Arthur at a restaurant. Quantity words.

Question

Hi Teachers.Are the bolded quantity words poosible with the story? If not will you tell me which ones?Arthur is eating lunch alone at a downtown restaurant. He ordered a steak, some salad and a few vegetables. The waiter brought him his steak and salad but forgot the vegetables. Arthur is telling him to bring the vegetables immediately. Perhaps it is not a very good restaurant; only a few people are in it.Thanks in advance

Holyduke · Accepted Answer

Drop the "a few" without a strict quantifier(like dishes of, cups of, kg, liters... actually, I don't know if they should be called strict quantifiers...), vegetables is this case should be in the form of "dishes".

Just saying "He ordered a steak, some salad, and a few dishes of vegetables. (I assume by some salad, you mean multiple types of salad. Otherwise, you don't need 'some')

"Arthur tells him to bring..." You don't need to put tell in the present progressive in this case.

Tenacious Learner · Answer

Hi holyduke,

Thank you for your reply. After your explanation I think I won't use 'some or 'a few'. Because the idea is that the steak is with a salad and vegetables garnish, and not different dishes.

holyduke"Arthur tells him to bring..." You don't need to put tell in the present progressive in this case.

Why not? Could you explain it?

Best regards

TS

Holyduke · Answer

Ah, a set meal.

"He ordered a steak with salad and vegetables."

Frankly, I wouldn't use tell. I think I'll go for reminds him to bring (him) the vegetables (drop immediately).

If you use immediately, it carries a very strong tone of voice. (much like a command or an order)

As for why not use the present progressive - He is eating --> and during that time he reminds the waiter. If you use present progressive tense for is telling, you are saying eating and telling are parallel actions (and they are not parallel).

Tenacious Learner · Answer

Hi holyduke,

Thank you very much for the reply and suggestions.

holydukeAs for why not use the present progressive - He is eating --> and during that time he reminds the waiter. If you use present progressive tense for is telling, you are saying eating and telling are parallel actions (and they are not parallel).

Wow! It's very logical, but I would have never though that by myself.

Best Regards

TS

Dimsumexpress · Answer

Thinking SpainArthur is eating lunch alone at a downtown restaurant. He ordered a steak, some salad and a few vegetables. The waiter brought him his steak and salad but forgot the vegetables. Arthur is telling him to bring the vegetables immediately. Perhaps it is not a very good restaurant; only a few people are in it.

Hi,

From reading the texts, it's a narrative, is this a correct assumption? If so, the tense should be in past tense. Other than that, this passage is fairly well understood. Alongside others suggestions, I would add a few comments with the highlighted words. The tense management and event construction process can be improved a bittle.

This is my version for your reference:

Arthur was / eating having lunch at a restaurant downtown. He ordered a steak which came with salad and vegetables. The Waiter served Authur the steak but forgot the vegetables. Arthur waved the waiter over and asked him to bring the vegetables quickly. Perhaps this restaurant is not a very good one because there were only a few customers inside.

Tenacious Learner · Answer

Hi dimsumexpress,

Thank you very much for your help, time, and comments.

I have a question though.

It certainly is a narrative next. But as far as I know we can use Simple Present and Present progressive to narrate a story in an informal style, even though the events are in the past. We use these two tenses to make it more vivid, more emphatic, don't we?

Best regards

TS

Dimsumexpress · Answer

Hi dimsumexpress,It certainly is a narrative next. But as far as I know we can use Simple Present and Present progressive to narrate a story in an informal style, even though the events are in the past.

There may be special situation where present tense is possible. But Authur's lunch was served and finished. It's an event in the past. If this event is to be narrated, I may be mistaken, but present tense in this case is questionable. Consider, you are describing your best friend's birthday party last week, and talking about the many presents he received. I would hesitate using present tense.

Tenacious Learner · Answer

Hi dimsumexpress,

All right. Thank you for the explanation.

I have another question then. Shouldn't this part be in past too?

If not, why not please?

Perhaps ~~this~~ that restaurant is was not a very good one because there were only a few customers inside.

Thanks

TS

Dimsumexpress · Answer

That's a good question. This is where careful tense utilization should be used with a sense good logic, or common sense.

Hi dimsumexpress, If not, why not please?Perhaps this that restaurant is was not a very good one because there were only a few customers inside.

This perception derived from the unpleasant lunch experience, so the thinking toward the restaurant can be described in present tense because the restaurant was bad then, and may be bad in general. For the second part " There were only a few customers ....". " Were " is the proper tense because this observation was made when Arthur finished lunch. I am not sure if I answered your question.

Tenacious Learner · Answer

Hi dimsumexpress,

You absolutely answer my question really well. Thank YOU for your patience and help.

Best regards

TS

Arthur at a restaurant. Quantity words.

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions