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Ok. I'll drop just and only forever and go for merely. :biggrin2:

I've been told a rule back at school but I can't remember it.

 

But you might need to use just or only when the meaning isn't "merely" :naughty:

 

He was their only son

 

I just finished my lunch (just = recently)

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I'm about 99% certain that the bit about referring to another person before yourself is actually grammatically correct' date=' though, rather than a simple misconception. This is what I learned in school from a young age, and indeed is something that is still being told to us even in high school. And the last I checked, it's also the correct way according to the [i']American Heritage Guide to Contemporary Usage and Style[/i] :wink2: Thanks! :naughty:

 

Edit: Also, I've just asked my mom, and she says it would also be better to find a way to use "we" or "us" instead of "she and I" because changing that sentence structure would probably sound a lot more natural. Obviously you don't need to get that far into it, though.

 

Yes, it's 'she and I . . .' (were late meeting our friends, for example)

because you should put yourself last and it would be 'I was', not 'me was'.

 

Try it out as if you were on your own to sort out the I and me problem- then put yourself last.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Whenever I watch some TV, I always enjoy to detect brit accent amid american one as I must admit that it sounds really nice at times and can give a character a certain charm. Maybe it's just me, as I happen to love those characters, so I may like british accent just because it belongs to them, and not the other way round, who knows.

Anyway, I'm a little puzzled from these ones:

 

These two accents sound typical british to me, the girl is an australian actress and the man is a norwegian guy who grew up in London:

 

And here's the thing: what about these ones? They don't sound american, they sound british but in a different way (less appealing LOL)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldWKjZym0to is this a northern English accent?

 

this one reminds me of the previous one but the actor is from London, so I don't really know... :baghead:

 

Maybe I shouldn't even wonder about such things and I should leaving them to the grown-ups, as my english isn't even good enough to be fluent and I have no listening skills, but it still picks my interest....

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If anybody wants to play teacher and get this corrected, I'd be happy to learn what my mistakes are:

 

Sky's 4th XF opens with a great talent, maybe the greatest ever. Starting from the new judges, the new entries Victoria Cabello and Fedez and the seniors Morgan and Mika. Sky's vice president restated that "it's a show based on talent. Everybody can take part to the audictions and there's a fun side. Everybody who shows up believes they can sing very well. But then the talent stands out. It's a show which moves people very much, there's a tender element in this edition that needs to be highlightened." Now it’s the judges turn, they must turn the talent into an artistic energizing path which runs through the respect for the ones have to go on that stage (sorry, no clue on what he means). XF8 will be a 13 episodes long trip, one more than in the 2013 edition. Mika will lead the over 25 y.o. category, Morgan the vocal groups, Victoria Cabello the under 24 y.o. girls and Fedez the under 24 y.o. boys. It will get started on SkyUno on September the 18th at 21.10 with 5 episodes about the castings, then on the 23th of October always at 21.20 SkyUno will move to XF Arena, where the competition will officially begin.

The showman Alessandro Cattelan will witness every part of the XF trip, he says that “originality belongs to this show, in Italy when tend to stick to whatever works, instead here we take risks. It’s a show that captivates people, a show that goes on the road like music- industry executives used to do back then: we look for talents in the squares, in country festivals. I enjoy to spend some time with these guys, to follow their adventure and see how they handle their energy." Music has always brought good luck to the new entry Victoria Cabello: "if you love music, you never leave it. And here there's a huge work behind the show. Selection was the most difficult part: it's not a normal talent show, they need to have different skills. And I admit that I got touched many times." Fedez comes from a atypical music background, who says that the music environment has plenty of prejudices "and I know that I need to get rid of them in front of the audience. But here the first step is the respect for the people who came to take their chances with us." Moreover Fedez claimed that when he did the home visit episode with Raphael Gualazzi, there was no awkwardness even though they come from very different backgrounds, as "we've already known each other and we did some stuff together which isn't released yet. "

Mika highlights fun and positive energy: "We are relaxed and this is why we experience a conviviality that turns into tenderness. Talent level is very high. We are 4 different judges and we have 4 different minds on our own, we harshly exchange opinions at times, but we all agree that we are here to help the contestants and not to make fun of them. "

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These two accents sound typical british to me, the girl is an australian actress and the man is a norwegian guy who grew up in London:

 

Okay first of all that is the worst acting I have ever seen. :shocked:

 

The girl is very obviously Australian. She is trying to hide it with one of those fake generic period piece English accents. American actresses also do this a lot because for some reason they always seem to cast an American woman amongst a bunch of English actors. I guess so they can use a Hollywood name to appeal to American viewers. Most of them are not very good at it. But some Australians like Nicole Kidman can really pull it off. Not this woman though because she is a terrible actress. :aah:

 

And here's the thing: what about these ones? They don't sound american, they sound british but in a different way (less appealing LOL)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldWKjZym0to is this a northern English accent?

