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Mistakes that irk you in your vernacular | ||
Tags: Colloquial Language | Error | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| hjordis Senior Member United States snapshotsoftheworld. Joined 4979 days ago 209 posts - 264 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Spanish, Japanese | Message 41 of 73 19 June 2014 at 10:16pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I agree with tommus; trying to read collective nouns with a plural verb hurts my head. I
had no idea that it was common in the UK and I'm usually pretty well versed in such differences! 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5055 days ago 2237 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 42 of 73 19 June 2014 at 10:38pm | IP Logged | |||||
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A team, is it a singular unit or a group, or both at the same time? I lived in England for almost a decade and never got used to referring to a team with a plural verb, :). "England (they) have just equalized with a goal" or "England (the team- a unit- it) has just equalized with a goal". Both are correct in their respective sides of the Atlantic. A legitimate argument can be made that both subjects in both sentences agree with their respective verb conjugations, since a team is both a group and a single unit.
Edit: Uruguay has just scored another goal and leads 2-1. Additional Edit: Uruguay has won 2-1. It seems to be hard for a European team to beat a South American team in South America Edited by iguanamon on 19 June 2014 at 10:53pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Stolan Senior Member United States Joined 3825 days ago 274 posts - 368 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Thai, Lowland Scots Studies: Arabic (classical), Cantonese | Message 43 of 73 19 June 2014 at 11:11pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I'm annoyed by people thinking some of these things are mistakes.
When I hear "Where it is at" I realize that it is more specific. "Where does he walk?"=Where does the guy walk around? vs. Where is the guy heading for? "Where does he walk at?"=I know what the question is from the start. Double negatives are not necessarily improper, they're just a variation in speech. For things like manuals and news, maybe it should keep to the standard that is prescribed so people who speak different dialects can understand each other better, but other than that, I say feel free. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Jeffers Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4702 days ago 2151 posts - 3960 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Hindi, Ancient Greek, French, Sanskrit, German | Message 44 of 73 19 June 2014 at 11:53pm | IP Logged | |||||
I made another post, but deleted it. I must say I was a bit confused by several of your phrases: I wasn't sure what you meant by "Where does he walk at?" Do you mean "Where does the guy do his walking?" Part of the problem with an awkwardly worded phrase is that the hearer can be easily confused by it, unless he already knows what the speaker is getting at. "Where it is at?" sounds like a foreigner with weak English asking where something is. Or did you mean it in the sense, "The new cafe is where it is at!" 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| 1e4e6 Octoglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4083 days ago 1013 posts - 1588 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian, Dutch, Swedish, Italian Studies: German, Danish, Russian, Catalan | Message 45 of 73 20 June 2014 at 12:40am | IP Logged | |||||
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Also it should be noted that collective noun with plural verb is almost completely
commonplace not only in the UK, but in many parts of the Empire/Commonwealth in all settings, even outside of sports, in addition saying, "England was..." would sound rather odd in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, British West Indies, etc. I did a group project two years ago, and we always referred to our group as plural: "Where are the group meeting today?" --"The group are on the first floor (above the ground floor) of the main library. "Where are the Spanish society (university club)?" --"The society are in the pub." This might explain why I used this with a friend long ago: "Where bið our team?" --"Our team bið in third place." I have watched cricket for almost a decade, and never can I recall having heard the third person singular conjugations (is, was) for teams during commentary. Edited by 1e4e6 on 20 June 2014 at 1:13am 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| luke Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6998 days ago 3133 posts - 4351 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Esperanto, French | Message 46 of 73 20 June 2014 at 1:33am | IP Logged | |||||
Where you is? Actually, as tastyonions said, "Where are you?". There is a of course non-verbal and other communication. Phrases like, "where's you's is?" and "where's you's at?" may be part of a socio-linguistic bond between the interlocutors that would be stifled by correctness and pedantry. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Fuenf_Katzen Diglot Senior Member United States notjustajd.wordpress Joined 4162 days ago 337 posts - 476 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Polish, Ukrainian, Afrikaans | Message 47 of 73 20 June 2014 at 3:55am | IP Logged | |||||
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I've heard a lot of "where you at" and pronouncing the word "ask" as "ax." I never cared for either of those.
1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Stolan Senior Member United States Joined 3825 days ago 274 posts - 368 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Thai, Lowland Scots Studies: Arabic (classical), Cantonese | Message 48 of 73 20 June 2014 at 6:02am | IP Logged | |||||
I meant "Where is it at?". The meaning you said is included but what I mean is this: Since English lacks "whither" now, "where" could replace it and "where at" would then replace that likewise. Edited by Stolan on 20 June 2014 at 6:04am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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