tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70492084886388889632024-02-07T15:50:47.007+00:00Plain EgglishThe nuances of English in plain EnglishUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7049208488638888963.post-75432096177083632062018-02-28T08:00:00.000+00:002018-06-23T23:32:15.302+01:00Blog MovedI've merged this and two other blogs of mine into a single blog called <i><a href="https://mindpatches.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Mind Patches</a></i>, which you'll find at the following link:<br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="font-size: x-large;">⇨⇨ <a href="https://mindpatches.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">BLOG MOVED HERE</a> ⇦⇦</span></h2>
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The theory is that I will be able to update a single blog much more frequently than I could each of the individual ones. You'll still find a lot of posts about language in the new place, but the emphasis is different.<br />
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In the meantime, I'll leave all my old <i>Plain Egglish</i> posts here as an archive because, even though I no longer update this blog, a lot of traffic still finds its way here each month.<br />
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<b>The all-time most popular posts from the <i>Plain Egglish</i> archive:</b><br />
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1. <a href="http://plainegglish.blogspot.com/2011/04/prepositions-over-vs-above.html" target="_blank">Prepositions: OVER vs. ABOVE</a><br />
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2. <a href="http://plainegglish.blogspot.com/2012/04/articles-vs-and-vs.html" target="_blank">Articles: A vs. AN and THE vs. THE</a><br />
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3. <a href="http://plainegglish.blogspot.com/2012/03/comparatives-curiouser-vs-more-curious.html" target="_blank">Comparatives: CURIOUSER vs. MORE CURIOUS</a><br />
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4. <a href="http://plainegglish.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-many-is-lot.html" target="_blank">How many is A LOT?</a><br />
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5. <a href="http://plainegglish.blogspot.com/2011/03/by-vs-until.html" target="_blank">Prepositions and time: BY vs. UNTIL</a><br />
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6. <a href="http://plainegglish.blogspot.com/2011/04/weirdness-with-plurals.html" target="_blank">Weirdness with plurals</a><br />
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7. <a href="http://plainegglish.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-grammar-of-mass-and-count-nouns.html" target="_blank">The grammar of mass and count nouns</a><br />
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8. <a href="http://plainegglish.blogspot.com/2015/09/pronunciation-work-vs-walk.html" target="_blank">Pronunciation: WORK vs. WALK</a><br />
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9. <a href="http://plainegglish.blogspot.com/2012/10/adjectives-bored-vs-boring.html" target="_blank">Adjectives: BORED vs. BORING</a><br />
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10. <a href="http://plainegglish.blogspot.com/2013/10/on-falling-apples-and-whether-tomatoes.html" target="_blank">On falling apples and whether tomatoes really are fruit</a><br />
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<b>And my least popular post:</b><br />
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<a href="http://plainegglish.blogspot.com/2011/03/uses-of-simple-present-tense.html" target="_blank">Uses of the simple present tense</a><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7049208488638888963.post-62004760579758482452017-05-15T17:00:00.001+01:002023-03-07T12:33:11.840+00:00On the word PLANET<div style="direction: ltr;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih-twEFe3n8E5E24VH3I9f-R2cdBbub7KJvFZNM1x2LaLaPfHdAMGUG1gv-6mp73FszT1KLYp6bCD5OGDUG76r0QtGtYQ-4A-pNq6gcxd76j8FMBOEpfDDyZ9BfHGkDphiEp5NjjM7UHun/s1600/Pluto+whole+color.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih-twEFe3n8E5E24VH3I9f-R2cdBbub7KJvFZNM1x2LaLaPfHdAMGUG1gv-6mp73FszT1KLYp6bCD5OGDUG76r0QtGtYQ-4A-pNq6gcxd76j8FMBOEpfDDyZ9BfHGkDphiEp5NjjM7UHun/s400/Pluto+whole+color.png" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">False color image of Pluto's heart (Image: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It's been more than ten years since a mysterious cabal of astronomers known as the International Astronomical Union (IAU) reclassified Pluto under a newly devised category of <i>dwarf planet</i> and curators of natural history museums have long since adjusted their exhibits to reflect an eight-planet solar system, but even after all this time, it apparently doesn't take much to reignite the debate surrounding the issue. In March of this year, <a href="http://releases.jhu.edu/2017/03/16/scientists-make-the-case-to-restore-plutos-planet-status/" target="_blank">a PhD student from Johns Hopkins University presented a poster</a> at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Texas that was enough to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/03/20/a-new-definition-would-add-102-planets-to-our-solar-system-including-pluto/" target="_blank">make headlines</a> on both sides of the Atlantic because it proposed a revised definition of the word <i>planet</i> that would return Pluto to the category along with a further hundred or so other objects from our solar system.</div>
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From a linguistic perspective, the Pluto debate raises some very interesting questions. For instance, why did anyone think that the IAU had the power to change the meaning of an English word as opposed to merely establishing a terminological convention for technical discourse within the field of astronomy? Why is the reclassification of Pluto frequently described as a <i>demotion</i> as if it's some kind of honor for a celestial body to be called a <i>planet</i>? And in what sense has the meaning of the word <i>planet</i> actually changed in the minds of speakers as opposed to what they believe about how many planets there are? The discussion around Pluto's reclassification reveals a lot about how people think about the nature of both language and science, so I think it's worth digging a little deeper into these issues.</div>
