Proper sentence structure...

[pikingrin]

Okay, so this is the new "nice place" to be...right?

Is it proper, grammatically speaking, to end a sentence with an adverb? It's been too long since I graduated, and my skills as a grammar nazi are dwindling...

[MadAudio]

I'm pretty sure the answer is "sure."

Let's try one, shall we?

That painting was done rather sloppily.

Paste that into Word and do a grammar check.

[wilko]

Originally Posted by pikingrin

Okay, so this is the new "nice place" to be...right?

Is it proper, grammatically speaking, to end a sentence with an adverb? It's been too long since I graduated, and my skills as a grammar nazi are dwindling...

I believe so, but you must never end a sentence, a preposition with....

[MadAudio]

Originally Posted by wilko

I believe so, but you must never end a sentence, a preposition with....

That reminds me of that old joke.....



Joe: So that's where I'll be at.

John: You know, you shouldn't end a sentence with a preposition.

Joe: So that's where I'll be at, bitch.

[wilko]

Originally Posted by MadAudio

That reminds me of that old joke.....



Joe: So that's where I'll be at.

John: You know, you shouldn't end a sentence with a preposition.

Joe: So that's where I'll be at, bitch.

Hehehehehehe!

[Nicole_Rose]

Originally Posted by MadAudio

That reminds me of that old joke.....



Joe: So that's where I'll be at.

John: You know, you shouldn't end a sentence with a preposition.

Joe: So that's where I'll be at, bitch.

haha

[Dogman]

Every sentence is different. But, I am an assmunch...

[vadoom]

Shakespeare made up words. Why can't we?

[32-20-Blues]

Yeah, you can end a sentence with an adverb. "He ran quickly."

Adverbs usually go at the end of a sentence, except in the case of adverbs of frequency, which usually go before the main verb. "He usually walks to the shop." Although some authorities will tell you that an adverb of frequency cannot go at the end of a sentence, I say bullshit. It's fine, as long as you use a comma before it. "He walks to the shop, usually."

[wilko]

Originally Posted by 32-20-Blues

Yeah, you can end a sentence with an adverb. "He ran quickly."

Adverbs usually go at the end of a sentence, except in the case of adverbs of frequency, which usually go before the main verb. "He usually walks to the shop." Although some authorities will tell you that an adverb of frequency cannot go at the end of a sentence, I say bullshit. It's fine, as long as you use a comma before it. "He walks to the shop, usually."

Ah but doesn't that potentially change the meaning, ( I could be wrong here!)?

1) He usually walks to the shop - he usually walks, not takes the bus...

2) He walks to the shop, ususally - what does he do? he goes to the shop as opposed to going anywhere else?

The context surrounding the sentence would probably lose any ambiguity though.

[vadoom]

Originally Posted by wilko

Ah but doesn't that potentially change the meaning, ( I could be wrong here!)?

1) He usually walks to the shop - he usually walks, not takes the bus...

2) He walks to the shop, ususally - what does he do? he goes to the shop as opposed to going anywhere else?

The context surrounding the sentence would probably lose any ambiguity though.

That still doesn't explain why we can't make up words...

[rayc]

Adverbs are Ok, not flash but ok as endings. They often lend themselves to a sense that there's was more to the sentence but it was truncated by an event rather sharply.
A very strong trend in Australia is to end a spoken sentence with so. Also to begin a written one with it.
Odd it is, thought only slightly so. You must understand that I don't mean so as in the so I just demonstrated. It's the upper inflected so that infers a "whatever" or "you know where this sentences would've gone if I'd been bothered to finish it." sort of so.
Do you find folk say could OF rather than could've?
With the USification of language there is also a major downhill slide toward saying A (long vowel) instead of a (short vowel as in the short vowel of u) in a sentence as in " I bought A sandwich for lunch." rather thah " I bought a sandwich for lunch."
Hey Wilko, I was stoked to read ...shops...I'm tired of the infiltration of store/market/laundryroom and much, much worse: bathroom instead of toilet.

[wilko]

Originally Posted by rayc

Adverbs are Ok, not flash but ok as endings. They often lend themselves to a sense that there's was more to the sentence but it was truncated by an event rather sharply.
A very strong trend in Australia is to end a spoken sentence with so. Also to begin a written one with it.
Odd it is, thought only slightly so. You must understand that I don't mean so as in the so I just demonstrated. It's the upper inflected so that infers a "whatever" or "you know where this sentences would've gone if I'd been bothered to finish it." sort of so.
Do you find folk say could OF rather than could've?
With the USification of language there is also a major downhill slide toward saying A (long vowel) instead of a (short vowel as in the short vowel of u) in a sentence as in " I bought A sandwich for lunch." rather thah " I bought a sandwich for lunch."
Hey Wilko, I was stoked to read ...shops...I'm tired of the infiltration of store/market/laundryroom and much, much worse: bathroom instead of toilet.

LOL! I still have a (not A) lot of English in me!

One interesting thing I have found is that the proper English spelling of the word "organize" is actually with a "z" - "zed!". The correct American spelling is with the "s" as opposed to the "z".

The OED lists the "z" spelling first and says "also -ise.."

