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Usenet Posted 22 years ago
Usage
Subject/Verb Proximity
I've been going over some sample questions related to to TEFL and although I can identify most of the errors intuitively I'm struggling to come up with actual rules that the various examples violate. For two brief examples:
In the sentence:
I every evening watch television
Surely this sentence is clumsy and should be written as "Every evening I watch television" but is there some hard rule that necessitates subjects come directly next to their corresponding verbs? or is it something to do with the interpolated "every evening"?
Also, even more simply:
in the sentence:
She work for big company
Ok, the first error is that the person hasn't conjugated the third person singular of "work" properly as "works" and there's an "a" or a "the" missing, but does this second mistake violate anything that could be called a rule? I apologize for my obtuseness...
-d
*as per usual, I'm reading via google and would appreciate any responses, no matter how insignificant, to be sent to either d (Email Removed) or (Email Removed)*
In the sentence:
I every evening watch television
Surely this sentence is clumsy and should be written as "Every evening I watch television" but is there some hard rule that necessitates subjects come directly next to their corresponding verbs? or is it something to do with the interpolated "every evening"?
Also, even more simply:
in the sentence:
She work for big company
Ok, the first error is that the person hasn't conjugated the third person singular of "work" properly as "works" and there's an "a" or a "the" missing, but does this second mistake violate anything that could be called a rule? I apologize for my obtuseness...
-d
*as per usual, I'm reading via google and would appreciate any responses, no matter how insignificant, to be sent to either d (Email Removed) or (Email Removed)*
Top answer
Or, 'I watch television every evening". [nq:1]but is there some hard rule that necessitates subjects come directly next to their corresponding verbs? [/nq] No, there is no such rule.
- Or, 'I watch television every evening".
- [nq:1]but is there some hard rule that necessitates subjects come directly next to their corresponding verbs?
- [/nq] No, there is no such rule.
- It's a matter of idiomaticity.
- It would be perfectly normal to use the adverbs frequency without a specific time or day between subject and verb, as in "I usually watch television every evening" or "I never watch television while I eat" etc.
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2 Answers
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Or, 'I watch television every evening".
[nq:1]but is there some hard rule that necessitates subjects come directly next to their corresponding verbs? or is it something to do with the interpolated "every evening"?[/nq]
No, there is no such rule. It's a matter of idiomaticity. It would be perfectly normal to use the adverbs frequency without a specific time or day between subject and verb,
[nq:1]but is there some hard rule that necessitates subjects come directly next to their corresponding verbs? or is it something to do with the interpolated "every evening"?[/nq]
No, there is no such rule. It's a matter of idiomaticity. It would be perfectly normal to use the adverbs frequency without a specific time or day between subject and verb,
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[nq:1]Franke: Using my mother's AOL account for a few days while in the USA.[/nq]
Did you get my email? Just checking.
Dena Jo
Delete "delete.this.for.email" for email.
Did you get my email? Just checking.
Dena Jo
Delete "delete.this.for.email" for email.
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