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Cardinal

02:59

Hello everyone

I am still not convinced about why using that makes the sentence wrong

It looks like it's going to rain (correct)

It looks like that it is going to rain (wrong)

the original question:

Q: Is there a rule of thumb for simplifications like "it looks like rain today"

I am wondering if there's any rule to know when or where we can simplify sentences like It looks like rain again today Which I think it's the short version of It looks like that it's gonna rain today. Can we do this to all "that is going to + verb" structures? If not, would you give ...

Anonymous

03:17

@Cardinal Like appears in a range of constructions, each with its own grammar. You're comparing two different constructions and suggesting that one can be "shortened" to the other, but they're really just two different constructions. In the construction where you propose to insert that, we find like takes a non-expandable declarative content clause as a complement, making that ungrammatical.

Anonymous

That's really just a property of the construction and not something with any real reason behind it, I don't think.

Anonymous

It does pattern with some other prepositions (in that construction like is a preposition) in taking that sort of complement, though.

Cardinal

04:11

@snailboat "takes a non-expandable declarative content clause as a complement" WoW thank you. As always, a very informative answer to read:)

6 hours later…

It's about English

10:00

Is it natural to say: "Hey! Have your hiccups gone?" A person asks another person who couldn't stop hiccping after sneaking up on him and scaring him....

It's about English

10:23

So is it natural????

1 hour later…

userr2684291

11:50

@It'saboutEnglish Yes. I'd say "Do you still have the hiccups?" or "Is it gone?".

userr2684291

12:02

@M.A.R.ಠ_ಠ Never said they excite me. I normally play my game while watching a show anyway.

I watched Aquaman while doing other things as well.

An excellent movie if you're under 16, but still enjoyable if you're older.

M.A.R. ಠ_ಠ

@userr2684291 Walter White expanding into space and earning ever more money would be an idle game

userr2684291

It's about negotiating obstacles along the way (effortlessly of course).

Don't you want to see an unstoppable force in whatever shape or form?

M.A.R. ಠ_ಠ

@snailboat It's been some time since your messages got on the star board. We should change that.

@userr2684291 Depends on how fun the journey is

Ugh, these eff. tablets are killing me. And raspberry flavor of all the flavors.

userr2684291

12:19

I for one have never seen a movie about such a thing. I mean Superman is great but he never rules the whole planet... There's still crime.

M.A.R. ಠ_ಠ

@userr2684291 I dropped multitasking a while ago

userr2684291

The game I play allows for it.

M.A.R. ಠ_ಠ

@userr2684291 It doesn't need to be literally unstoppable

@userr2684291 Hmm, does it include a 20-sided dice?

userr2684291

Yes it does. Where's the fantastic element otherwise? Why show a mere mortal, why show failure? I don't wanna watch realistic stuff, that's why movies are there in the first place.

M.A.R. ಠ_ಠ

@userr2684291 The fantastic element would be a mere mortal doing what other mere mortals can't or won't

Superman is occasionally self-contradictory AFAIK

The guy can dodge bullets but they still create Kryptonite bullets and he'll happily take them if the plot needs it

CowperKettle

12:24

> - Did you hear - they have built a monument to George Orwell in Russia!
- Wow, but where in Russia?
- Everywhere!
(a Russian joke)

M.A.R. ಠ_ಠ

Oh haha

userr2684291

@M.A.R.ಠ_ಠ No, it's very simple. You use arrow keys, play against / with other people, a browser-based game. Only a few mechanics, very skill dependent.

M.A.R. ಠ_ಠ

Wasn't Animal Farm about Stalin though?

@userr2684291 sounds like chess

userr2684291

That requires too much thinking...

M.A.R. ಠ_ಠ

Only if the other side does it

userr2684291

12:30

I do need to ditch all that.

It's all a waste of time.

CowperKettle

12:43

I cannot see the park outside for all the blizzard. They say snowfall will reach 25 cm today.

e1.ru/news/spool/news_id-66071536.html

2 hours later…

Cardinal

14:18

Q: Which of the ways does sound natural?

My friend asked me about something that I knew: "Why did you not tell me about it?" The reason for that was simply because I didn't want that he will know / him to know for some reason. Which of the following sounds natural to say it? I didn't tell you about it simply because I didn't wan...

sentence-structure

Is that really an object problem?

"I did not want you would know about it." I can say that is definitely wrong because "you would know about it" doesn't contain a direct object noun for the verb want. However, the sentence "I did not think you would know about it" is correct, because "you would know about it" itself forms a noun phrase as the direct object of think.

I'm a bit torn on exactly why "you would know about it" is a valid noun phrase for think and an invalid noun phrase for want, aside from it sounding completely wrong. The reason is almost certainly some intrinsic quality of the verbs themselves, but I'm not sur…

I meant that you would know about it, not the version without that. Anyways, I hope snailboat would answer tjis question.

6 hours later…

CowperKettle

20:20

I've composed a poem about a friend, a girl