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DialogSpeaker A: Ron's going to far! It's ridiculous.  Speaker B: Yeah, he's making wave this time.  Speaker A: I'll say! I won't make such a huge mistake as he did.Is there something wrong with this sentence? I need your help.

Nestor · Accepted Answer

PASTEL--

The sentence looks a little strange, but I believe it is correct. You could write "I won't make such a huge mistake as he made."

Nestor

PS--There are two errors in your sentences, but perhaps they're just typos. You wrote 'to' instead of 'too', and 'wave' instead of 'waves'.

Taiwandave · Answer

1. I won't make such a huge mistake as he did.

[1] is perfectly correct. Other variants:

2. I won't make so huge a mistake as he did.
3. I won't make as huge a mistake as he did.
4. I won't make so huge a mistake as his.

Miriam · Answer

Hello, Pastel

"I won't make such a huge mistake as he did."

This is a grammatically correct sentence. It is true we say "make" a mistake, not "do" a mistake. But "did" is not used as a main verb in your example; it is used as the auxiliary of the past tense. This device, by which you can use "did" (or "do") to replace a verb group, is called "substitution": you substitute the auxiliary verb for the entire verb group and sometimes for an entire clause. Substitution is one of the four means by which cohesion in a text is achieved. Its main purpose is to avoid unnecessary repetition.

Similar examples are:
1. "Meg plays the piano better than I do the guitar." ("do" replaces "play")
2. A: "Come and stay with us."
B: "If I have time, I may do." (do replaces "come and stay with you")

Miriam

PASTEL · Answer

Indeed, I'm sorry about the typos. And thanks, Nestor.

PASTEL · Answer

Hi, miriam:

Thank you very much for all elaborated description. You are truly thoughful. I know "substitution". And here as in my example,

<>
' won't ' states a future situatuon that making such a huge mistake (like his) is impossible to happen. At some same, with the completion of "the mistake being made by him", this action was done in the past. So I use 'he did' to replace 'he made a huge mistake'. I think the origional sentence should be break into two sentencial elements.

1.He made a huge mistake.
2.I won't make such a huge mistake.

I got your meaning.

I won't do the homework like the way he did.
==>'did' is not used as the main verb in this sentence, it replaces the whole action happened in the past, which is 'the way he did his homework.' It's just a coincidence here that there seems to be a link between present 'do' and past 'did'. In fact, 'did' functions as 'substitution.'

Do I get you wrong?

Taiwandave · Answer

Miriam - your comment about substitution is very interesting. It's a concept that had never occurred to me before. And now I'm curious: what are the other three means of maintaining cohesion in a text?

Miriam · Answer

Hello, Pastel

"I won't do the homework like the way he did."
This sentence can be improved. Actually, it is not completely correct. You could say, for example:
"I won't do my homework like he did (his)."
"I won't do my homework in the same way he did (his).

You said:
==>'did' is not used as the main verb in this sentence, it replaces the whole action happened in the past, which is 'the way he did his homework.' It's just a coincidence here that there seems to be a link between present 'do' and past 'did'. In fact, 'did' functions as 'substitution.'

It is true that in some cases, "did" is both the lexical verb (or main verb) and the auxuliary for the simple past tense as well.
When you use 'substitution', though, the one you're using is the auxiliary.

Suppose you had this sentence:
"I did well in the test; Mary did, too; Tom and Jim didn't."

Perhaps this sentence isn't the greatest of examples, but hopefully it will illustrate what I mean.
The verb "did" appears three times in the sentence, but only the first one (in bold type) is a lexical verb. In "Mary did well" and "Tom and John didn''t" it is an auxiliary verb. Perhaps "didn't" is easier to understand as an auxiliary, since we must use an auxiliary verb to form a negative sentence in the simple past.
If the second "did" isn't so easy to classify as one or the other, you can use a similar sentence with a different main verb -a verb other than "do"- anc compare both sentences then:

1. "I did well in the test; Mary did, too."
2. "I bought flowers this morning; Mary did, too."

Both sentences have a similar structure and, in both, the main verb has been replaced by the corresponding auxiliary in the second clause (Mary...).
"Bought" has been replaced by "did" in order to avoid repetition. A sentence such as "I bought flowers this morning and Mary bought flowers this morning" is correct from the point of view of grammar; yet it is not what you will usually say/hear. Using "substitution", you can avoid unnecessary repetition.

Now, if you compare #2 to #1, you can safely say that in #2 there is substitution too. Even when you have "did" in both clauses, only the first "did" is a main verb; the second is an auxiliary. If it were a main verb, you would have to say:
I did well in the test; Mary did well in the test too."

Let me know if this is not clear enough?

Miriam

Miriam · Answer

Dave,
M.A.K. Halliday, a "functionalist" and one of my favourite linguists, is responsible for that classification. Some parts of his theories are not very easy to grasp, but he's "readable" on the whole.

My winter holidays start on Monday -two wonderful weeks I'm looking forward to.
I'll have more time then and I'll be glad to post more about cohesion. Would you mind waiting a few days?

Regards,

Miriam

PASTEL · Answer

Dear mirium:

Thank you so much for offering such elaborated details. I think Dave is right, you should take serious consideration in writing an advanced grammar book for ESL learners or English teachers. The grammar books in the market now usually present their readers simpel rules and guidelines or drills and paterns. It is easier to grasp the whole picture of English grammar. In my opinion, those grammar books have very limited interaction so that learners might leave a lot of puzzles after you have swallowed the rules. I am glad that I finally find you! You are very [Y]

I now understand the 'lexical verb' and 'auxiliary' perfect.

Let me try now.
1. I washed my clothes yesterday and so did Tim.
2. He does his homewok and I do, too.

3-a. I have never been to New York and he has neither.
3-b. I have never been to New York and neither has he.
3-c. I have never been to New York and he hasn't, either.
3-d. I have never been to New York and either hasn't he.

How about 3 and its variants. I look forward to your answer.

Taiwandave · Answer

Miriam - I'll be looking forward to reading more about cohesion when you have time.

Pastel:
3-a. I have never been to New York and he has neither. (wrong)
3-b. I have never been to New York and neither has he. (correct)
3-c. I have never been to New York and he hasn't, either. (correct)
3-d. I have never been to New York and either hasn't he. (wrong)

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