Search results for 'tag:Spelling tag:Word order' matching tags 'Spelling' and 'Word order'

Re: SUPERATIVE?

Cool Breeze — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 06:30:56 GMT

Avangi
Perhaps I should learn what "absolute" implies in this context - not relative? That is, not compared to anything else? I guess that would fit.

Your guess is correct, Avangi. The term "relative superlative" is rarely used even in Finland, but it does exist here. I suppose European grammarians think it's enough to distinguish the two superlatives if one of them has a modifier (absolute).

I think the development of the absolute superlative would have been different if there had been a Language Academy in England about 600 years ago. (There isn't one even now.) No doubt the members of the academy would have realized what a mess the absolute superlative was in English and would at least have tried to make some amendments. Nowadays the usage is too settled for anyone to do anything about it. The British have a dislike for such an academy, which just results from the fact that there never was one. Had there been one centuries ago, the British would embrace it today the way they go for other traditions. In France the equivalent academy did a good job of standardizing French spelling in the early days of the printing press.

Usage is interesting sometimes. People say: He was most kind. However, I don't think native speakers very often say: The performance was most great. Yet there is absolutely nothing ungrammatical in the sentence. We have "most" + a monosyllabic adjective in each sentence. In fact, the performance was most great is a sentence I might say because I am a kind of nonconformist who dislikes the idea that I should be restricted to the generally accepted phrases used by native speakers.

It is understandable that one can't change the rigid word order of English as there are hardly any inflections. One can play with some other features of the language, though.

Re: Please check for grammar mistakes

nona the brit — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 12:28:32 GMT

Why are stock markets across world feeling the heat? Careful of word order in questions. I've highlighed other problem areas - grammar/punctuation/word choice blue and spelling red. I think you are using Americans when you want 'America's'.

A decade ago when Americans purchasing power was the highest, they went on the buying spree across the globe. At that point in time the economy was souring high and the ambition of Americans was skyrocketing. They indeed brought more than what they earned, it led to trade deficit. But foreign reserves of developing countries like India, China started overflowing which helped their GDP move upwards. Once Federal Government tighten the housing loan interest rates, American buying trend reversed and now the stock markets across the globe is feeling the heat. Recessiopn is hovering over the American market

Re: Thus it explained spelling, grammar, phonetics, and usage...

Clive — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 17:08:38 GMT

Hi,

Thus it explained spelling, grammar, phonetics, and usage much more extensively than would a dictionary for native English speakers.

Do you think the above sentence is correct? Should it be written as:
Thus it explained...than a dictionary for native English speakers would?

It's fine. It's just a somewhat literary word order.
You might perhaps put a comma after 'thus'.

Clive

Re: How do English proverbs translate into your language?

Tanit — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 12:28:58 GMT

In Italian:

He is as poor as a church mouse >> He is poor in reed. (it's not a misspelling for "red" ... it's the plant! it doesn't make sense, does it?)
When in Rome, do as the Romans do. >> Town where you go, tradition that you find. ( not only is it ungrammatical, it's also weird!)
All that glitters is not gold. >> Exactly the same, apart from word order (I wonder whether it's the same order as in Finnish ...)
The last straw >> The last drop (which makes the vase overflow)
A leopard cannot change its spots >> Lions lose their fur, but not their habits.

Cannot think of anything similar to "To carry coal to Newcastle".

Re: Proficiency alongside "poverty".

Cool Breeze — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 23:02:24 GMT

Hi Forbes

Thank you for your long reply. I do appreciate it. I would just like to say that I my opinion is based on the knowledge I have of the Germanic and Romance languages and it is of course very subjective. I fully understand that not everyone agrees with me and what I consider easy may be difficult for some others as I have already said. However, I have given my honest opinion and I don't think you or anybody else would want me to lie on this forum? I'll add some comments.

I thought that might be what you were getting at.

I think it is a mistake to equate complexity solely with the degree of inflectional morphology of a language. I agree. I was talking about morphology only. To my mind I made no mistake. I do know what is difficult about English.

