Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[missdaredevil]

Hi teachers,
Please help me with the questions I have.
Thank you so much
1.I felt like I *fit* in.
Is the "fit" used in the past tense or present, it's indistingushable since it's the same word for differnt tense.


2.
A:...But mostly, humor is a way for peopel to socialize.
B: How *so*?

What does the so mean here?

3.
"Would you like my coat?"

Does it mean "would you like to put on my coat"?
or "would you like to have my coat"?

4
As they drove along the road, the "headlight fell on" someone walking alogn the side of the highway.
Could it be the "physical headlight device" if it is an usual situation?

5
It would be easier to stop at the edge of the driveway *and*(What about *so that*?) she could walk to the house *without any explanation*(What about *without having to explain*?) to her parents.



Thank you so much.

[CP]

1. It's the past tense. "I felt [at that time in the past] like I fit in [at that time]." Present tense: I feel like I fit in [now].
The verbs that don't inflect much (fit, fit, fit) are easier to memorize than the ones that inflect a lot, especially if they are irregular (sleep, slept, slept), but they can cause confusion about the tenses intended, for native speakers and non-native speakers alike.

2. It means, "How is it that humor is a way for people to socialize?" The "so" substitutes for the main idea. Used in expressions like How so?, Why so? Is that so?

3. It means, "Would you like to have my coat?"

4. It means that the light of the headlamp fell on, or illuminated, someone on the road. It's possible to say that the headlight fell off the car and onto someone standing or lying nearby, but the context would make that clear. Here, the car must be moving along the road, and the light hit someone walking along.

5. Not the most elegant sentence, and I think so that would work better than and here, as you suggest. I think it was written that way to indicate that the person stopping at the edge of the highway is the driver and the person walking to the house is the passenger. The passenger can just walk inside the house and not have to explain why she arrived by car. Maybe she wasn't supposed to be riding with the driver of the car.
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