ELL's Cabin

Mamta D

05:30

@iamRR Hey sorry for the late reply! Yes, am fluent in Hindi though it's not my native language. Did you have any queries pertaining to Hindi?

CopperKettle

05:40

(0:

Mamta D

05:59

@CopperKettle, was the image in reference to my text? The user asked me a query here yest which I couldn't reply in time so replied today. Not replying would be rude don't you think?

CopperKettle

@MamtaD No, I just chanced upon this picture on a local web forum. (0:

I sometimes hang out in this chat, but right now there's no time.

Bye!

Mamta D

@CopperKettle Oh I get it now! It was a joke/meme. Good one and sorry for getting it late :D

Jude Niroshan

06:53

Good Morning Everybody

Mamta D

Good Morning @JudeNiroshan

Jude Niroshan

nice to meet you

Where are you from?

Mamta D

Uh, no personal questions please. :)

Jude Niroshan

hmmm. ok. your preference :)

Mamta D

07:10

Thank you!

puputeh24

08:13

Hi, am I in luck today to have someone who can answer my question?

Jude Niroshan

Silence breaker is this correct noun to use for someone who talking load and wake up half asleep people in the office

@puputeh24 I may not be the perfect guy

puputeh24

hmm..

But you're the only one here.

Jude Niroshan

if I can do anything for you, it'll be my pleasure

puputeh24

I hope you and I have no choice. Of course, you can ignore me.

I kid. Please answer me question.

I'm going to post my question : "I have to be going now." Is this sentence grammatically wrong?

Mamta D

Hi @puputeh24 I am here as well

puputeh24

08:18

and I'm not sure it is a duplicate question if comparesd with ell.stackexchange.com/questions/7677/…

@MamtaD Thanks.

Mamta D

"I have to be going now" is a casual statement...ie it can be used in conversations and direct speech. Eg, Mary: "It's late. I have to be going now."

puputeh24

It means I have to be (verb) right>

Mamta D

Ideally, it should not be used in any formal writing.

puputeh24

Yes, I haven't seen this pattern in my grammar books.

How about "He has a lot of guts (to be hunting) by himself." "

Mamta D

"I have to be (verb)" is not recommended in formal writing.

Yes, the hunting example is okay. Acceptable.

puputeh24

08:22

Oops, typo. I have to be (verb-ing) right, for casual spoken English.

But I don't understand why " to be hunting" in this sentence. Is this same way as I have to be going now?

I'm sorry. Do you think I should post a question so you don't need to answer my questionssss.

Mamta D

I do understand your question.

The "to be hunting" is present progressive...probably the person making the statement was referring to a current or recently concluded event

As in, if he usually hunts, but you don't want to narrow it down to any specific time, you would say "He has a lot of guts to be hunting by himself."

Sorry ignore above statement. Reposting the correct one.

As in, if he usually hunts, but you don't want to narrow it down to any specific time, you would say "He has a lot of guts to hunt by himself."

But if you know that it is a current or recent event, you would say
"He has a lot of guts **to be hunting** by himself." to indicate that the hunting was and is still happening...

Another Eg, She is too timid to be eating by herself.

puputeh24

@MamtaD Thanks! This "present progressive - to be v-ing" is new to me as I'm always fine with I'm hunting / eating. I'm going to accept it without questioning. hehe

Mamta D

09:07

@puputeh24 Check here english.cactus2000.de/…

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

09:46

@MamtaD Hover over a message, click on the down arrow to the message's left, and click "delete".

jimsug

Is there a time limit to how long you can delete messages?

I think it's two minutes or something.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Yeah it's minutes for mere mortals.

jimsug

Do you have expanded deleting privileges in this room?

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@jimsug No, I just can move messages to trash.

jimsug

Ah, right.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

09:51

Which doesn't make sense.

I should be able to delete messages in this room.

(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻

cleaning up as much as possible (I'm ready for this big task but I certainly need a dozen more hands!). And now since you raised a genuine concern, I'm all eyes and ears when it comes to the tag grammar. I've already started watching questions with this tag as they come. Canonical post suggesting 'which question should have 'grammar' tag' would be fine. Or else, your own post on ELL's link (it should have some more answers though) is also a good way. — Maulik V ♦ 44 secs ago

Was I . . . not genuine last time?!

Mamta D

Am not able to delete messages. Can you point me to how to do it?

ah i can see the delete link now for a latest message...but cannot delete ones that were posted say an hour ago.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@MamtaD You can't edit messages older than 2 minutes.

Or delete them.

Mamta D

Bummer!

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

I can move the message to trash if you'd like.

Mamta D

Yes, please do. The message series beginning with "I found example in a grammar book"...

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M There are 5 messages there in that series that begins with "I found example in a grammar book".... Delete all of them please.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

10:03

1 hour ago, by Mamta D

typo...I found an example

?

Mamta D

Yes, all of the messages below that as well

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

→ 5 messages moved to Trash

There you go.

