251–258 of 258 posts
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Um, no. It's a nice folk etymology, though.
Are you saying mince pies didn't traditionally contain meat? Recipes up to the late 19th century include meat, and even today I can find some that do, although very rare - usually beef suet is the only remaining animal ingredient.
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The difficulty of mastering the tenses is something that I think a lot of English speakers overlook. There's a lot of really precise and difficult-to-explain subtleties in English. (Of course, English isn't unique in this regard -- but I feel like certain things are taken for granted). Something that catches a lot of English as second language people out is the correct time to use the gerund form (i.e., the '-ing' fo…
I find it weird that many English natives try to claim that English grammar is in fact complex (you are by far not the first). I think it might be because in general many don't speak another language and the most common second language is Spanish which has also a very "simple" grammar. Regarding your example with the gerund, yes it is subtle, but similar subtleties exist in German, e.g. The difference between perfect…
YMMV; curricula are highly local.
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Admittedly English is not my primary language, but "She would have had to have been being watched" seems to be a construct used in a class, but not something you would hear in day-to-day English.
I feel like I'm being gaslighted by half the people in this thread that are saying that "have been being watched" is a normal phrase. For context, I was born and raised in Northern NJ with Jamaican parents, and have lived in Michigan for the past 10 years. I have never heard anyone use grammar like this.
I assure you the feeling is mutual :/. It really does sound perfectly normal to me. I can easily imagine e.g. Jonathan Creek saying exactly that.
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English grammar is heavily taught in elementary school (K-5, ~age 5 to 11) and middle school (6-8, ~age 11-14) curriculum in the US. You're pretty much expected to have the grammar down by high school, where the focus shifts to composition (essay courses, etc.) This was my experience growing up here anyways. The last time I had a test question ask me to circle the past participle was middle school (and the SAT).
Do 14 year olds in the USA know what "gerund" means? I didn't know terms like that in England in the 2000s, though I picked them up from learning other foreign languages later. I have heard university professors complain that they can say, simply, "rephrase the paper into the active voice" to a student from , but many British students don't know what that means. England now teaches more grammar, but it is not much us…
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> She would have had to have been being watched. Well, now I want to see how this sentence would be translated into all the other major languages! I immediately understand the meaning, but can see why it might be hard for a non native speaker to understand. Are their other languages that can say the same thing as concisely? Google Translate must absolutely butcher this sentence. I just tried Spanish. “Habría tenido q…
I speak both English and Dominican Spanish natively. Here is my translation: “Tendrían que haber estado mirándola.” “Vigilado” is a much stronger word and to me it would be much more like “guarded” Ive studied Chinese before and a translation eludes me. If anybody can help, my guess the trick is in : “ 本来就” of 她本来就必须被监视
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The first two seem consistent as tentative responses to a statement that might contain hyperbole, joke, play on words, double entendre, etc., by maintaining some distance with the statement of supercar-as-fact. In contrast, the third seems to accept the fact outright, and lets the accuracy of the responder assume the uncertainty.
The third reply strips so much away that the tone changes from tentative to apathetic. The third speaker is just doing the bare minimum to keep conversation moving.
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In Britain (and most Western European languages), we call them aubergines. The origin is the "Sanskrit word vātin-gāna denoted 'the class (that removes) the wind-disorder (windy humour)': that is, vātin-gāna came to be the name for eggplants because they were thought to cure flatulence" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggplant#Aubergine-type_names
I'm sure someone in the US makes and sells salads of eggplant, zucchini, and arugula just to see if they can induce an involuntary twitch in Britons.
Dessert is jell-o with a crushed cookie and granola topping.
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I'm sure someone in the US makes and sells salads of eggplant, zucchini, and arugula just to see if they can induce an involuntary twitch in Britons.
Your forgot the protein, which is shrimp, and the cilantro garnish. Serve with a side of fries. Dessert is jell-o with a crushed cookie and granola topping.