Language Overflow

Anonymous

07:06

I got a copy of 日本文法研究 for $9 on Amazon! :-)

Anonymous

It has a snail shell on the cover!

Damkerng T.

11:04

@snailboat Yippie!

user62015

11:50

@DamkerngT. Are you there?

Damkerng T.

12:02

Good evening!

user62015

@DamkerngT. Very good evening.

I wanted to ask you something. Please wait.

@DamkerngT. Thanks for waiting. I got the answer myself. -:)

@DamkerngT. Sorry to bother you.

Damkerng T.

@user62015 Nice! :D

No worries! (by the way, that's AusE)

user62015

@DamkerngT. I am back.

Damkerng T.

Welcome back!

user62015

His great-grandfather had been some kind of an English theologian who studied the Old Testament in Hebrew.

In the above sentence. I think we can rewrite it: his great grandfather had been some kind of an English theologian who studied the Old Testament in Hebrew.

Damkerng T.

12:09

Me 75% AmE, 16% BrE, 8.8% Tinglish, 0.1% AusE, 0.1% indeterminable dialect

user62015

As "great" is an adjective which is describing the noun "grandfather".

And "great" is one word. Do you think what I have suggested that could work?

Damkerng T.

@user62015 Your manual of style and perhaps the dictionary of your choice will be the best for this kind of spelling.

There are so many manuals of style (or style manuals).

user62015

I think a hyphen is not necessary. If the writer had written "his great-old grandfather"

Damkerng T.

I know that I will write great-grandfather. Great grandfather doesn't look like an error to me, but I'm not 100% sure that it's really valid and when it's valid.

user62015

It makes sense to me. I need your opinion on it, if you feel free then only.

Damkerng T.

12:13

@user62015 I think his great-old grandfather is weird.

user62015

Then?

Damkerng T.

Be careful with the word old. It may not mean what you think it means.

user62015

Okay.

Then how will you rewrite my last sentence?

Damkerng T.

What's your sentence again?

user62015

His great-old grandfather.....

Damkerng T.

12:16

Oh, it's not a sentence. That's why I was confused.

Well, if I want to say that a great-grandfather is old, I will say it like "his great-grandfather who is now (very) old", and avoid using old as an adjective.

user62015

Then here we go: his great-old grandfather had been some kind of an English theologian who studied the Old Testament in Hebrew.

Damkerng T.

Unless I want to be specific about how old he is.

"[H]is great-grandfather who is now (very) old" works.

user62015

But we see many examples like: he was ten-year-old boy.

Damkerng T.

That's different.

user62015

Okay.

Damkerng T.

12:19

That's what I was talking about when I said want to be specific about how old he is (or was).

Also, he was ten-year-old boy is ungrammatical.

> OK: He was ten years old.

user62015

Okay. In the great grandfather sentence it seemed grandfather was dead.

Damkerng T.

Not necessarily. It depends on your narrative mode.

user62015

Okay.

Damkerng T.

But if someone said that in a conversation, you can assume that the great-grandfather had already passed away.

user62015

I have two children, a 3-year-old and a 5-year-old.

I picked this sentence from "http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/a-3-year-old-10-month-old‌-etc"

Damkerng T.

12:26

It's similar to: There are two kinds of people, the rich and the poor.

Rich and poor are normally adjectives.

Hmm... that's not the best way to explain that example.

Ellipsis would work better.

> I have two children, a 3-year-old and a 5-year-old.

user62015

"He was a ten-year-old boy" sounds odd to you?

Damkerng T.

> = I have two children, a 3-year-old (child) and a 5-year-old (child).

@user62015 No.

That's a good sentence.

user62015

Then?

Damkerng T.

Then what?

user62015

So that sentence sounds good?

He was a ten-year-old boy.

Damkerng T.

12:30

Yes. That's a good sentence.

user62015

But some time ago you said it sounded odd?

So I got confused.

Damkerng T.

12 mins ago, by user62015

But we see many examples like: he was ten-year-old boy.

That's ungrammatical.

user62015

I missed the article "a"?

Damkerng T.