 

Yes I'd say the girl has an exaggerated Manchester accent, because that's how they talk on Coronation Street. :naughty: I am not sure if it's legitimate and a lot of actors overdo it because it's not their real accent. The guy sounds more normal. Maybe Silver has a better idea because I am not good with regional accents except very broadly (like I can tell the difference between northern and southern but not necessarily one city from another.)

 

this one reminds me of the previous one but the actor is from London, so I don't really know... :baghead:

 

Do you mean the blonde guy? I have no idea WTF he is trying to do. :naughty: Another victim of bad acting I'm afraid. It sounds like he is either trying to do or trying to hide a northern Irish or Scottish accent. :dunno: If he is from London and this character is supposed to be American I would just say he's really incompetent at accents. :naughty: Generally an American (and especially Canadian) accent sounds most similar to Irish so I can see someone with a British accent sounding sort of Irish if they have a bad American accent.

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If anybody wants to play teacher and get this corrected, I'd be happy to learn what my mistakes are:

 

Not necessarily correct/incorrect but this is how I would edit it because it sounds more natural.

 

Sky's 4th XF opens with a great talent, maybe the greatest ever.

 

Would just be "great talent" I think. To say "a great talent" you would be talking about one person or a person's one particular talent (singing, for example).

 

 

Starting from the new judges, the new entries Victoria Cabello and Fedez and the seniors Morgan and Mika.

 

Starting with the judges, newcomers Victoria Cabello and Fedez and veterans Morgan and Mika.

 

Sky's vice president restated that

 

"Restated" means stated again. I don't think that's what you meant?

 

"it's a show based on talent. Everybody can take part to the audictions and there's a fun side. Everybody who shows up believes they can sing very well.

 

I would always use "everyone" instead of "everybody".

 

"And there's a fun side". This seems pretty pointless and doesn't really follow from "Everyone can take part in the auditions." Is he just trying to say the auditions are fun?

 

But then the talent stands out. It's a show which moves people very much, there's a tender element in this edition that needs to be highlightened."

 

This is where I have problems with translations from romance languages. Because English people do not say things like a talent show "moves people very much" and there are "tender elements". :naughty:

 

When he says "edition" does he mean XF Italy compared to other XF shows or this year's XF versus previous year's? Because if it's this year vs previous years then you should say "series" instead of "edition".

 

Should be "highlighted".

 

Now it’s the judges turn, they must turn the talent into an artistic energizing path which runs through the respect for the ones have to go on that stage (sorry, no clue on what he means).

 

What does he mean by "the talent"? If talent = contestants, then say contestants. It sounds strange to keep calling them "the talent". If he means turning the talent of the contestants into...(I don't know what)...then you need to rephrase that sentence to make it correct.

 

Regardless of whether we are talking about the contestants or the talent of the contestants, you cannot turn them/it into a path. You could take them on a path or maybe send them on a path.

 

"Runs through the respect" is nonsensical.

 

XF8 will be a 13 episodes long trip, one more than in the 2013 edition.

 

XF8 will be a 13-episode journey, one more than in the 2013 series.

 

It will get started on SkyUno on September the 18th at 21.10 with 5 episodes about the castings,

 

Either say "it will all get started" or "it starts". I would say "with 5 weeks of auditions". I don't think they call it "castings" on the English shows and the shows are not "about the auditions" but they are the auditions if you know what I mean.

 

then on the 23th of October always at 21.20 SkyUno will move to XF Arena, where the competition will officially begin.

 

It would be the "23rd" of October. But in any case you should keep it consistent with the previous sentence. Americans would say "September 18(th)" and Brits use "18(th) September".

 

The showman Alessandro Cattelan will witness every part of the XF trip,

 

Eh? Who is this guy? The presenter? If so call him the presenter and say he will guide (you/the audience) on every part of the trip. It is irrelevant to the audience that he witnesses or doesn't witness what is happening. :naughty:

 

he says that “originality belongs to this show,

 

Originality cannot belong to something. It is a quality, not an object. I suppose he is trying to say "Originality is key to this show". key = of fundamental importance.

 

in Italy when tend to stick to whatever works, instead here we take risks.

