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Musicgold Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

Are these sentences natural? November 29

Hi,

Are the following sentences natural to a native ear?

1. What American Airlines has filed for bankruptcy? For how many time? (I was expecting an answer like 3rd time)



2. If you asked me, I would say you should see the rural area before the urban area.



3. I think you are doing them a service by making a mention of them in your report.

Thanks,

MG.
  

Top answer

1. Why has American Airlines filed for bankruptcy? -- I am just guessing at your intentions on this one, MG.

— Mister Micawber

  • 1.
  • Why has American Airlines filed for bankruptcy?
  • -- I am just guessing at your intentions on this one, MG.
  • 2.
  • -- Even though 'ask' is the 'wrong' form, it is much more commonly used in the fixed phrase 'if you ask me'.
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8 Answers
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1. Why has American Airlines filed for bankruptcy? How many times has it done so?-- I am just guessing at your intentions on this one, MG.

2. If you ask me, I'd say you should see the rural area before the urban area.-- Even though 'ask' is the 'wrong' form, it is much more commonly used in the fixed phrase 'if you ask me'.

3. I think you
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Mister Micawber1. Why has American Airlines filed for bankruptcy? How many times has it done so?-- I am just guessing at your intentions on this one, MG.
My intention was a bit different. I was surprised to hear that AA filed for another bankruptcy. I was not sure if that was their 2nd or third bankruptcy. I was not sure if could say how many timeth?
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timeth -- ???? Don't tell me you found that in any English dictionary!
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No. I thought that there would be a word similar to that, as such situations are very common in everyday life.

How do you ask if you want to know for how many times a thing has occured so far?
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Then you ask, "How many times has this occurred so far?"
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I don't mean to bug you, but I am surprised that there is not an efficient construction for this kind of commonly occuring situation. At lease my native laguage has such efficient phrases.
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What could be more efficient than "How many times has this occurred so far?"
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My native language has something to the effect of "for how many timeth?" (I know there is no such word as timeth in English)
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