macboll Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 Thank you! Could you tell me what the correct answers are for sentences b and c, please? I have no idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nas Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 c- the french have always insisted that salad should be torn rather than cut with a knife, a rule which probably arose in order to eliminate the taste of metal (in) lettuce dressed with oil and vinegar or lemon, which would react with some metals b looks weird...maybe someone else want to give it a try Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 b looks weird...maybe someone else want to give it a try Maybe "have carved"? Just as an aside we would write "17th c." to abbreviate 17th century. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 (edited) b) From the 16th Cy, women seem to ................... carve meat at British tables, though by the mid-19th Cy, carving at formal meals was carried out carry out (P) mainly by servants. I would have said From the 16th c., women seem to have carved meat at British tables, though by the mid-19th c., carving at formal meals was carried out mainly by servants. Otherwise the tense switches from present to past, which is why the sentence reads oddly. And we probably wouldn't abbreviate century at all Edited March 8, 2013 by silver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 And we probably wouldn't abbreviate century at all I assumed she was abbreviating it in her post for expediency's sake and that's not how the sentence would read. I just wanted to point out that English speakers would never use Cy. If it wasn't for the context I would not have known what was meant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macboll Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 :hug:Thanks a lot! Your help was precious, girls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macboll Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 I assumed she was abbreviating it in her post for expediency's sake and that's not how the sentence would read. I just wanted to point out that English speakers would never use Cy. If it wasn't for the context I would not have known what was meant. That's it Christine Thanks for your correction! I wanted to use an abbreviation for the word "century". It will make me a better (and brighter) student Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basicamenteyo Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 Ok, let´s see if I can explain myself about this question... This sentence: "If I had worked it would have been easier for me" is right, ok? but then, this other sentence: "Had I worked it would have been easier for me" is ok as well? Do they mean the same? Is the second one a politer way to say the same? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 Rosa I'd say it's the same thing. I don't think politeness is a factor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basicamenteyo Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 Rosa I'd say it's the same thing. I don't think politeness is a factor. But in the second one, the "order" of the words it´s altered... I mean... first thing we are taught is that in English, the order is "noun-verb" when the sentence is affirmative. Is this "order alteration" normal in conditional sentences? I know it also happens in sentences like "no way was I going to do that again"... but... is there a rule I can remember? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basicamenteyo Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 A new one: when you are checking a list of things you should have done, and you did one, you can say: "-buying food to have dinner: DONE" ?? And then, if the task is not done, is this correct?: "-buying food to have dinner: UNDONE" (Undone sounds to me like crying desperately ) Maybe "not done" is better? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astor Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 A new one: when you are checking a list of things you should have done, and you did one, you can say: "-buying food to have dinner: DONE" ?? And then, if the task is not done, is this correct?: "-buying food to have dinner: UNDONE" (Undone sounds to me like crying desperately ) Maybe "not done" is better? 'Not done', definitely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macboll Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 I would have said "not done" or "to do". Would "to do" have been correct too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cat_loves_mika Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 I would have said "not done" or "to do". Would "to do" have been correct too? Yes! I personally would probably say, "to do still" or "still to do" but just "to do" could work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basicamenteyo Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 'Not done', definitely I would have said "not done" or "to do". Would "to do" have been correct too? Yes! I personally would probably say, "to do still" or "still to do" but just "to do" could work. Thank you very much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basicamenteyo Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 Aaaand.... so a new question (no need to say I´m preparing my certificate, right?). Let me explain the situation. Two people are arguing and one of them decides to leave before things get worse. So the sentence is: "I decided to leave wishing things were calmer when I would be back" But I´m not sure about the use of "would" here. Would it be better to say: "I decided to leave wishing things were calmer when I were back" ? The first one would be the literal translation from Spanish. I don´t know if you need more context... