Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[klafterreith]

Please tell me if a native would accept the following:
Please indicate A (cceptable) NA (NOT accepatable)

1. How`d I know that I suffer from depression?

2. There are many days feeling sad /many days of feeling sad.


3. I felt helplessness (=I felt helpless)


4. Tom broke up (with his girlfirend) (is the "with his girlfriend" -part
absolutely necessary)

THANK YOU!

[CP]

1. Change it to: "How was I to know that I would suffer from depression?" "How could I know that I would suffer from depression?" In either case, the "I would suffer" could be rendered "I'd suffer."

2. Change it to: "There are many days when I feel sad" or "I have spent many days feeling sad."


3. It should be: "I felt helpless" or "I had overwhelming feelings of helplessness.

4. You can say, "Tom and Mary broke up" or "Tom broke up with Mary / with his girlfirend." If you just say, "Tom broke up," it means that he exploded into pieces or disintegrated somehow. That's not quite accurate.
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