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Do you know the difference... (pg. 3)
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| pkcRAISTLIN |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lira
Honest! There are lots of things I can't understand about the English language, and sound right downright absurd to me :p
For example, there's a sentence I saw on "Die Hard 4" that puzzles me to this day. Remember when they broadcast that fake message and pretended to blow up the White House? I think the sentence they showed before blowing everything to pieces was "What if help won't come?". Won't? I didn't know I could use the future tense like that in English! I'd say "What if help doesn't come?". Not to mention when you guys put an article right between an adjective and a noun ("so good a dancer"). I didn't know that existed until recently, as I'd always say "such a good dancer".
Finally, I always have second thoughts when I need to choose a preposition such as in/on/at, and I never learnt whether the correct form is "Have any of you seen it?" or "Has any of you seen it?". Which is it? I don't know if the verb agrees with "any" or with "you" in this particular case :p |
i would say that your understanding is 'proper' english, and the examples you used are bastardised. so, i was right! :p
and it would be 'have any of you seen it'. |
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| Domesticated |
| quote: | Originally posted by Renzo
Those two examples aren't that big of a deal, Lira. Both ways are acceptable.
Have. |
Not at all. "What if help won't come?" would only be correct if the subject is a specific person or entity who is refusing to come for some reason, i.e "what if Renzo won't come?" I suppose "help" could be a term for police or another group, but it doesn't seem so.
Therefore. "doesn't" would be the right word while "won't" is incorrect".
As for "so good a dancer", it's only correct to use that if there is a qualifying statement following, such as "she's so good a dancer that guys ejaculate just watching her."
p.s how about learnt vs learned, burnt vs burnt, while vs whilst, practise vs practice? I love the English language, it sorts the morons from the rest. |
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| Sushipunk |
| quote: | Originally posted by Domesticated
p.s how about learnt vs learned, burnt vs burnt, while vs whilst, practise vs practice? I love the English language, it sorts the morons from the rest. |
Hmm? :p |
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| pkcRAISTLIN |
| quote: | Originally posted by Domesticated
p.s how about learnt vs learned, |
ive never learned the difference, honest :p
| quote: | Originally posted by Domesticated
burnt vs burned, |
again, no idea.
| quote: | Originally posted by Domesticated
while vs whilst, |
please tell!
| quote: | Originally posted by Domesticated
practise vs practice? |
one is for doctors the other is for soccer players :p |
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| EddieZilker |
That which has a what is that which has no choice but is, nor should a what precede that which has a choice, in need.
"Which of those restaurants in Lancaster served us that awful beef wellington?"
"What is the name of a good restaurant for beef wellington, in Lancaster?"
Of course, there are some sentences in which which and what may be used interchangeably, but this one isn't one of them. |
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| Omega_Blue |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lira
For example, there's a sentence I saw on "Die Hard 4" that puzzles me to this day. Remember when they broadcast that fake message and pretended to blow up the White House? I think the sentence they showed before blowing everything to pieces was "What if help won't come?". Won't? I didn't know I could use the future tense like that in English! I'd say "What if help doesn't come |
dunno if it's already been mentioned, but to put it short- saying "what if help won't come?" implies that "help" (whoever that may be) may or may not necessarily want to help in the first place, or might refuse to do so. "~~ doesn't come?" implies the same, but also that perhaps certain circumstances could prevent "help" from coming. it was used in an improper manner and i think most people would say it sounds weird to say it like that, and imo 99% of the time you should say "~doesn't come?" in whatever situation you're using.
example
i'm inviting her to my party.
what if she won't come?
i'm inviting her to my party.
what if she doesn't come?
very similar, but slightly different meanings. "what if she won't come?" = "what if she doesn't want to/refuses to come?"
edit: and also, replace "so good a ~~" with "such a good ~~" in most situations. "so good a ~~" makes you sound like a stuck-up prick |
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| Renzo |
| quote: | Originally posted by Domesticated
Not at all. "What if help won't come?" would only be correct if the subject is a specific person or entity who is refusing to come for some reason, i.e "what if Renzo won't come?" I suppose "help" could be a term for police or another group, but it doesn't seem so.
Therefore. "doesn't" would be the right word while "won't" is incorrect". |
No. It has nothing to do with the willingness of the helper. "What if help won't come" is simply used for dramatic purposes. It's not incorrect, by any means.
| quote: | Originally posted by Domesticated
As for "so good a dancer", it's only correct to use that if there is a qualifying statement following, such as "she's so good a dancer that guys ejaculate just watching her." |
In this case, the correct sentence is: "she's such a good dancer guys ejaculate just watching her." There is no that needed. I was in a linguistics class and we spent some time discussing how the word that is incorrectly overused. |
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| Renzo |
| quote: | Originally posted by Omega_Blue
dunno if it's already been mentioned, but to put it short- saying "what if help won't come?" implies that "help" (whoever that may be) may or may not necessarily want to help in the first place, or might refuse to do so. "~~ doesn't come?" implies the same, but also that perhaps certain circumstances could prevent "help" from coming. it was used in an improper manner and i think most people would say it sounds weird to say it like that, and imo 99% of the time you should say "~doesn't come?" in whatever situation you're using.
example
i'm inviting her to my party.
what if she won't come?
i'm inviting her to my party.
what if she doesn't come?
very similar, but slightly different meanings. "what if she won't come?" = "what if she doesn't want to/refuses to come?" |
Read my post. :p |
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| Omega_Blue |
| quote: | Originally posted by Renzo
Read my post. :p |
ha, ^5 |
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| Domesticated |
| quote: | Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN
ive never learned the difference, honest :p |
The first three are trick questions, and can be used interchangeably, though in proper English it is more correct to use a -nt ending than an -ed ending.
Practice vs practise deals with a noun vs a verb.
"I went to soccer practice."
"I will practise my soccer so I can improve". |
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| Lira |
| quote: | Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN
i would say that your understanding is 'proper' english, and the examples you used are bastardised. so, i was right! :p
and it would be 'have any of you seen it'. |
Cheers :D
| quote: | Originally posted by Domesticated
Not at all. "What if help won't come?" would only be correct if the subject is a specific person or entity who is refusing to come for some reason, i.e "what if Renzo won't come?" I suppose "help" could be a term for police or another group, but it doesn't seem so.
Therefore. "doesn't" would be the right word while "won't" is incorrect". |
Wait, so which is it? I think I'll wait for you guys to come to an agreement :p
| quote: | [b]Originally posted by Domesticated [/b
As for "so good a dancer", it's only correct to use that if there is a qualifying statement following, such as "she's so good a dancer that guys ejaculate just watching her."
p.s how about learnt vs learned, burnt vs burnt, while vs whilst, practise vs practice? I love the English language, it sorts the morons from the rest. |
Oh, I know this one! Learn vs learned are just different spellings of the same word (not unlike "colour" and "color"); whilst is just a formal version of while; and practise is a verb whereas practice is a noun. Both can be "practice" in American English, though. |
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| Domesticated |
| quote: | Originally posted by Renzo
No. It has nothing to do with the willingness of the helper. "What if help won't come" is simply used for dramatic purposes. It's not incorrect, by any means. |
Yes, it does. Read Omega's post - he clarified my thoughts more succinctly.
| quote: | Originally posted by Renzo
In this case, the correct sentence is: "she's such a good dancer guys ejaculate just watching her." There is no that needed. I was in a linguistics class and we spent some time discussing how the word that is incorrectly overused. |
You're correct, "that" is superfluous in the sentence, but it's not incorrect to use it. |
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