http://www.englishforums.com/search/pro.htm?q=user%3aNestor&o=DateDescendingSearch results for 'user:Nestor'en-USXMOD (Build: 3616.28671)http://www.englishforums.com/English/InsidaWorldOrAGlobal/hzxx/post.htm#36142Tue, 06 Jul 2004 17:50:16 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:36142nestorRenwar3000- I understand. The title actually has two parts--the proper title of the book ("Terrorism") and a subtitle ("Inside a World Phenomenon"). If punctuated with a colon, the title would make more sense--"Terrorism: Inside a World Phenomenon". Anything that comes after a colon in a sentence clarifies what came before the colon, and the same holds true for titles. It follows that if you were writing a book about drugs, you might call it "Drugs: A Global Phenomenon" or "Drugs: Inside a World Phenomenon." But if you simply want to write a sentence about drugs, 'inside a world phenomenon' doesn't make sense the way you wrote it. Nestorhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/MeaningOfThisSentence/hzqp/post.htm#36140Tue, 06 Jul 2004 17:40:56 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:36140nestorMANY THANKS is just another way of saying 'thank-you very much.' "I have no doubt that you would have preferred to be elsewhere" means (roughly) "I know that the work was long and difficult, and you would have rather been somewhere else, doing something else." Nestorhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/SomeQuestionsNativeEnglish-Speakers/hzqz/post.htm#36136Tue, 06 Jul 2004 17:36:53 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:36136nestorHurricane-- Another useful online dictionary is the Merriam-Webster site. It's free and only tries to sell you the print version. No spy-ware either. A word of advice: always look up words you don't understand, even if you think you understand them. I heard 'epitaph' and 'epigram' get mixed up just yesterday. Nestorhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/MontagnardsMnongLanguage/hgrj/post.htmTue, 06 Jul 2004 17:28:48 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:36134nestorDoes anyone know anything about the Montagnard languages of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia? I'm having trouble finding resources on the web that tell me about their grammatical structures. All I really need are some simple concepts--statement and question word orders, placement of adjectives, pronouns, etc. I teach English to Montagnard refugees in the US, and I think it would be helpful to know just a little bit about their language(s). Nestorhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/InWhich/hznq/post.htm#36110Tue, 06 Jul 2004 14:22:27 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:36110nestorrunner (numbers)-- Although I don't see anything in the dictionary that specifically prohibits 'caricature' from being applied to objects, the word most often refers to a satiric or exaggerated portrait of a person. But, my dictionary also lists 'literary style, etc.' as possible objects of caricature. So, you're right; 'or object' is OK. I think you have encountered a poor test or homework question. Nestorhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/InsidaWorldOrAGlobal/hzxx/post.htm#36109Tue, 06 Jul 2004 14:10:18 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:36109nestorRenwar3000- I don't really understand what you mean by 'inside a world phenomenon'. I'd stick with "Drugs are a global phenomenon" or "Drug use is a global phenomenon." Nestorhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/SuchAs/hzph/post.htm#36106Tue, 06 Jul 2004 14:02:49 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:36106nestorPASTEL-- The sentence looks a little strange, but I believe it is correct. You could write "I won't make such a huge mistake as he made." Nestor PS--There are two errors in your sentences, but perhaps they're just typos. You wrote 'to' instead of 'too', and 'wave' instead of 'waves'.http://www.englishforums.com/English/ItThem/hzhl/post.htm#35989Mon, 05 Jul 2004 17:41:57 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:35989nestorMaj- Since you're referring to the game-playing rather than the games themselves, I'd say that your first choice is best. Nestorhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/DoJacksonBetterTemptations/zlld/post.htm#35707Sun, 04 Jul 2004 00:22:16 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:35707nestorThere's a passion in the singing of the Tempatations that's missing from the Jackson 5. I vote for the Temptations.http://www.englishforums.com/English/CheckRedundancySentence/hvcl/post.htm#35640Sat, 