Search results for 'tag:Pronouns tag:Dialects' matching tags 'Pronouns' and 'Dialects'

Re: One of many problems faced by English learners is their own misconceptions.

Avangi — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:27:00 GMT

Jackson6612

Avangi
either "learners of the English language," or "English language learners."
Why is article the essential here? There is only one English language. e.g. I'm learning Chinese language these days. Is there any need to specify Chinese language using the? The use of the is justified in sentences as in ''I'm learning the Southern American English dialect nowadays. The article is required in all of these. I honestly have no idea why. My guess is that "language" is the object of the verb "to learn," and would require an article if it were used without "English" as a modifier. To qualify for standing without the article, a "subject of study" must be one of a few very well-established courses. "I'm majoring in Romance Languages at university." Here, Romance Languages is the recognized name of a well-established course of study, as is Chinese. In the case of a dialect, the indefinite article would be used if there were more than one. Avangi
<<One - - is their own misconceptions.>> IMO there should be number agreement here. Possibly, "One - - - is dealing with their own misconceptions."
Yes, there should be number agreement between verb and object. If I followed your suggestion then the sentence would read: One of many problems faced by learners of the English language is that they are dealing with their own misconceptions. Is that what you suggested? That would be fine. I was considering "that they are" to be optional, as the gerund "dealing" may serve by itself as predicate nominative following the being verb "is." Avangi
This is about "learners." You refer back five times with "they." At some point you might remind the reader who "they" are. Eg, "these learners," "the students," something else of your choosing.
Is choosing'' used as a present participle in the above context? I'd say functionally it's a gerund, serving as object of the preposition "of." The other option, "choice," would of course be a noun.
Avangi
<<During the learning process, they should stop taking the machinery of their native tongue for granted.>> As the final sentence of the first paragraph, this seems enigmatic. It's very well phrased, but the meaning is less than obvious (to me.) I feel like I want an additional sentence by way of (=as means of, as a type of) explanation, or clarification. Optionally, you could make your "machinery" image a little easier to connect up.
How can I make the machinery image a little easier to connect up? How did I know you were going to ask me that danged question?? During the learning process they should remind themselves that the machinery of their native tongue was a long time in [the] building and fine-tuning, and they must be willing to devote an equal effort to the new language. (I'm not sure I have your intention right.)
Avangi
In the second paragraph, at first blush (=when first thought of or considered) the antecedent (=a word or phrase which a pronoun refers back to) of "They" would seem to be "English speakers."
Yes, you are right. I will be more careful about such constructions in future.
Avangi
Have you verified that "idiomaticness" is a word? Or is it a "nonce (=occurring, used, or made only once or for a special occasion) word"?
It is a proper word according to the Merriam-Webster's dictionary.

Congratulations on your hard work. - A.

Edit. "Why is the article "the" essential here?"

Re: One of many problems faced by English learners is their own misconceptions.

Jackson6612 — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 22:13:32 GMT

Hi Avangi,

Avangi
either "learners of the English language," or "English language learners."

Why is article the essential here? There is only one English language. e.g. I'm learning Chinese language these days. Is there any need to specify Chinese language using the? The use of the is justified in sentences as in ''I'm learning the Southern American English dialect nowadays.

Avangi
<<One - - is their own misconceptions.>> IMO there should be number agreement here. Possibly, "One - - - is dealing with their own misconceptions."

Yes, there should be number agreement between verb and object. If I followed your suggestion then the sentence would read: One of many problems faced by learners of the English language is that they are dealing with their own misconceptions. Is that what you suggested?

Avangi
This is about "learners." You refer back five times with "they." At some point you might remind the reader who "they" are. Eg, "these learners," "the students," something else of your choosing.

Is choosing'' used as a present participle in the above context?

Avangi
<<During the learning process, they should stop taking the machinery of their native tongue for granted.>> As the final sentence of the first paragraph, this seems enigmatic. It's very well phrased, but the meaning is less than obvious (to me.) I feel like I want an additional sentence by way of (=as means of, as a type of) explanation, or clarification. Optionally, you could make your "machinery" image a little easier to connect up.

How can I make the machinery image a little easier to connect up?

