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Anonymous Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
A strange sentence
We can recall between 20000 and 100000 words in our own language as well as possibly thousands more in a foreign language.
I read this sentence in a book. I fell confused , how can a person remember more words in a foreign language than in his mother language? It runs against the logic. Am i right? Thanks!
I read this sentence in a book. I fell confused , how can a person remember more words in a foreign language than in his mother language? It runs against the logic. Am i right? Thanks!
Top answer
It means we may know a few thousand words in a foreign language as well as twenty thousand to one hundred thousand words in our own language. I would comment that very few people know anything like 100,000 words in their own language, unless you count plurals, inflected forms and combination words as distinct words.
- It means we may know a few thousand words in a foreign language as well as twenty thousand to one hundred thousand words in our own language.
- I would comment that very few people know anything like 100,000 words in their own language, unless you count plurals, inflected forms and combination words as distinct words.
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2 Answers
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It means we may know a few thousand words in a foreign language as well as twenty thousand to one hundred thousand words in our own language.
I would comment that very few people know anything like 100,000 words in their own language, unless you count plurals, inflected forms and combination words as distinct words.
I would comment that very few people know anything like 100,000 words in their own language, unless you count plurals, inflected forms and combination words as distinct words.
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Anonymoushow can a person remember more words in a foreign language than in his mother language?The sentence does not say that.
'thousands more' does not mean 'thousands more than in our own language'. It means 'thousands in addition to those in our own language'. There is a difference.
CJ
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