03 Jul 2004 16:18:35 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:35640nestorMonica-- If you wanted to leave out the 'which is', you'd need to add a colon to the sentence. "The printing process has only one primary function: to put the ink on paper." Nestorhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/AdjectiveAdverbOrder/gwkj/post.htm#31983Thu, 03 Jun 2004 12:26:35 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:31983nestorAdverbs go first. That was a truly exclusive event. That was a fairly easy question.http://www.englishforums.com/English/AnAffairToRemember/ghcx/post.htm#31600Mon, 31 May 2004 22:25:45 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:31600nestor'Reminding' is an act that happens before 'remembering'. In one sense of the word, 'remind' means 'to keep someone from forgetting'-->"Remind me to take my medicine." 'Reminding' helps someone 'remember'. In another sense, 'remind' means 'to make you think of something similar' or 'to call into consciousness something specific from the past'-->"That song reminds me of being in high school." "He reminds me of a flea: small and irritating." When you remember, something from the past (from two seconds ago to 200 years ago, if you live that long) pops into your head. You don't need to be reminded to remember--it can just happen on its own. Figure this one out: "Remind me again about that time you remembered reminding me of remembering to...http://www.englishforums.com/English/ReachHimOrReachIt/ghdc/post.htm#31596Mon, 31 May 2004 22:10:14 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:31596nestor'It' can only stand in for an object or an animal of unknown (or unknowable) sex. In sentence a, 'you can still reach it' means 'you can still get to the theater'. In sentence b, 'you can still reach him' means 'you can still reach John'.http://www.englishforums.com/English/CupcakesAndMuffins/ghvm/post.htm#31594Mon, 31 May 2004 22:02:40 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:31594nestorYes. Cupcakes usually have icing on them and are supposed to be little, miniature cakes. They're for special occasions. Muffins are usually eaten at breakfast, don't have icing on them, and often contain fruit of some sort. Blueberry muffins are popular in the US. Some people put butter on them, and they are eaten warm, if possible.http://www.englishforums.com/English/TheWordOrder/ghcw/post.htm#31548Mon, 31 May 2004 15:26:56 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:31548nestorAndrei- The only rule I can think of about sentences of this type is that the prepositional phrases that answer 'where', 'with whom', and 'about what' should be after the verb. The 'when' phrase may even go at the beginning of the sentence. Ex. "At 7:30 the game starts in Athens," or "the game starts at 7:30 in Athens," or "the game starts in Athens at 7:30." Being able to shift the positions of the prepositional phrases allows you emphasize the more important part of the sentence as far as the conversation is concerned. If you're talking about WHEN something will happen, place the 'at 7:30' earlier in the sentence. If you're talking about WHERE something will happen, put the 'in Athens' earlier, but it should almost always come after...http://www.englishforums.com/English/PastParticiplesPresentParticiples-UsedAdjectives/ggbk/post.htm#31373Sat, 29 May 2004 15:01:17 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:31373nestorMiriam- That's a much better answer. It's obvious that you're the professional and I'm the amateur. But...I stand by my assertion that one component of the difference between present and past participle adjectives is the 'completeness' of the action.http://www.englishforums.com/English/CauseAndResult/ggbb/post.htm#31308Sat, 29 May 2004 00:25:14 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:31308nestorHere's the long version: I've thought about this question a lot, and I think now I've arrived at a conclusion. The meanings of the sentences don't change too much without the 'a +noun'. They're also still grammatically correct: "It was so hot that we went out" still works as a sentence. However, the sentence gains specificity when you add 'a day'. So the 'a day' is just a predicate noun, and it helps describe what 'it' is. The same is true with the Erie canal sentence (I assume you meant there to be a 'so' before 'large'). "The Erie was so large a canal that...." What is the Erie? It's a canal. I suppose that you may only use this construction when you have an intensifier and an adjective before the noun and indefinite article. You