Yes!

user62015

See...that is called confusion.

Damkerng T.

12:32

I'm sorry! I wasn't very clear.

user62015

I am so sorry, I was in hurry and just focusing on other part of the sentence.

You'r welcome.

It was my mistake. I forgot to write it.

Damkerng T.

Don't worry. (that's AmE) You got it now, right?

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

What's shaking?

user62015

@DamkerngT. We got a visitor here.-:)

Damkerng T.

22 mins ago, by user62015

I think a hyphen is not necessary. If the writer had written "his great-old grandfather"

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M is a regular here. :D

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

12:34

Am indeed a visitor for now. Gonna leave in 20 mins.

Damkerng T.

You may need a mirror. :D

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M You know, now I have to type @in....

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Maybe I should also change my avatar and sneak in, and say hi i'M new to English plzzzz halp NOW NOW NOW homework URGNNNT.

Damkerng T.

You may try that in another room. :-)

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Yeah, tis gallerical here.

Damkerng T.

This is probably more about style than language... welcome to ELL! — Stephie 1 hour ago

I don't really disagree, but I think it can go both ways.

> Although significant inroads have been made in recent decades, women continue to be underrepresented in fields related to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), even though more women than men now attend college.

My guess is some languages perfectly allow that, some don't like it much, and some forbid it.

In English, it's probably about style, though its formal writing doesn't like that kind of sentence much.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

12:41

@DamkerngT. I don't think women will ever surpass men in science.

Damkerng T.

Will? Won't? -- Maybe they already did!

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Nah, refresh your circuits. Women's characteristics won't allow them to make a breakthrough in any field.

Damkerng T.

And yet they did.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

They break through glass?

Of course, there are always exceptions like Marie Curie.

Damkerng T.

They made breakthroughs.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

12:47

I meant women in general.

Damkerng T.

Men and women.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

O.o I didn't know AFAICT also existed.

Damkerng T.

I think there are a lot of AFAI's.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

AFAICSTEW.

Meaning As Far As I Could Summon The Evil Wizard.

K I GTG. Kung Fu class. Cya @Dam!

Damkerng T.

See you!

Damkerng T.

14:21

Something to write about: Most people who have learned a second language successfully know how they did it.

Damkerng T.

14:39

The use of move vs. moving mentioned by CopperKettle and Jim in another room was intriguing.

in ELL's Cabin, 1 hour ago, by CopperKettle

"I am gradually moving away from design and now spend more time on photography." - I wonder if this combination is okay: progressive + simple

in ELL's Cabin, 1 hour ago, by CopperKettle

The original sentence was "I gradually move away" - it seemed strange to me.

in ELL's Cabin, 1 hour ago, by CopperKettle

Because move is a "momentous" verb, or whatever they call it

in ELL's Cabin, 1 hour ago, by CopperKettle

"Наше предприятие идет в ногу со временем" - our company moves/is moving in lockstep with the progress. (the reader has to guess from the context)

in ELL's Cabin, 1 hour ago, by Jim Reynolds

Our company moves is used to indicate a general truth.

in ELL's Cabin, 1 hour ago, by Jim Reynolds

It can still mean "always", "usually", "generally", regardless of how long it's been true.

in ELL's Cabin, 59 mins ago, by CopperKettle

@JimReynolds Yes, that's what I thought. Immediacy. "I gradually move towards the table, look at me, the audience!"

in ELL's Cabin, 55 mins ago, by Damkerng T.

I think it's because tenses and aspects of English are dichotomous (like present vs. past, simple vs. progressive, simple vs. prefect) that we have one form for normal expressions and another for a special effect.

in ELL's Cabin, 49 mins ago, by Damkerng T.

Methinks: I gradually move away from design. (Please sympathize with me, my dear reader.)

in ELL's Cabin, 46 mins ago, by Jim Reynolds

I can't think of a situation in which I'd use "I gradually move away from design . . ."

in ELL's Cabin, 42 mins ago, by Jim Reynolds

In 1957, Henry Ford moves gradually away from the daily management of his company and picks up a new hobby . . . one that would change thw very fabric of society.

in ELL's Cabin, 41 mins ago, by Jim Reynolds

I can see or hear how it might be used that way, but I think I've never read a grammatical explanation of such a use of the present simple.

in ELL's Cabin, 41 mins ago, by Jim Reynolds

A man walks into a bar and says . . . .

