Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[muni]

please check if the following paragraph s are correct

What would be the first thing that comes to your mind when you heard this?

Everyone has a right of self-opinion but you should exercise this right without hurting anyone or making personal comments

[bud]

--- "What would be the first thing that comes to your mind when you heard this?"

It's a little off, Muni, because the verb tenses are not consistent. I would rephrase it depending on the context:

"What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear this? Green!" Then you would say a word or phrase, such as 'green.' (This would be for a "word association" game.)

"What would be the first thing that came to your mind when you heard this?" (This would be for when you're telling someone about something you heard. You're asking how their first thoughts would have compared to yours.)

--- "Everyone has a right of self-opinion but you should exercise this right without hurting anyone or making personal comments."

right of - That works, but 'right to' is more usual for this meaning of 'right.'

self-opinion - An 'opinion' by itself implies 'self,' so 'self-' is redundant and not necessary. It's a minor mistake that many native-speakers would also make... Sometimes redundancy works, though, to add emphasis. It is common to say "Everyone has a right to their own opinion..." 'Own' is redundant here, but it helps to emphasize the statement. Unfortunately, I can't explain why one works, but not the other.

So... Everyone has a right to their [own] opinion, but you should exercise this right without hurting anyone or making personal comments. ('own' is optional)

Hope that helps somewhat. Both of these questions have some subtleties that are hard to explain.