Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[missdaredevil]

1. Is the person sitting behind(or in) the confessional a priest?
Is it likaly to use it to describe someone who listens very carefully to your problems and gives out good suggestion?

2. She will be teaching us for two months.
Is that called *the length of time* or *the span of time*?

3.Is there a difference between *you are not slim and tall* and *you are not slim or tall*?

4.Can a *soul mate* be a just a friend and nothing else? I think that it usually refers the other half.

5. I am always giving out ideas and suggestion to others, but I don't *get them for myself*.

Is that used correctly? Meaning I don't get suggestion from others.

Thanks to you all out there.

[Monkeybucks]

1. Yes, the person in the confessional would be a priest, as far as I know. I haven't been to church since I was a child, so I can't be certain.

Is it likaly to use it to describe someone who listens very carefully to your problems and gives out good suggestion?
Do you mean just any person, such as a friend? I don't think it would be normal to call somebody who listens carefully and gives out good suggestions a priest. You could call them an advisor, perhaps. But unless they actually worked in a church, as a priest, you generally would not call them one (unless you were joking).

2. I'm pretty sure that you could use either of these. People would understand you either way. I'm not very good with these technical points, I must say.

3. Yes.

"You are not slim and tall"
Implies that the person could be slim and short, short and fat, or tall and fat. They could only not be slim and tall.

"You are not slim OR tall"
Implies that they can not be slim or tall. Meaning they MUST be short and fat.

4. In most cases, yes, it does refer to your husband/wife, or girlfriend/boyfriend etc. I suppose you could use it to describe your best friend, but you normally wouldn't.

5. The use of 'for' isn't needed here. It might also help to replace 'get' with 'receive', but that's just to clear it up a little and isn't necessary.

I hope I helped! Sorry if I made anything confusing, if so, just let me know.

[missdaredevil]

Thanks for such the elaborate explanation. It sure did help.
However, I am never good at math or logic. Could you be more clear about the AND & OR part?


Thanks

[Monkeybucks]

Yay, I'm glad I could help!

I know what you mean, even I had a little trouble deciding if there was a difference between the and/or sentences, and english is my first language! I'm quite sure that I'm right, though it might help to get someone elses opinion.

Anyway, I will try and explain it a bit better.

When you say that somebody is not slim and tall, it is almost like you have made "slim and tall" a catagory that this person does not fit under. It is saying that they can not have both these features at once, but they might have one (eg. they could have the slim part. So they could be slim and short).

(I sort of think of it like this: If your friend was trying on a shirt that was too long for them, but fitted them well otherwise, you could say "This shirt doesn't look good because you are not slim and tall. If the top was shorter, it would look good because you are slim and short")

However, if you say you are not slim or short, it is like putting a person in a catagory where they can not have either of these features at all. Meaning they must be something completely different (eg. short and fat).

So, saying it with "and" is like saying "You are not slim and tall, but you may be slim and short".

Saying it with "or" is like saying "You are not slim or tall, so you must be short and fat"

I hope I explained it a little better this time. It's hard for me to explain, so I hope you get it.

[missdaredevil]

Thanks for such a detailed explanation.
I try to think of it like this, "and" is single negative and "or" is double negative.
I think I understand it now.
Bye