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Musicgold Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

Are these sentences natural? November 24

Hi,

Are the following sentences natural to a native ear?

1. I was sitting between Rob and John at last night’s dinner.



2. That would have meant me going through the document line by line.



3. That would have required me to go through the document line by line.

Thanks,

MG.
  

Top answer

1. I was sitting between Rob and John at last night’s dinner. 2.

— Mister Micawber

  • 1.
  • I was sitting between Rob and John at last night’s dinner.
  • 2.
  • -- 'My' is formally correct.
  • 3.
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8 Answers
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1. I was sitting between Rob and John at last night’s dinner.

2. That would have meant me/my going through the document line by line.-- 'My' is formally correct.

3. That would have required me to go through the document line by line.
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MusicgoldAre the following sentences natural to a native ear?
It would depend on where that 'native ear' is from! For me, they are natural. For others they may not be natural. An example: In Canada somebody may offer "I'm good," to "How are you?" (gramatically the response is wrong: they are good at what? Sport? Using incorrect grammar?) and to a Canadian, it
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JoshStaffordIn Canada somebody may offer "I'm good," to "How are you?" (gramatically the response is wrong: they are good at what? Sport? Using incorrect grammar?)
Hi,

Your information is currently inaccurate. I (subject) am (linking verb) good (predicate adjective).

In this sentence am is a linking v
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RegardsIn this sentence am is a linking verb, not an action verb, and therefore the occurrence of good there is fine.
I guess you and I have different dictionaries. Collins and Oxford define 'good' as "having admirable, pleasing, superior, or positive qualities, not negative, bad, mediocre." There are other tenses, but none of them refer to a state of being.
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JoshStaffordThere are other tenses, but none of them refer to a state of being.
I meant 'senses' not 'tenses'.
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JoshStafford
I guess you and I have different dictionaries. Collins and Oxford define 'good' as "having admirable, pleasing, superior, or positive qualities, not negative, bad, mediocre." There are other tenses, but none of them refer to a state of being. Since when--and in which dictionary does good refer to a state of being? I am in good health, yes. I am
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Ah, very interesting. My Concise OED does not have the last statement
Regards‘How are you?’ ‘I'm good.’ (= used as a general reply to a greeting)
Perhaps yours is American. Mine is from the UK.

Good is an adjective. It modifies nouns: my good ear.

A note in a Collins I have at work: “Careful speakers and writers of English do not use good an
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JoshStafford
A note in a Collins I have at work: “Careful speakers and writers of English do not use good and bad as adverbs.”
Hi,

Once again, you're having trouble comprehending how good is used here—hence your misunderstanding.

I agree that the use of good as an adverb is rather informal. However, goo
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