I have never studied Finnish, but I would be willing to bet that at least one of the following is true:

1. that a language with at least 30 cases has a corresponding lack of prepositions

There are only about 15 cases in Finnish - I don't actually remember the exact number and didn't bother to check, but we always
have a different form for the plural and that explains the 30. It is true that Finnish has fewer prepositions than English. In my opinion the number of changes made to words and the number of inflections cause far more difficulties for nonnative learners than the number of English prepositions, though..

2. that word order is fairly free and is used to express different emphases Correct.

3. that the inflectional morphology, though complex, is regular Correct again. Someone has said that there are ten rules in English grammar and 10,000 exceptions and 10,000 rules in Finnish grammar and ten exceptions. That's not quite true, though.

4. that it is perhaps not quite so difficult to learn once you begin to get the hang of it That is a matter of opinion and dispute. Quite a few nonnatives have said it is very difficult. They say it is hopeless to try and master the grammar from books. There may or may not be some truth in this. The number of "rules" must seem endless to some and people say it's a better idea not to worry too much about all the inflections and changes in the middle of the words but just go where people talk and learn the grammatical complexities by ear.

I have to say that I have met one or two Finns and they do seem to relish the idea that Finnish is a "difficult" language. I have also met some "Swedish Finnish" (I am not sure what the correct term is) and they all tell me that they are bilingual in Swedish and Finnish. They will of course have been helped in acquiring Finnish because either they live in a bilingual community or started to learn the language at an early age (I am not sure how it works) so they would not have been prejudiced by any concept of "difficulty". I expect that your idea that Finnish is difficult is confirmed by the fact that you do not know many foreigners living in Finland who have mastered it. This will be because:

1. It is more difficult to learn any language when you are an adult That is true about all languages.

2. Someone who is working full time will not be able to devote more than an hour or two a week to learning the language That is true about all languages.

3. Everyone will find it more convenient to speak to foreigners in English and there is therefore little incentive for them to learn Finnish There is a lot of truth in this. However, there are lots of people who have come to Finland for good and want to learn the language.

4. You keep harping on about how difficult the language is and put them off! I have spoken to Brits in Finland who say the opposite. They say they get encouraged in their efforts to speak Finnish. I don't think we are any better or worse than other people in this respect.

(I live in Spain and all the above applies to expats.)

You think that English is "simple". I venture to suggest that this is because you started to learn it at an early age and were introduced to it gradually so that you did not perceive its difficulties; you acquired your mastery over a long period. Also, I suspect that Finns are "subjected" to English in a way that the English are not subjected to foreign languages. A lot can be learned without realising it.

No. I have perceived its difficulties all right. They are the spelling and the idioms and the exceptions, for me anyway. The grammar, as I understand it, and structure are the easiest of the languages I am familiar with. Mind you, I don't pretend to be perfect in English. Actually, I don't think I deserve the icon, or whatever is the right word, that says I have a good grasp of the language. I would say I have a good grasp of the grammar but my vocabulary isn't at all on a par with native speakers. My knowledge of idioms and colloquialisms could also be much better.

Consider the following:

There is no single way of negating verbs in English. I do not eat, but I must not. I do not have any eggs, but I have not got any eggs.

There is no single way of forming questions. Do you come here a lot? but Can I go out?

True. And a third way: Who came? What happened?

It is not always easy to know when to use the continuous form of the verb. Try and explain why you can say Are you having cakes for tea? but cannot go into a shop and say Are you having cakes?

The meaning of prepositional verbs is not always transparent. John has got it in for me.

English is a highly analytic language and meaning is often derived from context:

A. You keep complaining. Have you got it in for me?

B. I asked you to bring in the shopping. Have you got it in for me?

These are just a tiny example of the complexities of English and they have nothing to do with inflectional morphology.

I am familiar with these things and I admit I make mistakes using expressions and tenses. However, I was referring to the fact that English words have only a handful of forms and the fewer inflections there are the easier it is to learn them. Using them correctly is indeed another thing, I agree with you there. Other languages have their "difficulties" too. I admit that English is difficult, at least for me, in this respect. No language is easy in every respect, or if there is one, then it is impossible to express nuances in that language.

As I said in my previous post, what is easy for some may be difficult for others. My views are based solely on my experience and I certainly don't expect everybody to agree with me.