I found an interesting excerpt of a novel in the narrative present which uses both move and moving in a few consecutive paragraphs.

After Earth: books.google.com/…

Man_From_India

@DamkerngT. I think it is possible to use I am gradually moving away from design, and now spends more time in photography.

Damkerng T.

@Man_From_India In expository writing, I'd prefer to use that too.

It's a bit different in creative writing.

> Now, though, as the shadow moves across it, the room has become a place of danger.

> [...]

> Senshi moves into the next room, spinning the cutlass in her hand, whipping it around in a figure eight pattern. Even as she does this, she is speaking in low, sharp tones to what Kitai realizes are other Rangers. She is bringing them up to speed, telling them that she is about to engage an enemy and that the sooner they arrive there, the better it's going to be for everyone involved.

> [...]

> Senshi is still moving her cutlass as it darts up and down, back and forth. She spins it so quickly that Kitai can scarcely follow it, and so he is sure that the Ursa is having the same problem.

Man_From_India

hmmm...okay....

Damkerng T.

14:55

It's fun to see the simple and the progressive aspects used alternately!

(Not only with the verb move.)

Man_From_India

Well, in the first quotation if as was omitted. How did it sound?

I think it sounds good because as is there. If in our sentence we use as we can use move perfectly.

But our sentence as it's now I think using the simple present tense is not that good.

Damkerng T.

I think without as, it needs to be split into two sentences.

The simple aspect can still work, imho.

> Now, though, the shadow moves across it. The room has become a place of danger.

I think the reader may not even notice the change. I mean, when we read a novel, we usually read pretty fast, dashing from one sentence to another, trying to grasp what happens (or is happening).

I think with the progressive aspect, I will imagine that the creature (that shadow) moves a little faster.

> Now, though, the shadow is moving across it. The room has become a place of danger.

Man_From_India

Without the context it's hard to guess whether it's continuous or not. One might get it as the shadow moved once. And then the room became a dangerous place.

@DamkerngT. nods

Damkerng T.

It's from the book After Earth. I pasted a link to it on Google Books above.

The context should be sufficient. (Or maybe it's because I've already watched the movie.)

Man_From_India

@DamkerngT. okay, this too :D

With context okay, but without any context as a one liner it's hard to determine whether the shadow moved one time or moved many times over.

Damkerng T.

15:02

But it was a little different in the movie. I mean this scene was way vaguer in the movie.

@Man_From_India nods -- I think it's only once with either aspect, though.

But I agree that with as, that sentence sounds better with the simple aspect.

The problem is I can't explain why.

13 mins ago, by Damkerng T.

> Now, though, as the shadow moves across it, the room has become a place of danger.

Man_From_India

@DamkerngT. Maybe as already posses some aspect of continuity.

Damkerng T.

nods

Man_From_India

0

Q: Comparison structure for "the above"

I want to say something is very simple or short as you see in its description. What is the brief construction? It is that short It is as short as above It is as short as the above It is as short as that is above It is as short as is above I found the first case is common, but what if I really...

Damkerng T.

My opinion: stick with It is as short as the above and the OP will be fine. :D

Man_From_India

nods

TRomano there there gave another good suggestion - It's as short as the one above

Damkerng T.

15:18

Yes, that's good too.

Thinking... 'It is as short as above' may be possible too; probably needs a little more informal context.

Man_From_India

@DamkerngT. That is exactly what I was thinking

And what about -

> It's as short as (it) is above

Damkerng T.

It sounds weird. Maybe because for one thing, the two its (seem to) refer to two different things.

But basically, we compare two similar things when we say as ... as.

> This book is as short as that book.

> ?This book is as short as that book is above.

Man_From_India

yes right.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

15:42

@DamkerngT. I don't.

