Could you please help with hard sentences?

Question

Could you please help me correct these sentences?

- You can't be in a hurry if you live here. People take all their time in this house. (is this natural, if someone who take all their time tells someone who just arrived somewhere and who is hyperactive)

- The minimum you can pay with a debit card is 15 dollars. (how would a cashier say this to a customer?)

- It's 70 percent off everything at this store./All items are (at) 70 percent off.

- I can feel some kind of pressure on/in my temple. (My head hurts)

- I know her as if I had given birth to her.

- We were so close/We came so close to losing.

- This cat is more of a dog than any cat I know. It wants to be pet and sit on your lap. (make sense, how would you say this?)

- He's twice as old as me.

- I love waking up to a ray of light in my face. (sounds off?)

- I can tell who's rich and who isn't by looking at...

- It's easy to criticize people when you don't even put yourself out there to be criticized. (when would one say this, make any sense?)

Thank you so much

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

1. This sentence is okay. What this means is that everyone who lives in the house is the really laid back type, for example, surfers, artists, musicians. Someone like a stockbroker would not fit in in this house. However, if a stockbroker were to be invited to live there, this is the first thing he would be told by one of the current residents.

2. This sentence is okay. A cashier might say this to a customer who is trying to buy $10 worth of items with a debit card.

3. This sentence is okay. A cashier might say this to a customer who asks if there is a sale going on.

4. This sentence is okay. Either "on" or "in" can be used.

5. This sentence is okay. Either "We were so close" or "We came so close" can be used.

6. This is grammatically correct, but it doesn't really seem to make sense, because cats like to be petted and to sit on your lap, so this cat is acting like, a cat. You'd probably say something like: "This cat is more like a dog than any cat I know. It likes to heel and shake hands.

7. This sentence is okay.

8. This is grammatically correct, but strange-sounding. The phrase "ray of light in my face" is very technical-sounding and has an ominous edge to it, and is better suited to scientific situations or science fiction stories. You'd probably say something like: "I love waking up to a ray of sunshine on my face coming from a gap in the curtains."

9. This sentence is okay. But what follows "...by looking at..." has to make sense.

10. This is grammatically correct, but awkward-sounding. The phrase, "It's easy to criticize people when you....", is very common in English, but what follows it is not what you wrote. No one really goes out of his way to put himself out in the open to be criticized, so your sentence sounds awkward.

Anonymous · Answer

4a.  (I missed this one.)  The sentence, "I know her as if I had given birth to her.", is grammatically correct but very awkward-sounding.  A woman would not say this of a girl who wasn't her daughter.  You'd probably say something like:  "I know her like she was my own daughter."

Alc24 · Answer

Thank you Anon,

for "twice as old'

Thats natural? or would you say "she's twice my age"

Thank you

Alc24 · Answer

Thank you Anon,

for "twice as old'

Thats natural? or would you say "she's twice my age"

Thank you

Free_spirit · Answer

- You can't be in a hurry if you live here. People just take their time in this house. (is this natural, if someone who take all their time tells someone who just arrived somewhere and who is hyperactive) [If you say "take all their time" it sounds more like they spend all their time in the house. "take your time" is basically to say slow down, or do it whenever you feel like it - no pressure.]

- The minimum purchase with a debit card is 15 dollars. (how would a cashier say this to a customer?) [it's ok, but also something like, "Sorry, you've got to buy something worth at least 15 dollars to use your card." or "Sorry, the minimum purchase is 15 dollars for debit cards." - these might be more 'ambiguous', but I think they sound more natural]

- It's 70 percent off everything in this store.

- I can feel some kind of pressure around my temple. (My head hurts)

- I know her as if I had given birth to her. [ok. I disagree that a native speaker wouldn't use this. Native speakers say many very strange things. It may be more common to say, "I know her as if she was my own daughter", but it doesn't make it more 'natural' than what you wrote]

- We were so close/We came so close to losing. [both ok]

- This cat is more like a dog than any other cat I know. It wants to be petted and sit on your lap. (make sense, how would you say this?)

- He's twice as old as me. [ok, or "twice my age" or "I'm half his age"]

- I love waking up with rays of light on my face. (sounds off?)

- I can tell who's rich and who isn't by looking at... [ok]

- It's easy to criticize people when you don't even put yourself out there to be criticized. (when would one say this, make any sense?) [ok - so someone who criticizes others, but never does anything to risk being criticized themselves]

Could you please help with hard sentences?

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