Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[missdaredevil]

1. I will haunt your dreams= I will haunt you in your dreams.

Do they have the same meaning?

2.I don't want you running for hills.

What does that mean?

3.
I have *mental block* about taking off my shirt in a locker room.
Something you fear ?

4. You have a great 5 months.
Is that grammatically correct?

5. I want you to speak loudly.
Is that correct and is it "speak up" more common?

6. You have to "win" me to get the prize.

You have to "beat" me to get the prize.
Are they both correct?

7. We will suffer tragedies *beyond description*.
Unimaginable tragedies, so it can be worse ?






Thanks

[CP]

1. Generally, yes, the same meanings. But "I will haunt your dreams" means more like, "I will keep appearing in your dreams," while "I will haunt you in your dreams" means, "I will keep appearing and following / scaring you in your dreams." You can "haunt" the local Starbuck's without going there to frighten anyone. Just means you are there a lot.

2. It's not "running for hills" but "running for the hills." Just means running away, disappearing from my life because you are afraid of something harmless. If you "head for the hills," you are leaving for someplace you won't be found.

3. It means something you know you should not worry about, but you worry about it anyway. It's all in your head. You could easily take off your shirt in the locker room, but you can't do it because of the mental or emotional problem attached to exposing your body.

4. You would say, "You have a great 5 months!" to someone who is going off to some wonderful place for five months, perhaps. The "you" isn't needed, but people put it in for emphasis: "You have a nice day!" "You take care of yourself, hear?"

5. "I want you to speak loudly" is correct if you want the person to speak loudly -- for instance, while speaking on stage or in the class. "Speak up" means the same as "speak loudly" -- think of it as "speak with the volume turned up." But, yes, "speak up" is more common.

6. You beat your opponent and win the prize / win the game. If you heard a girl say to a boy, "You have to win me to get the prize," it would mean more like, "You have to win me over [steal my heart] to get me as the prize." (It was a girl saying it to a boy, right?)

7. If the tragedies are beyond description, or they defy description, they are so bad that words are not enough to express them.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[missdaredevil]

[CP]

"Have a great vacation!"

"Have a great month abroad!"

"Have a great five weeks!"

Without the "a," it would just be, "You have great five months."
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[redset]

Another way of looking at it is that you're talking about a specific period of time, so both people know about it and the 5 months are all together as a group. 'Have 5 great months!' doesn't sound like any 5 months in particular - when are these months? Why are only 5 months good, are the rest supposed to be bad? Are you being offered a holiday by your boss?

By saying 'have a great 5 months' you're talking about a period both people are aware of, like an upcoming 5-month trip. (If the other person doesn't know which 5 months you're talking about, they'll probably ask what you mean.) It's like when you say 'have a nice day' to someone - it's understood that you're talking about today, not suggesting that they have a day that's nice at some point in the future.