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 Language Learning Forum : Philological Room |  | |
| John Smith Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Australia Joined 6042 days ago 396 posts - 542 votes  Speaks: English*, Czech*, Spanish Studies: German | Message 1 of 23 10 January 2010 at 2:05am | IP Logged | ||
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Have you ever noticed during your studies that some languages seem to be missing certain words or grammatical structures that seem indispensable in other languages.
I know the folling is incorrect English but I can't believe English is missing the bold word. It is driving me mad! The how many-eth president was John Kennedy? John Kennedy was the how many-eth president? I've heard someone say What number president was John Kennedy but that sounds wrong as well. Edited by John Smith on 10 January 2010 at 5:57am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| datsunking1 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5585 days ago 1014 posts - 1533 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Russian, Dutch, French | Message 2 of 23 10 January 2010 at 2:59am | IP Logged | ||
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What number was John Kennedy in the order of US presidents? :D
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| Gareth Groupie United States Joined 5458 days ago 51 posts - 67 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Cherokee, French | Message 3 of 23 10 January 2010 at 3:02am | IP Logged | ||
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Wich president was Kennedy numberwise?(Warning Oklahoma Dialect)
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| pfwillard Pro Member United States Joined 5699 days ago 169 posts - 205 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French Personal Language Map | Message 4 of 23 10 January 2010 at 3:47am | IP Logged | ||
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People briefly said "Bush 43" because he was a second George Bush, but different from the first George Bush who was president. It might help to preface that question like,"George W. Bush was the 43rd president--which one was JFK?"
"What number president is Obama?" does sound like a child's question, there should be another way to put it, but just asking "which" will probably just get a smart remark. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Cherepaha Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6589 days ago 126 posts - 175 votes Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: Spanish, Polish, Latin, French | Message 5 of 23 10 January 2010 at 5:11am | IP Logged | ||
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Ah, the most preposterous summer assignment yet from my kid's high school was to memorize the sequence of American presidents. Not just their names, party affiliations and years of service in the office, but also their sequential number.
The test that they had at the start of school was asking: "Who was the 21st, 43rd, etc. President of the United States?" Edited by Cherepaha on 10 January 2010 at 5:11am 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| John Smith Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Australia Joined 6042 days ago 396 posts - 542 votes Speaks: English*, Czech*, Spanish Studies: German | Message 6 of 23 10 January 2010 at 5:59am | IP Logged | ||
I like this one :) What number did the runner come in the order of people who finished the race????? What number is that beer you just drank in the order/number of beers you drank today??? Edited by John Smith on 10 January 2010 at 6:05am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Captain Haddock Diglot Senior Member Japan kanjicabinet.tumblr. Joined 6768 days ago 2282 posts - 2814 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, Korean, Ancient Greek | Message 7 of 23 10 January 2010 at 9:41am | IP Logged | ||
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To be sure, you can get the idea across in English, but there's no elegant way to phrase it with an interrogative
adjective or pronoun like you can in many (most?) other languages. Pronoun-wise, English is missing a we-excluding-the-interlocutor pronoun, which many languages have. Edited by Captain Haddock on 10 January 2010 at 9:43am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6379 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map | Message 8 of 23 10 January 2010 at 10:50am | IP Logged | ||
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I would say: What number president was Kennedy?
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