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyaboutmika Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 A new one: when you are checking a list of things you should have done, and you did one, you can say: "-buying food to have dinner: DONE" ?? And then, if the task is not done, is this correct?: "-buying food to have dinner: UNDONE" (Undone sounds to me like crying desperately ) Maybe "not done" is better? "Undone" doesn't mean the same thing in "Dr John" either Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyaboutmika Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 Aaaand.... so a new question (no need to say I´m preparing my certificate, right?). Let me explain the situation. Two people are arguing and one of them decides to leave before things get worse. So the sentence is: "I decided to leave wishing things were calmer when I would be back" But I´m not sure about the use of "would" here. Would it be better to say: "I decided to leave wishing things were calmer when I were back" ? The first one would be the literal translation from Spanish. I don´t know if you need more context... I'd use would Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basicamenteyo Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 "Undone" doesn't mean the same thing in "Dr John" either I think undone in Dr John means "very sad"... aka crying desperately Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nas Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 Aaaand.... so a new question (no need to say I´m preparing my certificate, right?). Let me explain the situation. Two people are arguing and one of them decides to leave before things get worse. So the sentence is: "I decided to leave wishing things were calmer when I would be back" But I´m not sure about the use of "would" here. Would it be better to say: "I decided to leave wishing things were calmer when I were back" ? The first one would be the literal translation from Spanish. I don´t know if you need more context... hmm that's a really awkward sentence.. i would say: ' i decided to leave, hoping things would be calmer when i came back/ when i returned' in your example above 'would' is the better option, however - 'were' would be very incorrect.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basicamenteyo Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 I'd use would hmm that's a really awkward sentence..i would say: ' i decided to leave, hoping things would be calmer when i came back/ when i returned' in your example above 'would' is the better option, however - 'were' would be very incorrect.. Thanks! I see... so the conditional should affect to "things" instead of the comeback. Ok. It´s totally different in Spanish, jeez, this is so hard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 Aaaand.... so a new question (no need to say I´m preparing my certificate, right?). Let me explain the situation. Two people are arguing and one of them decides to leave before things get worse. So the sentence is: "I decided to leave wishing things were calmer when I would be back" But I´m not sure about the use of "would" here. Would it be better to say: "I decided to leave wishing things were calmer when I were back" ? The first one would be the literal translation from Spanish. I don´t know if you need more context... It's the "things" you want to be calmer so the conditional tense relates to this. I'd probably say "I decided to leave, wishing things would be calmer when I got back". Actually I would probably use "hoping" rather than "wishing". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cat_loves_mika Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 (edited) Even though "calmer" is correct, I feel like the sentence would sound less awkward if you used "more calm" instead. Also saying "it" instead of "things" just sounds better to me. I decided to leave, hoping it would be more calm when I got back. You also don't even need "-er" or "more" next to calm. Since the situation you were talking about wasn't even calm to start with. I decided to leave, hoping it would be calm I got back. Again, it just sounds more proper to me this way. Edited March 14, 2013 by cat_loves_mika Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basicamenteyo Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 It's the "things" you want to be calmer so the conditional tense relates to this. I'd probably say "I decided to leave, wishing things would be calmer when I got back". Actually I would probably use "hoping" rather than "wishing". Oh Thanks Silver. I bet that being English speaker I might sound dumb, but I don´t "think" in English yet, so I need to translate almost everything, and it´s clear that literal translation is always the worst. Even though "calmer" is correct, I feel like the sentence would sound less awkward if you used "more calm" instead. Also saying "it" instead of "things" just sounds better to me. I decided to leave, hoping it would be more calm when I got back. You also don't even need "-er" or "more" next to calm. Since the situation you were talking about wasn't even calm to start with. I decided to leave, hoping it would be calm I got back. Again, it just sounds more proper to me this way. I just chose the worst possible way, huh? Thank you very much, I´ll try to be more logical in the future. Nah, who am I kidding? I´ll rely on this thread for the future I can´t be logical, since it´s not my language and it all sounds fine for me as long as it makes sense... That´s why I´ll ask a lot of things here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 Oh Thanks Silver. I bet that being English speaker I might sound dumb, but I don´t "think" in English yet, so I need to translate almost everything, and it´s clear that literal translation is always the worst. This is why I think they should teach you to think in another language using your own language first. I think it would be a lot quicker to adjust to and then you would just have to learn to substitute foreign words for your own (ie literally translate). I can do the last bit but I can't think in French grammar. I had to do that "thought adjustment" living in South Africa and the UK although obviously it's less extreme than jumping from English to a romance language. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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