use...http://www.englishforums.com/English/MostRecent/ggzh/post.htm#31307Fri, 28 May 2004 23:26:19 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:31307nestorYes, he has.http://www.englishforums.com/English/IFeelLikeAskingAQuestion/ggzd/post.htm#31306Fri, 28 May 2004 23:25:10 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:31306nestorEladio- I think you understand it. Sentence a is right and very polite, but it's a little awkward. I'd say, "I really feel like having ice cream," or maybe just "I feel like having ice cream." The 'too much' in sentence b makes it sound like you have a psychological problem with ice cream, and you're trying to battle your urge to eat it. Don't use 'too much' with 'feel like verb+ing' unless you want your wish to sound like a bad thing. Some idiomatic phrases: I could go for some ice cream. I think I need some ice cream. I'm having an ice cream attack. I'd die for some ice cream. I scream, you scream, we all scream for ICE CREAM!http://www.englishforums.com/English/PastParticiplesPresentParticiples-UsedAdjectives/ggbk/post.htm#31268Fri, 28 May 2004 12:41:17 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:31268nestorHere's a clue: -ed and -ing are also stuck onto verbs, and they connote when or how the action takes place. Adding '-ed' makes a lot of verbs past tense, and it also creates the participle for perfect tenses: walk, walked, have walked. What you end up with is a sense of completed action. So, an adjective ending in '-ed' is really a participle used as an adjective, and it, too, implies completed action. Ex. A washed car is clean. -->The act of washing happened in the past and has been completed. The car is clean as a result. The adjective 'washed' is the participal of the verb 'wash'. Adding '-ing' makes a verb progressive, meaning that the action is ongoing and incomplete: am walking, was walking, have been walking, etc. When a...http://www.englishforums.com/English/Commas/gzln/post.htm#31210Thu, 27 May 2004 15:18:54 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:31210nestorCommas aren't required, but the sentence is wordy.http://www.englishforums.com/English/Abbrevation/gzxv/post.htm#31209Thu, 27 May 2004 15:11:54 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:31209nestorI believe those are the right abbreviations. In the context of your paper, it is unlikely that your audience will confuse the m of million with the m of meter. If it's a science paper, you could use scientific notation. If you're writing about finances, the numbers would be marked by currency symbols. Just be sure to make clear the context in which you use m.http://www.englishforums.com/English/RealestVsMostReal/gznn/post.htm#31207Thu, 27 May 2004 15:04:02 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:31207nestorI wish I could give you a definite rule to help you with this problem, but I can't. I understand how deciding when to use "-er" and "-est" or "more + (word)" and "most + (word)" gives you problems. I suppose you know the general rule--> "-er" and "-est" for one syllable words, "more+ " and "most+ " for two or more syllable words. "Real" is an exception to this rule. "Fishy" is also an exception; "fishier" and "fishiest" are the respective comparative and superlative. In general, you have to base your decision on the sound of the phrase, and it's hard to know what sounds right until you've mastered speaking the language. I'm sorry I can't give you any more help than that.http://www.englishforums.com/English/EachPageEachPage/gzxx/post.htm#31203Thu, 27 May 2004 14:35:57 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:31203nestor'Each page' is correct. Use singular nouns with 'each' and 'every'.http://www.englishforums.com/English/Australians/gvnb/post.htm#31108Wed, 26 May 2004 17:06:46 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:31108nestorMinn...Q- Are you telling me you didn't mean this: So what pops into people's mind when they hear the word Australia? -->KangaroosI sure hop not. If you didn't, then I'll change what I wrote. Now when I think of Australians, I think of unintentional puns. PS-That's a conversation about fishing.http://www.englishforums.com/English/NominalClause/gvwk/post.htm#31104Wed, 26 May 2004 16:17:01 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:31104nestorIn the world of nominal clauses, 'that' means the same thing at the beginning as it means in the middle of the sentence. In some cases, you can choose to arrange your clauses in order to produce an effect. "That I did not go surprised no one" means the same thing as "No one was surprised that