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07:50

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Q: Is It right conditional sentences OR I should use mixed structures?

second conditional 1) If I were more attentive I would get a better mark now (first part- yesterday; second- current time) third conditional 2) If I had been more attentive I would have had a better mark yesterday (first part- yesterday; second- yesterday) mixed e.g. 3) If I had b...

conditional-constructions

Anonymous

08:06

@Man_From_India Hi :-) I'm not ignoring your messages but this has been a very busy week! I'm popping in several times each day to check flags and messages but I haven't been able to do much more. Sorry about that!

CowperKettle

08:23

4

Man_From_India

08:36

@snailplane oh no no. I didn't think that you are ignoring :-) I understand! Happy Sunday :-)

Feeds

0

Q: Why are two 'to be' verbs together (was + to be)

Don't understand what this structure about (IF THAT WAS TO BE) If that was to be the basis for denying a right that was the norm elsewhere, then substantive evidence of non-performance should be made available If that was to be the case then the question was a simple one: who would be responsib...

conditional-constructions subjunctive

Anonymous

Someone please stat Cowper's image :)

Anonymous

Erf. Star, not stat.

Man_From_India

On mobile :-)

I don't think they dress it this way any more. Is it their ethnic wear?

CowperKettle

09:16

@snailplane Thank you! Good afternoon! (0:

Anonymous

Good morning! I'm running a sleep deficit and unfortunately need to sleep now

Anonymous

Have a good day :-)

Færd

11:47

> 1. The train came after a two-hour delay.

> 2. The train came after a two hours' delay.

> 3. The train came after two hours' delay.

Which would you choose between 2 and 3?

ColleenV

12:50

:37869237 Handled it

V.V.

13:59

@Færd number 2

SBM

good evening people

userr2684291

14:39

Good morning.

V.V.

14:52

@userr2684291, Have you just woken up? Hi!

userr2684291

@V.V. Haha, no. It's 16:56 here.

@V.V. Yeah, "a two hours' delay" is okay.

Lawrence

15:08

@Færd #1 and #3 work. #2 doesn't.

userr2684291

@Lawrence Are you a native speaker of English?

V.V.

Sure, he is.

userr2684291

Dunno why my American friend would say otherwise, then, regarding 2, that is.

V.V.

"Delay " can be countable and uncountable. Here it should be countable.

userr2684291

@V.V. I don't think that's what matters at all.

V.V.

15:17

Yes, L is right.

Lawrence

@userr2684291 I'm not sure why either. As @V.V. suggests, delay in #3 is not countable. I'm not sure whether that's a test that holds in general since "a" isn't really thought of as counting (one) delays, but until you've internalised the idiomatic phrasings, it sounds like a useful test to try.

V.V.

We have possessive case, so "a" can't be used.

Lawrence

(Or at least that the counting part doesn't feature that strongly.)

userr2684291

@Lawrence I'm not saying it can't be uncountable, I'm asking why you wouldn't say 2.

V.V.

He can't explain, but he feels.

Lawrence

15:20

@userr2684291 The simplistic answer is that it doesn't sound right.

@V.V. :)

@V.V. That doesn't always work. Consider the idiom "a dog's breakfast".

phrases.org.uk/meanings/114550.html

V.V.

I should read about possessive.

userr2684291

Ugh, I need to find new friends, lol.

V.V.

I found it.

Lawrence

Try this: delay can be treated as a verb or noun. In "two hours' delay", delay is a verb. In "two-hour delay", it's a noun.

userr2684291

I think it's because you can't say "a two hours".

V.V.

15:26

Swan. A day"s journey, twenty minutes' delay. Yay!

Lawrence

@userr2684291 I think "a" is applied to "delay" as the head word.

userr2684291

@Lawrence Then there's no reason why 2 wouldn't be okay.

V.V.

A three-hour journey, a twenty -minute delay.

Lawrence

@V.V. In "a day's journey", the 'grouping' is (a day's) journey - that is, the journey of a (one) day. In "a 2h delay", the grouping is a (2h delay).

@userr2684291 You don't use "a" with verbs.

userr2684291

@Lawrence Would you say "after a two days' time"?

Lawrence

15:31

When you say, for example, "he went for a run", the word run is treated as a noun. If you say "he ran", ran is treated as a verb.

userr2684291

Bad example.

Let me think...

Lawrence

@userr2684291 Taken as a clause, no.

