the bath!"

a) why "hairs" instead of "hair" ? I always thought that "hair" is an uncountable noun...
b) why "forever" ??? what does it mean ??? does it mean "always" ?

7. "Fortunately the baby now sleeps all night" - shouldn't "now" be at the end of the sentence?

8. "I hear that you have been promoted!"

a) I don't understand why there is "hear" in the present tense instead of something like "heard" or "have heard" Does "hear" is equall in meaning with "heard" ?
b) what's the difference between "heard" and " have heard" ?

9. "I hope Sarah will be here soon. I'm depending on her" How is it different from "I depend on her" ? Any change of meaning?

10. Tricky thing What is the difference between:

a) speak to
b) talk to
c) speak with
d) talk with

For example, I always have doubts whether to say "May I speak to..." or "May I speak with..." or "May I talk to..." or "May I talk with..."

11. "Jane is away on holiday." Does the word "holiday" has always the same form? Or maybe it can be used with -s ? "holidayS" ?

12. Roght or wrong - the verb "to suspect" cannot be used like : "I'm suspecting her" ,can it?

13. "I'm seeing how wide the door is"

a) hmm... "seeing" ??? what does it mean?
b) "door" or "doors" ?

14. "I'm finding it really enjoyable to work here" Why not "I find it..." Any difference in meaning?

15. How do you feel today? VS How are you feeling today?

16. Does the word "trouble" have the "troubles" form? and in what contexts? (which?)

17. Is this sentence OK? "I'm wondering... Can we say "I'm hoping" or rather not? and is it totally incorrect or in other contexts it would be ok?"

Have I done any mistakes/errors in the above points?

Thanks for your patience... Take care folks!

Re: Cheers, what else?

Yoong Liat — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 18:26:12 GMT

Since I write to my friend almost every day I thought that I could write "I use to write" while "I used" means that I don't write mails anymore ....not quite sure if it is correct though " src="/emoticons/emotion-4.gif">

I used to write refers to what you wrote in the past. I use to write is not the present tense of I used to write.

We can write 'emails', but not 'mails' because 'mail' is an uncountable noun.