ELL's Cabin

Damkerng T.

03:17

@Pandya It's kind of wordplay. FWIW, Gnu is an antelope that looks like an ox.

I don't know who I am.

19:40

@IͶΔ. How are you?

@DamkerngT. How are you?

Damkerng T.

Good, thanks! How are you?

IͶΔ

@Idon'tknowwhoIam. Doing zombily great! You?

I don't know who I am.

I'm quite well, thanks.
I have a few questions.

Damkerng T.

Yes? (BTW, you can ask questions on the main site, too. You'll probably get lots of answers that are better than mine, especially when you want a long explanation.)

I don't know who I am.

All people want to achieve their personal goals in their life.
Where is the mistake?

IͶΔ

19:43

@Idon'tknowwhoIam. No one would say "All people".

I don't know who I am.

Why?

Damkerng T.

At first glance, lives would be better. But the more striking part is All people.

IͶΔ

They'd use either everyone.

Or

My English just finished.

Damkerng T.

Because it appears to be written by a non-native speaker, I guess that they wanted lives to be incorrect.

I don't know who I am.

Oh, it means lives is correct, and we cannot say all people right?

Damkerng T.

19:45

I didn't say that.

I don't know who I am.

So,

Damkerng T.

I simply said that whoever wrote that test (which I believe is a non-native speaker/teacher) seems to expect life to be the incorrect part.

As far as I can guess.

I don't know who I am.

Oh.

Damkerng T.

So, I didn't discuss it as real English. I discussed it as a dialect of English, which I don't speak.

I don't know who I am.

Okay, leave native speakers.
Just tell me about your views.

Not all birds can sing.
Is it correct?

IͶΔ

19:48

It is.

Damkerng T.

This one is fine.

I don't know who I am.

Okay, thanks.
What about my previous one, honestly speaking I couldn't get it.

Damkerng T.

You didn't get the sentence or you didn't get our explanations (MAR's and mine)?

IͶΔ

@Idon'tknowwhoIam. Well, why didn't you say "What about my previous question which I asked, honestly speaking I couldn't get the previous question I asked"?

It's bad writing.

"All people" in the place where everyone should be is also bad writing.

I don't know who I am.

What should be there?

IͶΔ

19:53

"everyone"

Damkerng T.

Everyone wants ...

I don't know who I am.

Everyone wants to achieve their personal goals in their life or lives?

Damkerng T.

With everyone, you'd use life.

I don't know who I am.

But "their"is also used.

Damkerng T.

But then again, some non-native speakers who love to write this kind of test may think that their personal goals and their life are incorrect.

@Idon'tknowwhoIam. See? That's what I just said.

In Present-Day English, Everyone wants to achieve their personal goals in their life is just fine.

I don't know who I am.

19:58

Thanks.

I got it.

Damkerng T.

You're welcome!

I don't know who I am.

@DamkerngT. Honour is dear/dearest/dearer to him than life.
Which should be used?

Damkerng T.

dearer, because of than.

I don't know who I am.

Can we use "dear"as well?

Damkerng T.

Of course, if you don't mind a strange look.

I don't know who I am.

20:03

Are you sure?

Damkerng T.

(In other words, don't use dear.)

I don't know who I am.

Why

Damkerng T.

> "This book is good to you than this book," Potter said.

> "What?!" Ron exclaimed, giving Potter a strange look.

I don't know who I am.

We compare two things right?

Damkerng T.

@Idon'tknowwhoIam. That's what the sentence tries to do, isn't it?

I don't know who I am.

20:06

Yes, it is.

Damkerng T.

So, we'd better compare them correctly, grammatically.

I don't know who I am.

I don't think he is coming to party

Is it right?

I think he is not coming to party.
Is it correct?

Damkerng T.

Hmm... what do you mean by he is coming to party?

I don't know who I am.

A person.

Damkerng T.

He is a person, but he is coming to party is not a person, I think. Right?

I don't know who I am.

20:11

Hmmm.

Damkerng T.

Let's try another way. What do you mean by party?

IͶΔ

It could be a blasphemy, depending on the person.

Damkerng T.

Did you use it as a noun or a verb?

I don't know who I am.

Noun

Damkerng T.

Oh, then your sentences are ungrammatical.

I don't know who I am.

20:12

I don't think is correct

Damkerng T.

I think you probably wanted to say I don't think he's coming to the party.

I don't know who I am.

I think that****

Right

Damkerng T.

The patterns a) I don't think [blah blah blah] and b) I think [not blah blah blah] (assuming that not is in a right place) are equally correct, but a) is more idiomatic.

IͶΔ

Definite articles are honestly one of the few things I don't get how I get right 90% of the time. Maybe it comes with mild fluency in the language, since neither Turkish nor Persian have articles.

I don't know who I am.

Oh,

I think he is not coming to party.
Is this okay?

IͶΔ

20:16

That comma, dammit

Damkerng T.

@Idon'tknowwhoIam. I think it's okay, but not in the meaning you think it means..

IͶΔ

@Idon'tknowwhoIam. Yes, if you meant party to be a verb.

I don't know who I am.

Party is a noun here.