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</div><a href="https://plainegglish.blogspot.com/2017/05/on-word-planet.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7049208488638888963.post-30592399011388687152015-09-30T22:32:00.000+01:002015-10-12T11:15:28.405+01:00An End to Pedantry: THAT vs. WHICHI've used this blog on a number of occasions to debunk rules that are widely believed to represent 'proper' educated usage but which have very little basis in reality. I have for instance argued that <a href="http://plainegglish.blogspot.com/2015/03/stop-telling-people-data-is-plural.html" target="_blank">data is not in fact a plural</a>, that <a href="http://plainegglish.blogspot.com/2013/10/on-falling-apples-and-whether-tomatoes.html" target="_blank">tomatoes aren't really fruit outside of botanical circles</a>, and that <a href="http://plainegglish.blogspot.com/2012/04/articles-vs-and-vs.html" target="_blank">there is no good reason to use <i>an</i> rather than <i>a </i>before words beginning with <i>h</i></a>. I'm far from alone in writing about these imaginary rules but I occasionally feel I can provide a slightly different perspective on them. After encountering some of my posts on these issues, one of my readers asked me to elaborate on what I meant by this:<br>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The only standard by which we can judge the use of a word to be correct or not is whether it conforms to the conventions used by members of the speech community in the particular context in which it is being used. [<a href="http://plainegglish.blogspot.com/2013/10/on-falling-apples-and-whether-tomatoes.html" target="_blank">On falling apples and whether tomatoes really are fruit, Oct 16, 2013</a>]</blockquote>
In particular, this reader was interested in what I thought about the alleged rule for when to use <i>that</i> and <i>which</i>, and whether I think it actually matters whether we follow such rules if our meaning is likely to be understood in any case. What follows is a slightly edited version of the response I gave this reader by email, which I hope clarifies my position.<br>
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<a href="https://plainegglish.blogspot.com/2015/09/pedantry-that-vs-which.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7049208488638888963.post-40893951208263947442015-09-29T20:57:00.000+01:002015-10-13T12:29:28.131+01:00Pronunciation: WORK vs. WALKThe spelling of the words <i>work</i> and <i>walk</i> is quite unhelpful for understanding how to pronounce them, so it might be easier if you imagine them being spelled <i>werk </i>and <i>wawk</i>.<br />
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The vowel sound that appears in <i>work</i> can be spelled many different ways, so if you know how to pronounce these other words, you can use them as a guide:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="example">A n<span style="color: red;"><u>ur</u></span>se h<span style="color: red;"><u>ear</u></span>d a b<span style="color: red;"><u>ir</u></span>th at w<span style="color: red;"><u>or</u></span>k.</span></blockquote>
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And here is a sentence to help you with the vowel sound in <i>walk</i>:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="example">I th<span style="color: blue;"><u>ough</u></span>t I s<span style="color: blue;"><u>aw</u></span> a h<span style="color: blue;"><u>aw</u></span>k w<span style="color: blue;"><u>al</u></span>k.</span></blockquote>
The <i>l</i> in <i>walk</i> is silent in all common varieties of English.<br />
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In the so-called <i>non-rhotic</i> accents spoken in many British colonies and in most of Britain itself, the <i>r</i> in <i>work</i> is also silent. In rhotic varieties of English spoken in Canada, most of the USA, Ireland, and some parts of the UK including Scotland, Northern Ireland and the South West of England (particularly Cornwall where the locals sound a bit like pirates), speakers do pronounce the <i>r</i> in <i>work</i>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7049208488638888963.post-36492667544985209942015-03-02T22:01:00.000+00:002017-01-05T23:57:00.476+00:00Stop telling people DATA is plural<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The word <i>data</i> is almost universally used as a singular mass noun in English except among many professional writers and academics who insist that it is the plural of <i>datum</i>, a word that is almost non-existent in English outside discussions of whether <i>data</i> is a plural. The reason usually cited for treating <i>data</i> as a plural is that it was a plural in Latin, which is true but irrelevant since grammatical changes often occur when words are borrowed from one language to another. A perfectly analogous example is the word <i>spaghetti</i> which is a plural count noun in Italian but very clearly a mass noun in English, which is why native speakers of English say <i>This spaghetti is cooked</i> and not <i>These spaghetti are cooked</i>.<br>
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</div><a href="https://plainegglish.blogspot.com/2015/03/stop-telling-people-data-is-plural.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7049208488638888963.post-58482808619006770242015-02-23T20:20:00.000+00:002015-03-09T10:34:27.983+00:00Mass and count nouns: INFORMATIONIn English, the word <i>information</i> does not have a plural form:<br />
<blockquote>
<b>INCORRECT</b>: <span class="example">We need more <i>informations</i>.</span><br />
<b>CORRECT</b>: <span class="example">We need more <i>information</i>.</span><br />
<b>CORRECT</b>: <span class="example">We need more pieces of <i>information</i>.</span></blockquote>
This can be confusing for speakers of languages in which the equivalent word has both singular and plural forms:<br />
<blockquote>