 

The implication here is that taking risks does not work so that should probably be rephrased. :naughty: Also you can't use "we" in both cases because you are making contradictory statements. Maybe "Italians (or Italian shows?) generally tend to stick with what has worked in the past, but on X Factor we take risks."

 

It’s a show that captivates people, a show that goes on the road like music- industry executives used to do back then:

 

Back when? "Back in the day" I guess?

 

we look for talents in the squares, in country festivals.

 

The plural of talent in this context would probably be "talent", but again I would say "contestants" or something instead of calling them "talent". I would say "at a country festival".

 

I enjoy to spend some time with these guys, to follow their adventure and see how they handle their energy."

 

I enjoy spending time with them, following their adventure and seeing how they - handle their energy - don't know what that means. To handle someone's energy is something a parent would do with a hyperactive child.

 

Music has always brought good luck to the new entry Victoria Cabello:

 

Call her new judge, or newcomer, not entry.

 

"if you love music, you never leave it. And here there's a huge work behind the show.

 

We don't call things "a huge work". I am not quite sure what this means. A big production?

 

Selection was the most difficult part: it's not a normal talent show, they need to have different skills. And I admit that I got touched many times."

 

"I was touched many times." Although again it's an odd thing to say in general instead of in reference to a specific incident IMO. Like you would say "When I visited the village a little girl gave me flowers as a welcome gift and I was touched." You wouldn't say "I went to the village and was touched many times."

 

Fedez comes from a atypical music background, who says that the music environment has plenty of prejudices

 

It's either "Fedez comes from an atypical music background and says"

 

"Fedez, who comes from an atypical music background, says"

 

"and I know that I need to get rid of them in front of the audience. But here the first step is the respect for the people who came to take their chances with us."

 

"The first step is to respect the people who came..."

 

Moreover Fedez claimed that when he did the home visit episode with Raphael Gualazzi, there was no awkwardness even though they come from very different backgrounds, as "we've already known each other and we did some stuff together which isn't released yet. "

 

"We already knew each other and did some things together that have not been released yet."

 

Mika highlights fun and positive energy:

 

"Mika highlights the fun and positive energy"

 

"We are relaxed and this is why we experience a conviviality that turns into tenderness.

 

Again this tenderness thing is so odd. :naughty: I really don't know what the equivalents are in English to all these "tenderness" and "touched" references. We don't talk like that and I really don't know what he means exactly.

 

Talent level is very high.

 

The level of talent is very high. (not :mf_rosetinted:)

 

We are 4 different judges and we have 4 different minds on our own,

 

Minds of our own.

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These two accents sound typical british to me, the girl is an australian actress and the man is a norwegian guy who grew up in London:

 

I'm with Christine on this, the woman definitely sounds Australian. And the guy doesn't sound British either - the vowel sounds aren't quite right :naughty:

 

And here's the thing: what about these ones? They don't sound american, they sound british but in a different way (less appealing LOL)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldWKjZym0to is this a northern English accent?

 

This is just a general northern accent, I could tell you which accents it isn't but not which one it is :naughty:.

 

this one reminds me of the previous one but the actor is from London, so I don't really know... :baghead:

 

 

Do you mean the blonde guy? I have no idea WTF he is trying to do. :naughty: Another victim of bad acting I'm afraid. It sounds like he is either trying to do or trying to hide a northern Irish or Scottish accent. :dunno: If he is from London and this character is supposed to be American I would just say he's really incompetent at accents. :naughty: Generally an American (and especially Canadian) accent sounds most similar to Irish so I can see someone with a British accent sounding sort of Irish if they have a bad American accent.

 

Yes, he sounds Northern Irish to me when he is speaking to the vampire, but more English when he is speaking to the other people. He just sounds all over the place :teehee:

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Thank you both Silver and Christine for the whole accents thing. When it comes to the australian girl, I'm having quite a bad time to understand what she's saying, maybe she's trying too hard (and badly lol) to pull out a brit accent, but she would have fooled me about being british, I really wouldn't have detected any australian shade (I actually still need to know what an australian accent sounds like. I did the Rove transcription and all I got was "omg this is hard"). Of course, the man's accent sounds perfect to me, I wouldn't ever be able to notice the wrong vowels thing.

When it comes to the other characters, for now I'm happy with being able to recognize a general northern uk accent from a "normal" (?) one, even though I should focus on the irish one as I'm still confused on it. But I learned is that of course I should look for native speakers and don't rely on actors as they screw it up as you told me about everyone of them :aah:

Oh well, it's not like I'm watching tv for learning accents, that is just a side effect, but still an interesting one.

