tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31830497.post116663133500559311..comments2024-02-28T05:25:12.859-05:00Comments on English, Jack: Heading in the wrong directionBretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02870575277556244419noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31830497.post-45938195771946388412007-06-25T14:34:00.000-05:002007-06-25T14:34:00.000-05:00"In "He is Fred" and "He is running", you're also ..."In "He is Fred" and "He is running", you're also describing the subject, but that doesn't mean there's anything adjectival about them."<BR/><BR/>Er, well, yes, there is something adjectival about saying what someone's name is, or describing their state. I think you've missed that obvious fact in your rush to make your point! As with any taxonomy, the groupings we make in grammar aren't arbitrary, but they are leaky.<BR/><BR/>The fact that parts of verbs often have adjectival force first struck me when I was learning German and French. When Germans say "Ich bin gegangen" they are describing themselves: "I am gone". I mention this in class to help my pupils learn something which many of them find wildly illogical. (It is, of course, much less logical to say "I have gone".)<BR/><BR/>Although I don't mention this to pupils, since they don't need much help to learn a construction that exists in English, the regular type of verb could be said to have nominal force: "Ich habe gespielt" > "I have played." ("I am played" would mean something else entirely.)Adrianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18133737535022180304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31830497.post-23656386698198259052007-01-17T20:54:00.000-05:002007-01-17T20:54:00.000-05:00Hi. I'm just catching up on your blog so I realiz...Hi. I'm just catching up on your blog so I realize I'm really late with this response. I was just struck by the idea that you can't use the "how good a student he/she is" construction with plural. However, for some reason, it does work with plurals when the construction is slightly rearranged. "How smart she is." "How beautiful they are."<br /><br />I'm always struck by this construction because of a contemporary Christian song often sung in our church which has the line "How great is your love, O Lord." However, instead of ending with a period (or even better an exclamation mark) to indication a declarative or exclamatory sentence, it is always printed with question mark - makes me feel rather odd singing a "praise" song which questions the greatness or extent of God's love... But that get's me into another whole topic of how so much of this genre doesn't use any punctuation at all, or uses it incorrectly, so that it doesn't really end up saying what you have to assume (or guess) it was intended to say ...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com