Oh no I haven't learned it successfully. . . Worried

Damkerng T.

Heh!

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

What should I do now?

Common @Dam. . . I'm trusting your conversation instincts. . . Make me forget my thirst.

Damkerng T.

Well, I'm sure you know how Jim would respond to that Worried. :-)

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@Jim @Jim!

Akh it doesn't ping. :(

Damkerng T.

Jim is still in the other room.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

16:02

C'mon @Dam! Throw in a discussion!

I'm dying here!

Damkerng T.

Aww... My session is in recess. :-)

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Darn!

Damkerng T.

But you have HCB in the other room. :-)

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

It's 8:33 and the A'azan is gonna be at 9:12.

Damkerng T.

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M How about you read that article and summarize it for me. :-)

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

16:05

What article?

Damkerng T.

20 hours ago, by Damkerng T.

For tomorrow (it looks like fun, but later): http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jaylemke/papers/hypermodality/travels1.htm

Or you can tell me more about A'azan.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

First impression: That's one scarily small font!

Ya know, specialists say the lines of what you write are best if they're 66 chars long.

That's why newspaper articles are in square columns.

Or rather, rectangle.

Damkerng T.

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M Interesting!

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Now, let's talk about A'azan.

A'azan is like a calling for people to come and say their daily prayers for Allah.

Damkerng T.

Oh, must be that sound I've heard sometimes.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

16:10

We (Shia) have three A'azans everyday.

Damkerng T.

nods -- There is a small mosque not very far from my house, so sometimes I can hear the calling.

Anonymous

3 hours ago, by inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Nah, refresh your circuits. Women's characteristics won't allow them to make a breakthrough in any field.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

The morning A'azan, usually around 4:30-7, the dhuhr A'azan, from 12:00-13:30, typically.

@snailboat Hah! Hullo!

Damkerng T.

Evening! (or Morning!), @snailboat

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

I wanted to say, women are more conservative, or let me find a better word.

They don't want to be strange, as opposed to their liking to be unique.

Albert was dressing peculiarly messy, and his response to his wife was who cares? They know the value of my knowledge.

But can you imagine a woman doing that?

Anonymous

16:13

I'm frankly nonplussed.

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. Morning!

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

So, I rather wanted to make another harsh scientific statement.

Word of the day: Nonplussed

25 mins to A'azan.

Or is it Azan? O.o

Oh, it's simply Azan.

Anonymous

I'm still waking up.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Did the process of waking up finish?

So. . . AIWS, @Dam The Magrib Azan, the last Azan of the day, is the indication of iftar in Ramadan month.

Damkerng T.

For the record, I disagree with MAR's idea, but I didn't want to argue. I understand that things are different in different places.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

16:22

When they set off the Magrib Azan, people pray some and then eat and drink, and eat, and then drink, plus some eating.

And drinking.

Damkerng T.

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M Oh, I see!

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

It's recommended that we wait for Azan to reach its middle before we break our fast.

That's why I typically add a 2-min wait to the time remaining to Azan.

But I was too thirsty today, still am.

Damkerng T.

What would you drink? Just water, or fruit juice, or anything?

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

I would drink sofa.

Damkerng T.

Ah, sorry. That's a bad question!

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

16:25

In a serious world, yeah, it's always water at first.

14 mins to Azan.

Oh, it's also spelled Athan.

Yeah, the second pronunciation of th is the best English match for the Arabic Azan.

Damkerng T.

Arabic is consonant-rich, I guess?

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Very.

Their alveolar pronunciations are really delicate.

Anonymous

Japanese doesn't have a whole lot of vowels or consonants. It's gaining more consonant phonemes thanks to English, though :-)

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

10 mins 20 seconds. . .

BTW Ramadan will be o'er in five days. God knew how much his children loved not to fast, so the end of Ramadan is followed by one of the biggest celebrations of Muslims: Fetr Celebration.

Anonymous

I don't mind fasting.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

16:33

Even if you do it for 17 hours and half and you bike for an hour and also go to a Kung Fu class?

And you don't drink water?

7 mins to Azan.