"After two days' time" would be ok, but "after two days" sounds better.

userr2684291

@Lawrence "After a two years' period" or "after a year's period", or both?

Lawrence

@userr2684291 Both are a little awkward, though "a year's period" is more acceptable.

I think it's acceptable because I'd read "a" as applying to "year", rather than "period".

userr2684291

Yeah, a applies to two years.

Lawrence

15:38

@userr2684291 But you don't normally say *"a two years".

On the other hand, "a year" is fine.

userr2684291

I'm aware of that.

That's why the original 2 is wrong.

I asked my friend again and he repeated my question, but he wrote, essentially, "a two-year delay", not the genitive variant.

Lawrence

@userr2684291 So your friend now rejects #2.

userr2684291

Indeed.

Lawrence

Interestingly, "after an hour's delay" works, for the same reason - that "an" applies to "hour", not "delay".

userr2684291

Yeah.

I hate myself for not just saying that at the beginning because we even talked about this here (two times that I count) – instead I googled it, found some semi-legit results, decided to ask my friend, etc.

V.V.

15:44

But with " period " it's different, it's countable.

userr2684291

No, that's got nothing to do with it. I just gave that example in lieu of time because you wouldn't be able to say a two years' time even if a two years were possible.

SBM

good night folks

Lawrence

@userr2684291 It's fine. Language doesn't always follow the obvious rules, even if you know something is idiomatic or unidiomatic. Chasing it down to something plausible and rational can be fun. Then again, sometimes it's the obvious rules that are the hardest to identify. :)

@SBM Bye!

Man_From_India

@V.V. can you plz give the entry no. And title? I too like to learn about it :-)

userr2684291

@V.V. Wait, actually, that's one way to make uncountable nouns countable.

V.V.

15:47

You know how they do it? A period of four days

Or again a four-day period

Lawrence

@V.V. This is one of the few times that I've come to this chat room and @DamkerngT. isn't here.

Admittedly, I haven't been around here much lately.

userr2684291

@Lawrence You'd say an hour's delay and an hour's time?

Lawrence

@userr2684291 Those would be fine.

V.V.

L, he disappeared.

userr2684291

Makes sense, thanks.

Lawrence

15:50

@userr2684291 E.g.: the train suffered an hour's delay; the meeting will still have to start in an hour's time.

@V.V. You mean he's not here anymore? How long has he been away?

@userr2684291 You're welcome. :)

userr2684291

(:

V.V.

Half a month perhaps.

userr2684291

@Lawrence Last seen May 13 at 15:54

Lawrence

@V.V. I just had a look at his profile: ell.stackexchange.com/users/3281/damkerng-t.

Did something happen here?

userr2684291

No.

V.V.

15:53

No, I don't think so.

Lawrence

Glad to hear it. :)

Time for me to go. Nice chatting with you!

userr2684291

@Lawrence Laters.

V.V.

Thanks, L.

@Færd, now you can read all this information from a native speaker. I was wrong.

@Man_From_India, what should I tell you?

Man_From_India

@V.V. The entry number in Swan's book.

Where you found the explanation of "delay" question.

V.V.

16:08

440.4. third edition.

2

And Longman Exams Dictionary "delay " countable and uncountable.

Dictionary. Cambridge. Org. (online) period (examples )

Man_From_India

@V.V. thank you. Will look into it later.

V.V.

My pleasure.

Man_From_India

16:58

speakingtree.in/blog/gist-of-the-gita-668557

Word of wisdom!

EngFan

18:39

Hello Everyone!!!

what does squirrel the juices mean youtu.be/JZVWkjFGCBI?t=33s

Færd

20:15

22

Q: Indefinite articles used with plural nouns: It was AN amazing TWO DAYS

The indefinite article a(n), derives from the old English word an meaning "one". Generally this word only occurs in determiner function before noun phrases which are singular. However, there seem to be some cases where this determiner occurs before plural noun phrases. I say that, but actually th...

nouns adjectives grammatical-number verb-agreement indefinite-articles

@Lawrence Thanks for the input. I hold your native impression precious, esp because I'd expected to hear the reverse from a native speaker, and now I know that perhaps a clear consensus does not exist. But I'm not convinced by your argument. I'm probably going to go with 1 or 3 for now.

Færd

20:38

@V.V. Thanks, but maybe refrain from dispensing definite answers unless you refer to an authority or present the argument backing your answer, or at least you have a native speaker's prerogative. :)

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