Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[missdaredevil]

I would like to know if there is anything grammatically wrong with the paragraph below?

Thanks.

The main things that have happened to me are I've moved to a new place, I'm about to work on a lantern for the Lantern Festival, I've taking Jazz-dance lessons, and I might go to New York for 11 days.

[bud]

Hi Missdaredevil,

There's only one change you have to make: I've taking Jazz-dance lessons. It needs to be I'm taking (the class is ongoing) or I've taken (the class is finished).

This is obviously intended for a friend, so the rest is fine. If it were a more formal letter, there would be two other issues:

Jazz-dance - Probably Jazz Dancing is more usual.

that have happened to me - Probably that are happening for me is better. The verb tense makes more sense because the things include past things, present things and future things. Changing the preposition from to to for conveys more clearly that you are a participant in these things. To has more of a meaning that the things happening are coincidental to your actions: your picnic had to be cancelled because of a heavy rainstorm, you were two hours late because the train was shut down due to a fire, someone put a dent in your parked car.

Writing to people who are close to us is usually done quickly and without much thought about technique. Likewise, it is received uncritically. The point is to share, not to show off our writing capabilities. There are often little mistakes that we would have corrected if the writing technique had been important enough to proofread and edit.

Hope that helps.

[missdaredevil]

Thanks a lot. It sure did help.

[bud]

Perfect!