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Zazzex Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
Something Instead of "first"
Hello,
I have 2 questions.
Q1. How can we reduce this, " Everyday he contacted me first, and I did not contacted him first." ?
A. "Every time he contacted me first, and not me." maybe?
B. "Every time he contacted me first, and not I did him"
C. something else ____________________
Q2. In the above sentence, "first" does not mean "for the first time" as opposed to "the second time"; "first" rather means "precedently", "priorly", "he did before I did", or "ahead of me."
So, when I say "Everyday he contacted me first", is it clear?
Can we say the above more clearly using another word instead of "first" to mean "ahead of me"?
Thank you very much.
I have 2 questions.
Q1. How can we reduce this, " Everyday he contacted me first, and I did not contacted him first." ?
A. "Every time he contacted me first, and not me." maybe?
B. "Every time he contacted me first, and not I did him"
C. something else ____________________
Q2. In the above sentence, "first" does not mean "for the first time" as opposed to "the second time"; "first" rather means "precedently", "priorly", "he did before I did", or "ahead of me."
So, when I say "Everyday he contacted me first", is it clear?
Can we say the above more clearly using another word instead of "first" to mean "ahead of me"?
Thank you very much.
Top answer
" Every day /time he contacted me first" is potentially ambiguous. It could mean: he contacted me before he contacted anyone else he contacted me before he did some other thing he contacted me; I didn't contact him If you mean the last of these, and the context doesn't make it clear, then you need more words. " Neither of your suggested sentences is right.
- " Every day /time he contacted me first" is potentially ambiguous.
- It could mean: he contacted me before he contacted anyone else he contacted me before he did some other thing he contacted me; I didn't contact him If you mean the last of these, and the context doesn't make it clear, then you need more words.
- " Neither of your suggested sentences is right.
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1 Answers
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"Every day/time he contacted me first" is potentially ambiguous. It could mean:
he contacted me before he contacted anyone else
he contacted me before he did some other thing
he contacted me; I didn't contact him
If you mean the last of these, and the context doesn't make it clear, then you need more words. For example, you could say:
"Every day
he contacted me before he contacted anyone else
he contacted me before he did some other thing
he contacted me; I didn't contact him
If you mean the last of these, and the context doesn't make it clear, then you need more words. For example, you could say:
"Every day
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