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Mr. Tom Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

The meeting had just started when I ...

Hi

Do you find the following sentences natural, especially the yellow parts? Any suggestion is welcome.

The meeting had just started when I discovered a very bad headache, mixed with nausia.

The meeting had just started when I developed a very bad headache, mixed with nausia.

Thanks,

Tom
  

Top answer

"discovered" is not right. "developed" is OK, but the time references in your sentence make it sound as if the headache developed more or less at once -- perhaps more rapidly than a very bad headache normally would. " The correct spelling is nausea .

  • "discovered" is not right.
  • "developed" is OK, but the time references in your sentence make it sound as if the headache developed more or less at once -- perhaps more rapidly than a very bad headache normally would.
  • " The correct spelling is nausea .
  • "
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15 Answers
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"discovered" is not right.

"developed" is OK, but the time references in your sentence make it sound as if the headache developed more or less at once -- perhaps more rapidly than a very bad headache normally would. You could alternatively say "The meeting had just started when I began to develop..."

The correct spelling is nausea. "mixed with nausea" is possible, or you
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I'd say developed (or began to develop, as suggested above).

nausea

I wouldn't use a comma.

CJ
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Mr. Tom
The meeting had just started when I discovered/ a very bad headache, mixed with nausia.


It doesn't sound natural at all. Contexts with movies, meeting, and events, the voices needs to be passive as a meeting can not start by itself. Perhaps you want to say:

The meeting had just [been] started when I [beg
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dimsumexpress a meeting can not start by itself
Nevertheless, "The meeting had just started" is fine.
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Mr Wordy"The meeting had just started" is fine.
Ergative usage, like The glass broke, right?

CJ
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Ergative usage has been discussed ardently, I can recall. Emotion: smile But I can't find it because "more search option" dialogue is futzing arou
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Isn't it true that only certain verbs can be used ergatively (within certain specific contexts).

Example: A: what smells so good!

B: I am cooking a turkey in the oven (nominative case).

My curiosity is: is this syntactically equivalent to "a turkey is cooking in the oven"? This certainly paints a rather comical picture, doesn't it?
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a turkey is cooking in the oven.
Hi DimExpress,

Your sentence reminds of this thread.

http://www.english-test.net/forum/ftopic25304.html

Tom
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dimsumexpress
My curiosity is: is this syntactically equivalent to "a turkey is cooking in the oven"? This certainly paints a rather comical picture, doesn't it?
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Fandorin"more search option" dialogue is futzing around.
It likes to futz! Emotion: smile

CJ

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