Language Overflow

Anonymous

20:00

Ah, and that set doesn't bring with it its own order, presumably

Damkerng T.

I'm not sure. The context is a video clip which is longer than 5 minutes.

Anonymous

So there we'd just follow the usual rules for picking a and the

Anonymous

I imagine contexts which select a would be more common

Anonymous

But both are fine in the right context

Anonymous

I haven't listened to the clip so I don't know what sort of context it was in

Damkerng T.

20:02

I think your explanation makes sense, that it may be the third in the clip, not the third in the member order.

Me either.

Hello, @Hanaa!

Hanaa

Hello @DamkerngT. Hello @snailboat

Damkerng T.

Here is the link. See especially the part between 5.30–6.06 in which the sentence occured. youtube.com/watch?v=knDe_EZSxTw — bart-leby Oct 18 at 17:33

Anonymous

If they said a, they're presumably introducing members of the committee, and this is the third they've introduced. They're marking the third member as new information, so they say a.

Damkerng T.

That makes perfect sense to me!

Let's see if it's so in the clip. (I have a strong hunch that it is!)

Hanaa

Can i ask a question?

Damkerng T.

20:08

Sure!

BTW, I just listened to that part of the clip. I think it's a bit strange.

Hanaa

Thank you!

Anonymous

I listened to it too. They introduce three members of the committee. It seems to fit what I said above.

Anonymous

Hello!

Damkerng T.

The clip introduces one of the member (sounds like an important one, perhaps the head of the committee), then the narrator skipped to the (a) third member.

I must've missed the second member somehow!

Anonymous

The first is at 5:36

Anonymous

20:10

The second is at 5:43

Hanaa

What do you think about using facebook pages to enhance learning English?

Damkerng T.

Is "his rival" another member of the committee? (I guess not)

Anonymous

And the third at 6:03

Damkerng T.

Oh, so the rival of the first member was the second member?

Oh, I see. I think I misheard some words that describe who the second member was.

Anonymous

Lazare Carnot and Saint-Just were both committee members, yes

Damkerng T.

20:13

nods -- I thought Sanit-Just was the one who was executed in the narrative. :P

Which was why I couldn't make sense of the three members.

Hanaa

Are you discussing a political event?

Damkerng T.

It was from an ELL question.

Anonymous

Yes, a historical one. It happened hundreds of years ago. It came up in a question on ELL.

Damkerng T.

It's related to the French Revolution.

Anonymous

@Hanaa I'm not sure. I don't use Facebook myself.

Hanaa

20:15

Ok

Damkerng T.

I think it depends on how you use it. (Sorry that I missed your question!)

Hanaa

No problem

Anonymous

I missed it too at first

Hanaa

If the page is guided by a teacher of ESL

I think it will be useful

Damkerng T.

Could be.

Hanaa

20:17

Especially for people who can not travel

to foreign countries

Damkerng T.

Now I think I understand TRomano's answer better, but I think his explanation might not be very clear for learners.

Hanaa

!

Damkerng T.

(Not my downvote, BTW)

@Hanaa Sorry for the confusion. We have two discussions going on at the same time. :D

Hanaa

^_^

Damkerng T.

Anyway, about learning English, anything that helps you get into contact with the language is helpful, imho. Just make sure that the language you come into contact with is good.

Hanaa

20:23

Yes

Damkerng T.

In other news, Live Photo is the new movie!

Hanaa

France situation now is the result of that revolution

From a Kingdom to a Republic, i think

Damkerng T.

It was some hundreds of years ago.

Hanaa

Yes in 1780s

Please look to this whom in this sentence

whom ever missed the talk, says i heard

I think it should be who not whom

Damkerng T.

20:40

2

A: the rider dismounted the bus

The rider dismounted the bus. Is not correct, a bus rider does not mount a bus. (S)he usually gets on / jumps on / hops on / caught a bus. The rider left the bus. The rider got off the bus. The rider exited the bus. Are all appropriate to describe a rider who is no longer on the ...

Wait, is rider commonly used for the meaning of passenger (of a bus)?

Hanaa

The driver

Damkerng T.

@Hanaa What's the sentence trying to say?

Hanaa

I don't know

Damkerng T.

@Hanaa The OP didn't mean the driver; they meant a passenger.

@Hanaa It doesn't look like a good sentence either way, whomever or whoever.

Hanaa

Ah, the sentence means , Any one who reached the end of a discussion, should say that he heard it because they can not repeat for him

Damkerng T.

20:44

Hmm... that's a little confusing, I think.

"they can not repeat for him" -- I'm not sure what that means.

lekon chekon

hey,@DamkerngT,i was just reading camus' the stranger,and i came across a sentence that i have a minor conceptual doubt about.

"I asked her if she’d come to the movies with me that evening. She laughed again and said, “Yes,” if I’d take her to the comedy everybody was talking about, the one with Fernandel in it."

I was just wondering,if one was to use "if i took her to the comedy.....",would that be grammatically incorrect,or would its meaning change?

Damkerng T.

Hmm... is the original punctuated that way?

lekon chekon

yup. :p

i would take her,instead of,i took her. :|

Damkerng T.

I think that's probably the best way to quote her answer.

So the part if I'd take her to the comedy is by the narrator.

lekon chekon

yes.

Damkerng T.

20:49

In that case, if I'd take her is more appropriate, I suppose.

Because the whole passage is a story telling.

Hanaa

Good noght

night

Anonymous

Rest well!

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. Sure.

Damkerng T.

Good night!

