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"I can't wait until my ankle heals, so I would be able to run.""IF a tornado hits our home, it would be devastated."And explain to me why the expression:Look who's talkingWhy it is not looks?

BarbaraPA · Accepted Answer

Anonymous"I can't wait until my ankle heals, so I ~~would be able to~~ can run."
or "I can't wait for my ankle to heal..."

"IF a tornado hits our home, it would be devastated." Grammatically okay, but I don't think I've seen devastated used that way. Usually the person is devastated at their loss; the house is destroyed.
And explain to me why the expression:

Look who's talking.Depending on the context, it can mean "The thing you are complaining about is something you do yourself." (The person who is always interrupting you says "I hate it when people interrupt others." You say "Look who's talking" to point out that he does it himself.)
Why it is not looks? This isn't grammatical. Where did you see it?

AliceW31 · Answer

For the expression, "look who's talking", there is a missing subject 'you' before 'look'. Therefore, since the subject is 'you', the verb is look (I look, he looks, you look) and not 'you looks'.

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BarbaraPA · Answer

Oh, thank you Alice! That was part of the question. I thought there were two expressions being asked about!

Anonymous · Answer

So if theres a verb after a singular noun, it will always have an s?

like hits and heals?

and thank you very much for that explanation, it really helped

Anonymous · Answer

Like

"Tell him to call me when he gets back"

is this proper?

Yankee · Answer

AnonymousSo if there's a verb after a singular noun, it will always have an s?

like hits and heals?

In affirmative sentences, you add an -s (or sometimes -es) to the end of a verb in the third person singular (he/she/it) in the simple present. For the verb "have", use "has", and for the verb "be", use "is".

- John works at a supermarket.
- My sister watches TV every evening.
- If it rains tomorrow, we will postpone our picnic.
- This shirt has a stain on it.
- The cake is delicious.

If the sentence is negative or interrogative, then you need to use "does" and the base form of the verb:

- John does not work on weekends.
- Does she watch TV every evening?
- If it does not rain tomorrow, we will go on a picnic.
- This shirt does not fit me anymore.

The verb "be" does not use do/does to form negative or interrogative sentences.

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Your first two sentences are IF-sentences, and I would suggest rewording them this way:

"I can't wait until my ankle heals, so I will be able to run." / "I can't wait until my ankle heals, so I can run."

Type 1 IF-sentence: "IF a tornado hits our home, it will be destroyed."
Type 2 IF-sentence: "IF a tornado hit our home, it would be destroyed."

Yankee · Answer

Anonymous"Tell him to call me when he gets back"

is this proper?

Yes, the simple present form of the verb is correct in the time clause "when he gets back". The simple present form of the verb refers to the future in this case. The same is true in the IF clause of a Type 1 conditional sentence. And the word "until" also introduces a time clause.

However, a time clause can refer to the past or the future. It depends on what you want to say, and you need to get all of the parts of the sentence right.

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