A little help with English
Community Forums/General Help/A little help with English
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| I know this is not strictly computer related, yet at the same time I am sure there are some bright sparks here who can settle a quick question for me. I am trying to help a fellow colleague who is learning English at our workplace. The following two sentences were given to them. Which is correct? More importantly ... why? a) I speak with my friends every day b) I speak every day with my friends To me, "a" is correct but I cannot quite explain why "b" sounds a little mis-placed Thanks for your help |
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| I think that you will find that both are correct. |
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| They both are correct. |
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| Both, but I agree that (a) flows better. |
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| It is a bit like saying: I speak with "Mr Smith" every day. I speak every day with "Mr Smith". Most people would go with option a, but option b is not incorrect. |
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| A is grammatically correct. B is a split infinitive, so technically wrong, but accepted. |
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| GfK: Could you explain further why you believe that the second part (B) is a split infinitive? Also, what native English speaker would talk this way? Maybe it's a British and American thing, but would anyone you know actually use the word "speak" in this context? It seems more natural to use the word "talk" instead. These tests like this remind me of school. They (the testing society) seem to come up with super correct, irrelavant to normal life, sentences to make us feel stupid and inferior. My wife is a linguistic expert, (No I don't say much at home. LOL) and she does agree with GfK that the second sentence is a form of a split infinitive. But she points out that in normal American English, very few people would actually form their sentences in this manner, either in writing, or speech. Of course there are geographical anamolies, but these don't apply in this case. :D |
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| Also, what native English speaker would talk this way? In the country where I am they have a different order in which they form the sentence:"Today, can I borrow your car?" Thus, when they are trying to learn English they form the sentence according to how they use their language Not being an expert myself, I wanted to explain why we say things in a particular order |
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| I agree with GfK... GfK: Could you explain further why you believe that the second part (B) is a split infinitive? Because the verb "speak" and the object "my friends" (joined with whatever-the-word-for-it-is word "with" Therefore "speak with" is correct, but putting "every day" in between is splitting the infinitive. So, ) I speak with my friends every day Is a better option, or alternatively, Every day, I speak with my friends Which are essentially identical, and for the real pedants, it's only a matter of literary writing style which of these examples would suit best, and that is determined by the preceding and/or succeeding sentences. Overall, though, American english is prone to slight differences compared to UK English, and likely other variations too, souch as South African Enlgish I believe is also quite different. (My favourite being "I could care less") Both the initial sentences posted make sense at least, and can be easily understood with no real chance of ambiguity, and I doubt that outside of an A-Level or higher English examination, anyone would truly give it a second glance :D Language is all about communication, so long as the right message is communicated effectiely, "Who Cares ?" ;) At least, that's my excuse for all the bad grammar and typos that my keyboard inflicts upon my posts!!! |
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| Both are correct but A is better, in English we usually put the object of the sentence before whats happening. |
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