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Cool Breeze Posted 18 years ago
Linguistics Studies

Differences between English and your native language

0 There are thousands of languages. It would be interesting to see examples of differences between English and your native language. I don't mean you should provide a complete list of them in one post, just some examples at a time. Your examples may be about vocabulary, morphology, grammar, syntax or anything really.02br
00I'll begin by giving a couple of examples of how verbose English sometimes is compared with Finnish:02br
00Hän 01font00maalasi02font00 talonsa. = He painted his house. 02br
00Hän 01font00maalautti 02font00talonsa. = He had his house painted. 02br
00Hän 01font00maalautteli 02font00taloaan. = He had his house painted frequently. (Finnish: 3 words, English: 6 words)02br
02br
00There is a verb for 01i00to paint02i00: 01i01font00maalata02font00; 02i02br
01i00to have [something] painted: 01font00maalauttaa02font02i02br
02br
00and 01i00to have [something] painted frequently: 01font00maalautella02font02i02br
00and all of these behave grammatically like any other verb. In English one can manage with just one verb, 01i00to paint02i00 in all these situations.02br
00The same is true about 01i00to fix, to have [something] fixed02i00 and 01i00to have [something] fixed frequently02i00 and so on. 02br
02br
00Cheers02br
00CB 0-
  

Top answer

0 Hi CB,02br 00I wouldn't know where to start! English grammar is pretty different from Italian grammar. However, there are a lot of similar words (one example: government - governo), and several similar structures and idioms.

— Kooyeen

  • 0 Hi CB,02br 00I wouldn't know where to start!
  • English grammar is pretty different from Italian grammar.
  • However, there are a lot of similar words (one example: government - governo), and several similar structures and idioms.
  • 02br 02br 00One example is prepositions: on the net, on a pc, in a movie, in a dictionary, in a newspaper...
  • ), and no one would notice (I hope so, lol).
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25 Answers
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0 Hi CB,02br
00I wouldn't know where to start! English grammar is pretty different from Italian grammar. However, there are a lot of similar words (one example: government - governo), and several similar structures and idioms. The problem is that there are also several false friends, and lots of features that are very confusing because they wouldn't make sense in Italian.02br
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0There are no articles in Finnish (a, an, the). However, it is possible to use a word that corresponds to the English indefinite and definite articles in meaning. Sometimes the difference manifests itself in the form of the 01font00noun02font00. Here is an example:02br
01i00I bought books. = Ostin 01font0
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0I speak American English, and, in contrast to "English", I never use the words 01i00shall, may, ought, 02i00or01i00 whom02i00. 05002br
00CJ 010id1
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0 01blockquote
01cite10CalifJim12cite10I speak American English, and, in contrast to "English", I never use the words 11i10shall, may, ought, 12i10or11i10 whom12i10. 15012blockquote
10Jim, I understand what you mean, of course, but if you had been Elvis Presley, you would have had to
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Cool Breeze12cite10if you had been Elvis Presley12blockquote
10 Big IF! The challenge is to find, somewhere within the Elvis corpus, 01i00whom02i00. 05002br
00CJ 010id1
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0Hi guys,02br
02br
00Well, 01i00Lisa Marie02i00 Presley's 1st CD was called 01i00' To Whom It May Concern' . 02i02br
02br
00The word 'whom' also figures several times in Elvis's will. 02br
02br
00Clive0-
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0Lisa Marie doesn't count as Elvis. (And anyway, the phrase 01i00to whom it may concern02i00 is a quote of a dead expression.) 02br
00The will doesn't count either. It was written by lawyers. 02br
00Anything in the lyrics of songs that Elvis himself ever sang?02br
00CJ 0-
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1i00You ain't nothing but a whom dog02i0-
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0 01blockquote
01cite10CalifJim12cite10Anything in the lyrics of songs that Elvis himself ever 11i11b10sang12b12i10?12blockquote
11i00 To the cross of Calvary02br
00 Mm, let it be my prayer, dear Lord, each day02br
00 To help me do the best I can02br
00
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Tanit12cite11i12br
10 For there is no friend on 11b10whom 12b10I can depend12br
12i12br
10(Oh, I know he didn't write it, but he 11i11b10sang 12b12i10it, didn't he? 15010)12blockquote
10No, he didn't
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