Language Overflow

1:20 AM

@DamkerngT. The reason, from my point of view, is that this (first or second time poster) has pointed out that this "general rule" might be handy, but doesn't always apply. — Araucaria 27 mins ago

@Araucaria We have to agree to disagree, I suppose.

However I look at the answer, it's misleading.

Example:

> She cranked the ancient lever heaving its weight high above her head. She shouted "Why is this so heavy!"

This implies that this is possible:

> She cranked the ancient lever heaving its weight high above her head. She shouted "Why is this so heavy now!"

And the reader may think that without quoting what she shouted, they may have to write:

> She cranked the ancient lever heaving its weight high above her head. She shouted, asking why that was so heavy then.

Because the answer doesn't emphasize that it's possible to use this, now, today, and so on with the past tense in the narrative past.

Today's reflection: how to read like an unknower

(and why doesn't 'Knowledge and Its Limits' have any word for 'unknower', 'non-knower', 'not-knower', or anything like that?!)

Damkerng T.

1:48 AM

(Maybe they simply use either 'learners' or 'students' for that. Check out Karl Maton's 'Knowledge and Knowers' when possible.)

Did I miss the point of the question? I will edit my answer to fit the context of the question better if that's the case @DamkerngT. Please explain what you mean — R.DeRienzo 8 mins ago

Good thing that they listened!

(Still, I'm not sure if I can find this point in a grammar book.)

Damkerng T.

3:35 AM

1

Q: The right answer for the following question in a passage

I'm reading Intermediate Comprehension Passages, page 1. In the following passage, It was already late when we set out for the next town, which according to the map was about fifteen miles away on the other side of the hills. There we felt sure that we would find a bed for the night. D...

comprehension

I don't know if I should laugh or should cry, having read the passage and the question!

CowperKettle

5:05 AM

Morning all.

Sina

7:21 AM

Morning

@DamkerngT. I laughed! There r philosophers on SE.:D

Sina

7:41 AM

About narratives I know we can switch the time from past to present, and use this or these to make it more dramatic. This is a technique and I guess you cannot find it in a grammar book.

Damkerng T.

9:30 AM

@CowperKettle Bad artist!

Damkerng T.

9:41 AM

"However, at the end of the book, the story is paraphrased and clearly states that the second option is the best answer." -- I doubt this part a little, BTW. How would a story have clearly stated so if it hadn't been designed for a test? -- Hmm... was it or was it not?

Damkerng T.

9:51 AM

Hah! I was awarded a bounty!

This is even more surprising than when I saw the bounty!

Damkerng T.

10:10 AM

And there are elephants in Africa too!

Oops, wrong room!

Anyway, the thread about the origin of elephant starts here:

in ELL's Cabin, 14 mins ago, by Pandya

Is this true?:

Anonymous

@CowperKettle I love your poem! :-)

Damkerng T.

Good evening/morning!

Anonymous

10:27 AM

Good morning! :-)

Anonymous

@CowperKettle Well, phonological mediation is almost certainly very important in reading, but there's also been a lot of research on the idea that there are paths directly from visual information to meaning.

Damkerng T.

1

Q: "It is built" or "it was built"

Which is correct: Florence is built on both sides of the Arno River. or Florence was built on both sides of the Arno River. Source: The ILI English Series, Intermediate 1 Workbook, Page 56

passive-voice

Anonymous

This is a major topic in the science of reading languages with Chinese characters!

Damkerng T.

It X built is going to be another controversial question.

Anonymous

Although phonological mediation is part of reading every language, the direct-to-meaning path also seems important.

Anonymous

10:31 AM

@DamkerngT. Oh really?

Damkerng T.

nods

Anonymous

> It is built ← built is a derived adjective.

Anonymous

> It was built ← built may be a verb form or a derived adjective, depending on meaning.

Damkerng T.

The sentence is Florence ___ built on both sides of the Arno River.

Anonymous

Certainly both sentences are possible.

Damkerng T.

10:33 AM

nods

Anonymous

There are three grammatical interpretations available.

Anonymous

With is, built is clearly an adjective. With was, built may be an adjective or a verb form.

Anonymous

It's ambiguous, and since both meanings make sense (without additional context), we can't necessarily distinguish the two.

Damkerng T.

I was thinking so. The context seems to favor is a bit.

Anonymous

Oh, there's context?

Damkerng T.

10:34 AM

The context is in an image!

Anonymous

Oh, I see!

Anonymous

Wow, so for each line, you fill in the blank with a word that's missing from the preceding text?

Damkerng T.

Or tick the checkbox to confirm that it's correct as is.

Anonymous

Or maybe you're just supposed to find an error of some kind.

Damkerng T.

Yes. (I think so.)

Anonymous

10:37 AM

Ahh, now it makes sense.

Anonymous

It's really very confusing when people share exercises without sharing the instructions accompanying those exercises.

Anonymous

Yes, I would use is in that context.

Anonymous

But was isn't wrong.

Damkerng T.

nods

Damkerng T.

10:49 AM

Oh, Michelangelo doesn't have an a before el!

Damkerng T.

11:02 AM

Yay! StoneyB to the rescue!

