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Taka Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

make sense?

This is a sentence written by a student of mine:
·Country life makes you walk.
I think what she's trying to say is something like 'If you live in the country, you have to walk (because there is not much public transportation).' Does her sentence sound natural and really make such sense?
  

Top answer

Taka Country life makes you walk. This isn't something I would expect to hear or say. I agree with your interpretation of the intended meaning.

— RayH

  • Taka Country life makes you walk.
  • This isn't something I would expect to hear or say.
  • I agree with your interpretation of the intended meaning.
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7 Answers
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TakaCountry life makes you walk.
This isn't something I would expect to hear or say. I agree with your interpretation of the intended meaning.
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A country boy would know what she means. The city folk might need a little more explanation. It would make an excellent topic sentence for a paragraph. It arouses your curiosity.
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AvangiA country boy would know what she means.  The city folk might need a little more explanation.  It would make an excellent topic sentence for a paragraph.  It arouses your curiosity.

You mean it's perfectly OK as English?
Ray seems to have a different opinion... 
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TakaYou mean it's perfectly OK as English?
It sounds fine to me. (I live in the country and it certainly makes me walk.)
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Well, it's understandable, but I think it's poor style:
Country life: quite general
makes you walk: very specific
Such contrasts/jumps are avoided by good writers.
These are good examples:
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http://books.google.com/boo
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Marius Hancu Such contrasts/jumps are avoided by good writers.
I feel I understand Marius' objection, but I think this points up the weakness of evaluating short sentences out of context - something we unfortunately can't avoid.

If there were a series of paragraphs about country life (eg. in an essay) and each one addressed a different aspect, t
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So it seems that it's OK as English. I see.
Thank you all! 
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