IpseDixit - English

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Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby linguoboy » 2015-05-09, 15:35

IpseDixit wrote:When do I have to use the past infinitive in -ing* (e.g: having seen) instead of the simple -ing form (seeing)?

It's not a past, it's a perfect, and it's not an infinitive, it's a participle. Searching "perfect participle" will point you to a lot of sites discussing its usage and giving examples. (The perfect infinitive is "to have seen", which has its own quirky usage.)
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IpseDixit

Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby IpseDixit » 2015-05-10, 13:32

Ok.

I have two sentences from LOTR that I don't understand:

- The legend of Bilbo's gold excited both curiosity and hope; for legendary gold (mysteriously obtained, if not positively ill-gotten), is, as everyone knows, anyone's for the finding - unless the search is interrupted.

I don't understand what "is anyone's for the finding" means.

- He lived alone, as Bilbo had done; but he had a good many friends, especially among the younger hobbits (mostly descendants of the Old Took) who had as children been fond of Bilbo [...].

I don't understand "who had as children been fond of Bilbo".

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Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby linguoboy » 2015-05-10, 13:54

IpseDixit wrote:- The legend of Bilbo's gold excited both curiosity and hope; for legendary gold (mysteriously obtained, if not positively ill-gotten), is, as everyone knows, anyone's for the finding - unless the search is interrupted.

I don't understand what "is anyone's for the finding" means.

Cf. the common expression "it's yours for the taking" meaning "it's there to be taken by you".


IpseDixit wrote:- He lived alone, as Bilbo had done; but he had a good many friends, especially among the younger hobbits (mostly descendants of the Old Took) who had as children been fond of Bilbo [...].

I don't understand "who had as children been fond of Bilbo".

It means that when the younger hobbits were children, they were fond of Bilbo.
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons

IpseDixit

Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby IpseDixit » 2015-05-10, 13:58

Thanks.

Also, what does "take to doing something" mean?

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Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby linguoboy » 2015-05-10, 14:01

IpseDixit wrote:Thanks.

Also, what does "take to doing something" mean?

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/take_to
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons

IpseDixit

Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby IpseDixit » 2015-05-15, 10:15

When do I have to use the phrase "on a level" and when "at a level"?

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Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby ling » 2015-05-15, 11:12

linguoboy wrote:
IpseDixit wrote:- He lived alone, as Bilbo had done; but he had a good many friends, especially among the younger hobbits (mostly descendants of the Old Took) who had as children been fond of Bilbo [...].

I don't understand "who had as children been fond of Bilbo".

It means that when the younger hobbits were children, they were fond of Bilbo.

It's the same as "...who, as children, had been fond of Bilbo."
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Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby linguoboy » 2015-05-15, 14:27

IpseDixit wrote:When do I have to use the phrase "on a level" and when "at a level"?

This is the kind of question that seems straightforward but is nigh impossible to answer easily. If you gave me specific examples and asked, "Which do I use here?" it would be a snap. But essentially you're asking us to think of all possible common examples for each and then try to abstract from those a usable generalisation. That's a tall order.
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons

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Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby IpseDixit » 2015-06-04, 14:18

I've decided I'm going to start listing the new words that I learn:

- wheelwright
- giddy up
- caw
- flutter
- whinny
- nicker
- neigh
- squire
- watertight
- joust
- kennel
- tusk
- bode (ill / well)
- simper
- gash
- grasper
- highwayman
- chirrup
- gouge
- muster
- to best something / someone
- valiantly
- at once
- scullion
- crevasse
- bugger
- don
Last edited by IpseDixit on 2015-06-07, 13:51, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby IpseDixit » 2015-06-06, 10:10

I'm watching Game of Thrones and a sentence baffled me:

The plans are made. It's time you heard them.

Why "heard" and not "hear"?

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Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby Car » 2015-06-06, 13:04

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learn ... v347.shtml
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar ... /it-s-time

By searching for "It's time" and "past tense", you'll find tons of explanations.
Please correct my mistakes!

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Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby Tenebrarum » 2015-06-06, 13:30

Wow I didn't know that. I've always used "It's time + for sb + to-infinitive" and I thought that was the only acceptable construction.
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Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby IpseDixit » 2015-06-07, 12:17

Car wrote:http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv347.shtml
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar ... /it-s-time

By searching for "It's time" and "past tense", you'll find tons of explanations.


Thanks!

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Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby Car » 2015-06-08, 1:38

You're welcome.
Please correct my mistakes!

IpseDixit

Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby IpseDixit » 2015-06-29, 14:16

I was watching a YT video and the guy in this video (who's American) used the term "international countries" to mean "foreign countries". Is that common?

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Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby linguoboy » 2015-06-29, 14:38

IpseDixit wrote:I was watching a YT video and the guy in this video (who's American) used the term "international countries" to mean "foreign countries". Is that common?

Never heard it before. Sounds ridiculous. I wonder if it's some kind of back formation from compounds like "international country codes".
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Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby Lazar Taxon » 2015-06-29, 15:44

IpseDixit wrote:I was watching a YT video and the guy in this video (who's American) used the term "international countries" to mean "foreign countries". Is that common?

Huh, I recently heard a YouTuber do that too. (Maybe it was the same video?) I agree with linguoboy that it's not common or standard, but it does strike me as an unsurprising error that someone might make. For example, at my university the non-American students were referred to (both formally and informally) as "international", so I can see how someone might extrapolate that "international" is a general synonym for "foreign".
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Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby IpseDixit » 2015-06-29, 16:06

linguoboy wrote:Never heard it before. Sounds ridiculous. I wonder if it's some kind of back formation from compounds like "international country codes".


I can't re-find the video but I don't think that was the case...

Lazar Taxon wrote:Huh, I recently heard a YouTuber do that too. (Maybe it was the same video?) I agree with linguoboy that it's not common or standard, but it does strike me as an unsurprising error that someone might make. For example, at my university the non-American students were referred to (both formally and informally) as "international", so I can see how someone might extrapolate that "international" is a general synonym for "foreign".


I don't know about you but to me when referring to people it sounds less weird than when referring to countries.

Anyways my youtuber is Emergency Awesome

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Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby linguoboy » 2015-06-29, 16:09

IpseDixit wrote:
linguoboy wrote:Never heard it before. Sounds ridiculous. I wonder if it's some kind of back formation from compounds like "international country codes".


I can't re-find the video but I don't think that was the case...

How would you be able to tell that from a video?
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons

IpseDixit

Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby IpseDixit » 2015-06-29, 16:11

linguoboy wrote:
IpseDixit wrote:
linguoboy wrote:Never heard it before. Sounds ridiculous. I wonder if it's some kind of back formation from compounds like "international country codes".


I can't re-find the video but I don't think that was the case...

How would you be able to tell that from a video?


I must've misunderstood you then...


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