Could you please correct the mistakes in the sentences ?

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Funny sentences-corrected

Could you please correct the mistakes in the sentences ?

Postby Funny sentences-corrected » Tue Dec 14, 2004 10:19 pm

Hi Nikita,

It's the first time I see your website and find it great.
Since I could not always identify the mistakes in the funny sentences, could it be possible for you to correct some of them ?

Thanks :lol:

Ludivine

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nikita
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Re: funny sentences

Postby nikita » Wed Dec 15, 2004 6:51 pm

Hello Ludivine,

Thanks for your words. You are very kind.

No problem with explaining the funny students' mistakes. Which ones do you want me to help you with?

I remember that Alexander asked me to explained why the sentence
"He looked at her blue-blue eyes" is incorrect.

First of all, the correct version must be "He looked into her blue-blue eyes". Simply because we say "in/into" before eyes. There is even an idiomatic expression "to look somebody in the eye", which means "to look directly at someone to show that you are not afraid".
Example: I didn't dare to look her in the eye.

If you say "to look at someone's eyes", it means that you look at them as if they were an object, for example, lying on the floor. Certainly, it is a bit of gallows humour, but it does sound funny to me.

Please let me know what other mistakes you would like me to explain or whether you feel that you need a more detailed explanation about "looking at someone's eyes".

Hope to hear from you.

Nikita Kovalyov
http://www.eclecticenglish.com/

Paul

Look deeply into my eyes, you are getting very sleepy...

Postby Paul » Thu Dec 16, 2004 1:23 pm

Ludivine and Nikita:

Just a few words on looking into eyes...

You are correct in saying you look "into" eyes. To look at them you go to an ophthalmologist or optometrist!

We have a great deal of poetry that deals with the eyes. Eyes are likened to wells, where looking deep into them will show the contents of your soul. They are half open, not in slumber, but in the throes of love, they are white with heat, or dark with mystery. They are empty or sad, broken or forlorn.

The Bible has many references to eyes. Jesus healed the beggars eyes by rubbing them with dirt (mud), the Apostle Paul had scales that fell from his eyes, it says that God has omniscient eyes. The Old Testament has literally hundreds of passages where people found favor in God's eyes. However, the phrase "to look into someone's eyes" is not found in the Bible.

Eyes are said to imitate animals also. People have eyes like a wolf, like a cat, like an owl. When someone has large eyes with long eyelashes we say they have "fawn" (young deer) eyes, or (if the person is older and larger!) "cow" eyes.

A search on Google for "look into my eyes" has over 20,000,000 hits!

Paul

ludivine

Could you please correct some mistakes ?

Postby ludivine » Fri Dec 17, 2004 11:23 pm

Hi Nikita, Hi Paul,

I thank you both very much for your replies !!
They were very interesting and comprehensive.

Here are a few sentences in which I can't identify the mistake.
In fact, regarding the "toast with the bottle of wine" & "the awful noise", I can easily imagine I would have made the same mistakes !!

Regarding the one with the "leg"; I absolutely do not understand what is meant !

And finally, regarding the sentence with "cigarettes", I think -except from the fact that he smokes to much -that the word "cigarettes" is probably wrong.

As you see, I have a lot of work to progress in English !!

Could it be possible for you to help understand where the mistakes are ?

I thank you very much !!

Bye fo now...

Ludivine

My girlfriend has a nice leg.
(from descriptive homework)

Let's have some toast.
(when pouring a bottle of wine)

He has been smoking ten cigarettes since he came.

Please, stop to make this awful noise.

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a nice leg

Postby nikita » Mon Dec 20, 2004 9:18 am

Hello Ludivine,

I will happily do what I can to help you.

The sentence:
My girlfriend has a nice leg.
(from descriptive homework)

First of all, you can say "a" only when you can say "one". I don't know it for sure, but I was told that in old English language there was only one word for "a" and "one", something like in French language, if I am not mistaken.

As the result, first of all, you can put "a" only before countable singular nouns.

Example:
He wants to become a dancer.
They want to become dancers.


In the second sentence "a" disappears, because we cannot put it before "dancers".

So if you say "My girlfriend has a nice leg", it is pretty much the same as saying "My girlfriend has one nice leg". :)

There is a little difference between "a" and "one". In usual sentences, or so called "unmarked" sentences, we normally use "a" or "an". But when it is important to stress "one", not "two", "three" etc, we use "one".


Example :
My friend has a Mercedes.
My friend is very rich. He has one Mercedes, two Jaguars, and three Rolls-Royces.


By the way, you can use "the", definite article, before uncountable, countable singular, and countable plural nouns.

Example:
In summer the kids (our kids) always go to a camp.
Ouh, the whiskey is horrible!


Okay, I must get to work now, but I will answer all the other questions shortly.

Have a good day!

Nikita Kovalyov
http://www.eclecticenglish.com[/b]

ludivine

Postby ludivine » Mon Dec 20, 2004 11:09 pm

Thank you for you reply Nikita, and have a nice day too !

Bye for now ...

Ludivine :P

Paul

Re: funny sentences

Postby Paul » Tue Dec 21, 2004 1:11 pm

Nikita:

Regarding the sentences:

My girlfriend has a nice leg.
(from descriptive homework)

Nikita answered this one in his usual perfect way!

Let's have some toast.
(when pouring a bottle of wine)

"Let's have a toast", or "A toast", or "Toast" are all heard in English, the second and third manner are the most common. Let's have some toast means you want toasted bread. By the way, I admit I do not come from a drinking family, but I only hear a toast offered about once every two or three years in my life - it is much, much rarer than in Ukraine. Even now, whenever I hear a toast raised (you raise a toast in English) it is between Russian friends of my wife.

He has been smoking ten cigarettes since he came.
"He has smoked ten cigarettes since he came." Past tense, not past perfect.

Please, stop to make this awful noise.
This one is more difficult. The answer is "Please, stop making that awful noise." I will leave the explanation to Nikita, but that is how we would say it.

Paul



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