Damkerng T.

If you wanted to use party as a noun, then your sentence is not correct.

IͶΔ

Then it's again ungrammatical.

Hey, I just wanted to welcome the user with the new green avatar to ELL's Cabin @Dam.

I'm a bit welcomy these days.

Damkerng T.

20:18

@IͶΔ Go ahead! :-)

I don't know who I am.

Oh shit

There is "the party".

IͶΔ

Now we're talking.

I don't know who I am.

The party is instead of party.

Is it noun now, or adj?

Damkerng T.

The party in the party is surely a noun.

IͶΔ

It's a noun. Adjectives don't get a determiner.

Damkerng T.

20:20

Right.

I don't know who I am.

I don't hope I am going to fail.
Is this OK?

IͶΔ

It's a bit weird.

Damkerng T.

I'd say that it's grammatical, but it's very weird.

I don't know who I am.

I hope I am not going to fail.
Is this okay?

Damkerng T.

Probably just fine in a right context.

> "Are you worried?” "A little.” I hope I'm not going to regret this. Eric looks like he's trying to figure out how to phrase his next question.

> The Thief, page 43

IͶΔ

20:28

@DamkerngT. That would make perfect sense on ELL if we s/Eirc/Meatie.

I don't know who I am.

Tell them I don't want to see someone.
Is this okay?

Anyone instead of someone?
Am I right?

Damkerng T.

The moving from the negation from a subordinate clause to the main clause is more common, though you can use either.

I don't know who I am.

What? Sir

Damkerng T.

I misunderstood your point.

Or more correctly, I guessed your question wrong.

I don't know who I am.

So, correct me please

Damkerng T.

20:30

@Idon'tknowwhoIam. Better try not to think of it as a rule (like, "I have to use 'anyone' when I use 'not'").

I don't know who I am.

Correct it where necessary please

Damkerng T.

In order to correct any sentence, you have to know the intended meaning first.

Tell them I don't want to see anyone is a normal sentence. You'd use it in most contexts.

I don't know who I am.

@DamkerngT. What is the correction of the sentence?
Tell them I don't want to see all of them.

Damkerng T.

Tell them I don't want to see someone, in my opinion, is possible, but only in a less frequently context.

@Idon'tknowwhoIam. Again, any is a more normal choice, but does that make all ungrammatical here?

I don't know who I am.

It sounds jerky.

You can do whatever you would like.
Is this okay?

Damkerng T.

20:36

Why do you ask if it's okay?

It came up in a test or something? Or you wanted to say something and weren't sure if it's correct?

I don't know who I am.

I think "would like to"at the end, right?

I want to make sure about the sentences.

Damkerng T.

Hmm... You can do whatever you would like to, what do you want it to mean?

I don't know who I am.

I want its correction.

Damkerng T.

You can ask it on the main.

I don't know who I am.

No,

You have to tell me.

Damkerng T.

20:40

My opinion is nothing is correct without context.

@Idon'tknowwhoIam. No need to be pushy! :-)

I don't know who I am.

O_o

Damkerng T.

In other words, how can one correct anything if they don't know whether it's correct or not?

I don't know who I am.

Okay , let it be.

I don't ask anything now.

Damkerng T.

For example, if someone shouted "Dog!" when they saw a lion, is it correct?

I don't know who I am.

I don't know .

0_0

Damkerng T.

20:43

If someone said "No" when they meant yes, is it correct?

If a stranger walked to you and said, "Right?", is it a good sentence?

IͶΔ

@DamkerngT. It is. I'd respond with "Under."

Damkerng T.

LOL

I don't know who I am.

They hadn't scarcely enough feed for their cattle.

Now, tell me whether it is a correct, or incorrect?

IͶΔ

It's Stoney-ish.

Not appropriate for informal contexts, unless you're imitating someone.

Highly appropriate for PhD theses, I gather.

Damkerng T.

scarcely is not normally used with not, I think.

IͶΔ

20:46

Though yeah, I wanted to come to that.

A double negator like that is weird.

I wouldn't say it's not something I haven't seen not uttered by no one though.

Damkerng T.

I'm more concerned with this sentence:

6 mins ago, by I don't know who I am.

I don't ask anything now.

What does it mean?

Really, @Idon'tknowwhoIam, it sounds weird to me.

IͶΔ

Or rather, what doesn't it not mean?

Damkerng T.

Oct 15 '15 at 18:26, by Damkerng T.

My 1st maxim: There's no standalone sentence.

IͶΔ

Not talking with not too many negators is not certainly not fun, @Dam.

@DamkerngT. Not Salute no

Which doesn't not mean "Salute".

I don't know who I am.

I am going

Sorry for disturbing.

Damkerng T.

21:01

@Idon'tknowwhoIam. I think I wasn't able to help you much. That's why asking your questions on the main is a good idea.

IͶΔ

@Dam I think you go for it too patiently.

Damkerng T.

@IͶΔ Not sure if @Idon'tknowwhoIam thinks the same.

IͶΔ

@Idon't unfortunately isn't as cooperative as an active engager in discussion would be.

Damkerng T.

Everyone is free to choose their own learning method, anyway.

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