French: <span class="example"><i>information</i></span> [singular], <span class="example"><i>informations</i></span> [plural]<br />
Italian: <span class="example"><i>informazione</i></span> [singular], <span class="example"><i>informazioni</i></span> [plural]<br />
German: <span class="example"><i>Information</i></span> [singular], <span class="example"><i>Informationen</i></span> [plural]</blockquote>
English treats the word <i>information</i> as a <b>mass noun</b>, while the equivalents in these other languages are <b>count nouns</b>. For more about what these terms mean, see yesterday's post: <a href="http://plainegglish.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-grammar-of-mass-and-count-nouns.html">The Grammar of Mass and Count Nouns</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7049208488638888963.post-85345077357291998512015-02-22T17:06:00.001+00:002015-03-09T10:35:08.533+00:00The grammar of mass and count nouns<b>Mass nouns</b> are often the names of substances like <i>water</i>, <i>wood</i> and <i>air</i> that we can measure on a continuous scale. <b>Count nouns</b>, on the other hand, generally label things that come in discrete wholes that we can count like <i>children</i>, <i>houses</i> and <i>hats</i>. To put it simply, the distinction between mass and count is one between stuff and things.<br>
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You can usually guess whether a noun will be of the mass or count variety from its meaning, but what ultimately determines whether a word is classified as a mass noun or count noun is the way it functions grammatically.<br>
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Mass nouns are always singular, so like singular count nouns, they trigger singular agreement. Mass nouns also have something in common with plural count nouns because continuous substances and groups of countable objects can both vary in quantity. These factors partly explain which determiners you can use with mass nouns and how they compare with the determiners you can use with singular and plural count nouns:<br>
<a href="https://plainegglish.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-grammar-of-mass-and-count-nouns.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7049208488638888963.post-40165604173877631642014-08-13T22:10:00.000+01:002015-03-09T10:29:11.176+00:00Sensory verbs: SEE vs. LOOK AT vs. LOOK vs. WATCH<b>THREE TYPES OF SENSORY VERBS</b><br />
Sensory verbs come in several different varieties:<br />
<ol>
<li>Sensing: <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">see, hear, feel, taste, smell</span></li>
<li>Attending: <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">look at, listen to, touch, taste, smell/sniff</span></li>
<li>Perceiving: <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">look, sound, feel, taste, smell</span></li>
</ol>
We use the first type to talk about receiving sensory information and the second type when the observer is deliberately directing their senses to attend to something. For example, to <i>look at</i> is to direct one's eyes to <i>see</i> something, to <i>listen to</i> is to direct one's auditory attention to <i>hear</i> something, to <i>touch</i> is to direct one's hand to <i>feel</i> something, and so on.<br />
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The third type of sensory verb is used to talk about the state or qualities of perceived objects. Grammatically, this third type is part of a small group of verbs (which also includes <i>be</i> and <i>seem</i>) that can take an adjective as a complement:<br />
<ul><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">
<li>It <i><b>is</b></i>/<b><i>seems</i></b> nice.</li>
<li>It <b><i>looks</i></b>/<b><i>sounds</i></b>/<i style="font-weight: bold;">feels</i>/<i><b>tastes</b></i>/<i><b>smells</b></i> nice.</li>
</span></ul>
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<b>A FOURTH TYPE</b><br />
There is also a fourth type of sensory verb, which we can think of as a refinement of the second type. The only difference is in the form of the verb for vision to give us <i>watch</i> instead of <i>look at</i>. Both <i>watching</i> and <i>looking at</i> are about focussing one's visual attention so as to <i>see</i> something, but <i>watching</i> involves not only attending to the form of objects but also to changes that occur in them over time. Hence we <i>watch a movie</i> but normally only <i>look at a photograph</i>.<br />
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Note that <i>watching</i> isn't merely <i>looking continuously</i> as is often claimed because a person can <i>look at</i> something continuously without attending to changes in it. Consider the following pair of sentences, for example:<br />
<ul><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">
<li>Jill <b><i>watched</i></b> television for an hour.</li>
<li>Jill <i><b>looked at</b></i> the television for an hour.</li>
</span></ul>
Both of these sentences are perfectly acceptable in English, but they mean different things. The first is the more typical case that would apply if Jill were enjoying a television program. The second is a strange thing to do for a whole hour since it would suggest that Jill paid no attention to the changing images on the screen or that the television wasn't even switched on.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7049208488638888963.post-79546154082423840282013-10-16T15:58:00.000+01:002015-03-09T10:05:22.222+00:00On falling apples and whether tomatoes really are fruit<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Imagine a film of an apple accelerating toward the ground under the influence of gravity. If we played this film backwards, what would we see? It may seem odd, but a physicist will tell us that when the film is played backwards, the apple will <i>continue </i>to accelerate downwards! Regardless of whether the film is played forwards or backwards, the apple will accelerate <i>downwards</i>.<br>
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It is because physicists use the word <i>accelerate</i> with a slightly different meaning to the one in everyday use that an otherwise trivial fact about the universe can be cast as such a curious statement.<br>