I wonder how appropriate it is to say Fetr fest rather than Fetr celebration

Anonymous

Well, no, I'm not self-destructive. I'm not going to dry fast and overexercise at the same time.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Hah!

Damkerng T.

That makes me wonder, the basic sense of the verb fast in English is about food or both food and water.

Anonymous

Just food.

Anonymous

But it can be used in either way.

Damkerng T.

16:35

Thanks!

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Well, we're feelin' top, feelin' top. . .

Anonymous

You can be specific and say dry fast or water fast.

Damkerng T.

Ahh

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Ahan.

But it ain't self-destructive.

Anonymous

Sure it is.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

16:36

Hard, sure, but not self-destructive.

My little brother has been dry fasting this whole month.

Anonymous

It's not hard.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

He feels much healthier and happier.

BTW thanks @snail.

Anonymous

I mean, not for me.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

For the conversation. . .I'm killin' time way easier.

Anonymous

I'm sure it's different for everyone.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

16:37

3 mins to Azan.

@snailboat Indeed, and Islam says if one is unable to dry fast, they shouldn't.

Or more like, mustn't.

Anonymous

In the U.S., one of the most common uses of the word fast is in medical contexts. Fasting before a blood test.

Anonymous

In that context, it usually refers to a water fast, and usually not for a particularly long time.

Anonymous

Like, twelve hours.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Or a sonography, however that may be spelled.

Oh, I've spelled it correctly. O.o

There goes iftar!

Anonymous

Woo hoo!

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

16:44

Yay!

Damkerng T.

Yippie!

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

That was a refreshment!

Anonymous

The most recent time I heard a native speaker use the word fast was ... yesterday

Anonymous

A friend playfully referred to eating breakfast as breaking their fast :-)

Anonymous

Which it is, in the technical sense. Most people don't eat in their sleep.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

16:48

Yeah, the same idea is used as a joke here too.

OMG what the? stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/unicorn

Anonymous

Yeah, it's only used as a joke here, too. But it is technically accurate. We just don't normally think of sleeping as fasting :-)

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Yeah, another stance of weirdness of the behavior of humanoid species.

Note it down @Dam!

Anonymous

And of course, that's where the word breakfast comes from: "That with which a person breaks his fast in the morning; the first meal of the day."

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

We have successfully found a bug in humanoid logic UI.

Anonymous

So people used to think of the word breakfast as having that literal meaning in a non-joking way.

Anonymous

16:51

Whereas today, I imagine many speakers are unaware of where breakfast comes from.

Damkerng T.

@snailboat I think if makes sense that the word was formed that way!

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Well, I do know. My 2nd term's English teacher told me that.

I didn't take it that seriously back then though.

Anonymous

I'm sure a lot of speakers do know.

Anonymous

It's kinda obvious if you stop and think about it. But of course, not everyone thinks about every word they learn and use :-)

Anonymous

It's kind of fun that these days I can get imported Japanese books right off of amazon.com :-)

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

16:57

K that's enough water for now.

Damkerng T.

Amazon says I can order books from Amazon China too, but I still haven't tried.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Let's invade grape juice!

Anonymous

Oh, I can order from amazon.co.jp

Anonymous

But I actually got my latest batch of books directly on the US amazon.com :-)

Damkerng T.

One big difference between Amazon and Amazon.co.jp to me is that one means higher cost of shipping and the other means better chances to find cheaper used books. :D

2

Q: How to distinguish between "so many" and "such many" semantically?

Would you please show me the difference in meaning between these? I have changed the question: They have introduced as many cars as you cannot imagine. They have introduced such many cars that you cannot imagine.

adverbs

confused

It looks like it's a different question from before.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

17:06

Could such many be possible?

Thinking ice cream. . . Please don't wait. . .

Damkerng T.

Could be, but I don't think it sounds quite English like.

Probably that many or maybe that many that.

But I guess most speakers would rephrase it.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

My God. . . It feels too good, it's been some time since I last ate ice cream (yesterday)/

And my spellling decreased by 50%.

Damkerng T.

