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mashi
Joined: 13 Apr 2006
Posts: 7
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 Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 9:37 pm Post subject: About "and" Can it mean "at the same time&quo |
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Dear teachers
I'd like to know about "and".
The sentence
He sang a song and he played the guitar.
Does this sentence mean both?
A) He sang a song and next he played the guitar.
B) He sang a song and played the guitar at the same time.
like He sang a song, playing the guitar.
Thank you. |
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dragn
Joined: 17 Feb 2009
Posts: 450
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| Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 2:42 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| He sang a song and he played the guitar. |
There's no way to tell...it could mean either one. The way the sentence is written, the precise meaning would have to made clear from other context. I don't suppose you have any other context, do you? Hmm...I thought not. All right, then...
If you want to emphasize that he played the guitar and sang a song at the same time, you might say:
He sang a song while accompanying himself on the guitar.
There are other possibilities, but the point is it leaves no room for doubt.
If you want to emphasize that he sang a song and after that played the guitar, you could say:
He sang a song, and then played a solo number on the guitar.
Again, there are many variations. The point, however, is that the meaning is crystal clear.
In a context where we know for a fact that he performed one and only one song, then the sentence He sang a song and he played the guitar means he did both at the same time. If we know for a fact that he performed two distinct songs, then it would mean he did one then the other.
I hope for your sake that you don't live in an Asian country where English is taught as if it were predicate logic*, because in real English context is everything.
Greg
*If p then q; if not p then not q; q, if and only if p; if not (p and q), then p or q...etc., etc. |
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peterteacher
Joined: 13 Apr 2009
Posts: 86
Location: Australia
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| Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 5:00 am Post subject: |
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Ahh, my most oft repeated phrase to my students: "English is not maths!!!" 
_________________
Try some mini, on-line adventure games to help your English at: www.gameenglish.com |
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