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<a href="https://plainegglish.blogspot.com/2013/10/on-falling-apples-and-whether-tomatoes.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7049208488638888963.post-22425761331946020562013-03-24T21:28:00.000+00:002015-03-09T10:24:50.122+00:00Adjectives: LATE vs. TOO LATESomething is <b><i>late</i> </b>if it happens after it is expected to happen. By contrast, something is <i><b>too late</b></i> if it happens after it is needed for a particular purpose.<br />
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For example, if Jill's flight was scheduled to arrive at 8:45 and her plane landed at any time after this, then you could say:<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Jill's plane arrived </span><i style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><b><span style="color: red;">late</span></b></i><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">.</span> [later than it was expected to arrive]</li>
</ul>
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If Jill needed to catch a train from the airport at 9:15, and the late arrival of her plane made this impossible, you could <i>also </i>say:<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Jill's plane arrived <i><b><span style="color: red;">too late</span></b></i> to catch the 9:15 train.</span> [later than needed for the purpose of catching that particular train]</li>
</ul>
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Whether something happens <i><b>too late</b></i> will depend on which purpose is being discussed:<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Jill's plane arrived <i><b><span style="color: red;">too late</span></b></i> to catch the 9:15 train, but not <i><b><span style="color: red;">too late</span></b></i> to catch the 9:45 train.</span></li>
</ul>
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Only use <i><b>too late</b> </i>if you are directly discussing a particular purpose, or when a particular purpose is implied. If you arrive at a meeting after it has begun, you are simply <i style="font-weight: bold;">late</i>. If you said you arrived <i><b>too late</b></i> for a meeting, native English speakers would probably think you meant that you had arrived after it had ended (i.e., the purpose of attending the meeting was not achieved).<br />
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OTHER ADJECTIVES:<br />
<i>Too</i> behaves the same way when used with other adjectives:<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The coffee was <i><b><span style="color: red;">too hot</span></b></i> (to drink).</span> [hotter than desired for the purpose of drinking]</li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Jill was refused entry to the cathedral because her skirt was <i><b><span style="color: red;">too short</span></b></i>.</span> [shorter than allowed for the purpose of entering the cathedral]</li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The soldier was <i><b><span style="color: red;">too young</span></b></i> to vote, but not <i><b><span style="color: red;">too young</span></b></i> to serve in the military.</span> [younger than allowed for one purpose, but not the other]</li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Jill works <b><i><span style="color: red;">too hard</span></i></b>.</span> [harder than desired, presumably for her happiness or health, depending on context]</li>
</ul>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7049208488638888963.post-29600375111587572982013-03-24T11:12:00.000+00:002015-03-09T10:30:00.323+00:00Nouns: WEDDING vs. MARRIAGEA <b><i>wedding</i> </b>is the ritual celebration that marks the beginning of a <i><b>marriage</b></i>. A <b><i>marriage</i> </b>is something that begins with a <i><b>wedding </b></i>ceremony and is ended by death or divorce.<br />
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Examples:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Most couples have their <b><span style="color: red;">weddings</span></b> in the summertime.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Erica and Michael have the sort of <b><span style="color: red;">marriage</span></b> that brings out the best in people because they experience each other's joy as their own</span>.</li>
</ul>
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<br />
Some other ways of talking about <i><b>weddings</b></i>:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Most couples <b><span style="color: red;">get married</span></b> in the summertime.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Most couples <b><span style="color: red;">wed </span></b>in the summertime.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Most couples <b><span style="color: red;">marry </span></b>in the summertime.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Most couples <b><span style="color: red;">tie the knot</span></b> in the summertime.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Most couples <b><span style="color: red;">get hitched</span></b> in the summertime.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Most couples <b><span style="color: red;">walk down the aisle</span></b> in the summertime.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Most couples <b><span style="color: red;">take their nuptials</span></b> in the summertime.</span></li>
</ul>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7049208488638888963.post-72324422855006773632012-12-19T00:01:00.000+00:002018-02-19T12:52:10.485+00:00'Tis the season for problems of referenceWe in the English speaking world use <i>Santa Claus</i>, <i>Father Christmas</i> and <i>Kris Kringle</i> as three interchangeable names for the same non-existent person, responsible for teaching children not to trust their parents. Then we have <i>Saint Nicolas</i>, which is also often used synonymously with these, but sometimes also refers to an alleged historical figure who lacked the reindeer and sled, the penchant for cookies and milk, omniscience about whether we've been bad or good, the elf workshop at the North Pole, and pretty much all of the fun stuff.<br>
<br>
