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Which/What country...

 
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naohsi



Joined: 08 Dec 2005
Posts: 12

PostPosted: Fri Jan 13, 2006 7:04 am    Post subject: Which/What country... Reply with quote

1.What country would you want to visit?
2.Which country would you want to visit?

When you have a choice from anywhere in the world,
which sentence is correct?
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ebb



Joined: 12 Jan 2006
Posts: 87
Location: USA

PostPosted: Fri Jan 13, 2006 7:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Either is good, although #2 sounds more elegant.
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"This is insolence up with which I will not put." Winston Churchill, upon reading a newspaper�s criticism of his having ended a sentence with a preposition.

"You can get more with a kind word and a gun, than with just a kind word." Al Capone.
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naohsi



Joined: 08 Dec 2005
Posts: 12

PostPosted: Fri Jan 13, 2006 7:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks a million ebb!

May I ask you 2 more questions?

1. "What/Which state in the US do you live in?"
Is this same thing as the above one?

2. Is it OK to say
"What/Which countries would you want to visit" ?
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ebb



Joined: 12 Jan 2006
Posts: 87
Location: USA

PostPosted: Fri Jan 13, 2006 8:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

[quote="naohsi"]Thanks a million ebb!

May I ask you 2 more questions?

1. "What/Which state in the US do you live in?"
Is this same thing as the above one?

Yep, the same. Incidentally, you will enjoy the humorous retort of Churchill at the bottom .. an old schoolmarm rule says "Don't end a sentence with a preposition." Of course, sometimes it sounds right in conversation, and Churchill makes the point with humor and flair.

You could say "In which state do you live?" but this sounds stilted and artificial, even pretentious.

2. Is it OK to say
"What/Which countries would you want to visit" ?

Either one is OK.
_________________
"This is insolence up with which I will not put." Winston Churchill, upon reading a newspaper�s criticism of his having ended a sentence with a preposition.

"You can get more with a kind word and a gun, than with just a kind word." Al Capone.
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naohsi



Joined: 08 Dec 2005
Posts: 12

PostPosted: Fri Jan 13, 2006 9:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank you ebb!

About Churchill's humour, i had been wondering what it means, but now i've got it!!
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ebb



Joined: 12 Jan 2006
Posts: 87
Location: USA

PostPosted: Sat Jan 14, 2006 6:42 am    Post subject: Sir Winston Reply with quote

Yes, it's cute isn't it? Sometimes, knowing when to break the rules can help convey your meaning. It's only funny though if you know what you're doing !! Churchill, a master of English oratory, obviously did.

Some other Churchillian gems -- see if you (or your cohorts) can unravel them, and comment on or state their meanings -- the grammar in the last two -- well, you will find interesting....:

The length of this document defends it well against the risk of its being read.

An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile - hoping it will eat him last.

The terrible ifs accumulate. Made by Sir Winston after the fiasco following the invasion of the Gallipoli peninsula by Allied forces in World War I; the Allies eventually withdrew, some eight months after the largest amphibious assault in history, having suffered some 250,000 casualties.

I decline utterly to be impartial between the fire brigade and the fire.
_________________
"This is insolence up with which I will not put." Winston Churchill, upon reading a newspaper�s criticism of his having ended a sentence with a preposition.

"You can get more with a kind word and a gun, than with just a kind word." Al Capone.
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