0
Riglos Posted 21 years ago
Grammar
How would you ask this question?
Hi people!
This may seem a silly question, but I've been thinking over it for some time:
If, in the following sentence I wanted to have "London" as an answer, what question should I ask?
London is a nice place.
Is "What is a nice place?" an acceptable question here? I don't know why, but it sounds strange to my ear.
Thanks!
Mara.
This may seem a silly question, but I've been thinking over it for some time:
If, in the following sentence I wanted to have "London" as an answer, what question should I ask?
London is a nice place.
Is "What is a nice place?" an acceptable question here? I don't know why, but it sounds strange to my ear.
Thanks!
Mara.
Top answer
Perhaps: What is London like? Sextus
- Perhaps: What is London like?
- Sextus
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
20 Answers
0
0
Hi,
If, in the following sentence I wanted to have "London" as an answer, what question should I ask?
London is a nice place.
I take it that your underlining means that you want London to be the stressed information in the answer. If so, you need to begin w
If, in the following sentence I wanted to have "London" as an answer, what question should I ask?
London is a nice place.
I take it that your underlining means that you want London to be the stressed information in the answer. If so, you need to begin w
00
Hi Sextus! Thanks for the answer but your question would receive such answers like: "It's nice", "It's a nice place" "It's a place comfortable to live in". You're asking a different thing: "What's it like?" and what I want to find is a question of the kind: "What is it that is a nice place?", "What is a nice place?", "Which place is nice?", "Which place is a nice place?", "Which is a nice p
00
How about...
Can you think of any nice European places? Can you think of any cool European city?
Can you think of any nice European places? Can you think of any cool European city?
00
Sorry Clive! We were both writing at the same time and I hadn't read your answer until I posted.
Well, in fact, I don't want London to be the stressed information in the answer, if by "stressed" you mean "emphasized". I just underlined it for the sake of clarity, but I think I've made matters worse. Sorry about that! I just want London to be the simple (unstressed, not emphasized) answer
Well, in fact, I don't want London to be the stressed information in the answer, if by "stressed" you mean "emphasized". I just underlined it for the sake of clarity, but I think I've made matters worse. Sorry about that! I just want London to be the simple (unstressed, not emphasized) answer
00
Maybe:
MrP
"Where do you think would be a nice place to go to?"
"London!"
00
Thanks MrP! I really like your version! But what if we should form the question restricting ourselves to the words used in the answer, or just adding the least words possible?
Thanks a lot!
Mara.
BTW, I'm not in favour of this kind of "restrictive" exercises and, personally, I choose not to give them to my students.
Thanks a lot!
Mara.
BTW, I'm not in favour of this kind of "restrictive" exercises and, personally, I choose not to give them to my students.
00
Hi again, Mara,
These kind of exercises become an interesting little puzzle if you try to frame a question that forces, rather than allows, the words specified in the answer. If the question is just about nice places in Europe, I can always answer 'Paris'.
Do you want the actual answer to be 'London is a nice place' or simply the one word 'London'. Or perhaps you're not really a
These kind of exercises become an interesting little puzzle if you try to frame a question that forces, rather than allows, the words specified in the answer. If the question is just about nice places in Europe, I can always answer 'Paris'.
Do you want the actual answer to be 'London is a nice place' or simply the one word 'London'. Or perhaps you're not really a
00
0
Oh yes, Clive! I was asking this based on that very approach! And I simply want the one word "London" to be the answer to my question.
Thanks a lot!
Mara.
Thanks a lot!
Mara.
0
Related Questions