Now I'll read Christine's correction, see you later :wink2:

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Wow, you did a great work (can I say it here?), thank you so much!

I didn't comment it all, as some things, I just agree on them and need to study them.

 

 

"Restated" means stated again. I don't think that's what you meant?

 

It's not for sure what I would mean, but it's what they wrote. Since I'm not following XF that much, I thought they may refer to a previous interview or something. My other choice would have been to simply translate it with "say"

"And there's a fun side". This seems pretty pointless and doesn't really follow from "Everyone can take part in the auditions." Is he just trying to say the auditions are fun?

I totally agree with you, I'm actually puzzled when it comes to such situations as I don't know how much I can interfere when translating. I know I can interfere quite a lot, as you taught me, but here what can I do.... it's pointless and doesn't follow even in italian. Not sure if it's journalist's fault or what, but it's just weird and I should really totally change it in order to find some sense into it.... but then it would be my own perspective, they could just interview me then :biggrin2:

This is where I have problems with translations from romance languages. Because English people do not say things like a talent show "moves people very much" and there are "tender elements". :naughty:

You heartless btches. :lmfao: Anyway, this is why they are called ROMANCE languages. :shun:

When he says "edition" does he mean XF Italy compared to other XF shows or this year's XF versus previous year's? Because if it's this year vs previous years then you should say "series" instead of "edition".

Ah! Thanks! Series always ends with a S, right? There's no such thing as serie, I think.

What does he mean by "the talent"? If talent = contestants, then say contestants. It sounds strange to keep calling them "the talent". If he means turning the talent of the contestants into...(I don't know what)...then you need to rephrase that sentence to make it correct.

Regardless of whether we are talking about the contestants or the talent of the contestants, you cannot turn them/it into a path. You could take them on a path or maybe send them on a path.

"Runs through the respect" is nonsensical.

I sometimes just give up on trying to get it make sense. My bad. When they push it too far, I just surrender to nonsense.

XF8 will be a 13-episode journey, one more than in the 2013 series.

Journey is a word I tend to miss, I need to remember it, it's really useful.

It would be the "23rd" of October. But in any case you should keep it consistent with the previous sentence. Americans would say "September 18(th)" and Brits use "18(th) September".

LOL I mixed them for a change. Ok, so not "on the 18th of September" but straight 18th September or September 18th.

Eh? Who is this guy? The presenter? If so call him the presenter and say he will guide (you/the audience) on every part of the trip. It is irrelevant to the audience that he witnesses or doesn't witness what is happening. :naughty:.

You are a romance killer. :floor: Ok, noted. To witness is litteral in english, so let's use it for murders and trials.

Back when? "Back in the day" I guess?

Ah, I thought that "back then" meant "back in the day" as I read that back in the day is slang....

and seeing how they - handle their energy - don't know what that means. To handle someone's energy is something a parent would do with a hyperactive child.

I see. I should have said "how they use their energy"? Does this make more sense?

We don't call things "a huge work". I am not quite sure what this means. A big production?

yup!

"I was touched many times." Although again it's an odd thing to say in general instead of in reference to a specific incident IMO. Like you would say "When I visited the village a little girl gave me flowers as a welcome gift and I was touched." You wouldn't say "I went to the village and was touched many times."

I see. So you just wouldn't say it in a general way. This is quite an issue, as she didn't refer to specific incidents.

It's either "Fedez comes from an atypical music background and says"

"Fedez, who comes from an atypical music background, says"

Shame on me, I wasn't paying attention. This is really embarassing. :baghead:

The level of talent is very high. (not )

:biggrin2:
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I need to understand have VS get in such contexts:

 

he got the children tired; - he got the shirt clean.

 

his mother had him tested. - you didn't have to stoop so low. have your friends collect your records

 

Not an easy one as the two expressions are used interchangeably in colloquial English.

 

"Have" would usually mean getting someone else to do something and "get" would be something you did yourself.

 

So he got the shirt clean = he cleaned the shirt himself. If he had the shirt cleaned, someone else (the laundry service) did it for him.

 

He got the children tired isn't a usual English expression - you might say he got the children tired out though :naughty:

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Do you use the word "crux" in English in the sense of "problem" or "inner contradiction"? We do in German, but I'm not sure after looking into my dictionary if the meaning may have shifted slightly between those two languages.

 

Personally I use it to mean the heart of a problem or situation with the phrase "crux of the matter" and would never say "crux" on its own. I don't think it means inner contradiction at all but I can see how that would be in keeping with a metaphorical crux/cross.

