Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[stevenukd]

Dear Teachers,

- What are you doing this Saturday?

1. � I�m go climbing a / the mountain.
2. � I�m going to pagoda / church.
3. � I�m going away on business / I�m going on a business trip.
4. � I�m taking a walk with her / I�m going for a walk with her.
5. � I�m going to a funeral / to a wedding party / a birthday party.
6. � I�m attending a meeting.
7. � I�m traveling to the US.

- Are these natural and grammatical?

Thanks a lot to Teachers,

Stevenukd

[bud]

All but #1 are very natural.

1. "I'm go climbing" is not grammatical. You could just say "I'm going climbing." (without "a/the mountain"). If you want to include "a/the mountain," then you could say, "I'm going to climb a/the mountain."

In most cases, you would choose "a mountain." If your listener would know which mountain you were talking about, then "the" is correct.

2. It's good for "church" or "temple." I've never heard this sentence with "pagoda" or "mosque," but I expect it would work the same way.

5. "To a wedding party" is probably better as "to a wedding." If you are not going to the ceremony, but will attend the celebration after the wedding, then you could say "to a wedding reception." Typically, "the wedding party" refers to a group of people, not to the celebration. The wedding party is the bride and groom, the bridesmaids, the maid of honor, the ushers, the best man, etc... English! Sheesh!