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Manid Posted 15 years ago
Essay & Composition Writing
A peculiar formation of the sentence
Hey!
Are these sentences are equal in meaning?
• Nobody could acquire a foreign language in a year was he a linguistic genius.
Are these sentences are equal in meaning?
• Nobody could acquire a foreign language in a year was he a linguistic genius.
- Nobody could acquire a foreign language in a year even if he was a linguistic genius.
Top answer
The first is no good; I have corrected it to what is acceptable but little used nowadays: Nobody could acquire a foreign language in a year , were he a linguistic genius. Nobody could acquire a foreign language in a year even if he was/were a linguistic genius. )
- The first is no good; I have corrected it to what is acceptable but little used nowadays: Nobody could acquire a foreign language in a year , were he a linguistic genius.
- Nobody could acquire a foreign language in a year even if he was/were a linguistic genius.
- )
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4 Answers
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The first is no good; I have corrected it to what is acceptable but little used nowadays:
Nobody could acquire a foreign language in a year, were he a linguistic genius.
Nobody could acquire a foreign language in a year even if he was/were a linguistic genius. ('Was' is accepted informally.)
Nobody could acquire a foreign language in a year, were he a linguistic genius.
Nobody could acquire a foreign language in a year even if he was/were a linguistic genius. ('Was' is accepted informally.)
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Manid• Nobody could acquire a foreign language in a year was he a linguistic genius.In the second one, it's okay to substitute "was" for the subjunctive "were," but in the first one, I don't believe it works.
* Nobody could acquire a foreign language in a year even if he was a linguistic genius.
You couldn't do it were you a genius!
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The first sentence is grammatically incorrect.
The second sentence is correct. "Nobody", like "somebody, something, anybody, anyone, everyone, nothing, no one", is singular in meaning and their verbs are also singular. Therefore, in this case, "nobody could acquire a foreign language in a year even if he was a linguistic genius", is correct.
More examples,
The second sentence is correct. "Nobody", like "somebody, something, anybody, anyone, everyone, nothing, no one", is singular in meaning and their verbs are also singular. Therefore, in this case, "nobody could acquire a foreign language in a year even if he was a linguistic genius", is correct.
More examples,
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Danny2312There's somebody outside wants to talk to you.To my ear, ellipsing the "who" in the relative clause seems very casual - or perhaps it's regional.
I know I occasionally hear it that way.
"Somebody outside wants to talk to you" would also be formally correct.
Rgdz, - A.
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