Aggrandize The Knowledge Of The English Language

[Andrew Dalby]

I don`t want to be awkward, but shouldn`t it be Peregrination instead of Perigrination?

 

...would that be acceptable?

 

cheers

viggen

 

You're right -- not only acceptable but compulsory -- but, let's face it, if you look for slips like that on the Internet you'll never stop finding them ...

 

Getting hard words slightly wrong is sadly a common human failing in this imperfect world. You could try Googling supercede for another example. It isn't in printed dictionaries, but there it is on an apparently authoritative online dictionary. How will a mere pedant manage to supersede that?

 

The problem with written English now is that students (and their teachers) often can't write correctly the words that seem easy and obvious to people who were taught to spell. A lot of people write alot, for example ... And if you can't spell, you can't argue effectively in writing and you can't get the best out of search engines. It can be a real hindrance.

 

hehe, oh yeah i defenitely did not want to be "difficult" this time, just was happy to have a live example to show what I`ve learned!

[Traianus]

I think every language has its diffuculties but in english there will be always something that I will never learn well, and they're the PHRASAL VERBS

[Gaius Octavius]

Whats your 'mother tongue', Viggen?

 

The 'RULES' of English (such as 'I before E except after C

 

or when pronounced as 'ay' as in nEIghbor and wEIgh.)

[Andrew Dalby]

Whats your 'mother tongue', Viggen?

 

The 'RULES' of English (such as 'I before E except after C

 

or when pronounced as 'ay' as in nEIghbor and wEIgh.)

 

or when it's like EITHER and NEITHER?

[The Augusta]

Whats your 'mother tongue', Viggen?

 

The 'RULES' of English (such as 'I before E except after C

 

or when pronounced as 'ay' as in nEIghbor and wEIgh.)

 

or when it's like EITHER and NEITHER?

 

Ah, but the complete saying is 'I before E, except after C, when the sound is EE'. Now, I say eye-ther, but you might say ee-ther! So, neighbour and weigh aren't included in the 'rule'.

 

(I really need to get out more )

[Gaius Octavius]

This may be for 'American' English.

 

From: "Using Better English"; by Wimberly, Peterson & Owens; The Ronald Press, 1937; pp 252-5.

 

"Write i before e

Except after c

Or when sounded as a

In neighbor and weigh"

 

Exceptions: "weird, leisure, seize, either, neither, foreign, counterfeit, height, their, heir, inveigle, obeisance, ancient, financier, conscience"

 

------------------

Capitalization:

1. The first word of every sentence.

2. The first word of every line of poetry.

3. The first, last, and all other important words in titles of books, plays, stories, articles, poems, magazines, and newspapers.

4. Proper nouns (Viggen, Austria, English) and proper adjectives (Oxford University, Socialist Party)

5. Capitalize the titles of persons.

6. I, O and certain abbreviations. (I am, O Viggen; Mr., Dr., Jr.)

_____________

From a Webster's Columbia Concise Dictionary:

 

Aggrandize (verb; transitive): To make great or greater: especially to make greater in power, wealth, rank, or honour; to exalt; to elevate; extend; enlarge.

 

Aggrandizement (noun): The act of aggrandizing; the act of increasing one's own power, rank or honour; advancement.

 

In my opinion, the use of either word in the title of this thread is an awkward usage even if technically correct.

______________

 

If for nothing else than your amusement, peruse:

 

http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?automo...ry=464#comments

 

and

 

http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?automo...p;showentry=467

 

and

 

http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?automo...p;showentry=459

 

Try to disregard any pleonasms. ( )

Edited October 22, 2006 by Gaius Octavius

[Gaius Octavius]

I think every language has its diffuculties but in english there will be always something that I will never learn well, and they're the PHRASAL VERBS

[Andrew Dalby]

I think every language has its diffuculties but in english there will be always something that I will never learn well, and they're the PHRASAL VERBS

[The Augusta]

I thought "phrasal verbs" were e.g. "go off", "back up", "flatten out", "eat up"? I never heard the term used at school, mind you, only when I did linguistics long afterwards. They are a feature of English that native speakers take as natural but that later learners, e.g. speaking Romance languages, find difficult. And it's true that some of them do get split and some don't, or the meaning changes. "I'll look it up" (it's a word); "I'll look up it" (it's a drainpipe).

 

I agree, AD - a phrasal verb is one that forms a phrase, like 'go off'. What Gaius Octavius was describing is a compound tense - i.e. he will have been - future perfect. In Romance languages a compound tense is so-called because it is formed from an auxillary verb (e.g. avere or essere in Italian). The same obviously occurs in English by using present or past tenses of the verb 'to have'.

[Gaius Octavius]

The amount of grammar I know could easily fit on the head of a pin and leave room enough for the proverbial gaggle of angels to dance on.

 

What Gaius said was: "If this is what you mean:"

 

Would A. & A.D. please supply examples of the 'wrong' and 'right' constructions, i.e., examples that avoid any possible confusion? Are you possibly speaking of idiomatic usage? We don't want to leave more confusion than we started with.

 

-----------------------

 

In my case, this happened much earlier: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15383124/

Edited October 23, 2006 by Gaius Octavius

[The Augusta]

The amount of grammar I know could easily fit on the head of a pin and leave room enough for the proverbial gaggle of angels to dance on.

 

What Gaius said was: "If this is what you mean:"

 

Would A. & A.D. please supply examples of the 'wrong' and 'right' constructions, i.e., examples that avoid any possible confusion? Are you possibly speaking of idiomatic usage? We don't want to leave more confusion than we started with.

 

Gaius - I'm confused already!

 

I apologise for totally disregarding the conditional phrase at the start of your post - I was convinced you were giving Traianus an example of a 'phrasal' verb by offering such constructions as 'she will have been' etc., which is what we have grown up with in England as 'a compound tense'. This has nothing to do with idiomatic usage. Remember all those Latin lessons, when we droned out our conjugations? amavero, amaveris, amaverit....etc. 'I will have loved, you (s) will have loved'...etc. This is the future perfect tense of the verb, and its meaning is 'will have done whatever'. Therefore, it is a tense, not a phrasal verb.

 

What I consider as a phrasal verb is something like 'to go off', or 'to climb up' - i.e. a verb that is enhanced in meaning - or even changed in meaning - by the adding of a preposition or other word. However, I do not purport to be an up-to-date language scholar - I went to school just after 'thou' and 'thee' passed from everyday usage ( ) so what you term a 'phrasal verb' or 'verb-phrase' may well be the equivalent of what I would term a compound verb tense.

 

I am not sure what you mean by giving examples of the right and wrong construction here, but I will give it a shot:

 

a) In December I will have lived in Italy for three years. (Not the best sentence, but it illustrates the construction). There is only the one verb - 'to live' and it is put into the future perfect tense 'will have lived' by use of the auxillary verb 'to have' - thus making it 'a compound tense'. We do not consider this a phrasal verb.

 

Just before the shop closed down, Gill bought three pairs of Prada shoes in the sale. This is what I would understand as a phrasal verb. It changes the meaning slightly - i.e. the shop has not merely closed (for the night) but has closed for good. So, 'to close down' is a separate verb than 'to close', and modifies the meaning. I am sure that is what Traianus meant.

 

Is this any clearer? Or have I made things worse? (It wouldn't be the first time )

 

Here's a link: http://www.englishpage.com/prepositions/ph...dictionary.html

Edited October 23, 2006 by The Augusta