Search found 345 matches

by Metamorfose
Thu Nov 17, 2011 5:55 pm
Forum: Applied Linguistics
Topic: is or are?
Replies: 1
Views: 3946

is or are?

A question from another forum:

Just like any other marriage, one key to keeping the relationships vibrant are regular date nights.

According to standard English shouldn't the agreement call 'is' instead of 'are'?

Thanks
by Metamorfose
Thu Jul 07, 2011 5:05 pm
Forum: Pronunciation
Topic: A balance between prosody and segmental feature?
Replies: 9
Views: 13852

Many studies showed the important place of prosody in language communication for the reason that misunderstanding would occur when speakers are lack of suprasegmental knowledge. However, most of language teaching focuses on segmental features first, especially the instruction for beginners, and the...
by Metamorfose
Tue Jul 05, 2011 3:09 am
Forum: Applied Linguistics
Topic: Do you like [playing]/[to play] football?
Replies: 1
Views: 6141

Do you like [playing]/[to play] football?

I know we've been on this time and time again in this forum, but recently I've come across a seemingly tendency* to use -ing forms rather than to+verb in verb+verb constructions with like , for example: (1) Do you like swimming? Is it just author's stylistic choice or has something changed and I'm n...
by Metamorfose
Fri Jun 10, 2011 10:03 am
Forum: Applied Linguistics
Topic: pronunciation of "legacy"
Replies: 10
Views: 21980

I'll assume short e to sound like the vowel in t e n and long e like the vowel sound in t ee n . You should check if the change short e to long e and/or short e to short i is systematical in your speech and/or speech community. It seems something that goes on in your speech community as I can tell. ...
by Metamorfose
Tue May 17, 2011 12:16 pm
Forum: Applied Linguistics
Topic: of course vs certainly
Replies: 3
Views: 6049

As far as I use English, if I was to say such a sentence I'd say: He overlooked himself and surely he felt ill. But I fail to see any reason to reject certainly and go for of course , indeed I have to confess that if a student gave me these two sentences I'd tell them to pick certainly . The diction...
by Metamorfose
Mon May 16, 2011 11:47 am
Forum: Applied Linguistics
Topic: of course vs certainly
Replies: 3
Views: 6049

of course vs certainly

Do you agree with the statements below?

Wrong sentence: He overworked himself and certainly he fell ill.

Right sentence: He overworked himself and of course he fell ill.


http://wasiarman-learnenglish.blogspot. ... ourse.html

Thanks

José
by Metamorfose
Tue Mar 29, 2011 4:40 pm
Forum: Applied Linguistics
Topic: He must be rich, ....... he?
Replies: 11
Views: 26403

Hey Fluffy..even when it's logical conclusion/deduction. You must be tired (after working all day long). You can't be tired (you slept for 8 hours and have just woken up). http://www.englishforums.com/English/MustInTagQuestion/hphrb/post.htm There I came across: you must be tired, aren't you? José
by Metamorfose
Tue Mar 29, 2011 1:23 am
Forum: Applied Linguistics
Topic: He must be rich, ....... he?
Replies: 11
Views: 26403

He must be rich, ....... he?

Taken from another forum. What is the tag for the given sentence?

He must be rich, __________ he?

Is it can't? Any other (formal) alternative?

Thanks

José
by Metamorfose
Wed Mar 23, 2011 10:59 pm
Forum: Applied Linguistics
Topic: usage of the word "caliber"
Replies: 3
Views: 8560

Non native speaker opinion/thoughts. About the hyphen: there is no set of rules related to the use of hyphen in compund words, this is very different from my native tongue where you gives you a list with rules and rules regarding hyphenisation. I don't remember where, but I do remember reading somet...
by Metamorfose
Sat Mar 19, 2011 9:11 pm
Forum: Applied Linguistics
Topic: You could have come I would be your teacher
Replies: 7
Views: 10430

If you had given a different example, perhaps I wouldn't be confused now. 8) 8) Hmm on rereading several times, if we both knew that your chance to come to Sydney was this semester, then perhaps it would work. The context given was just that the person who posted the original sentence was talking t...
by Metamorfose
Thu Mar 17, 2011 7:22 pm
Forum: Applied Linguistics
Topic: You could have come I would be your teacher
Replies: 7
Views: 10430

I remember I saw some examples of these "mixted"* conditionals but nothing very deep, so one can wonder to what extend they are accepted by native speakers, and being the previous condition true, what would be the underlining meaning of each case. Thank you :D :D :D * I like the quotations and they ...
by Metamorfose
Thu Mar 17, 2011 3:07 am
Forum: Applied Linguistics
Topic: You could have come I would be your teacher
Replies: 7
Views: 10430

You could have come I would be your teacher

This is from another forum, someone wanted to check the sentence below -- arguably said by a native speaker: I used to teach English as a second Language. You could have come to Sydney and I would be your teacher. I know the canonical would go and I could have been your teacher . My question, in the...
by Metamorfose
Fri Dec 31, 2010 5:19 pm
Forum: Applied Linguistics
Topic: Grammar question: "What/which" person would you ch
Replies: 6
Views: 11369

Oi Fluffy...I really didn't know what scare quotations are... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Living and learning always!

Have a great New Year!

José
by Metamorfose
Thu Dec 30, 2010 2:43 pm
Forum: Applied Linguistics
Topic: Grammar question: "What/which" person would you ch
Replies: 6
Views: 11369

and that 'which person' likewise sounds a bit more natural to my ear than the "least preferable" choice/phrasing of 'what person'
Is what person by any means grammatical in English, even if not highly accepted?

José
by Metamorfose
Wed Dec 29, 2010 1:12 pm
Forum: Applied Linguistics
Topic: teaching PRO-DROP
Replies: 10
Views: 10814

I am one of the few teachers I know that subscribe to Chomskian's theories. Although I do reckon it is more of a background than explicit use in classroom as Chomsky himself puts it (something like this)"I don't see how this theory can work in second-language acquisition". Anyway, as my native langu...