Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[stevenukd]

Dear Teachers,

1.I must follow on the road that lies ahead.
-I think �on� is redundant here, right?

2.- I will not make the same mistakes that you did. (a)
-I will not make the same mistakes that you have done. (b)
-When do we use 3a and 3b?

3.There�s no more normal families.
-I think we should use �there are� here because of �families�, right?

4.� You suck!
-You suck up!
- These mean �you�re so bad� or �you�re so incompetent�, right?

5.�It sucks!� means �it�s too bad� or �it�s not good at all�, right?

Thanks a lot to Teachers,

Stevenukd

[bud]

1. Yes, good point, Steven. Even so, it's more natural with the redundancy.

2. First, let's change the second sentence to "... you have made." Then, there really isn't any difference in most contexts. Sometimes you have a choice of verb tenses to use. The logic behind the two ways is different, but in effect they mean the same thing.

3. If not for the contraction, you would be right. I think it's accepted to use "there's" as a contraction for "there are" in a construction like this. If I'm wrong about that, most people do it anyway.

4. Your meaings are good for, "You suck!" "You suck up" usually means that you are extraordinarily eager to please your superiors (bosses, parents, etc.).

5. Yes!

Good work! (You definitely don't suck!)

[sissi01]

I am not a teacher.
But I still want have a try.Maybe I am not right.
1. �on� is not redundant here.
follow means to come or go after,while follow up means to go on with.

2.I think the two sentence give the same meanings.

3."is" is the right word ,for there's a no here.

4.more or less

5.yup.