Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[learner12]

Hello, teachers!!

(1) They are lovebirds.
(2) They are two lovebirds.

----->
Do you have any difference between them?

Thank you in advance.

[EnglishRaven]

Hi learner12.

I'm interested in two things for both of the questions you've posted here:

1. Is there a context in which we can see the sentences? One is not necessarily better than the other - it will depend on the context they are used for.

2. Why don't you start out by suggesting what you think could be the difference between the two? That way you could be right without knowing it, but either way it's a more effective learning experience for you to take a guess and then find out a native speaker's perspective.

Cheers,

Jason
_________________
http://www.onlinEnglish.net
http://global-english.lefora.com

[learner12]

Dear EnglishRaven:

Thank you so much for your quick explanations.

1.
I read the sentence in Episode 5 in this page
http://mwolson.org/web/LoveHinaEpisodeGuidePartOne.html

2.
I have appreciated your pointer. I will do as you said next time.

Thank you again for your help.

[EnglishRaven]

Well, in answer to your query, I wouldn't say that there is any major difference between the two phrases except that:

a) "Lovebirds" are called such because they come in couples, one male and one female. Hearing the term, there is an automatic assumption that there are two, meaning that mentioning "two" could be a little redundant.

b) Inserting the "two" into the phrase could possibly be an emphasis device, to emphasize (rather than quantify) the couple-nature.

Perhaps someone else has a different take on this, I'm not sure. In any case, hope this helps

- Jason
_________________
http://www.onlinEnglish.net
http://global-english.lefora.com

[learner12]

Dear EnglishRaven:

Thank you for your great explanations. Thanks to you, I understood what the sentence meant. I need to think more.

Take care and have a nice day!!