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General discussion"declare your friends" versus "declare you're friends" (language topic)(43 posts)(43 posts)
(43 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted July 30, 2016
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ZFR: OK, here is a challenge: do one for "could/should/would of" and "could/should/would 've"
I seem to recall "could of" being disallowed in english.
Posted July 30, 2016
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ZFR: OK, here is a challenge: do one for "could/should/would of" and "could/should/would 've"
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paigosa: I seem to recall "could of" being disallowed in english.
Really? You don't say.

It's not "disallowed". It's just a common mistake that people use it instead of 'could've'.

I could of course give you examples of a proper usage. Here is a second one: I ate all I could of my grandmother's delicious cookies (I read this sentence somewhere on the net; it's not my invention).

So the challenge is to create a sentence that is syntatically correct for both "could/should/would of" and "could/should/would 've". Just like the examples for other common mistakes mentioned in this thread.
Posted July 30, 2016
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ZFR: I could of course give you examples of a proper usage. Here is a second one: I ate all I could of my grandmother's delicious cookies (I read this sentence somewhere on the net; it's not my invention)
Replacing "of" with "have" in this case results in nonsence, but I am interested in this challenge of yours.
Posted July 30, 2016
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ZFR: I could of course give you examples of a proper usage. Here is a second one: I ate all I could of my grandmother's delicious cookies (I read this sentence somewhere on the net; it's not my invention)
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paigosa: Replacing "of" with "have" in this case results in nonsence, but I am interested in this challenge of yours.
I don't have an answer myself for the moment, but I curious if anyone finds one.
Posted July 30, 2016
I thought of another example used as a joke in the English version of SaGa Frontier 2.

At one point, Rich Knights says:

"I am Rich, but I'm not rich, if you know what I mean."
Posted July 30, 2016
If we are allowed to go beyond English, then compound words are a common cause of humor in Swedish. Compare:

Rökfritt - Non-smoking
with
Rök fritt - Smoke freely

Stekt kycklinglever - Fried chicken liver
with
Stekt kyckling lever - Fried chicken is alive

Herrtoalett - Men's room
with
Herr toalett - Mr toilet

and the classic:
En brunhårig sjuksköterska - A brunette nurse
with
En brun hårig sjuk sköterska - A brown hairy sick caregiver
Posted July 30, 2016
I have a constant problem.

How do I properly write 's thing when I mean that something belong to someone?

Lets say, once there was a turtle named Klyde. Klyde was not a common turtle, for he had a thing called "Shell of Destiny". It was similar to that shield that Captain America has, but all natural and less shining.

One day world got in terrible danger. Klyde was lazy and he was sleeping. So I decided to take matters into my own hands and save the world.

But I needed Klyde's Shell of Destiny.

Question:
in this case, is it right to say "Klyde's"? Because usually "Klyde's" would mean for me "Klyde is".
Posted July 30, 2016
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Dessimu: Question:
in this case, is it right to say "Klyde's"? Because usually "Klyde's" would mean for me "Klyde is".
Absolutely. That's the proper way. "Klyde's" can mean both "Klyde is/Klyde has" and "belonging to Klyde" (possessive).

The problem arises when people get used to forming the possessive by adding 's that they forget that it's not always the correct way of doing it. For example: "it's" in not the possessive of "it" (use "its" instead) and "who's" is not the possessive of "who" (use "whose" instead).
Post edited July 30, 2016 by ZFR
Posted July 30, 2016
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Dessimu: I have a constant problem.

How do I properly write 's thing when I mean that something belong to someone?

Lets say, once there was a turtle named Klyde. Klyde was not a common turtle, for he had a thing called "Shell of Destiny". It was similar to that shield that Captain America has, but all natural and less shining.

One day world got in terrible danger. Klyde was lazy and he was sleeping. So I decided to take matters into my own hands and save the world.

But I needed Klyde's Shell of Destiny.

Question:
in this case, is it right to say "Klyde's"? Because usually "Klyde's" would mean for me "Klyde is".
"Bob's book" can mean either Bob *owns* the book or Bob *is* the book depending on context. Thankfully, generally only one them makes sense.
If it makes you feel better, experienced native speakers get just as confused by the "rules" as you are.
Post edited July 30, 2016 by paigosa
Posted July 30, 2016
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Dessimu: I have a constant problem.

How do I properly write 's thing when I mean that something belong to someone?

Lets say, once there was a turtle named Klyde. Klyde was not a common turtle, for he had a thing called "Shell of Destiny". It was similar to that shield that Captain America has, but all natural and less shining.

One day world got in terrible danger. Klyde was lazy and he was sleeping. So I decided to take matters into my own hands and save the world.

But I needed Klyde's Shell of Destiny.

Question:
in this case, is it right to say "Klyde's"? Because usually "Klyde's" would mean for me "Klyde is".
Actually, when it comes to a singluar noun (not a pronoun), adding 's is the way to show possession, so "Klyde's" is correct.

For a plural noun that ends in "s", use just an apostrophe: The dragons' treasure hoard. (The hoard belongs to multiple dragons here.)

Pronouns are a special case: "he" becomes "his", "she" becomes "hers", "it" becomes "its" (not "it's", which means "it is"; this is a common point of confusion and source of mistakes), "they" becomes "their".
Posted July 30, 2016
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ZFR: Absolutely. That's the proper way.

(use "its" instead) and (use "whose" instead)
Nice. Usually, when there is some kind of context, understanding the meaning is easier, but it is still good to know how to write properly. Thank you.

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paigosa: If it makes you feel better, experienced native speakers get just as confused by the "rules" as you are.
I can vouch for that.

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dtgreene: dragons'

"its"
Super! Many thanks for all the explanations. Especially on the "its" part and nouns ending in s, like dragons.

You just saved me a hundred years of embarrassment of talking nonsense :P Now back to taking Klyde's Shield of Destiny and vanquishing the evil...

Edit: Shell*, I meant Shell.
Post edited July 30, 2016 by Dessimu
Posted July 31, 2016
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ZFR: Absolutely. That's the proper way.

(use "its" instead) and (use "whose" instead)
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Dessimu: Nice. Usually, when there is some kind of context, understanding the meaning is easier, but it is still good to know how to write properly. Thank you.

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paigosa: If it makes you feel better, experienced native speakers get just as confused by the "rules" as you are.
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Dessimu: I can vouch for that.

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dtgreene: dragons'

"its"
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Dessimu: Super! Many thanks for all the explanations. Especially on the "its" part and nouns ending in s, like dragons.

You just saved me a hundred years of embarrassment of talking nonsense :P Now back to taking Klyde's Shield of Destiny and vanquishing the evil...

Edit: Shell*, I meant Shell.
Just to clarify what dtgreene said, when you do the s' thing that she mentioned, that generally indicates possession by multiple people or things -- multiple dragons, in this case. (It can also be a shortcut for indicating possession of -- for instance -- someone whose name ends with s. A tree growing on the property of a Mr. Jones could be Jones's tree OR Jones' tree, for instance.) For the hoard of a single dragon, it would still be "dragon's hoard".
Posted July 31, 2016
... and to make it even more interesting, plurals not ending with an s also get 's and not s' (so mice's hoard and not mices' hoard).
Post edited July 31, 2016 by ZFR
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This is my favourite topic
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General discussion"declare your friends" versus "declare you're friends" (language topic)(43 posts)(43 posts)
(43 posts)