What I find interesting about this is the question of how we could possibly determine that at least the first three of these names refer to the same person if that person doesn't exist. To compound this problem, consider the fact that in the Christmas traditions of Germany and some other places, the etymological equivalents of these names do not all refer to the same non-existent person, but to different non-existent people! There's <i>Nikolaus</i> (corresponding etymologically to either <i>Saint Nicolas</i> or its derivative <i>Santa Claus</i>) who delivers presents via a donkey on the night of the 5th/6th of December, often leaving chocolates or other small items in your shoes (not the most hygienic place to store chocolate in my opinion). He dresses in a very ostentatious red and has a white beard suspiciously like what English speakers associate with Santa Claus, but Nikolaus prefers a more saintly looking hat and carries a shepherd's staff.<br>
<a href="https://plainegglish.blogspot.com/2012/12/tis-season-for-problems-of-reference.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7049208488638888963.post-81633202365716772552012-10-15T01:54:00.001+01:002015-10-06T11:11:18.757+01:00Adjectives: BORED vs. BORING<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqK2jiGxVCf7fbUn7agTrVc1FGbWa0pOzRZMNvxzd5H45E5Bx7bRJsGQweNgvJdACavtSd2MSRikWWqA2YoxObWkc-OUFSDhOinO9VHPTfOuqVvtLx2XpEvoQg1wvKrv1ZNFvmbNY2KKRY/s1600/participial_adjectives.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqK2jiGxVCf7fbUn7agTrVc1FGbWa0pOzRZMNvxzd5H45E5Bx7bRJsGQweNgvJdACavtSd2MSRikWWqA2YoxObWkc-OUFSDhOinO9VHPTfOuqVvtLx2XpEvoQg1wvKrv1ZNFvmbNY2KKRY/s320/participial_adjectives.png" width="259"></a></div>
What is the difference in meaning between these two adjectives?<br>
<ul>
<li><span class="example">a <span style="color: red;"><i>bor<b>ing</b></i></span> student</span></li>
<li><span class="example">a <span style="color: red;"><i>bor<b>ed</b></i></span> student</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
The first says something insulting about the student. If you want to describe a student who would rather be somewhere else, you should use the second.</div>
<div>
<br></div>
<div>
A student might describe himself as <i>bored</i> and one of his lessons as <i>boring</i>. It is not a coincidence that these look like forms of the verb <i>bore</i>. Consider the following sentence: </div>
<ul>
<li><span class="example"><span style="color: #a64d79;">The lesson</span> <b>bored</b> <span style="color: #6aa84f;">the student</span>.</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<div>
If we wanted to focus on the role of the subject or the role of the object, we could rephrase it as one of the following:</div>
<ul>
<li><span class="example"><span style="color: #a64d79;">The lesson</span> was <span style="color: red;"><i><u>bor<b>ing</b></u></i></span>.</span> [progressive]</li>
<li><span class="example"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">The student</span> was <span style="color: red;"><i><u>bor<b>ed</b></u></i></span>.</span> [passive]</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
The subject (<i>the lesson</i>) of the active sentence can be described as <i>boring</i> and the object (<i>the student</i>) can be described as <i>bored</i>. It is the same when they are used as attributive adjectives:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span class="example"><span style="color: #a64d79;">The <u>boring</u></span> <span style="color: #a64d79;">lesson</span></span></li>
<li><span class="example"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">The <u>bored</u> student</span></span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
Here are some other verbs that follow the same pattern:<br>
</div><a href="https://plainegglish.blogspot.com/2012/10/adjectives-bored-vs-boring.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7049208488638888963.post-41434124217178350202012-05-02T16:10:00.000+01:002015-02-19T12:08:31.434+00:00Causatives: REMIND means cause to REMEMBERMany languages have only a single word that covers the meanings of <i>remember</i> and <i>remind</i> so speakers of these languages often have trouble knowing when to use each in English and produce errors like the following:<br>
<br>
<ul>
<li><b>INCORRECT</b>: <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><b><span style="color: red;">Remember</span></b> me to buy some bread on the way home.</span></li>
<li><b>CORRECT</b>: <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><b><span style="color: red;">Remind</span></b> me to buy some bread on the way home.</span></li>
</ul>
<br>
The relationship between these two verbs is the same as that between the verbs <i>kill</i> and <i>die</i>. Just as the verb <i>kill</i> means <i>cause to die</i>, the verb <i>remind</i> means <i>cause to remember</i>. Here are some examples:<br>
<br>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">That smell </span><span style="color: red; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><b>reminds</b></span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> me of our holiday in Tuscany.</span><br>[The smell caused me to remember the holiday]</li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I had forgotten about the bread until Jill </span><span style="color: red; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><b>reminded</b></span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> me.</span><br>[Jill caused me to remember the bread]</li>
</ul>
<br>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I </span><span style="color: red; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><b>remember</b></span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> it snowed more when I was a kid.</span><br>[No mention of something causing the memory to be recalled]</li>
</ul>
<br>
<br>
<b><i>ADVANCED:</i></b><br>
<a href="https://plainegglish.blogspot.com/2012/05/causatives-remind-means-cause-to.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7049208488638888963.post-14389806904228392152012-04-04T00:04:00.000+01:002015-03-09T10:33:27.384+00:00Articles: A vs. AN and THE vs. THE<b>A versus AN</b><br />