Mamta D

Fantastic! Thank you so much...

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Don't mention it. :)

Mamta D

Reason I asked for deletion is so that I could post proper and correct replies to @puputeh24 instead of the slightly confusing ones earlier. Now I will post them.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

10:09

Yeah figured as such.

Mamta D

@puputeh24 It isn't present progressive as I mistakenly stated earlier...apologies...it is "subjunctive present continuous"

See here
1) http://english.cactus2000.de/showverb.en.php?verb=hunt&var=0&pas=1&sen=1
2) http://www.englishpage.com/minitutorials/subjunctive.html

3) http://www.grammaring.com/present-subjunctive

Time for a break, folks! Take a look at these courtroom bloopers:

*Lawyer*: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning?

*Doctor on witness stand*: Did you actually pass the bar exam?

puputeh24

@MamtaD Thanks ! It's so kind of you to help with this. I'm about to read those links.

Anonymous

10:38

I can't see the example we're discussing.

Mamta D

@snailboat he wanted to know about sentences like "He has a lot of guts (to be hunting) by himself."

words in brackets indicate the words that @puputeh24 was confused about.

Anonymous

If I were going to call that something, I'd call it a progressive infinitive

2

Mamta D

The links I shared speak about subjunctive present continuous which is where they likely fall into.

Anonymous

We can tell it's not subjunctive because it has the infinitive marker to

Damkerng T.

starred a message silently...

Mamta D

10:42

This is what it says "The progressive infinitive is used to form the future continuous."

Anonymous

@MamtaD In construction with will or [be] going to, yes

Anonymous

But in this case we don't have will or [be] going to

Mamta D

So it's progressive infinitive? @puputeh24 please note...

Thank you @snailboat. Appreciate your inputs.

Anonymous

In more technical terms, to be hunting by himself is a to-infinitival clause. It's progressive, so it has to be hunting by himself instead of the more basic to hunt by himself.

Anonymous

Progressive and continuous mean approximately the same thing here.

Anonymous

10:47

So it may also be called "continuous infinitive" in materials for learners.

Mamta D

Got it. Hope you found this useful, @puputeh24.

Anonymous

So the question is: How does this to-infinitival clause fit into the whole sentence? What does the whole sentence mean?

Mamta D

@snailboat This is how I interpreted it. If he usually hunts, but you don't want to narrow it down to any specific time, you would say "He has a lot of guts to hunt by himself."

Damkerng T.

BYW @MamtaD My +1 comment came a couple days after the +1 itself. :P

Mamta D

But if you know that it is a current or recent event, you would say
"He has a lot of guts **to be hunting** by himself." to indicate that the hunting was and is still happening...as in, *progressive* or *continuous*

@DamkerngT. Which post? I'm afraid I lost track.

Damkerng T.

10:54

@MamtaD "some" post. :D

Mamta D

@DamkerngT. I found it. But my reply stands ;). +1 is still verbal. If you know what I mean :D

Damkerng T.

I think sometimes SE didn't notify some new messages to me. (I got two new messages, but SE notified me with [1], instead of [2]!)

Mamta D

@DamkerngT. you mean there was a +1 first and then the comment? I get it now. But then it means there must have been a -1 somewhere :(

Damkerng T.

@MamtaD I think I know, I got one in a comment myself yesterday too!

@MamtaD I think so. Wait, how much rep do you have?

Some more hundred points before you can see +/- votes, I think, on ELL.

Mamta D

yes, i verified just now..there had been a downvote. And it's the same person who's been giving you downvotes as well.

Damkerng T.

11:00

Possibly.

Mamta D

I can see them. Verified just now. So your +1 broke it even.

Damkerng T.

I think a phrase like "to be hunting" is interesting. I think it can be used for both things happened in the past, and things that will be or may happen in the future.

Mamta D

How could it be used for past? Any example?

Damkerng T.

(My prototype phrase: It was nice to talk to you.)

Hmm... wait, that's not the same thing.

I think I confused myself! :P

Mamta D

It was nice to be visiting you Can this qualify?

Damkerng T.

11:09

Now that's really interesting!

Mamta D

But is it valid? Is it grammatical? Why not just say It was nice to visit you

Damkerng T.

@snailboat How natural is It was nice to be visiting you to you?

Mamta D

Exactly! It's not natural. Who would actually say that? But it qualifies as per the grammar rules. Therein lies the conundrum.

Damkerng T.

Hey, I got this: But it was nice to be spending time with you from Six Feet Under!

Mamta D

Hmmm..

Will it have the same meaning as "It was nice to have spent time with you" ?

Damkerng T.

11:17

@MamtaD That's how I understand it, just with a little closer view (thus the progressive).

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. "It was nice to see you again!"

Anonymous

"It's nice to be visiting you again!"

Damkerng T.

So one is for the past and the other is for the future? Hmm...

Mamta D

@snailboat not present. Past! We're discussing it with past

Damkerng T.

Oh, what about But it was nice to be spending time with you?