I did not go." The first sentence seems more dramatic, at least to me.http://www.englishforums.com/English/PunctuationWithinQuotations/gzvk/post.htm#31100Wed, 26 May 2004 15:43:42 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:31100nestorDo you mean, "how do I punctuate and capitalize a title?" If so, then the title would be "Grammar Nazis: Enter If You DARE!"http://www.englishforums.com/English/CountableNouns/gzdz/post.htm#31094Wed, 26 May 2004 15:12:40 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:31094nestorSome types of meats and vegetables may be used as collective nouns, but not the word vegetable itself. Squash, ham, okra, steak, pizza, hamburger (as in a generic term for ground meat), cabbage, garlic, and lettuce are some examples. Now that I think about it, I guess you could use vegetable as a collective noun. For example, if you see some unidentified matter and suspect it to have come from a vegetable, you can simply call the stuff 'vegetable'. "What's that gooey stuff?" "I don't know, but I think it's vegetable."http://www.englishforums.com/English/Differences/gzwp/post.htm#31091Wed, 26 May 2004 14:58:18 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:31091nestorCooly- In the first group, the use of 'just' in the second sentence implies that Lee sent the letter in the immediate past, maybe fifteen minutes or so ago. 'Already' in the first sentence means that the letter was sent at an indeterminate time in the past--it could've been five seconds or a week ago. It's harder to explain the difference between the second two sentences. Both would work in any context. But number two implies that there is less of a chance that the listener has been to Japan. Perhaps you should use 'ever' if you are asking someone a question to which you expect the answer will be no. Nestorhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/MaintainCultureDiversity/2/zpcn/Post.htm#30940Tue, 25 May 2004 14:58:53 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:30940nestorMaj-- Yes, I believe we are globalized. We've been globalizing for as long as there has been civilization, and technology quickens the pace.http://www.englishforums.com/English/UsageOfWereVsWas/gvmb/post.htm#30938Tue, 25 May 2004 13:36:14 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:30938nestorI suppose that the best advice would be to save the subjunctive 'were' for formal writing and ESL tests. Were one to use it elsewhere, one could seem pretentious.http://www.englishforums.com/English/DefiniteArticle/gvnw/post.htm#30936Tue, 25 May 2004 13:25:58 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:30936nestorOK, I understand your confusion. You don't use definite articles with directions. I would say "go left, then right" or "go south." But in your example sentence, 'right' is more like a location than a direction--it's a specific place, like the bank, the store, the theater, or the park. The same holds true for north, south, east, and west. "Go west to get to the west." 'West' is the direction, whereas 'the west' is the location. Never use the definite article with 'straight'. It can only be a direction. I'll make matters worse by telling you that 'take a right' (or left) is an idiomatic expression that uses the indefinite article, but means the same thing as 'go right'. You cannot use this expression with anything other than left and...http://www.englishforums.com/English/AllSwearWordsInEnglish/2/bbvm/Post.htm#30889Tue, 25 May 2004 01:06:24 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:30889nestorI agree with guest--most British sitcoms are funnier and better written than their American counterparts. Unfortunately, American TV always aims at the lowest common denominator. The crumudgeonly HL Mencken put it best: Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public. I wish he hadn't been right. I can't believe the garbage that people laugh at. Whereas British TV usually offers the best that writers and actors can deliver, American TV gives us the height of mediocrity.http://www.englishforums.com/English/MaintainCultureDiversity/zpcn/post.htm#30887Tue, 25 May 2004 00:37:52 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:30887nestorI believe that the essence of a culture remains the same despite the Levi's and the Coke (and the Siemens refrigerator, and the Michelin tires, and the Nokia phone, and the Toyota, and the Indian software, just to be fair). Japanese, Americans, and Europeans use the same consumer products and have the same governmental and economic institutions. Try to tell me that the three aren't radically different in