0
Bob2010 Posted 16 years ago
The following is my idea about English ordering. Can you correct for me if I’m wrong? Thank you!
When did he tell you the secret?
The answer could be:
1 He wrote to me yesterday.
2 Yesterday he wrote to me.
To answer, I’ll choose the first sentence. I think sentence #1 is better than sentence #2. Because
a. ‘yesterday’ should be in the end because the most important element usually appears in the end of a sentence.
b. The reason why I think ‘yesterday’ is important than ‘wrote to me’ is that :
Although ‘wrote to me’ and ‘yesterday’ are both new information, ‘wrote to me’ is secondary to, or less important than ‘yesterday’ in terms of importance. Because the question is to ask the time a particular thing happened instead of asking what happened. At same time, ‘wrote to me’ is actually semi-old and semi-new information for that it implies that he told me the secret.
c. I’ll choose sentence #2 as the better answer if the question is ‘What did he do?’ instead of ‘When did he tell you the secret? For the same token, in this case, ‘yesterday’ is secondary to, or less important than ‘wrote to me’ because the question is to ask what happened, which is the focus.
Grammar
my idea about English ordering
The following is my idea about English ordering. Can you correct for me if I’m wrong? Thank you!
When did he tell you the secret?
The answer could be:
1 He wrote to me yesterday.
2 Yesterday he wrote to me.
To answer, I’ll choose the first sentence. I think sentence #1 is better than sentence #2. Because
a. ‘yesterday’ should be in the end because the most important element usually appears in the end of a sentence.
b. The reason why I think ‘yesterday’ is important than ‘wrote to me’ is that :
Although ‘wrote to me’ and ‘yesterday’ are both new information, ‘wrote to me’ is secondary to, or less important than ‘yesterday’ in terms of importance. Because the question is to ask the time a particular thing happened instead of asking what happened. At same time, ‘wrote to me’ is actually semi-old and semi-new information for that it implies that he told me the secret.
c. I’ll choose sentence #2 as the better answer if the question is ‘What did he do?’ instead of ‘When did he tell you the secret? For the same token, in this case, ‘yesterday’ is secondary to, or less important than ‘wrote to me’ because the question is to ask what happened, which is the focus.
Top answer
Excellent, Bob! ' .
- Excellent, Bob!
- ' .
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
2 Answers
0
Excellent, Bob! I will only add that, in c, the question for #2 would better be ‘What did he do yesterday?'.
00
Related Questions