When learning a second language, people usually learn the written form at the same time as the spoken form. With English, this can be confusing because the spelling is very irregular. This is especially true for the rule about when to use <b><i>a</i></b> versus <b><i>an</i></b>, but if phrased in terms of pronunciation rather than spelling, the rule is extremely simple:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
RULE: Use <b><i>a</i></b> before words beginning with a consonant sound and <b><i>an</i></b> before words beginning with a vowel sound.</blockquote>
The spelling often agrees with the phonetic rule, as in the following example:<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">a</span> cat</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">an</span> old cat</span></li>
</ul>
But the spelling isn't always so kind:<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">a</span> university </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">(because <i>university</i> begins with the <i>y</i> sound of <i>youth</i>)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">an</span> umbrella </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">(because <i>umbrella</i> begins with the <i>u</i> sound of <i>up</i>)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">a</span> xylophone </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">(because <i>xylophone</i> begins with the <i>z</i> sound of <i>zoo</i>)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">an</span> x-ray </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">(because<i> x-ray</i> begins with the <i>e</i> sound of <i>extra</i>)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">a</span> hat </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">(because the <i>h</i> is pronounced)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">an</span> hour </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">(because the <i>h</i> is silent)</span></li>
</ul>
The rule is about pronunciation rather than spelling, so the rule still holds perfectly in these examples, even if the spelling is unhelpful. If you know how to pronounce the next word, you'll always know whether to use <b><i>a</i></b> or <b><i>an</i></b>. Of course, for speakers of languages like Italian and French who have trouble hearing the <i>h</i> sound, this isn't so simple.<br />
<br />
Note that there are a few people who believe that <b><i>an</i></b> should be used before certain words that begin with an <i>h</i> sound in modern English, and consider this 'proper' educated usage. The most common example of this occurs with the word <i>historic</i>:<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">an</span> historic event </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">(rare usage)</span></li>
</ul>
The belief that this is grammatically correct is probably due to another unhelpful effect of spelling. The reason we can find '<b><i>an</i></b> historic' written in old texts is that there was a time when the <i>h</i> of <i>historic</i> was silent in many people's speech. It's like the word <i>herb</i> in modern varieties of English. Some people pronounce the <i>h</i> and some don't. Those who pronounce the <i>h</i> write '<b><i>a</i></b> herb', and those who don't pronounce the <i>h</i> write '<b><i>an</i></b> herb'. Text preserves the spelling, but not the pronunciation that goes along with it, so after the pronunciation of <i>historic</i> settled on its modern form, people who saw '<b><i>an</i></b> historic' written in older texts probably mistook this for a rule that applied to modern pronunciation.<br />
<br />
In general, if native speakers have to be taught a rule that doesn't come naturally, there is probably something fishy about the rule. Misguided rules of this kind are almost not worth mentioning, except that people benefit from an awareness of them when they, for example, end up working for people who believe them.<br />
<br />
<b>THE versus THE</b><br />
Like <b><i>a</i></b>, the pronunciation of <b><i>the</i></b> varies depending on whether the next word begins with a vowel or consonant sound. Before a word beginning with a consonant sound, the vowel of <b><i>the</i></b> is usually reduced to what's called a <i>schwa</i>, represented by the ə symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet:<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">the</span> cat </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">(pronounced ['ðə] with a short middle vowel)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">the</span> old cat </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">(pronounced ['ði] to rhyme with <i>bee</i>)</span></li>
</ul>
This is one of those details that native speakers almost never notice about their own language (again probably because it's not reflected in the spelling) and which they never need to be taught.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7049208488638888963.post-9570739454616396812012-03-26T22:50:00.000+01:002015-10-13T12:27:32.482+01:00Comparatives: CURIOUSER vs. MORE CURIOUSWith almost no exceptions, comparative adjectives are formed either by adding <b><i>-er</i></b> or by using <b><i>more</i></b>:<br>
<ul>
<li><code>Jill is <span style="color: red;"><b><i>smart</i></b> </span>-> Jill is <span style="color: red;"><i><b>smarter</b></i> </span>than Penny.</code></li>
<li><code>Jill is <i><b><span style="color: red;">intelligent </span></b></i>-> Jill is <b><i><span style="color: red;">more intelligent</span></i></b> than Penny.</code></li>
</ul>
The same pattern occurs with the superlative forms <b><i>-est</i></b> and <b><i>most</i> </b>(Note that if an adjective takes the <b><i>-er</i></b> form, it will also take the <i><b>-est</b></i> form, and likewise for <i><b>more</b></i> and <i><b>most</b></i>):<br>
<ul>
<li><code>Jill is the <i><b><span style="color: red;">smartest</span></b></i> student.</code></li>
<li><code>Jill is the <i><b><span style="color: red;">most intelligent</span></b></i> student.</code></li>
</ul>
Non-native speakers of English often find it difficult to know when to use the <b><i>-er</i></b> form and when to use the <b><i>more</i></b> form. Unfortunately, there isn't a perfect rule for this, but you can still improve your chances of guessing right with a few simple tips.<br>
