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Teleostomi Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

Word order question

http://www.celt.stir.ac.uk/call99/William/Rules.htm

Please take a look at 8. Word order with who, which and what in the link.
John asked what the matter was. (what + the matter + was)
John asked what was the matter. (what + was + the matter)
Would you give me a follow-up explanation of why both of the two sentences are OK?
Would you give me a follow-up explanation of why are both of the two sentences OK?
  

Top answer

Quirk et al call your second sentence Irish English and dialectical. I would consider it casual-- so casual that the writer did not bother with the quotation marks. It is not fit for formal English writing, to my mind.

— Mister Micawber

  • Quirk et al call your second sentence Irish English and dialectical.
  • I would consider it casual-- so casual that the writer did not bother with the quotation marks.
  • It is not fit for formal English writing, to my mind.
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10 Answers
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Quirk et al call your second sentence Irish English and dialectical. I would consider it casual-- so casual that the writer did not bother with the quotation marks. It is not fit for formal English writing, to my mind.
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Thank you Mr Mic!

By the way, is that avatar of yours a hippy? (Or is that you?)
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Yes, that is me-- I am an aboriginal guru squatting in the dust, somewhere between Colombo and Katmandu. I have a long extension cord for my laptop.

And you are a talking bony fish, right?
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Hi Mr. M,

. . . Irish English and dialectical . . . not fit for formal English writing, to my mind . . .


'Faith, and I'll just try to rise above such petty, envious slurs and point out that George Bernard Shaw said the best English in the world was spoken in Ireland, or at least in Dublin.

I get enough of this from my English wife, don't you start.
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George Bernard Shaw said the best English in the world was spoken in Ireland, or at least in Dublin
I don't suppose that has anything to do with his being born there, eh Clive?

Seriously: no offense intended. I did not mean to associate my two statements. The language's best writers are Irish: Swift, Goldsmith, Shaw, Wilde, Beckett, Yeats, Joyce.
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Hi,

Just a lucky accident of birth for Shaw.

No offense taken.

Clive
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Mister Micawber
George Bernard Shaw said the best English in the world was spoken in Ireland, or at least in Dublin
I don't suppose that has anything to do with his being born there, eh Clive?

Seriously: no offense intended. I did not mean to associate my two statements. The language's best writers are Irish: Swift, Goldsmith, Shaw, Wil
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Hi,

Humour is not always easy to explain. Some of it relates to saying something but meaning the opposite of what you say. Does that form part of the humour in your culture, too?

Best wishes, Clive
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CliveHi,

Humour is not always easy to explain. Some of it relates to saying something but meaning the opposite of what you say. Does that form part of the humour in your culture, too?

Best wishes, Clive

I think so but there are very few words in Chinese that can be interpreted more than one meanings like English. Sometimes we don't
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