[rayc]

The Americans wrote a Spelling Dictionary really early on & it was used religiously across schools for a long time - it wasn't correct spelling but became uniform & therefore correct in the US. Now that English, & US English at that, rules the computer & internet waves (by being the default spelling checking progs & having invented a lot of the jargon & jingoism as well) the US standard spelling is taking over - & some of it is bloody logical though much of it is bloody annoying.
I can't handle kids saying ZEE though. Just because it rhymes with A B C?
Dr Seuss wasn't too culturally sensitive, nor was he a cultural empirialist. It's funny that a sensitive, touchy, feely and aware program like Sesame St became, in effect, the harbinger of regional, non US pronounciation, spelling doom aye?

[famous beagle]

Originally Posted by rayc

Adverbs are Ok, not flash but ok as endings. They often lend themselves to a sense that there's was more to the sentence but it was truncated by an event rather sharply.
A very strong trend in Australia is to end a spoken sentence with so. Also to begin a written one with it.
Odd it is, thought only slightly so. You must understand that I don't mean so as in the so I just demonstrated. It's the upper inflected so that infers a "whatever" or "you know where this sentences would've gone if I'd been bothered to finish it." sort of so.
Do you find folk say could OF rather than could've?
With the USification of language there is also a major downhill slide toward saying A (long vowel) instead of a (short vowel as in the short vowel of u) in a sentence as in " I bought A sandwich for lunch." rather thah " I bought a sandwich for lunch."
Hey Wilko, I was stoked to read ...shops...I'm tired of the infiltration of store/market/laundryroom and much, much worse: bathroom instead of toilet.

I rarely hear people say a long "A" when speaking. The only time I can think of is when someone's trying to speak very deliberately to make a point or something, like "You .. are .. A .. B**ch!"

And sometimes a long "A" is sung because it seems to work better.

But I'd say that 95% of the time (at least) when someone speaks an "A," it sounds more like "uh."

The sentence you wrote above, I normally hear people pronounce, "I boughtta sandwich for lunch."

[32-20-Blues]

Originally Posted by wilko

Ah but doesn't that potentially change the meaning, ( I could be wrong here!)?

1) He usually walks to the shop - he usually walks, not takes the bus...

2) He walks to the shop, ususally - what does he do? he goes to the shop as opposed to going anywhere else?

The context surrounding the sentence would probably lose any ambiguity though.

Yeah, youre right! I just realised that.

[vadoom]

Shouldn't this stuff be on "IwannaLearnEnglish.com"?

[XLR]

Originally Posted by rayc

It's funny that a sensitive, touchy, feely and aware program like Sesame St became, in effect, the harbinger of regional, non US pronounciation, spelling doom aye?

Heh, well... whatever pronunciation impact Sesame St. has had, the 80's era shows were unforgettable for their wit and genuine creativity. In contrast there's the mind-numbing Teletubbies and Barney. God save us.

[vadoom]

Originally Posted by XLR

Heh, well... whatever pronunciation impact Sesame St. has had, the 80's era shows were unforgettable for their wit and genuine creativity. In contrast there's the mind-numbing Teletubbies and Barney. God save us.

Well, at least Sesame St. and Barney actually had WORDS! Teletubbies is just "wee-wee-weeee, moo-moo-mooooo, weeooo-weeooo-weeooooeeeooo..." It is like they are actually trying to get rid of words (made up or real)!!

[XLR]

The Teletubbies are actually the most advanced of the bunch... they just mumble while they're text messaging. Soon there will be no more words, only typed acronyms. Pronunciation will be a non-issue.

[rayc]

Oh, I agree. Sesame St was BRILLIANT in the 80's - they just weren't aware of their international impact. It was, afterall, built for domestic use.
Barney - oooh, stomach churning stuff. Tele tubbies - how to take a womble, excise it of humour, remove any language skills & amputate an adequate story line! Mind you I didn't much like wombles either - Mike batts music was cool though.
The A issue REALLY comes out when, as was said, people are being formal: reading a speech, reading a passage out loud etc.
How do you feel about the over emphasis of prefixes?

[vadoom]

Originally Posted by XLR

The Teletubbies are actually the most advanced of the bunch... they just mumble while they're text messaging. Soon there will be no more words, only typed acronyms. Pronunciation will be a non-issue.

Advanced? When in the past there was 40 different variations for such word as "went". Now its all "went" - he went, she went, they went, everything went... So in the future were just going to cut out any kind of descriptive articulation so whatever you say can be understood by anyone to mean anything they want... And you say its most advanced....

[vadoom]

Originally Posted by rayc

Oh, I agree. Sesame St was BRILLIANT in the 80's - they just weren't aware of their international impact. It was, afterall, built for domestic use.
Barney - oooh, stomach churning stuff. Tele tubbies - how to take a womble, excise it of humour, remove any language skills & amputate an adequate story line! Mind you I didn't much like wombles either - Mike batts music was cool though.
The A issue REALLY comes out when, as was said, people are being formal: reading a speech, reading a passage out loud etc.
How do you feel about the over emphasis of prefixes?

Hey, sesame st even works now for kids and non-english speaking people.

[Dogman]

Complete sentences are overrated....

[vadoom]

Originally Posted by Dogman

Complete sentences are overrated....

Yeah, you'r totally... ...and them I'm like... ...went to this part... ... so no big deal. Who needs complete... ... use words...