Anonymous

11:20

@DamkerngT. It's okay, although I'd expect something like But it was nice to spend some time with you to be more frequent.

Mamta D

Now let's make it more complex. Backshifting with this...*It would have been nice to be spending time with you* ..is this valid or invalid?

Damkerng T.

I think the backshifted version of It would have been nice would be It would have been nice.

Mamta D

@DamkerngT. I have provided the backshifted version above.

If you look at what you posted, both your statements are the same. ie, It would have been nice

Damkerng T.

Oh! You meant It would have been nice as a backshift of It was nice. Hmm...

@MamtaD Yes. As far as I know, we don't backshift would/could/etc.

Hmm... that's not very precise, but I think you get what I mean.

Mamta D

Yes.

would is the backshifted form. So I backshifted "was" to "would". It would have been nice to be spending time with you.

Anonymous

11:33

@MamtaD It's a grammatical sentence, but you can't backshift was to would.

Anonymous

It would have been nice to be spending time with you sounds like the speaker didn't get (or won't get) to spend time with the listener.

Mamta D

What if that's exactly what he/she wanted to convey?

Anonymous

Then it's fine, it's just not a backshifted version of the other sentences we were talking about :-)

LGL

20:41

is this right way to say this?

No post available, please refresh or increase your discovery search in settings or post one yourself.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@LGL What does discovery search mean?

(And welcome!)

LGL

Thank you @inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@StoneyB Haha is that from Golestan?

1 min ago, by inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@LGL What does discovery search mean?

LGL

Have you guys user tinder?

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@LGL tinder?

LGL

20:44

Yes the social App

Damkerng T.

Ah, a dating social app.

LGL

Is that iranian Art @StoneyB

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@LGL Yes.

LGL

yes, the discovery search allow you search certain distance

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@LGL What do you mean? Please elaborate?

Oh wait.

Now I get it.

Damkerng T.

20:46

> No post available. Please refresh or increase your discovery ~~search~~ distance in settings or post one yourself.

LGL

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

> No posts available. Please refresh or increase the distance parameter of your search in settings or post one yourself.

LGL

Wouldn't that be too long?

Im Iranian :)

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

They called us "from the Pars".

StoneyB

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M Was called by your predecessors there.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

20:49

@LGL Shakes hands

LGL

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M Shake

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@LGL I'd omit "post one yourself".

LGL

O Thats a good one

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Ideally it would be "add a post yourself". I don't think it's too long though.

LGL

I mean "I'd omit "post one yourself"." is unique too.

This is the interface I'm working with

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

20:52

@LGL Well, it should be "posts", and your discovery search doesn't make sense.

Not much sense at least. BTW where in Iran are you from?

LGL

Shiraz

I really like this I'd omit "post one yourself", But I also want to send the discovery message

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@LGL Tabriz

@LGL It would make much more sense if you omit "search":

LGL

I went there before, when I was 8

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

> No posts available, please refresh or increase your discovery in search or add a post yourself.

StoneyB

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M .. or apply it is an attributive to "settings": in your search settings

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

20:56

@StoneyB Bingo.

@LGL "post one yourself" is syntactically incorrect; there are no antecedents for "one".

LGL

How about "No posts available, please refresh or increase your discovery distance or add a post yourself."

StoneyB

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M "Post" in "no posts available" may be taken as the referent.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@LGL It's good.

@StoneyB It's a bit far.

StoneyB

I didn't say it was good writing!

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@StoneyB Here's a comma at the end of a chat message: ,

StoneyB

20:59

So there is,

I'm enjoying the suspense.

LGL

or "No posts available in your area, please refresh or increase discovery distance."

maybe I shouldn't ask for post new one

StoneyB

"discovery distance" needs a determiner

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@LGL Good enough to me.

Yeah, it needs a determiner though.

LGL

Yeah, Short and clean.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

The discovery distance

StoneyB

21:01

Or your. And the comma should be a semicolon.

LGL

Yeah I like "your"

StoneyB

And I'd put a comma after refresh, so it's not read as refresh your discovery distance.

LGL

So "No posts available in your area, please refresh, or increase your discovery distance."

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@StoneyB My first version had a semicolon there. ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ

LGL

Sound nice

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

21:03

@LGL in your area ;

StoneyB

No, no, semicolon after area ...

LGL

Yeah colon is nice.

No posts available in your area: please refresh, or increase your discovery distance.

What you guys think about this icon iconfinder.com/icons/618078/…?

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@LGL That's a colon, a semicolon is نقطه ویرگول.

StoneyB

I only do copy; there are other folks in my shop who do graphics.

LGL

I mean colon is better

Im doing everything by myself but sometime when I'm confused I come to stack exchange

StoneyB

21:08

A colon points to the next clause as a complement of the thought; a semicolon is a hinge marking a change of direction. You want a semicolon.

LGL

so "No posts available in your area; please refresh, or increase your discovery distance."

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Yes.

Damkerng T.

22:45

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