important, "cultural" ways; we neither think nor act alike. How about the South Koreans and the Malaysians? They're just alike, right? I doubt it.http://www.englishforums.com/English/Australians/gvnb/post.htm#30886Mon, 24 May 2004 23:43:50 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:30886nestorGoing to the beach at Christmas, AC/DC, "Romper Stomper", people who are fun to meet elsewhere in the world. Now I think of bad puns, too. Nestorhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/DefiniteArticle/gvnw/post.htm#30884Mon, 24 May 2004 23:20:23 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:30884nestorAtesttaker- 6. I like Arabian food. This sentence means that I like Arabian food in a general way; if you gave me some, I'd eat it. If I said "I like the Arabian food," it could mean that I was at a restaurant where many different types of food were available. Ex. "Do you like the Persian food here?" "No, but I really like the Arabian food." Make sense? 8. I like Stilton cheese. This is the same type of sentence as #6--I like Stilton cheese in general. "I like the Stilton cheese" is more specific, as if a dairy offered all kinds of cheese, and I thought the Stilton was the best. Again, you'd have to be somewhere looking at all the varieties of cheese for this sentence to be correct. 17 is similar to the previous two. 'The...http://www.englishforums.com/English/InversionConditionalSentences/gvnx/post.htm#30883Mon, 24 May 2004 22:53:15 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:30883nestorAlbert- I think the main difference between the two constructions is style. The verb-first, inverted construction sounds more formal to me. I live in the US and rarely hear it spoken; it does turn up in writing sometimes. Were you to post an example of each type, you would get a better answer. Don't apologize for your English. I guarantee it's better than my version of your native language. Nestorhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/WokeUp/zkpg/post.htm#27731Wed, 14 Apr 2004 16:59:39 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:27731nestorYes.http://www.englishforums.com/English/Heeeelpppp/zkxp/post.htm#27730Wed, 14 Apr 2004 16:51:41 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:27730nestorI think 'during' is a better choice.http://www.englishforums.com/English/InsightAboutIntoInOver/zkpk/post.htm#27729Wed, 14 Apr 2004 16:48:58 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:27729nestorYour sentence means something, so don't worry about that. You might want to use 'about' instead of 'into'. I'd also think about changing 'a crucial insight'--insight isn't a countable thing in this case, so I wouldn't use 'a'. "Get crucial insight about your website traffic..." seems more natural to me. One other thing, you wrote: I'm thinking to say. It should be "I'm thinking about saying" or "I'm thinking of saying." 'Thinking about' and 'thinking of' mean the same thing, and they are the standard phrases people use. 'Thinking to...' isn't used. I agree with you. Learning the correct use of prepositions is tough in any languagehttp://www.englishforums.com/English/PluralOrSingular/zkxm/post.htm#27728Wed, 14 Apr 2004 16:28:31 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:27728nestorIn American usage, pair is singular. "A pair of knickers is lost." British usage is different, I believe.http://www.englishforums.com/English/HelpWithStyleAnalysis/zkkr/post.htm#27630Tue, 13 Apr 2004 03:22:53 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:27630nestorDiction: The author's choice of words. Alexie is a Native American, and he uses Native American and Indian reservation slang throughout his work. What does this say about his work? Tone: Alexie's tone is the attitude he expresses towards his subject matter. Look at the events in the narratives to discover the tone--are the events positive, negative, or somewhere in between? What does Alexie think about the people he writes about? Subject Matter: Authors write about people. What kind of people does Alexie describe? What are their lives like? Use of Dialogue: How do the characters communicate with each other? Is it direct? Or do they want to say one thing but end up saying another? Does the dialogue have anything to do with what...http://www.englishforums.com/English/QuestionsAboutGrammar/zkwd/post.htm#27627Tue, 13 Apr 2004 02:36:54 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:27627nestorOf the first group, a is correct. I believe that a is correct in the second group, too. I think that when you put 'tall' at the end of the sentence, you use the