Anonymous

vta.org/getting-around/safety/safety-bus-rider-safety

Damkerng T.

20:51

@snailboat Ah, thanks! It's a little unexpected for me.

lekon chekon

but would it have been grammatically incorrect if he had used "I took",instead of "I would take her"?

Is there a difference between the following two sentences,and are both of them grammatically correct?

1. If you turned down the volume of the tv,that would be great.
2.If you would turn down the volume of the tv,that would be great.

Damkerng T.

@lekonchekon Try not to confuse our spontaneous speech with story telling.

They're not quite the same, though they're based on the same language.

Narration is kinda special, just like news.

And we have several kinds of narration, even.

Anonymous

Why do you want to remove would?

lekon chekon

i don't.
I just want to know how these two are different,and if they mean the same.

1. If you turned down the volume of the tv,that would be great.
2.If you would turn down the volume of the tv,that would be great.

i'm pretty sure about how the first one is grammatically correct.
I just want to know,how it is different from the second one,and if the second one is as grammatically correct as the first one.

Damkerng T.

Have you heard anything like this before: If you will follow me, I'll show you the room.

lekon chekon

21:00

not really.
so,should i take it that the second sentence is grammatically incorrect?

Damkerng T.

My example is idiomatic, actually.

lekon chekon

it still doesn't answer my question. :p

Damkerng T.

I think one advantage of chat rooms is it's interactive, so two-way communication is easier.

In other words, you can ask something and we can ask about your understanding and we can learn from each other, and so on. :D

lekon chekon

pretty much.
which why i prefer having my doubts cleared here (so long as no one has a problem with it)

x3

Anonymous

It's fine, you're welcome to chat :-)

Anonymous

21:04

When I mentioned explaining what you were thinking the other day, I was thinking that information should go in the questions you post on ELL. That way people will be able to write answers that address the source of your confusion.

Anonymous

Just giving yes or no as an answer might be misleading.

lekon chekon

i totally understand,but more than often the answers i get from people vary,which later leaves me even more confused about which sentence i should use. :p

Damkerng T.

Hmm... sometimes (actually, most of the time) we have more than one possible choice.

lekon chekon

i totally get that. :3
so,would it be okay to use either of them sentences?

Damkerng T.

The "volume" sentences?

Yes, either is fine.

Though I don't think either of them is quite idiomatic.

I don't know. Maybe it works with the right accent.

lekon chekon

21:10

i see. :3
do you think i should post it as a question on the main site?

do you think that would clear my doubts better?

Anonymous

Sure.

lekon chekon

okay. :3

Anonymous

@lekonchekon That depends on whether or not someone writes a good answer :-)

Anonymous

It can't hurt to try posting it. Your question will get more attention overall than it would in chat, and that makes it more likely you'll get answers.

Anonymous

People do post bad answers on ELL. People also post good answers, though.

lekon chekon

21:12

it's past 2 30 in the morning here,so it wouldn't be such a bad idea to post it as a question on main site,and go to bed,and then take a look at the answers i will have gotten tomorrow morning. :3

Anonymous

Oh, it's very late there!

Anonymous

I live on the opposite side of the world.

lekon chekon

and the way i constructed that previous sentence is quite disappointing. ._.)
i wish i was better at this. .-.

Anonymous

Don't worry :-) No need to be self-conscious about it

Anonymous

Your sentence communicated just fine :-)

Damkerng T.

21:14

nods

BTW, I think waiting for a good question at least a day is quite normal on ELL.

lekon chekon

:p

I'm going to bed.
I'll come to you guys when i require further help,or need to have my doubts cleared.
You guys are awesome. :')
And thanks for all the help. :')

Damkerng T.

Welcome!

Have a good sleep!

lekon chekon

good night,or morning,or whatever time of the day it is in your corner of the world. :3

Damkerng T.

Ah, 'waiting for a good *answer'!

lekon chekon

and,thanks for editing my question.

bye,now. :3

Damkerng T.

21:23

No problem!

o/ Bye. :-)

Anonymous

21:35

Waiting a couple days is even better :-)

Anonymous

Writing a good answer sometimes takes time and research.

Anonymous

It doesn't always, but sometimes that means the earliest answers will be the ones that aren't well researched or thought out. Waiting at least a couple days gives people a chance to do that research or think things through – whatever answering the question requires.

Anonymous

Besides that, people might not all see the question right away.

Anonymous

So waiting to accept an answer is definitely a good idea.

Damkerng T.

nods -- It's a little sad that the way SE works seems to favor quick answers.

I think it's good for SO, but not quite good for language stacks.

Anonymous

21:39

Well, Stack Overflow gets lots of bad answers too.

Anonymous

But they make up for it with volume :-)

Anonymous

The system on SE is definitely biased in favor of earlier answers.

Anonymous

I'm not convinced that that's a good thing on SO any more than it is on the other sites.

Anonymous

It's not unusual to see a question with a number of answers, with the best one buried near the bottom.

Damkerng T.

21:56

@snailboat Which has only a few upvotes too.

Anonymous

23:30

I'm seeing things I don't want to see and knowing things I don't want to know!

Anonymous

From an episode of a TV show called The Flash

Damkerng T.

Nice example!

Damkerng T.

23:51

I have a curious sentence from another series, too!

> I've spent my entire life studying the human body, and I can say with scientific certainty, that what keeps us alive more important than blood or oxygen or even love, is hope.

Anonymous

Could we set off the phrase in bold somehow, like with dashes on either side?

Anonymous

I'm not happy with how it's punctuated

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