man made canal

Question

0By Saturday night, about 135,500 cubic meters of mud and rocks had been removed from the lake, and the plan to use explosives to blow away the blockage was abandoned because of the channel's completion, Xinhua cited Liu as saying.02br02br00According to the plan, the lake -- which has been rising about 1.6 meters daily and was seven meters from the top of its naturally-formed dam -- 01b00would02b00 spill into its 01b00man-made02b00 canal between now and Thursday. 02br02br01a05000 02a02br02br00Definition02br02br01b00canal02b00 ( ) n. An 01i01b00artificial02b02i00 waterway or artificially improved river used for travel, shipping, or irrigation.02br02br001. Is man-made redundant?02br02br002. Is 'would' an error?Shouldn't it be will? If not, what is the meaning of 'would' here?02br02br00Thanks!0230hrefhttp://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/31/china.earthquake/index.html

Marius Hancu · Accepted Answer

0Use some proper dictionary, will you, please? 02br
00Read all the definitions here:02br
0500240hrefhttp://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/canal

Marius Hancu · Answer

0Would: SPEND some time to01b00 really understand02b00 this (esp. the postings by CalifJim) 02br
01b00Using "would" to make questions02b05102br
0500260hrefhttp://www.EnglishForward.com/English/UsingWouldToMakeQuestions/zxvwl/post.htm01c

New2grammar · Answer

0an artificial waterway for navigation or for draining or irrigating land 02br
02br
00Even one of your dictionary entries agrees with mine. In fact, the famous Panama canal is man made as far as I know.0-

Marius Hancu · Answer

0 You seem only to post, instead of reading carefully and understanding. Look there at the link I gave you:02br
00 -----------02br
01b00canal02b02br
00200 01b00:02b00 05000, 01b05102b02br
00-------- 02br
00watercourse02br
02br
00 00100 01b00:02b00 a 01b00natural 02b00or artificial channel through which 05200 flows00 00 00200 01b00:02b00 a stream of 05300 (as a river, brook, or underground stream)00 0240hrefhttp://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/channelcchannel241hrefhttp://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/watercoursecwatercourse242hrefhttp://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/watercwater243cwater

New2grammar · Answer

0As I understand, some synonyms provided by the dictionary aren't exactly identical even though they are the first level synonyms, meaning the similar meaning words listed for a particular entry. If you look up the synonyms of the synonym, the meaning is slowly drifting from the original and in the end, you may get a word which is not really a synonym through they are still somewhat related. This has happened so many times to me which is why I need some confirmation from experts.02br
02br
00If you think canal doesn't mean artificial waterway, I'll take your word for it as you're an expert. As I said, the dictionary only gives similar words and sometimes, quite different and it doesn't know the context I'm reading.0-

New2grammar · Answer

1i00would02i00 doesn't mean 01u00possible02u00 in the same way that 01i00may02i00 and 01i00might02i00 do. 01i00would02i00 is actually more definite, more certain, than 01i00may02i00 or 01i00might02i00, because if you say something 01i00may be true02i00, it means 01i00maybe it's true, and maybe it's 01u00not02u00 true02i00. 01i00would02i00 doesn't work that way. 01i00would02i00 is probably the most difficult word in English to explain!02br
02br
01i00You wouldn't know him02i00. (~ My guess is that you probably don't know him. ~ I strongly doubt that you know him. ~ There is nothing that leads me to think that you know him.) 02br
02br
01i00A flight to Mars would take more than a year.02i00 (In an imaginary world where flights to Mars are ordinary events, a flight to Mars takes more than a year.) [This is a different usage from the usage in the first sentence.]02br
02br
01i00The weight of insects ... would be greater than the weight of ....02i00 (In an imaginary world where we are able to make such measurements, the weight of insects ... is greater than the weight of ....) [Same usage as in the second sentence.]02br
02br
01i00He would have reached New York.02i00 (In an imaginary world where certain conditions were met, he reached New York.)02br
02br
01i00I thought you would have finished this by now.02i00 (In an imaginary world - the imaginary world created by my thoughts - you have already finished this.)02br
02br
00My paraphrases are only approximate. There is no real definition of 01i00would02i00. You just need to hear it and imitate it a lot before you start to understand how to use it. A clause with 01i00would 02i00is most often accompanied by an 01i00if 02i00clause that reveals more about the imaginary world we are in by expressing a condition.02br
02br
00MH, thanks for the link. I have no problem feeling and understanding CJ's examples except for the first one which I need more time to pick up. As a learner, in some contexts, the right meaning of would is very clear but in some contexts, I can't tell which of the meanings is used. That's when I need some guidance and slowly I'll be able to strenghten my knowledge of would. This is one of the contexts I can't tell. My best guess is it carries the imaginary meaning but why? They have completed the canal, and when the water level rises to the level of the canal, it WILL spill over. That's what confuses me. Hope my confusion is clear to you. Thanks in advance.0-

Marius Hancu · Answer

0 CJ is telling you that in his answer in another thread, but you don't read carefully: 02br
02br
00As past of will: 01i00Anything else 01u00will02u00 induce the pain02i00 01b00in the past becomes02b00 01i00Anything else 01u00would02u00 induce the pain02i02br
02br
01b00You should not use 01i00shall/will02i00 in a past context. Replace them by 01i00should/would. 02i00 02b02br
01b00Buy Swan, Practical English Usage and read it. 02b0-

Marius Hancu · Answer

0 Would: Indicates something 01b00typical 02b00or 01b00repetitive02b00 in the past02br
02br
00------------ 02br
02br
00 # Indicating an action in the past that happened repeatedly or commonly.02br
02br
00 In the winters, we would sit by the hole on the frozen lake and fish02br
00 for hours.02br
02br
05002br
02br
00--------- 0230hrefhttp://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/would

Clive · Answer

0Hi,02br
02br
01font00According to the plan, the lake -- which has been rising about 1.6 meters daily and was seven meters from the top of its naturally-formed dam -- 01b00would02b00 spill into its 01b00man-made02b00 canal between now and Thursday. 02font02br
02br
01font00Definition02font02br
02br
01font01b00canal02b00 ( ) n. An 01i01b00artificial02b02i00 waterway or artificially improved river used for travel, shipping, or irrigation.02font02br
02br
01font001. Is man-made redundant? 02font00Yes.02br
02br
00The word 'its' also seems a bit awkward to me. A canal does not belong to a lake.02br
02br
00Best wishes, Clive0-

Marius Hancu · Answer

0"Man-made canal" is a well-established expression. I doubt that the editor and authors of these books don't know what they're talking about: 02br
01b0060802b00 on 01b00"man-made canal"02b02br
0500240hrefhttp://books.google.com/books?q=%22man-made+canal%22&btnG=Search+Books

man made canal

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