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oldtrafford
Joined: 12 Jan 2011
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 Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 10:52 pm Post subject: Language question! |
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Does anybody have the answer to the following question:
It's a twenty minute bus ride. It's a 30 to 40 minute drive. Why is it in these cases minute and not minutes? For example: I'll be there in ten minutes!
Thanks in advance to those with the answer. |
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thegadfly
Joined: 01 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 11:17 pm Post subject: |
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Well, those phrasings are supposed to be hyphenated -- not a twenty minute bus ride, a twenty-minute bus ride. I have a 4-door car, not a 4 doors car. I have 55-minute class hours at my school, which means I teach for 55 minutes....
The hyphens have dropped from common use (though I, of course, still use them). |
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oldtrafford
Joined: 12 Jan 2011
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| Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 11:45 pm Post subject: |
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Cheers fella, you learn something new everyday!!  |
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oldtrafford
Joined: 12 Jan 2011
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nate1983
Joined: 30 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 2:27 am Post subject: |
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| Why do native speakers (or Americans at least) say about height, "I'm 6 foot 2" but "I'm 6 feet"? |
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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| Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 2:51 am Post subject: |
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| oldtrafford wrote: |
| Cheers fella, you learn something new everyday!! |
Something else that has dropped from everyday use is the adverbial every day. It seems to have been replaced with the adjectival everyday.
I'm not picking on you, oldtrafford. Your post using that spelling just happens to be in this thread. A friend, who majored in Linguistics just as I did, is firmly convinced that every day has never been a correct spelling. We've had some interesting conversations about the change in language. |
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jizza
Joined: 24 Aug 2009
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| Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 4:27 am Post subject: |
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| nate1983 wrote: |
| Why do native speakers (or Americans at least) say about height, "I'm 6 foot 2" but "I'm 6 feet"? |
They actually do say the latter.
eg. "I'm 7 feet tall"
I'm not sure why we say '6 foot 2' but I wouldn't worry about it too much. It's not something a Korean ESL learner needs to know. |
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some waygug-in
Joined: 25 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 5:18 am Post subject: |
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It has to do with the function of the word "foot" in each sentence.
If it functions as a noun or as and adjective is what makes the difference. |
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thegadfly
Joined: 01 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 5:51 am Post subject: |
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| CentralCali wrote: |
| oldtrafford wrote: |
| Cheers fella, you learn something new everyday!! |
Something else that has dropped from everyday use is the adverbial every day. It seems to have been replaced with the adjectival everyday.
I'm not picking on you, oldtrafford. Your post using that spelling just happens to be in this thread. A friend, who majored in Linguistics just as I did, is firmly convinced that every day has never been a correct spelling. We've had some interesting conversations about the change in language. |
Thank you -- that particular error is a pet peeve of mine -- an everyday annoyance that I deal with nearly every day.... |
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oldtrafford
Joined: 12 Jan 2011
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| Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 7:12 am Post subject: |
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everyday
adjective /ˈev.ri.deɪ/
Definition
ordinary, typical or usual
the everyday lives of ordinary Russian citizens
Death was an everyday occurrence during the Civil War. |
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Allthechildrenareinsane
Joined: 23 Jun 2011
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