Conversation started Jul 24, 2015 at 1:07.
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Jul 24, 2015 01:07
0
A: Is this sentence correct?

JonahPretty close. I think most people would generally say, "What is it that most irritates you?" or "What irritates you the most?" Either way, unless there is reason to be emphatic, the first sentence is wrong.

Weird. Nobody upvoted this answer.
But three upvoted Khan's.
Anonymous
Well, I think both answers are wrong, to an extent.
Anonymous
Naaah, on second thought, that answer you linked is pretty good.
Anonymous
But they could expand on the emphatic thing.
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Which makes me don't understand our voting.
ELL still has a serious voting problem.
Anonymous
It's one of those things that you wouldn't really understand unless you already know what it's talking about.
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Jul 24, 2015 01:09
@snailboat Agreed.
Anonymous
The first sentence is grammatical.
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Yes, and that answer didn't say otherwise.
Anonymous
But do doesn't carry any meaning of its own
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
nods
Anonymous
Well, it says it's wrong unless there is reason to be emphatic
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Jul 24, 2015 01:10
Isn't that correct?
Anonymous
I guess? I just think that most people won't be able to tell what that means unless they already know what it's trying to say.
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
nods
Anonymous
You can insert do so that you can stress an auxiliary to emphasize the positive polarity of the sentence, often in contrast to a previous negative utterance.
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
My idea is every sentence that is used in the wrong occasion is wrong, even though it's grammatical.
But that's not what they teach in English classes.
Anonymous
@DamkerngT. That's fair, as long as you define "wrong" appropriately.
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Jul 24, 2015 01:14
nods -- I remember vaguely that you mentioned something about "pragmatic".
Anonymous
@CrazyEyes Nah, the first sentence is fine if it's used in the right context. Native speakers would use it, for example, to express contrastive polarity. — snailboat yesterday
Anonymous
@snailboat What is contrastive polarity? A Google search yields nothing but papers and articles about licensing costs. — Crazy Eyes 12 hours ago
Anonymous
@CrazyEyes Ah, my apologies. I should have left a longer comment (or possibly used the more common term "emphatic polarity"). In English, speakers often stress the affirmative or negative polarity of a sentence by stressing an auxiliary verb, and this is often in contrast to a previous utterance of the opposite polarity: "Noon doesn't work for me, either." "Well then, what time does sound good to you?" When there's no auxiliary present, the dummy auxiliary do is inserted for this purpose. This insertion is grammatical, but it only makes sense in certain contexts. — snailboat 18 secs ago
Anonymous
Although I'm pretty sure you can find stuff looking up "contrastive polarity", too.
Anonymous
Our discussion just now reminded me to reply to Crazy Eyes' comment.
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Jul 24, 2015 01:18
nods
To me, a simplified answer saying that "What time does sound good to you?" is wrong is better than saying that "What time does sound good to you?" is correct.
Anonymous
Sure.
Anonymous
That's reasonable.
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
@snailboat On the Semantics of Syntax: Mood and Condition in English
The first book/link Google gave me.
Anonymous
books.google.co.jp/…
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Hehe! I like the cover of the book!
Anonymous
Jul 24, 2015 01:21
See, John Wells uses contrastive polarity.
Anonymous
And John Wells is John Wells.
Anonymous
Still, terminology like that isn't terribly important. Communication is. So it was my fault for using the term and not defining it.
Anonymous
I mean, if you use a common term with an agreed upon definition, you can reasonably expect people to educate themselves.
Anonymous
books.google.co.jp/…
Anonymous
Speakers use that do for other reasons, too.
 
Conversation ended Jul 24, 2015 at 1:25.