Language Learning Base

gerardM a écrit:

Hi everyone do try those tongue twisters, they are great !

MurielB a écrit:Hi Gérard
Thanks you for these expressions !

I go take the bus

I have never heard that  American expression.
I only know that "To take the bus" is American English an "To catch the bus" British English.
Thanks for teaching me something new.

I would never say "I go take the bus."

I would say "I'm going to take the bus."

Hi Venessa,

Thanks for your message.

barnetto a écrit:...I would never say "I go take the bus."

I would say "I'm going to take the bus."

I agree with your remark but that depends on the rest of the sentence.

I wrote the 1st example that came to mind (I should have been more specific).
Wouldn't you say "After these long and exhausting school days, I go take the bus"?
or "Let's go attend this concert"?
(what I wanted to point out was the absence of "to" after to go)

Do you always use a "to" between "to go" and another verb?

(click pic to access lesson)

Another common word would be "kindergarten".

Ah that's interesting!
> leitmotif
The French word is "leitmotiv".
My Hachette-Oxford dictionary says the English spelling is "leitmotiv" only.
I guessed it came from Russian (I never checked).
Would the American spelling be "leitmotif"?? I'm going to ask Google...

~~ edit
Yes Google accepts "leitmotif" and there're oddles of links including from the Oxford dictionary.
-> Merriam-Webster - http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/leitmotif
-> Oxford dictionary - http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/leitmotif
-> Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leitmotif
As far as I understood, the German spelling is "Leitmotiv" (pronounced "-tif").

Google also provides links with "leitmotiv".

... to go on with German-English...


(click pic to access lesson)

Sorry if this ends up a double post. I thought I replied yesterday, but maybe I forget to hit envoyer.

gerardM a écrit:
Do you always use a "to" between "to go" and another verb?

Pretty much.

I'm trying to think of an example where I don't and it sounds right to me.
"I go driving."
But the verb there after "go" is a gerund.

"After these long and exhausting school days, I go take the bus."
should be
"After these long and exhausting school days, I take the bus home."

This one seems better:
"Let's go attend this concert."
Just a bit formal/stiff.

Hi Vanessa,

Thanks a lot for your message.

> Pretty much.
I'm very surprised as I often read the form "go + verb-infinitive-without-to" on American forums.
(I had a look at your profile... Texas isn't on the Eatern coast where Americans use a language which is very close to British English).

As I wrote before, to me the Brits use "go + to + verb"
while in the States, I often meet
-1- "go + verb-without-to" - Let's go pick up mom at the airport
-2- "go and verb-without-to" - On Sundays I go and watch hockey in Detroit
-3- "go + to + verb" - In the summer I go to improve my French in Paris
(I'm not speaking about progressive form I'm going to which is very used)
(gerund is different as it's not exactly a verb but similar to a noun))

Do you "refuse" forms -1- and -2-?

Yeah, I don't really pay much attention to how the British use the language (I know a couple Brits I could ask about this). If you're hearing them using it a different way, that's interesting.
My husband is from Pennsylvania, which is on the East coast, and when I showed him "I go take the bus," last night he said it didn't sound right to him either.

1 and 2 sound correct to me.
1 is command form
2 is a description of what you usually do.

I think in English we/I tend to use the progressive more in situations where the French would use the present.
"Je vais maintenant" becomes "I'm going now" instead of "I go now."
"Je vais parler"
would be "I'm going to speak" or "I will speak"
but not "I go speak" or "I go to speak."

I think it looks to you like I'm using "go + to + verb" when the main difference is the sentence needs the "to" between "going" (progressive) and the verb.

Hi Vanessa,

Today I asked my friend (she's Australian) what she would think about my "Today I didn't go fight the dog" (I recently had troubles with a dog) and she immediately said "That's American (which she doesn't like ) and she added "that's what Steven always says." Steven is an American working with my friend; Steven was born in San Francisco.
I must add I'm reading the National Geographic (which I consider good American language).
Interesting isn't it?

There are lots of EMTs (English Mother Tongue) around me: My friend is Australian, a niece is a New Zealander, I weekly meet another Aussie, I'm participating on American forums daily (members come from everywhere in the US but also from the UK or other countries), close friends of my family are living in California, etc and I constantly "study" differences in languages.
> I know a couple Brits
For example, this is definitely American, Brits would always say "a couple of Brits".

As you know we don't have a "progressive form" in French or say we use a different pattern: the equivalent is "je vais + verb".
(we also have a handy "je viens de + verb" which is your "I just + verb-at-the-past").

(click pic to access lesson)

(click pic to access lesson)

(click pic to access lesson)

This web page is clear.
Remember there're differences
between British and American English.