Avangi
In the second paragraph, at first blush (=when first thought of or considered) the antecedent (=a word or phrase which a pronoun refers back to) of "They" would seem to be "English speakers."

Yes, you are right. I will be more careful about such constructions in future.

Avangi
Have you verified that "idiomaticness" is a word? Or is it a "nonce (=occurring, used, or made only once or for a special occasion) word"?

It is a proper word according to the Merriam-Webster's dictionary.

Re: Apostrophe or not an apostrophe - that is the question.

igbruce — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 09:34:42 GMT

No. A 'thank you' is a colloquial compound noun, like lounge room or room heater, and the 's' in 'thank yous' signifies the plural, so no apostrophe is used.
Apostrophes are used to express possession e.g. Bob's car; or to indicate some letters have been omitted in a contracted word
e.g. 'can't' is a contracted form of 'cannot'. The only exception to the possessive use is with the pronoun 'it'. When 'it' owns something it is spelled 'its', written as 'it's' it is a contracted form of 'it is' e.g. It's raining in Sydney tonight. I think you are confusing what you have written as 'you's' with the slang term for plural 'you'. 'You' has the same form in singular and plural e.g. You have a nice smile; You all heard that; but some slang usages employ a separate word for the plural, usually written as 'youse'.You never say 'youse' unless you are in a gang or something where a slang dialect is used. It is not an accepted English word and signifies that the user comes from a social strata that is very low class or gang oriented.

Ian

Re: if you were

Kooyeen — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 20:35:05 GMT

Grammar Geek
Although I'd say "It was him" more readily than "It was he" as a stand-alone sentence, once you put the "who suggeseted it" part on, I go back to the nominative

Then I don't know. There might be regional and dialectal differences. I'm sure the object pronoun is often used in those sentences, but if it doesn't sound good to you, then its usage is maybe not as widespread as I thought (or at least not in all dialects).

N2G

I like him (not he)

This topic is getting very interesting and at the same time worrying (what I've learned could be wrong!)

Yes! If you go to Jamaica, you'll find out you should say Me like him! Although "I like him" should be ok in high or middle registers.

Hisself instead of himself.

WANG CHUN — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 06:37:12 GMT

Hello

I wonder why some nonstandard dialects of English use the reflexive pronouns hisself instead of himself.

Thank you for your answer.

Re: correct sentence??

Ruslana — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 10:29:06 GMT

From answers.com:

Speakers of some vernacular American dialects, particularly in the South, may use the possessive reflexive form hisself instead of himself (as in He cut hisself shaving) and theirselves or theirself for themselves (as in They found theirselves alone). These forms reflect the tendency of speakers of vernacular dialects to regularize irregular patterns found in the corresponding standard variety. In Standard English, the pattern of reflexive pronoun forms shows slightly irregular patterning; all forms but two are composed of the possessive form of the pronoun and âself or âselves, as in myself or ourselves. The exceptions are himself and themselves, which are formed by attaching the suffix âself/âselves to the object forms of he and they rather than their possessive forms. Speakers who use hisself and theirselves are smoothing out the pattern's inconsistencies by applying the same rule to all forms in the set. â¢ A further regularization is the use of âself regardless of number, yielding the forms ourself and theirself. Using a singular form in a plural context may seem imprecise, but the plural meaning of ourself and theirself is made clear by the presence of the plural forms ourâ and theirâ. Hisself and theirselves have origins in British English and are still prevalent today in vernacular speech in England.

I'm for the Standard English.

Re: What do you know about the history of English?

nona the brit — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 07:58:36 GMT

Some of the Scandinavian languages have had an effect on the development of English. If you google 'the Danelaw' you will see that Norwegian and Danish Vikings were in control of a large area of north and east England back in the 11th Century. This led to Old Norse giving many 'loan words' to English and a strong influence on people's names, place-names, and the dialect of the area, even up to today. For example, Old Norse was responsible for introducing the third person plural pronouns they, them and their. This influence is seen by many as the cause of the 'north-south' language divide.

Re: what kind of comparative structure is it?