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Personally I use it to mean the heart of a problem or situation with the phrase "crux of the matter" and would never say "crux" on its own. I don't think it means inner contradiction at all but I can see how that would be in keeping with a metaphorical crux/cross.

 

Thank you very much :thumb_yello:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Mmhhh....

- Mika to be jude on X Factor

- We all are waiting the album to be released soon ish

- I need the dog to be gone for at least half an hour

- That poodle got to live to be 17 y.o.

 

This "to be" thing isn't that clear to me. I mean, of course I understand it, but I'm having a hard time to use it, I feel like I don't really master it

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Mmhhh....

- Mika to be jude on X Factor

- We all are waiting the album to be released soon ish

- I need the dog to be gone for at least half an hour

- That poodle got to live to be 17 y.o.

 

This "to be" thing isn't that clear to me. I mean, of course I understand it, but I'm having a hard time to use it, I feel like I don't really master it

 

You seem to be using it OK to me :thumb_yello:

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Hello! Can someone explain me please the difference between 'amount' and 'quantity'? :blush-anim-cl:

 

Example: 'All numeric values (quantities and amounts) mentioned on this order form use the dot as decimal separator, and a space as thousands separator'.

 

In Russian it's translated with the same word :aah: Thank you!

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Mmhhh....

- Mika to be jude on X Factor

- We all are waiting the album to be released soon ish

- I need the dog to be gone for at least half an hour

- That poodle got to live to be 17 y.o.

 

This "to be" thing isn't that clear to me. I mean, of course I understand it, but I'm having a hard time to use it, I feel like I don't really master it

 

In your first 3 examples the "to be" is conveying a future event, almost in the same sense as "will be" -- Mika will be a judge on X Factor, the album will be released...

 

In the last example (which sounds familiar to me! :wink2: ) "to be" is used as a state of being. For example, in Italian you say, "Ho trenta tre anni." I HAVE 33 years. In English we would say, "I AM 33 years old." So when you start using "to be" in this sense, you find yourself saying things like, "I plan to be 33 when I get married." Or "He lived to be 100."

 

Hello! Can someone explain me please the difference between 'amount' and 'quantity'? :blush-anim-cl:

 

Example: 'All numeric values (quantities and amounts) mentioned on this order form use the dot as decimal separator, and a space as thousands separator'.

 

In Russian it's translated with the same word :aah: Thank you!

 

In the way you're using it, they are same to me. An amount is a quantity, and a quantity is an amount. I can't think of what difference they are trying to imply. :dunno: Even when I look it up in a dictionary, the words are used to define each other:

 

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/amount

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Hello! Can someone explain me please the difference between 'amount' and 'quantity'? :blush-anim-cl:

 

Example: 'All numeric values (quantities and amounts) mentioned on this order form use the dot as decimal separator, and a space as thousands separator'.

 

In Russian it's translated with the same word :aah: Thank you!

 

In this case amount is monetary value and quantity is number of items. So the form will list items such as 5 (quantity) boxes of paper x $ 3.00 (amount) = $15.00 (amount).

 

There are times when you can use them interchangably to mean "number of _____" though. In fact I will normally use "amount" in conversation rather than "quantity". eg You and I have the same amount of jelly beans.

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In the way you're using it, they are same to me. An amount is a quantity, and a quantity is an amount. I can't think of what difference they are trying to imply. :dunno: Even when I look it up in a dictionary, the words are used to define each other:

 

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/amount

 

Sorry Deb I didn't see your reply first. :naughty: Her example seems to be some kind of accounting situation in which case there is a distinction. But yes generally they mean the same.

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In the way you're using it, they are same to me. An amount is a quantity, and a quantity is an amount. I can't think of what difference they are trying to imply. :dunno: Even when I look it up in a dictionary, the words are used to define each other:

 

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/amount

 

In this case amount is monetary value and quantity is number of items. So the form will list items such as 5 (quantity) boxes of paper x $ 3.00 (amount) = $15.00 (amount).

 

There are times when you can use them interchangably to mean "number of _____" though. In fact I will normally use "amount" in conversation rather than "quantity". eg You and I have the same amount of jelly beans.

 

Sorry Deb I didn't see your reply first. :naughty: Her example seems to be some kind of accounting situation in which case there is a distinction. But yes generally they mean the same.

 

Thank you both, ladies! Christine, you are right, it's accounting situation. I need to translate a purchase order from a client and your explanation put everything in order :thumb_yello:

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