Job Discussion Forums

[johnslat]

Dear spiral78,

Speaking = no problem; Writing = problem

Regards,
John

[spiral78]

Dear Sasha:

[spiral78]

Dear John:

[Sashadroogie]

Dear Spiral

Do you think you will always be pedantic to be this way?


Hic!

Sasha

[spiral78]

Dear Sasha:

So far, so good.
Being pedantic in this way has been one of the highlights of my existence, you see .

Though I could think of lots and lots more highlights, if pressed .

Best,
spiral

P.S. Are you going to write the new Murphy's chapter on the trendy new 'to be' forms? And don't forget those lucrative chapters on 'if I would have' and 'bored of' which should appear in every up-to-date grammar reference - you'll make a fortune!!

[Sashadroogie]

Dear Spiral

I am confused to read this. I thought that the Good Water would be a higherlight than to be pedantic to listen to degeneration... I am let down to realise that this may not be so!


Hic hic!

Sasha

[Sashadroogie]

Dear Spiral

I am excited to write a chapter for Murphy. I am enthusiastic to call it 'native-speaker over-generalisation'. It is snappy to roll off the tongue.


Hic!

S

[spiral78]

Dear Sasha:

I am certain Raymond is going to be thrilled with your collaboration .

Please give him my best wishes.

Best,
spiral

Another P.S.: The Goodest of Good Waters may perhaps take the edge off my love of being pedantic. Haven't reached that particular state quite yet - perhaps tomorrow;-)

[scot47]

Some people have too much time on their hands.

I suggest an intensive study of Sanksrit Grammar and Phonology instead of this Eng Native Spkr Navel-gazing !

I have reported Comrade Sasha to the Party Control Commission for timewasting.

[johnslat]

Dear spiral78,

Well, of course, my students (and, I suspect, most of those of most other ESL/EFL teachers) are rarely, if ever, called upon to address international audiences.

Moreover, since reductions and contractions are what most "native speakers" use most when speaking, maybe those in the international audiences who would be confused by a speaker's saying "coulda" rather than "could have" need to learn "English as she is spoke."

Have you ever noticed, on TV shows and in the movies, when the intenrtion is to point out the "foreignness" of an character (i.e. the fact that he/she is not a "native speaker," the most common way to do that (besides accents, that is) is to have that character never use contractions.

They say such sentences as "I do not know" and "I have not seen him."

Regards,
John

[jr1965]

I think the first two have to do with collocation & the 3rd with a fixed expression:

1) 'I was nervous to tell my family.'

2) 'I am excited to go to Rome next week.'

3) 'I am sad to do this to you.'

1) In everyday spoken Am English, I think "about" tends to collocate with "nervous" more often, unless, as others have pointed out, you add "too" before "nervous." And "about" is followed by an
"-ing" word. In other words, it would sound more natural to my ear if someone said "I was nervous about telling my family." But if the speaker used "too" then it would sound better to say " I was too nervous to tell my family."

2) In everyday spoken Am English, I think "about" tends to collocate with "excited" more often than "to" and "about" is followed by an "-ing" word. In other words, it's more common to hear people say "I'm excited about going to Rome." That said, I've heard sentence constructions like #2 above, and I think it's okay, although not as high frequency.

3) In everyday spoken Am English, I think the expression is "I'm sorry to do this to you." � as in, I'm sorry to do this to you, but the company has decided to let you go." And "sorry" collocates with "to."

[Ixchel]

[nomad soul]

"I never made a mistake in grammar except one in my life, and as soon as I done it, I seen it." ~ Carl Sandburg, American poet (1878 - 1967)

[Sashadroogie]

Dear Scot47

I am nervous to hear about your nefarious actions. But I am confident to survive such an ill-advised putsch. My Party comrades are loyal to stand by me through such deeds that are infamous to do.

Hic!

Now where did I put my advanced Church Slavonic grammar?

[spiral78]