regular plural. If you didn't say 'tall', you'd say "I'm six foot two." I don't see anything wrong with using the two sentences of the third group in conversation.http://www.englishforums.com/English/AQuestion/zkgk/post.htm#27626Tue, 13 Apr 2004 02:25:35 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:27626nestorSometimes I'm not so sure I'll ever sometime love you.http://www.englishforums.com/English/TheMostCommonSlangWords/vqvw/post.htm#27605Mon, 12 Apr 2004 16:54:44 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:27605nestorDawg: It's a pronunciation spelling of the word dog. If someone's "my dawg," he or she is my friend. If someone's a "dawg," he or she is promiscuous. I can also "dawg" something--If I'm hungry, I'll dawg my food, meaning that I'll eat a lot of it in a hurry. And in sports, you can "dawg" the other team. If you got beat 20 to nothing in a soccer game, you got dawged. Aiight: That's just "all right." "How are you today?" "Aiight." It's a Southern American English pronounciation and isn't just limited to rappers or African Americans. Dat: That. African Americans, Cajuns, Southerners, New Yorkers, and some others use it. The New Orleans Saints (an American football team in Cajun country) once had a slogan: Who dat say dey gone beat dem...http://www.englishforums.com/English/ComparedSimilarPhrases/zkch/post.htm#27604Mon, 12 Apr 2004 16:22:33 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:27604nestorBratannia, those phrases probably arise from Madison Avenue English or Legalese, and as a result, they contain more words than necessary. The writer could have perfected the squirrel sentence by putting it in the passive voice. The sentence would then have been more perfected when compared to sentences in which writers had been advised to avoid redundancies and the passive voice. Seriously, I do freelance writing, and I would never use such a construction.http://www.englishforums.com/English/EnglishGrammar/zkgb/post.htm#27599Mon, 12 Apr 2004 15:51:49 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:27599nestorI'll try to give a partial answer. A relative clause is a portion of a sentence that adds information about a previous noun in the sentence. The previous noun is called the antecedent. Relative clauses are marked by relative pronouns: that, which, who, whom, and others. Examples will help: 1. The fish that I caught yesterday was huge. 'that I caught yesterday' is the relative clause, and 'The fish' is the antecedent. 2. This door, which opens to the kitchen, is heavy. 'which opens to the kitchen' is the relative clause, and 'The door' is the antecedent. In American English, you're supposed to use a comma before 'which'. I think British English is different. 3. The man who eats a lot is ordering lunch. 'who eats a lot' is the...http://www.englishforums.com/English/AQuestion/zkgk/post.htm#27597Mon, 12 Apr 2004 15:31:56 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:27597nestorWe're working with three things here: "some time," "sometime," and "sometimes." some time: Use this when you want to express an indefinite period of time. It doesn't matter how long or how short of a period you mean. It's used with the past tense. Examples: 1. Some time passed between the Big Bang and my birth. -->a very long time. 2. It took some time for my computer to reboot. -->not very long at all. sometime: Use this when you want to express an indefinite time in the future. Examples: 1. We should go sometime. -->When? At some point in the future, but no definite time. 2. I'll call you sometime. -->When? Maybe tomorrow, maybe next year, maybe never. sometimes: Use this when you want to talk about what you do or did...http://www.englishforums.com/English/BelieveMeBelieveYouMe/zkhj/post.htm#27596Mon, 12 Apr 2004 15:05:13 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:27596nestorMaybe we only use it in the US. American English preserves many archaic features of the language.http://www.englishforums.com/English/HadUsedToEtc/zkhg/post.htm#27595Mon, 12 Apr 2004 14:53:52 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:27595nestorThose expressions are tough. Hmmm. Where I live (southern US), we wouldn't put the "had" in example one--I'd say "I used to think that...." But, to be on the safe side, you might want to avoid example one in writing. "I once thought that..." is direct and concise. Example two is fine, and I can't think of another way to write it (well, maybe "I had been accustomed to thinking..."). Anyway, both expressions are useful, and many speakers use them. They are standard and correct in most situations.