2

A: "It is built" or "it was built"

Florence was built on both sides of the Arno River. Florence is built on both sides of the Arno River. Both are acceptable. Past participles with BE may be parsed in two ways: as components of the passive construction or as predicate adjectivals. In the first example, built is understo...

Sina

@DamkerngT. Dose he mean British English by BE?

Damkerng T.

No, he means the auxiliary verb BE.

aka "verb to be"

Sina

Oh. Got it. Thought it is an abrevation. Thank you.

Damkerng T.

No problem!

Sina

Look at this forum.wordreference.com/threads/…

skill patrol

11:22 AM

Both are correct, depending on context.

Damkerng T.

nods

Norah Jones Live-I Think It's Going To Rain Today

►

^Some nice music

Some goofy thought --> I think it's gonna rain tonight!

CowperKettle

Good afternoon!

Damkerng T.

Good evening!

Another goofy thought --> I think it's gonna rain heavily tonight!

CowperKettle

@snailplane Well, love has inspired great poetry since time immemorial. (0: Thank you!

@DamkerngT. Yay!

(0:

Damkerng T.

@CowperKettle Oh, no!

CowperKettle

11:33 AM

@DamkerngT. You'll take a rest from the Interwebz!

(0:

Damkerng T.

and be busy mopping the floor!

"I actually did a paper on you in high school, sir." -- I just heard that in a movie and this time it sounded a bit funny to me. (Even though I know it's perfectly fine!)

It wouldn't've sounded funny if it'd been "a paper on something", I think.

V.V.

11:51 AM

Hi, everyone! ,@DamkerngT.,Congrats!

Damkerng T.

@V.V. Um, thanks! (I think)

I mean, I don't know why we had the bounty in the first place.

V.V.

Can't get you.

Damkerng T.

@V.V. Hmm... is my thought too strange?

V.V.

In this particular case or in general?

Damkerng T.

Oh, the bounty on that question, of course.

♫〜 Chatting in the rain, chatting in the rain. It's a rain, with storm. 〜♫

V.V.

11:59 AM

I can lend you some sun.

Damkerng T.

Thanks!

V.V.

I don't think It's worth thinking of, take it as a present, smile, enjoy.

You earned it.

Damkerng T.

nods

♫〜 Laughing at the thunder, waving at the lightning. I'm chatting and mopping in the rain. 〜♫

Singing In The Rain - Singing In The Rain (Gene Kelly) [HD Widescreen]

►

Damkerng T.

12:37 PM

Nice expression of the day: from young to young at heart

Araucaria

2:40 PM

Hot question:

2

Q: What do you mean that it's wrong?

What do you mean that it's wrong? In the above sentence, is the 'that clause' an adverbial clause, compared with: What do you mean by "It's wrong."?

grammar

Damkerng T.

2:51 PM

Puzzle of the Day 20160610 (What did he say? What phonemes did he use?): drive.google.com/file/d/0B8KKQ0fwLEZ9VTBmdHFtU2NFZmM/…

@Araucaria Needs more fuel!

If it was in my novel, I'd probably write it, What do you mean--that it's wrong?

Damkerng T.

3:37 PM

Jon Batiste Teaches You How To Jazz

►

Yeah! Papaya salads! (3:12)

Hah!

0

Q: What is 'it' in the phrase 'with future on the uncertain ground as it's'?

What is 'it' as shown in the image , clear from the title.Also it is not 'its', that should be noted well.

pronouns

> However, at 34 years of age and with his future in international cricket on uncertain ground as it is, any setback is bad news for the Australian all-rounder at this late stage of his career and Watson faces a nervous wait for the results of scans.

Is it that terrible?

In either case, this sentence is plain horrible to me. — MadWard 1 hour ago

In any case I might have written "on as uncertain ground as it is"... but yea, I agree with @MadWard, really terrible sentence. — Elijah Rockers 15 mins ago

I don't think it is (as it is :P).

V.V.

4:03 PM

As ir is.

What else?

It

Sina

4:16 PM

Doesn't the sentnce says: his futuare in international crickek is alredy on uncertain gruonds noting the fact that he is 34. You know the story is that this cricketer is injured.

I guess it is "as it is"

Without any mistake.

Maybe a typo

Damkerng T.

nods -- I think you are more or less correct.

What's strange is why they think it's terrible.

But if they think it is, it of course is to them.

V.V.

6:46 PM

1

Q: Cleft sentence: "is" vs "was"

It was / is in Paris that she was brought up. It was / is in this house that he lived.

grammar

This is interesting, I think

Damkerng T.

7:14 PM

nods -- I think FumbleFingers is right.

> "Stewardess, I will take that Jagerbomb now."
(to other passengers) "You know what? Bombs on me!" (louder) "Everybody's getting bombed!"
"We're getting bombed? No, no, no, no... We're all going to die!"

^Funny dialogue.

Sina

I don't have none.

You was wrong about that.

Charlie is taler than me.

What do u think about these sentences?

Damkerng T.

#1 is colloquial, #2 is dialectal or erroneous, #3 is fine.

skill patrol

I don't have any.
You were wrong about that.

Damkerng T.

I think it's okay in some dialects, but who said those is important.