Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [OT] A little help for non-native English speakers

180203 Wols Lists wrote: > On 03/02/18 08:43, Peter Humphrey wrote: >> Having so many words derived via French from Latin, English is also a >> romance language to some extent. I know it's officially classed as a >> Germanic language, but I can't see why. There seems to be no Teutonic >>

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [OT] A little help for non-native English speakers

On 03/02/18 08:43, Peter Humphrey wrote: > Having so many words derived via French from Latin, English is also a > romance language to some extent. I know it's officially classed as a > Germanic language, but I can't see why. There seems to be no Teutonic > influence to speak of. Few words in

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [OT] A little help for non-native English speakers

On Saturday, 3 February 2018 00:19:08 GMT Wol's lists wrote: > On 02/02/18 00:08, Jack wrote: > > >> "eg", which, phonetically, is the start of the word "example". > > > > > > A non-native speaker of English, or a non-native speaker of Latin? > > And Latin's descendants (which are mutually

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [OT] A little help for non-native English speakers

On 02/02/18 00:08, Jack wrote: >> "eg", which, phonetically, is the start of the word "example". > > A non-native speaker of English, or a non-native speaker of Latin? And Latin's descendants (which are mutually comprehensible) are actually the most widely spoken first language in Europe.

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [OT] A little help for non-native English speakers

On Thu, 01 Feb 2018 23:48:19 -0500 allan gottlieb wrote: "The ice cream that is in the fridge is cold" restricts the assertion of coldness to the ice cream in the fridge as opposed to some other ice cream. …and that completes the circle ;-) "The ice cream id est in the

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [OT] A little help for non-native English speakers

On Fri, Feb 02 2018, Peter Humphrey wrote: > I agree. You haven't consulted Fowler though, I see. (Drat! Where's my copy > when I need it?) He says the difference is whether we have a defining > clause. If what follows actually defines the subject of the sentence, use > "that". Otherwise it's

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [OT] A little help for non-native English speakers

On Fri, 02 Feb 2018 00:36:00 +, Peter Humphrey wrote: > > The rule of thumb I was taught is that if you can dispense with the > > second part without significantly changing the meaning, use which, > > otherwise use that. > > I agree. You haven't consulted Fowler though, I see. (Drat!

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [OT] A little help for non-native English speakers

On Friday, 2 February 2018 00:04:07 GMT Neil Bothwick wrote: > On Thu, 01 Feb 2018 23:39:13 +, Peter Humphrey wrote: > > > > The Romans were very practical people who didn't waste time or > > > > effort, but got on with the job & built an empire which lasted 500 > > > > years . > > > > > >

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [OT] A little help for non-native English speakers

On 2018.02.01 18:34, Grant Edwards wrote: On 2018-02-01, Jack wrote: > On 2018.02.01 17:52, Frank Steinmetzger wrote: > [snip...] >> PS.: As a non-native, I always found e.g. and i.e. easy to keep apart >> because when you say "e.g." as a word without the

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [OT] A little help for non-native English speakers

On Thu, 1 Feb 2018 23:34:11 + (UTC), Grant Edwards wrote: > > A non-native speaker of English, or a non-native speaker of Latin? The two are not mutually exclusive. > Are there any native speakers of Latin? There appear to be plenty in Oxford, and the UK government. -- Neil Bothwick

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [OT] A little help for non-native English speakers

On Thu, 01 Feb 2018 23:39:13 +, Peter Humphrey wrote: > > > The Romans were very practical people who didn't waste time or > > > effort, but got on with the job & built an empire which lasted 500 > > > years . > > > > built an empire THAT lasted 500 years > > Nope. Philip was right

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [OT] A little help for non-native English speakers

On Thursday, 1 February 2018 22:24:11 GMT Neil Bothwick wrote: > On Thu, 1 Feb 2018 16:17:10 -0500, Philip Webb wrote: > > The Romans were very practical people who didn't waste time or effort, > > but got on with the job & built an empire which lasted 500 years . > > built an empire THAT lasted

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [OT] A little help for non-native English speakers

On Thursday, 1 February 2018 18:47:57 GMT Philip Webb wrote: > 180201 Grant Edwards wrote: > > You also use e.g. when giving multiple examples. To quote Grammar Girl. > > > > "I like card games, e.g. bridge and crazy eights. > > "Some people in life suffer misfortunes, e.g. fire, flood, > >

[gentoo-user] Re: [OT] A little help for non-native English speakers

On 2018-02-01, Jack wrote: > On 2018.02.01 17:52, Frank Steinmetzger wrote: > [snip...] >> PS.: As a non-native, I always found e.g. and i.e. easy to keep apart >> because when you say "e.g." as a word without the dots, it becomes >> "eg", which, phonetically,

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [OT] A little help for non-native English speakers

On Thu, 1 Feb 2018 16:17:10 -0500, Philip Webb wrote: > The Romans were very practical people who didn't waste time or effort, > but got on with the job & built an empire which lasted 500 years . built an empire THAT lasted 500 years -- Neil Bothwick This virus requires Microsoft Windows

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [OT] A little help for non-native English speakers

180201 Neil Bothwick wrote: > On Thu, 1 Feb 2018 13:47:57 -0500, Philip Webb wrote: >> And while we're at it (grin), 'e.g.' has the same force as 'etc', >> so it's duplicating effort to write 'e.g. fire, flood etc'. > 'etc' is from the Latin 'et cetera', > meaning "I couldn't be bothered thinking

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [OT] A little help for non-native English speakers

On Thu, Feb 1, 2018 at 2:09 PM, Grant Taylor wrote: > > IMHO that makes the name of the "/etc" directory all that much more > entertaining. As in Dennis R. and Ken T. couldn't be bothered to come up > with more directory names than they had, e.g. /bin /lib /boot /var

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [OT] A little help for non-native English speakers

On 02/01/2018 11:50 AM, Neil Bothwick wrote: etc is from the Latin et cetera, meaning "I couldn't be bothered thinking of any more". ~chuckle~ IMHO that makes the name of the "/etc" directory all that much more entertaining. As in Dennis R. and Ken T. couldn't be bothered to come up with

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [OT] A little help for non-native English speakers

On Thu, 1 Feb 2018 13:47:57 -0500, Philip Webb wrote: > And while we're at it (grin), 'e.g.' has the same force as 'etc', > so it's duplicating effort to write 'e.g. fire, flood etc'. etc is from the Latin et cetera, meaning "I couldn't be bothered thinking of any more". -- Neil Bothwick

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [OT] A little help for non-native English speakers

180201 Grant Edwards wrote: > You also use e.g. when giving multiple examples. To quote Grammar Girl. > "I like card games, e.g. bridge and crazy eights. > "Some people in life suffer misfortunes, e.g. fire, flood, >earthquake or a meteor strike." And while we're at it (grin), 'e.g.' has

[gentoo-user] Re: [OT] A little help for non-native English speakers

On 2018-02-01, Rich Freeman wrote: > Well, as long as we're explaining grammar, I'll elaborate a tiny bit > more since a lot of people (including native English speakers) get > these wrong. > > e.g is used when giving one example when many could have used. You also use e.g.