<br>
<a href="https://plainegglish.blogspot.com/2012/03/comparatives-curiouser-vs-more-curious.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7049208488638888963.post-20256544424834288872011-04-18T08:43:00.003+01:002015-07-31T12:39:02.550+01:00Prepositions: OVER vs. ABOVENative speakers of English usually find it very difficult to explain the difference between the <a href="http://plainegglish.blogspot.com/search/label/prepositions">prepositions</a> <i><b>over</b></i> and <i><b>above</b></i>, but nevertheless have very clear intuitions about when each should be used. Today's post will be getting into some detail about the factors driving these intuitions. The system is quite beautiful in its logic and very revealing about semantic structure.<br>
<br>
<a href="https://plainegglish.blogspot.com/2011/04/prepositions-over-vs-above.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7049208488638888963.post-18664533358119386092011-04-14T09:35:00.017+01:002015-03-09T10:35:32.411+00:00Weirdness with pluralsThe grammatical distinction between <i>singular</i> and <i>plural</i> does not map perfectly onto the meanings <i>one</i> and <i>more than one</i>. <br>
<br>
One way to check whether a noun phrase is singular or plural is by seeing whether it triggers singular or plural agreement with a verb when it appears as the subject of a sentence:<br>
<br>
<ul>
<li>Singular: <span class="example"><i>This monkey</i> <b>likes</b> bananas.</span> [and not <i>This monkey like...</i>]</li>
<li>Plural: <span class="example"><i>These monkey<b>s</b></i> <b>like</b> bananas.</span> [and not <i>These monkeys likes...</i>]</li>
</ul>
<br>
Another way, also illustrated in the above examples, is by looking at whether a singular or plural determiner is used (in these examples, the determiner <i>this</i> is singular and the determiner <i>these</i> is plural), though with a determiner like <i>the</i>, the form doesn't change, and there are a few cases where the determiner appears to be singular, but plural agreement is triggered:<br>
<br>
<ul>
<li>Plural: <span class="example"><b>A</b> few/dozen/hundred/million monkey<i>s</i> <i>like</i> bananas.</span></li>
</ul>
<br>
<a href="https://plainegglish.blogspot.com/2011/04/weirdness-with-plurals.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7049208488638888963.post-50301278185106557572011-04-06T07:40:00.018+01:002015-06-19T20:26:03.735+01:00Adverbially adjectival: GOOD vs. WELLMany adjectives have an adverbial form produced by adding an <i>-ly</i> ending:<br>
<ul>
<li><span class="example"><i>quick</i> → <i>quick<b>ly</b></i></span></li>
<li><span class="example"><i>accidental</i> → <i>accidental<b>ly</b></i></span></li>
<li><span class="example"><i>local</i> → <i>local<b>ly</b></i></span></li>
<li><span class="example"><i>recent</i> → <i>recent<b>ly</b></i></span></li>
<li><span class="example"><i>frequent</i> → <i>frequent<b>ly</b></i></span></li>
<li><span class="example"><i>happy</i> → <i>happ<b>ily</b></i></span> [replace <i>-y</i> with <i>-ily</i>]</li>
</ul>
<br>
Other adjectives have an irregular adverbial form:<br>
<ul>
<li><span class="example"><i>good</i> → <i>well</i></span> [instead of <i>good<b>ly</b></i>]</li>
<li><span class="example"><i>early</i> → <i>early</i></span> [adjective already ends in <i>-ly</i>]</li>
</ul>
Modern theories of grammar include adverbial forms of adjectives within the class of adjectives much as singular and plural nouns are included within the class of nouns. The reason is because they share most of the behaviour of the adjectives they are derived from. For example, gradable adjectives and adverbs both behave the same way in comparisons:<br>
<a href="https://plainegglish.blogspot.com/2011/04/adverbially-adjectival-good-vs-well.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7049208488638888963.post-75335597167736224492011-04-03T11:34:00.001+01:002015-02-19T12:12:17.330+00:00Pronouns aren't the only pro-formsThe way pronouns work is familiar to everyone. If someone has just mentioned <i>the old man with green hair who lives in an apple tree by the lake</i>, you can save some time by using <i>he</i> and <i>him</i> to refer to him afterwards.<br />
<br />
But pronouns are a special case of a more general category known as <i>pro-forms</i>. While pronouns stand in place of noun phrases (NPs), other pro-forms stand in place of preposition phrases (PPs), verb phrases (VPs) and adjective phrases (APs). Some examples:<br />
<br />
A PP pro-form:<br />
<ul>
<li><span class="example">Jill will stay <i>at the hotel</i>.</span></li>
<li><span class="example">Penny will stay <b>there</b> too.</span> [<i>there</i> interpreted as <i>at the hotel</i>]</li>
</ul>
<br />
A VP pro-form:<br />
<ul>
<li><span class="example">Jill will <i>stay at the hotel</i>.</span></li>
<li><span class="example">Penny will <b>do so</b> too.</span> [<i>do so</i> interpreted as <i>stay at the hotel</i>]</li>
</ul>
<br />
An AP pro-form:<br />
<ul>
<li><span class="example">Jill was <i>angry with the priest</i>.</span></li>
<li><span class="example">Penny was even more <b>so</b>.</span> [<i>so</i> interpreted as <i>angry with the priest</i>]</li>
</ul>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7049208488638888963.post-88604724714063748282011-04-01T18:23:00.000+01:002015-03-09T09:56:47.555+00:00How many is A LOT?Among quantities like <i><b>a couple</b></i>, <i><b>several</b></i>, <i><b>many</b></i>, <i><b>a few</b></i>, and <i><b>a lot</b></i>, some can be mapped to specific values. <i><b>A couple</b></i> usually means two (or <i>approximately</i> two), <i><b>a dozen</b></i> means 12, and there is a long tradition of dictionaries trying to place limits on others. For example, Merriam-Webster defines <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/several" target="_blank"><b><i>several</i></b></a> as "more than two but less than many". <br />
<br />
But another way of thinking about these expressions is that they tell us where a quantity lies in relation to standards and expectations. From this perspective, the word <b><i>several</i></b> is used to counter the expectation that a number is limited to one or two:<br />
