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flyingkiwi

Another day, another question with marking tests.

The teacher came to me with this. The correct usage is "They are having a very good time", but she thinks that 'They are enjoying a very good time' might also be correct.

I think not. Your thoughts?

markle · Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Posts: 1316 Location: Out of Japan

My question to you is
Can you enjoy a bad time? Or how about an average ordinary time?

So enjoying a good time is redundant and therefore considered in usage by people of average or above intelligence as pointless and to be avoided.

Notice I didn't say wrong

canuck · Joined: 11 May 2003 Posts: 1921 Location: Japan

Eva Pilot

southofreality · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Posts: 579 Location: Tokyo

OK, Eva

Minus one point for bad grammar. Wink

flyingkiwi · Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 2:28 am Post subject:

southofreality · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Posts: 579 Location: Tokyo

Whether a 'time' is 'good' or not is subjective. If you say "They are enjoying a good time", it means that they are enjoying a time that is by some standard definition, good. That leaves the question: was the time that was being enjoyed a good one by some standard definition of 'good time'? Kind of ridiculous, don't you think?

flyingkiwi · Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 3:32 am Post subject:

kdynamic · Joined: 05 Nov 2005 Posts: 562 Location: Japan

"Enjoy" has got to be one of the most frequently misused words by Japanese speakers of English. Rolling Eyes

furiousmilksheikali · Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 3:35 am Post subject:

Sage · Joined: 09 Apr 2003 Posts: 144 Location: Iwate no inaka!

Change very to really.

JimDunlop2 · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Posts: 2286 Location: Japan

I'm going to take a stab as to WHY "They are enjoying a good time" is unacceptable whereas "They are having a good time" is fine.

The expression "a good time" already implies enjoyment. If you think about the alternative, is it possible to have a good time and NOT enjoy it? Of course not. That would be silly.

Therefore "enjoying" a good time is introducing a built-in redundancy that just does not compute in English in much the same way as other nuances such as double negatives. By saying "he doesn't do nothing" you are essentially saying that "he is doing something." They are incorrect in English even though virtually every other language uses them without any problems.

flyingkiwi · Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 4:27 am Post subject:

Very good Jim.

furiousmilksheikali · Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 4:57 am Post subject:

flyingkiwi · Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 5:22 am Post subject:

Very good Markle.