Cheers

Re: Life is like a box of chocolates

Clive — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 22:51:35 GMT

Hi again Freya,

You are working hard on this. It's hard to give you general overall comments on this essay, because I know nothing about you, eg your age /level of education, level of English. I've highlighted again and made a few comments.

Best wishes, Clive

Life is like a box of chocolates â you never know what you are going to get

Life is very unpredictable and the decistions we are making can take us to a number of possibilities how rephrase a little it will turn out. In fact it can can be compared to a box of chocolates. The box contains many chocolates with various ingredients such as nougat, fruit, marzipan or even alcohol. We never know what taste will the chocolate you choose have wrong word order. It can happen that we will pick the one with the filling we do not like. Or maybe we will get lucky and will choose the one we love. These chocolates are like the things we get in a life.

We have to decide what paths will we takewrong word order in our personal and professional life and every decision takes us to a different destination, which can suite spelling us or not. No matter how hard a person wants to pave the way for a good life with an education and planning, nothing will ensure him or her omit him or her that the future will be like he or she imagines it. For example, when we choose our way of studies no one actually guarantees us that we will get a job we are educating for. We can end up as the best paid expert on our area or as someone who is unemployed and is grabbing every odd job just to earn a living.

Perhaps add a paragraph about our personal life? You referred to it above, but only dealt with professional.

Not even the best fortune teller can assure us what the future will bring us. But at the end, it is up to us whether we will make out the most word order of what the life has brought us. Even if we do not live perfect lives we can try and be satisfied with the things we have. perhaps a final reference to the chocolates?

please help me correct!!!!

Shasam — Tue, 11 Oct 2005 06:39:43 GMT

1.The weather will remember me England.

( I don't the error here ,and what type it is,word order ,grammar or tenses)

2. The father is very humouristic.

The error here is spelling mistake it must be ( humoristic) but i think this spelling is American ,can i use this speeling here?

PLEASE HELP ME TO CORRECT THIS!!!

Shasam — Tue, 11 Oct 2005 06:32:52 GMT

I cannot correct the following sentence,please try to correct it,

1.The weather will remember me England .

please also say what sort of error it contains - tense,word order ,or grammar .

2. The father is very humouristic.

I think the error in here is the spelling mistake it should be( humoristic ), but is it american?

Are there any more errors ?pls help!!!

Shasam — Thu, 06 Oct 2005 03:34:17 GMT

G (grammar) SP( spelling) T (TENSES) P (punctuation) PR( preposition)WO (word order) V ( vocabulary)

I am 46 years old and married for twenty years .We have got three children,one soon and two daughters .There are

six, eight and eleven years old.I am an electrical engineer and worked for a company who manufactured machines for procession

automatically.

At first, I am going to learn English in Great Britain.It's very important for my job.Then, I would like to have a little compagniy with

about ten coworker for myself.If it isn't possible,i'll manage a department who developed high technology machines.

I became the test sheets for complete and return directly at you .You phoned at your agent about my course at your school in

Bristol.Very thanks for your trouble .I'm happy to come at your school and i'm sure to learn better English.I don't know my flight

numberon 5st March.I would let you as soon as possible.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

soon-son(sp),there-they(Sp).,electricalengineer(Electrical Engineer) (P),worked-work(T),who-which(G),manufactured-manufactures (T),to have-to open (V) compagniy(SP),coworker-coworkers(G),who -which (G)developed- develops(T),very thanks-thank you very much (WO),come at -come to(P) 5st-5th(G) let you as soon-let you know as soon....

I have corrected what i know and i'm not sure how to correct the sentences -,I became the test sheets for complete and return directly at you.You phoned at your agent about my course at your school in Bristol.

Are my other corrections o.k. help please!!!!!

Errors

Shasam — Tue, 27 Sep 2005 03:12:55 GMT

Please help me correct the following passage!!!!!

correct and clssify the error as G(grammar) Sp ( spelling) WO ( word order) P ( punctuation) V (vocabulary) PR (prepositions) T (tense)

I had been in London for about four days , I saw the Tower of London ,the Tower Bridge the Big Ben and the other famous places of this city.To arrive in Bath, I brought a coach.The journey was long but I'm very happy to arrive in this town.I didn't stay here before, but all my friends who saw Bath tell me that it is very beautiful.I hope I enjoy myself very much.