http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/oct/16/false-promises-brexit-john-major

link 23.01.2019 22:20

Эге-гей, а про страны-то, про страны забыли!

"Be in no doubt – if the UK can no longer serve America’s interests in Europe, she will look elsewhere for someone who can."

Shumov ✉

link 23.01.2019 22:32

у большинства "родин" по сю сторону Урала (про ту - не знаю) женская флексия
люксембурги, монаки и прочие офшры не в счет, разумеется.

link 28.01.2019 0:42

johnstephenson, what would you say about this deviation from standard:

THERE'S FIVE PEOPLE IN THE CAR?

It is standard nowadays, isn't it? A lot of people just ignore the rule of the subject-verb agreement.

Just an observation:
The case of HELP. Has it become another modal verb that is not followed by 'to'?
Help me do this. or
Help me to do this.

Another observation (not intended only for johnstephenson):
The verb 'panic'. What happens to it in the past tense? Is there any rule?

link 28.01.2019 0:56

It's "panicked", what's wrong with that?

link 28.01.2019 1:39

Hi, Aiduza.
I mean, have you ever seen any mention or rule or exception about adding a 'k' after 'c' in come verbs (not adjectives)? There are more words ending in 'c' that add a 'k' in other tense forms. E. g: mimic, picnic, frolic. I don't remember any such rule.

mimicS, but mimicKing,
picnicS. but picnicKed
frolicS, but frolicKed

Do you or have you?

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category_talk:English_irregular_verbs

link 28.01.2019 1:53

"Verbs ending in -c

Verbs which end in -c preceded by a vowel sound form their past tense and past participle by adding -ked, and their present participle by adding -king. Examples are bivouac, frolic, havoc, magic, mimic, panic, physic, picnic, tarmac, traffic."

+
http://www.wordexample.com/list/verbs-ending-c

-----

mahavishnu, note that if a verb ends in -c preceded by a CONSONANT sound, "k" is not added, e.g.:

(Present) lip-sync - (Past) lip-synced

link 28.01.2019 1:58

(an easy way to memorise the rule: "King in Keds")

link 28.01.2019 23:00

Aiduza,, thanks a lot.
I mean I've never seen any -ked rule in any textbooks I used 50 years ago. Nulla Aetas Ad Discendum Sera.
Thank you again.

link 28.01.2019 23:18

I like the ad very much, especially the use of comma in
WHITE, MEN'S AND WOMEN'S SIZES - a little comma that makes all the difference, huh? An eye-catcher.

link 28.01.2019 23:21

"Here comes the -ked -king" :)

link 29.01.2019 0:12

Oh yes, that's smart.

link 29.01.2019 19:17

mahavishnu 28.01.19 @ 3:42:

** There's five people in the car **
It should be 'there are', but the singular is often used (as well as the plural) in spoken/informal English. Similarly, in spoken/informal English, people will often say:
* 'There's ten thousand pounds to be won in our competition'
as well as
* 'There are ten thousand pounds to be won in our competition'
even though 'ten thousand pounds' is plural. This could be because they're thinking 'There's a total of ten thousand pounds to be won'.

If you're not sure which to use in examples like this, keep it in the plural.

** 'Help me do this' v 'Help me to do this' **
Both forms are used. 'Help me to do this' is more correct and more common overall, especially in formal/legal/official English, but 'Help me do this' is often used (as well as 'to do this') in spoken/informal English, including the lyrics to some songs, eg:
* Help Me Make It Through The Night (Kris Kristoffersen).

If you're not sure which to use in examples like this, leave in the 'to'.

link 29.01.2019 19:37

Вспомнилось, как несколько лет тому назад в отборочном туре британского Икс-фактора член жюри Луи спросил двух братьев-близнецов, вышедших на сцену: "What's your names?".
Прозвучало это в его устах очень естественно, тем более что Луи образованный "чистый" британец.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Walsh

link 29.01.2019 19:38

Поправка: ирландец.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUA7DzMEcHs

link 30.01.2019 0:22

OFF - for amusement only!
The late Eamonn Andrews, also an Irishman popular on British TV shows, had excellent English. Here's a clip of him presenting the panel show What's My Line?, in which panellists had to work out a mystery guest's profession based on a very short mime, and then asking them a series of questions, with only 10 'no' answers allowed. The clip (with very poor sound and badly edited) shows Andrews making use of the BBC's very latest digital display technology. :-D

Andrews at end: "That's the best bit of bluff we've done on this side of the house yet!"

Victor_G ✉

link 30.01.2019 1:49

Да уж, Пушкин он такой Пушкин!

Victor_G ✉

link 30.01.2019 1:54

Как-то раз был треп по поводу того, что некто написал "the of" вместо "of the". Типо никогда такого порядка быть не может. Возражаю, что, мол, может быть такая фраза: "The 'of' that you erroneously placed after 'the'".

link 31.01.2019 14:40

Yes, "the 'of'", "the 'or'", "the 'but'" etc are often used when referring to the structure of sentences. Also "the 'but'" is sometimes used in informal English to mean 'the exception' or 'the problem' or just 'however', as in "The Audi A3 is an excellent car. The 'but' is that the steering isn't very good".

solarcold ✉

link 1.02.2019 8:03

Касательно "help to do" - я не знаю почему, но мне всегда казалась такая форма неправильной. У меня в голове сложилась какая-то аналогия с модальными глаголами (типа "can to" нельзя, значит и "help to" нельзя). Сложилась непонятно почему, а избавиться трудно.

link 1.02.2019 14:45

Hi, solarcold.

'can to', 'may to' etc are definitely incorrect, but 'to help (s.o.) to do (sth)' is perfectly normal, as is 'to help (s.o.) do (sth)'. The 'to' before 'help' is sometimes superfluous, but not usually wrong. The BBC refers to these two different forms as the 'to-infinitive' and the 'bare infinitive' (голый инфинитив in Russian, according to MT).

Note that this applies only to the verb 'to help' and certain other verbs; it definitely doesn't apply to all of them. So, for example, you have to say 'to encourage (s.o.) to do (sth)'; you can't say 'to encourage (s.o.) do (sth)'.

If you want proof, see these Google hits. Note that they're all written by BBC journalists with a native knowledge of English:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?lr=&as_qdr=all&biw=1056&bih=459&ei=Q1VUXO2YKc2J1fAPv_-FuAM&q="help+me+to"+site:bbc.co.uk/news&oq="help+me+to"+site:bbc.co.uk/news&gs_l=psy-ab.12...255007.258407..264046...1.0..0.77.274.4......0....1..gws-wiz.621x3p9zpwA

See also this explanation from the BBC's Learning English pages, which gives a few more examples:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/youmeus/learnit/learnitv226.shtml

link 2.02.2019 0:07

I guess there's nothing one can do about the evolution of any language. Linguists are unable to catch up with innovations. Grammarians see the futility of enforcing established Grammar rules in English or describing nascent speaks. There has emerged a common opinion that there are MORE NON-NATIVE English speakers in the world today who undoubtedly "rule the world". They regard Queen's English as obsolete and too pompous to use. - Just an opinion.