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Jdovey Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
ESL Grammar: because
Could someone kindly explain what is wrong, if anything, with these sentences?
I want to visit America because there is Yellowstone National Park.
I want to visit Italy because there is delicious food.
I want to visit Australia because I can see koalas.
I have problems understanding the function of "there" in the first two sentences. My student intended to use "there" as a pronoun (America, Italy), but to my native ear it becomes a place-holder expressing the notion of existence (There is a big stain on your blouse.). Would it be correct to have two "there"s, one indicating existence and the other as a pronoun?
I want to visit Italy because there is delicious food there.
is redundant, but grammatically correct, right?
I don't even know where to begin with the third sentence. "I can see animals" indicates the ability to see something thanks to one's senses (I can see ghosts), instead of indicating the presence of koalas in Australia.
I want to visit America because there is Yellowstone National Park.
I want to visit Italy because there is delicious food.
I want to visit Australia because I can see koalas.
I have problems understanding the function of "there" in the first two sentences. My student intended to use "there" as a pronoun (America, Italy), but to my native ear it becomes a place-holder expressing the notion of existence (There is a big stain on your blouse.). Would it be correct to have two "there"s, one indicating existence and the other as a pronoun?
I want to visit Italy because there is delicious food there.
is redundant, but grammatically correct, right?
I don't even know where to begin with the third sentence. "I can see animals" indicates the ability to see something thanks to one's senses (I can see ghosts), instead of indicating the presence of koalas in Australia.
Top answer
In my opinion they are all grammatical even though they all can be expressed in a more natural way (perhaps with "because of" instead of because and removing the there's). Each sentence might benefit from adding an extra "there" at the end of it. The existential "there" functions as a pronoun so your student was right.
- In my opinion they are all grammatical even though they all can be expressed in a more natural way (perhaps with "because of" instead of because and removing the there's).
- Each sentence might benefit from adding an extra "there" at the end of it.
- The existential "there" functions as a pronoun so your student was right.
- The "there's" at the end of the sentences would be adverbs of place.
- So I want to visit Italy because there is delicious food there.
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1 Answers
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In my opinion they are all grammatical even though they all can be expressed in a more natural way (perhaps with "because of" instead of because and removing the there's).
Each sentence might benefit from adding an extra "there" at the end of it. The existential "there" functions as a pronoun so your student was right. The "there's" at the end of the sentences would be adverbs of place
Each sentence might benefit from adding an extra "there" at the end of it. The existential "there" functions as a pronoun so your student was right. The "there's" at the end of the sentences would be adverbs of place
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