Grammar question

[stracci2000]

All this language talk reminded me of a former colleague who would say 'you's' to represent the plural of 'you'.

Someone told me creating a plural form of the word 'you' can be reflective of a certain geographic part of the country. I'm not sure if that's true, but found it interesting.

Where I grew up in Western Pa, we always said "yunz" as the plural of "you". It's very distinctive to the region.

 

[LLJsmom]

In Latin the infinitive form is a single word so you can't split it.

I agree with MariaD. kenny knew he could have used "misunderstood" to better effect. But then we wouldn't have had this thread.

I still hate split infinitives in English and I do not care who splits them; I will still continue to correct the sentences in my own mind. It is my own equivalent of, "silent prayer". I also change every single incorrectly placed "like" to an "as" as I read silently. Unless the Thought Police get me, no one will ever be able to tell me that I cannot go around correcting split infinitives or that I must accept "like" when one should be using "as if". Because no one will catch me!

And it's a good thing that so many of the languages I have studied do have their infinitives forms in one word, like Latin, because no one then tries to split them: not Spanish; not French; not Italian; not even German. But the Germans put their verbs at the end of the sentences, so in case they decide to pull a fast one, one might miss it!

AGBF,

Thank goodness there are no Thought Police! Although here in Canada, we have the Language Police in Quebec. That's another topic.

I wish basic grammar (and math!) was more common.

When I was learning French, we were learning about the various tenses, including the past perfect. One of the other students exclaimed 'Oh, we don't have that in English!'. Ummm, yes, we do.

I don't expect people to be English Majors, and I'm certainly not one, but it would be nice to see people with stronger writing skills.

Since I've retired, I feel my writing skills have deteriorated. If I mess up, please throw a virtual grammar book at me.

I'm with AGBF and December-fire. I learned never to split an infinitive, and I will continue to follow this rule to this day, just as you should not end a sentence with w preposition. So for me, the second sentence is correct.

 

[Jambalaya]

In Latin the infinitive form is a single word so you can't split it.

I agree with MariaD. kenny knew he could have used "misunderstood" to better effect. But then we wouldn't have had this thread.

I still hate split infinitives in English and I do not care who splits them; I will still continue to correct the sentences in my own mind. It is my own equivalent of, "silent prayer". I also change every single incorrectly placed "like" to an "as" as I read silently. Unless the Thought Police get me, no one will ever be able to tell me that I cannot go around correcting split infinitives or that I must accept "like" when one should be using "as if". Because no one will catch me!

And it's a good thing that so many of the languages I have studied do have their infinitives forms in one word, like Latin, because no one then tries to split them: not Spanish; not French; not Italian; not even German. But the Germans put their verbs at the end of the sentences, so in case they decide to pull a fast one, one might miss it!

I know; how completely weird is that?! I went to a German class once, and to say that you didn't like going hiking translated directly as "I go not like hiking." So strange - I couldn't get on with it at all. And French, where every object is a boy or a girl. "Where is the spoon?" "She is in the drawer." I mean, what's that all about??

I'm not much of a linguist.

 

[december-fire]

[quote="Jambalaya]... I went to a German class once, and to say that you didn't like going hiking translated directly as "I go not like hiking." So strange - I couldn't get on with it at all. And French, where every object is a boy or a girl. "Where is the spoon?" "She is in the drawer." I mean, what's that all about??

I'm not much of a linguist. [/quote]


The French-speaking people are probably saying 'What's that all about?' when it comes to the English language!

I received a business-related phone call from someone in Texas (I'm in Canada), and at the end of the call he say, in a Texan drawl, 'You have the cutest accent.'

What! He was the one with the accent!

From my perspective.