<blockquote>
<span class="example">It is possible to send an email to <b>several</b> people at once.</span> [<i>several</i>, not just <i>one or two</i>]<br />
<b>WRONG</b>: <span class="example">The news said that <i>many</i> people were injured in the protest, but only <b>several</b> were.</span> [<i>several</i> can't usually be contrasted with <i>many</i>]</blockquote>
The same <i>several people</i> you sent an email to could be described as <i>a few people</i> when you want to say the number is fewer than someone thinks it is:<br />
<blockquote>
<span class="example">I did email those naked pictures to <b>several people</b>.</span><br />
<span class="example">She thought I emailed those naked pictures to <i>everyone</i>, but I only sent them to <b>a few people</b>.</span></blockquote>
It is impossible to say approximately how many items <i><b>a few</b></i>, <i><b>a lot</b></i> and <i><b>many</b></i> refer to without knowing the context. Four is <i><b>a lot</b></i> of fish for one person to eat, but it isn't <i><b>a lot</b></i> of fish to find swimming around in a lake. The interpretation of <i><b>a lot</b></i> depends on our understanding of how many items there should be in a given context. <i><b>A lot</b></i> is a large enough number to impress and <i><b>a few</b></i> is close to none.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7049208488638888963.post-70531017576875059742011-03-31T21:28:00.000+01:002015-03-09T10:20:54.465+00:00Prepositions and time: FOR vs. SINCEUse <i><b>for</b></i> to introduce durations like <i>1 second</i>, <i>3.8 billion years</i>, <i>a long time</i> and <i>a little while</i>.<br />
<blockquote>
<span class="example">Life on Earth has existed <b>for</b> <i>about 3.8 billion years</i>.</span><br />
<span class="example">I listened to a Lady Gaga song <b>for</b> <i>a little while</i>.</span></blockquote>
<i><b>Since</b></i> is used to introduce the point in time when something became true and must always be used with a form of the perfective <i>have</i>.<br />
<blockquote class="example">
I <i>have</i> lived on Earth <b>since</b> <i>1975</i>.<br />
I <i>have</i> been listening to Lady Gaga <b>since</b> <i>3 o'clock</i>.</blockquote>
Some common mistakes involving <i><b>since</b></i>:<br />
<blockquote>
<b>WRONG</b>: <span class="example">I have lived here <b>since</b> <i>30 years</i>.</span> [You can't use a duration with <i>since</i>]<br />
<b>WRONG</b>: <span class="example">I <i>am</i> living here <b>since</b> 1981.</span> [You must use <i>since</i> with a form of <i>have</i>]</blockquote>
See the tag <a href="http://plainegglish.blogspot.com/search/label/prepositions">prepositions</a> for related posts.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7049208488638888963.post-86403004709672378302011-03-30T23:53:00.000+01:002015-03-09T10:37:21.191+00:00A conversation at noonTenses and aspect are among the most difficult things to learn in any language, so I've made a pretty chart to simplify the whole thing. It includes an example of a conversation that includes each form at least once.<br />
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Click to enlarge!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu2IV0-dPZvS_vzX7PRZOJOM_RWBJUQUspSh_Jw3ZVI-3KbjNmIQLLTf2yRn8b-2xMYqmQ36iEzY95BMA53jZ9BOVV1P6B1RD3mSfRjePCKHXDOaoeAFBaJJahXxWEEOX4BQ4rQ70gKZEO/s1600/conversation_at_noon.png" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu2IV0-dPZvS_vzX7PRZOJOM_RWBJUQUspSh_Jw3ZVI-3KbjNmIQLLTf2yRn8b-2xMYqmQ36iEzY95BMA53jZ9BOVV1P6B1RD3mSfRjePCKHXDOaoeAFBaJJahXxWEEOX4BQ4rQ70gKZEO/s600/conversation_at_noon.png" height="425" width="600" /></a></div>
<br />
UPDATE:<br />
It helps if you look at which time phrases you can use with each form (left side of the chart). For example:<br />
<blockquote>
<span class="example">The race start<b>ed</b> <i>at 10am</i>.</span> [the simple past]<br />
<span class="example">The race <b>has</b> started <i>now</i>.</span> [<i>has</i> is present tense, so it is about the past of the present (i.e., a time before <i>now</i>)]<br />
<span class="example">The race <b>had</b> started <i>at 11am</i>.</span> [<i>had</i> is past tense, so it is about the past of the past (i.e., a time before <i>11am</i>)]</blockquote>
If it is now 12pm, you can't say:<br />
<blockquote>
<b>WRONG</b>: <span class="example">The race <b>has</b> started <i>at 10am</i>.</span> [<i>has</i> is present tense, but <i>10am</i> is in the past, so it doesn't make sense]</blockquote>
If you want to attach a time phrase to <i>start</i> instead of <i>have</i>, use the simple past form.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7049208488638888963.post-43669397797131845112011-03-30T10:03:00.000+01:002011-03-30T11:35:42.630+01:00Follow Plain Egglish on TwitterAs of today, you can receive notifications of new Plain Egglish posts by following <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/plainegg">@plainegg</a> on Twitter.<br />
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Follow me here: <a href="http://twitter.com/plainegg">@plainegg on Twitter</a><br />
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Or click the link in the sidebar to the right!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7049208488638888963.post-30819626946062954392011-03-29T12:59:00.001+01:002015-03-09T10:39:01.606+00:00It's a tag question, innit?<a href="http://plainegglish.blogspot.com/search/label/tag%20questions">Tag questions</a> are a kind of <a href="http://plainegglish.blogspot.com/search/label/yes-no%20questions">yes-no question</a> used when you want to confirm that something is true. They are formed by attaching a question tag to the end of a declarative sentence. Here is one example:<br>
<blockquote class="example">
<i>He is</i> in jail, <b>is he?</b></blockquote>
Notice that the tag "<i>is he</i>" has the same form as the beginning of a normal yes-no question that you would use if you didn't have any idea about the answer:<br>
<blockquote class="example">
<b>Is he</b> in jail?</blockquote>
<a href="https://plainegglish.blogspot.com/2011/03/its-tag-question-innit.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0