Oh, I think this sounds better in English (for the sense that nima seems to try to convey): many enough that, much enough that.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

I'm still not liking those structures.

Damkerng T.

Something close, but in the negative:

> MANY YEARS have passed since the first edition of this book was released, but not that many that I can't recall all of the challenges that were placed in my path as a parent.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

17:15

O.o

Damkerng T.

It's an OCR error.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

How in the world is that grammatical. . . Oh@

I mean Oh!

Hehe it reminds me of Markov chains.

24

Q: Predict the date of the 10th million question on SO

You know, if someone were to post "Predict the date of the 10th million question on SO" and ping me with a link, I'd endorse it with an offer of a swag box to the person that came the closest :) So, when will it happen? Rules: The question must last (not be deleted) during the entire day t...

discussion 10m-questions-milestone

People are jobless.

Damkerng T.

I'd better leave that for someone who wants to try.

Damkerng T.

17:31

I find this a little funny:

blink.ucsd.edu/HR/supervising/conflict/handle.html

> How to Handle Conflict in the Workplace

> When people work together, conflict is often unavoidable because of differences in work goals and personal styles. Follow these guidelines for handling conflict in the workplace.

> 1. Talk with the other person.
2. Focus on behavior and events, not on personalities.
3. Listen carefully.
4. Identify points of agreement and disagreement.
5. Prioritize the areas of conflict.
6. Develop a plan to work on each conflict.
7. Follow through on your plan.
8. Build on your success.

It's unclear in the writing (or guidelines) from whose point of view this should be used.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

If there is a conflict, how will you pull off 1 successfully?

Damkerng T.

I expected How to Handle Conflict in the Workspace is about how to handle a conflict when you are not part of the conflict.

But 1. Talk with the other person makes it sound like you are part of the conflict.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Yes.

Damkerng T.

I'd better try other HR's books.

I think How to Handle (as a title) is more appropriate for a third-person's point of view guidelines, and How to Deal With is more appropriate for people involved in conflicts themselves.

Or so I think (that the verb handle and deal with are not quite the same).

^'I expected ... to be ...' or 'I expected ... was about ...'

(BTW, I'm looking for good ideas or guidelines for people who have to deal with conflicts between (other) people regularly. Could be useful.)

(Because I think punish-one-keep-the-other, or kill-both-of-them are not very good. There must be something better than that.)

(But it seems to be a popular method. It's very effective, temporarily.)

(It works even without having to do any 'Root Cause Analysis'.)

(I'll admit that I did that too. Or had done that before I joined SE. And I don't want to do that again here, because it wasn't what I'm very proud of. Most of the time it wasn't delicate. It could be even manipulative at times. But we had to do what we had to do.)

Anonymous

17:48

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M No.

Anonymous

Not unless the words are linearly adjacent but belong to different constituents

Anonymous

It's syntax, not semantics.

Damkerng T.

I wonder what the best way to convey the meaning nima wants to convey in English is.

Anonymous

I don't know. Such many has no meaning.

Anonymous

The best I imagine an English speaker doing with such many is assuming the speaker meant to say so many.

Damkerng T.

17:50

I think I can guess what he was trying to say.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@snailboat Good to know, I thought my lack of knowledge in English stifled me from thinking a possible situation. . . Heck why am I talking like this?

@DamkerngT. I'm thinking so much.

Or so much that.

Damkerng T.

> We've manufactured 3000 cars this year. This number is better than what we did last year. It's (this so/such/that many cars) that we can pay you the bonus this good this year.

Anonymous

So you're guessing nima meant so many?

Damkerng T.

Yes.

Anonymous

My guess is that most people would make a similar guess when they encounter that error.

Damkerng T.

17:52

It's not really like so many; I think so many in English is not about some specific number of something.

Anonymous

But so many worked perfectly in your example.

Damkerng T.

A-ha! So, so many X that works when we're talking about a specific number of X too?

Anonymous

"I ate thirty hot dogs at the hot dog eating contest. It was so many that I threw up! Oh, my poor stomach..."

Damkerng T.

Oh, I see. It works, though a little differently.

Anonymous

Enough is similar

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