Marius Hancu — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 13:33:11 GMT

--------
as

Function:pronoun

1 a : THAT, WHO, WHICH -- used to introduce an adjectival clause and having same or such as antecedent <their children should grow up in the same intellectual culture as they have enjoyed -- G.B.Jeffery> <tears such as angels weep burst forth -- John Milton> b now dialect: THAT, WHO, WHICH -- used to introduce an adjectival clause and having a noun or pronoun as antecedent <a lot of things happened ... as never ought to -- Richard Llewellyn> <was going to tell the gospel to them as had ears -- R.P.Warren>

2 : a fact that : THAT <he is a foreigner, as is evident from his accent> <I have used thee, filth as thou art, with humane care -- Shakespeare>

http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com
--------

Incho:
I think you should read less grammar and more novels/fiction. Seriously.
Perhaps you're already doing that.
Just my 2 cents.

Re: contraction

Likeguslee — Sat, 15 Jul 2006 06:19:31 GMT

b is correct. He isn't a good boy

Here are the rules for contractions:

Apostrophes with Verb Contractions

Apostrophes generally show missing letters in contractions. In most formal writing such contractions should be avoided.

The most common contractions involve verbs in five situations.

1. Verbs with not contracted, or shortened.

Examples: aren't don't isn't wasn't can't weren't weren't wouldn't doesn't hasn't haven't couldn't

Note: The word won't is a contraction of will not--in older dialects will was often spelled with an o. The word shan't for shall not is seldom used in the United States. The word ain't is considered nonstandard.

2. Pronouns with will.

Examples: I'll you'll he'll she'll they'll

Note: In conversation the word will is often slurred and may show up in dialogue as 'll after most nouns, e.g., "John'll come home soon."

3. Pronouns and nouns with the verb to be.

Examples: I'm you're who's (i.e., who is) he's she's it's we're they're

Note: In conversation the word is is often contracted with nouns, e.g. "Martha's here."

Please note four confusing contractions:

who's it's you're they're

Remember, the apostrophe indicates that letters have been left out.

who's = who is or who has you're = you are it's = it is or it has they're = they are

The possessive of who is whose.

Correct: Who's coming with me? (Contraction)

Correct: Whose book is this? (Possessive)

4. Pronouns with the verb to have.

Examples: I've he's you've we've they've

(Note that the 's could stand for is or has.)

Note: Sometimes the word have is slurred, especially after verbs like would, could, and should. In dialogue this can be shown as 've, but never as of.

Incorrect: We would of like to have gone.

Correct: We would've liked to have gone.

(To show contraction in speaking)

Correct: We would have liked to have gone.

(In more formal writing)

5. Pronouns with would or had contracted.

Examples: I'd he'd she'd you'd we'd they'd

I'd better go.

(I had better go.)

He'd want to go.

(He would want to go.)

In everyday conversation the word would is often slurred and may be shown as 'd following a noun in dialogue, e.g. "John'd be upset if he found out."

Re: The Pronoun I

rvw — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 22:01:37 GMT

The following is from the Online Etymology Dictionary.

I 12c. shortening of O.E. ic, first person sing. nom. pronoun, from P.Gmc. *ekan (cf. O.Fris. ik, O.N. ek, Norw. eg, Dan. jeg, O.H.G. ih, Ger. ich, Goth. ik), from PIE *ego(m) (cf. Skt. aham, Hitt. uk, L. ego, Gk. ego, Rus. ja). Reduced to i by 1137 in northern England, it began to be capitalized c.1250 to mark it as a distinct word and avoid misreading in handwritten manuscripts. The form ich or ik, especially before vowels, lingered in northern England until c.1400 and survived in southern dialects until 18c. The dot on the "small" letter -i- began to appear in 11c. L. manuscripts, to distinguish the letter from the stroke of another letter (such as -m- or -n-). Originally a diacritic, it was reduced to a dot with the introduction of Roman type fonts. The basic word for "I" in Japanese is watakushi, but it is not much used. Words that boys usually use are boku (polite) or ore (OH-ray), a rougher word, which can be rude depending on the situation. Girls usually use atashi (a feminine-sounding word) or the neutral watashi, but a tomboy might use boku like boys do.