English spelling & language thread

Ray took the spring/summer off and said he’ll be back in the Fall. I think work related?

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Check out ‘The Chaos’ poem, (if u don’t already know) all about the mismatch between English spelling and pronunciation.

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Thanks, good to know he’s ok.

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Currently learing sum Spanish words there lots of Spanish words

Silent letters (like silent ‘h’) changing what should be ‘a historic thing’ into ‘an historic thing’ despite ‘an’ only supposedly going before vowels… I mean come on… :confused:

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In a history of the band Phish, there is a chapter titled “Ghoti”. Gh as in enough, o as in women, ti as in action.

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Yesss! I love this stuff! or is it stuph? :laughing:

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I think you should work on your English some more before taking on some Spanish. :joy:

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Yes yes agree work on English then Spanish

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:joy: :joy: :joy:
This made me laugh harder than it probably should have

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IIRC, that was George Bernard Shaw that made the observation. Perfect example of our language!

Who and whom is very much like me and I.

“I” is the subject of a verb (I work here), whereas “me” is the object of a verb (He sees me).
Since “I” can ONLY be the subject of a verb, saying things like “They came to see Michelle and I” is totally wrong.
“Michelle and I went to the bank”, is fine, however (verb with 2 subjects).

Same with who / whom.
“Who” is the subject of a verb (Who broke the plate?), whereas “whom” is the object of a verb or comes after a preposition.
“Whom do you see” (the subject of the verb is YOU, the object is WHOM).
“For whom do you work”.

That being said, lots of people use only WHO in all circumstances.
The one that really drives me around the bend is “I vs. me”.

If you can’t say “The parcel is for I”, then you can’t say “The parcel is for my wife and I”.

But I’m a picky linguist (translator)… so if anyone disagrees with me, please let me know.

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Oh my gosh, me too. Drives me up the wall. It’s really not that complicated.

Thanks for the other info. I wanted to be a linguist at one time…language is fun.

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My parents had a hell of a time learning English when they moved to Canada from Italy after WWII.
It was especially hard for my dad, who was about 75% deaf.

Bad English is easy… But good English… not so much.

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Oh my, when I saw this topic, I silently cried in Swiss german :cheese: :laughing:

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Grammar test…

Which of the following are grammatically correct ?

  1. I went to Spain this year. or…

  2. I’ve been to Spain this year. (answers below)

  3. He drives faster than I do.

  4. He drives more quickly than I do.

  5. Me and my brother are going to the store.

  6. My brother and I are going to the store.

Answers… 2, 4 and 6.

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What’s the rule to separate 3 and 4? They seem equivalent to me.

“Faster” is an adjective and (despite how many people use it) so it can’t be used to describe a verb… which requires an adverb.
“I have a faster car” is fine, but “He drives faster” is wrong because in order to describe “drives”, you need an adverb. That being said, the word “fast” CAN be used as either an adjective or an adverb.

It’s like saying “He works well” as opposed to “He works good”; “well” is an adverb, “good” is an adjective.

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So “He drives fast” is correct and “He drives faster than I” is incorrect. What a language!

What about fast meaning tight ? I made the line fast; I made the line faster. Are both correct?

Hmmmm, I would have to think about that.
I think that BOTH are adjectives in that case, because it’s the line (a noun) that is becoming “fast”, and not the verb “made”.

But yes, you’re right… English is complicated in its own ways !
To be honest, it helps to know other languages too, because that sometimes allows for comparisons, thereby making things easier to understand / figure out.
That being said, I’m studying Japanese now… and NOTHING helps ! It’s ALL complicated ! :laughing:

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