One day in the farm

Question

I know it's a childish story but I just wrote it to practise some new words I learnt. So, if you could PLEASE check this short and easy going composition I would be really thankfull.

One day in the farm

Last sunday I went to my uncle's farm. It was fun.
I finally got to see some animals I haven't seen in a while: Oxen (pl. of ox), cows, calves (pl. of calf - young cow) chickens, geese (pl. of goose), several species of fish (pl. of fish), sheep (pl. of sheep) and deer (pl. of deer).

For lunch, we had pork, fish, beef, potatoe salad with onions and tomatoes, two big loaves of bread. They didn't have enough cutlery so my brother and I had to take some more knives and forks ourselves in the attic. Wow, aunt Rose really loves chinaware, she has a box full of chinaware, they are all great and I bet they are really expensive. She keeps part of these items in the attic and part of them in the basement: forks, knives, jugs, plates, silverware, tableclothes, mugs, coffeepots and there's even a candlestick!
For deserve, we had mangoes. It was all delicious.

During the afternoon, we swam on the river, played soccer and slept into the cabin. It was all dark inside it, there was just a sheaf of light passing through a hole in the wall. It's great to be near nature. At the end of the afternoon we came back to the city. I can't wait to go there again.

Waïti · Accepted Answer

It certainly isn't childish practicing non-regular plurals and I enjoyed playing the game as well. (I didn't know there was a word for 'male cow' so thanks for teaching me that one).
At the end of the second paragraph, I suspect you meant to say 'dessert' instead of 'deserve'... Even though you may have deserved to get some dessert.
That's all I was able to spot but I'm not a native speaker...
Take care !

Ssebukulu · Answer

hello freind thanks for that nice english i havent got any mistake in your sentance

construction so keep it up please note this that the more you practice the more you learn

have anice day

am called paul

Email Removed

Nona the brit · Answer

Hi, this was really a good little essay and a clever way to practise these words, but I've picked up a few teeny errors for you...

One day on the farm

Last sunday I went to my uncle's farm. It was fun.
I finally got to see some animals I haven't seen in a while: Oxen (pl. of ox), cows, calves (pl. of calf - young cow) chickens, geese (pl. of goose), several species of fish (pl. of fish), sheep (pl. of sheep) and deer (pl. of deer). (Bull is the more usual word for a male cow, oxen are castrated bulls used as draught animals, common in parts of the world and unknown in others. Bulls have everything they need to get friendly with the cows and make some calves).

For lunch, we had pork, fish, beef, potato salad with onions and tomatoes and two big loaves of bread. They didn't have enough cutlery so my brother and I had to take some more knives and forks ourselves from the attic. Wow, aunt Rose really loves chinaware, she has a box full of chinaware, they are all great and I bet they are really expensive. She keeps some of these items in the attic and some of them in the basement: forks, knives, jugs, plates, silverware, tablecloths, mugs, coffeepots and there's even a candlestick!
For dessert, we had mangoes. It was all delicious.

During the afternoon, we swam in the river, played soccer and slept in the cabin. It was all dark inside with just a sheaf of light passing through a hole in the wall. It's great to be near nature. At the end of the afternoon we came back to the city. I can't wait to go there again.

Lulla · Answer

Hello Nona,

Thanks for checking my composition. This "part of ... part of" is wrong or is it just "unusual"?

Thanks once again.

Enrico Wiki C · Answer

"I finally got to see some animals I haven't seen in a while: ..several species of fish (pl. of fish)"

[:^)] I am not really sure, but I think it should be "fishes", as you refer to many species of live fish.

According to Wikipedia, "Fish: the plural for one species of fish, or caught fish, is fish, but for live fish of many species, or in poetic usage, fishes is used."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_plural#fn_d

Waïti · Answer

Also, Nona, when you have some time could you explain us why 'a day ON the farm' is your preferred suggestion as opposed to 'a day AT the farm' ?
The latter would have been my favorite alternative.
And thxs again for your contribution to improving our english.

Nona the brit · Answer

Hi,

I'll try my best to explain why I made the choices I did. I hope this makes sense.

Some/Part

Wow, aunt Rose really loves chinaware, she has a box full of chinaware, they are all great and I bet they are really expensive. She keeps some of these items in the attic and some of them in the basement: forks, knives, jugs, plates, silverware, tablecloths, mugs, coffeepots and there's even a candlestick!

The difference between some and part is a bit hard to explain as the definitions are similar.

Part of = a fraction of

Some of = a number of, a few of, several

Part of means a fraction of the whole. So if it was all one big matching set of chinaware for example, I might use part of - a fraction of the whole set. However it was quite a mix of items and it doesn't sound like a single cohesive set, so I chose some of = a few of. You can't just add up a whole collection of random stuff to count as the whole, and some things cannot really be divided into fractions. It suggests a physical splitting up - not necessarily a damaging one - of a whole 'object'.

Part of Aunt Rose's piano was stored in the attic and part was stored in the basement.

Some of Aunt Rose's grandchildren were in the attic and some were in the basement. (Children not being divisible into parts. If parts of Aunt Rose's grandchildren were in the attic and parts were in the basement, someone had better call the police!)

On the other hand the whole object can be quite large as long as it sounds like a cohesive whole i.e you could use either 'Part of the shop's stock was upstairs and part downstairs' or 'Some of the shop's stock was upstairs and some downstairs'.

If I had written the first essay I probably would have said half were in the attic and half were in the basement.

At/On the farm

At would have been an acceptable alternative as well. Some places are better described as 'at' - we are at the hospital, at school, at the theatre. Some places can be described as on but this is rarer I believe - on the farm, on the factory floor, on the sea-bed and the connection seems to be related to a sense of large space - or am I imagining this? I guess floor and sea bed are things you would stand on. Perhaps 'on' just collocates with farm as it is the usual phrase. Down on the farm is a common way of putting it too but I don't know why 'down', it is just a set phrase.

Waïti · Answer

Yes your explanations have me convinced and they totally make sense. Thanks for taking the time to put this together.
Encore mercy buckets.
Waïti.

Lulla · Answer

Thanks once more Nona.

I got perfectly your points on AT/ON. I believe I could've said "At the farm" if it was something better described like "I call my uncle and say: I had a nice trip, I'm at the farm already", in this sentense he knows what farm I'm talking about. Right?

Nona the brit · Answer

Yes that makes sense Lulla.

One day in the farm

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