Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[stevenukd]

Dear Teachers,

1. If you ever want to talk to me, we�re only an email away.
- What does �we�re only an email away� mean here?

2. Me and my girlfriend just broke up.
- I think �my girlfriend and I � is more natural, right?

3. Many Americans often say �hey! buddy� or �hey ! Mary�, they don�t say �hi! Mary� or �Hi! Buddy�. I think �hey� is not very polite to say, right?

4. She may love you still.
- I think �still� here is placed in wrong position, and �She may still love you� is better, right?

Thanks a lot to Teachers,

Stevenukd

[emile]

1 We might say, 'This shop is only five minutes away' to show that a shop is close. Here, the speaker wants to show that he or she is still close, although not physically close.

2 'Me and my girlfriend' is more natural, but 'My girlfriend and I' is grammatically corerct. This is one occasion where native speakers often use the wrong grammatical structure

3 Technically, it's not so polite, but if you use a polite tone of voice, then it's okay.

4 'She may love you still' sounds more 'poetic'. We would use it in songs and poems, but not so much in conversation.



my site: www.roadtogrammar.com

[CP]

3. Many Americans often say �hey! buddy� or �hey ! Mary�, they don�t say �hi! Mary� or �Hi! Buddy�. I think �hey� is not very polite to say, right?

"Hey" can be used to get someone's attention, sort of an impolite, shorthand way to say, "Excuse me." In that case, "Hey, Buddy!" could be a rude expression to get a stranger's attention, or even a challenge. (You don't know his name, so you just call him Buddy or Bud or Mac or Jack.)

But "Hey" is also a variant of "Hi," becoming more common all over the U.S.A., although I think it used to be mainly a Southern expression. So if you know the person, or his name is Buddy, and you see him, you might greet him with a very friendly, "Hey, Buddy!" (Buddy means friend and it is a name.)

American teenagers greet each other with "Hey" both in person and in e-mails, text messages, etc. It's a friendly, "Hi."

Hope this helps.

Yours truly, CP

[Nadonis4]

Hey friends;
I'm Nada from Morocco and I luv English