Then and Than?!

[orest]

I think I have your and you're under control, but the hard part can sometimes be this: has, have, had and so on. Taxi was/were a good thing and still is.

[byllsong]

My post was not for you specifically orest, but for folks in general. I've heard that English is a very complexed language to learn. No wonder we're so confused. We have different spellingCenter/Labor/Color/Neighbor...American Centre/Labour/Colour/Neighbour...EnglishWe have English English, American English, Jamaican English and our own version of Bahamian English. Then we have to deal with tenses, genders, pronouns, conjunctions, prepositions...ugh! 'All I no is when I does talk, people is no what I sayin'

[mewman]

Hi orestI've had to grapple with French for some time now, which is not my first language. I'm always impressed with anyone who does as well as you with English when it's not their mother tongue.The has, have, had thing is a matter of person and tense:I have 1st person singularyou have 2nd person singularhe, she, it has 3rd person singularwe have 1st person pluralyou have 2nd person pluralthey have 3rd person plural"Was" is used in the 1st and 3rd person past tense. eg. I (he, she, it) was at the Taxi Road Rally last year. "Were" can be used in the 2nd person singular and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person plural past tense, as in...If we/you/they were there, we could have talked. It gets a bit more abstract when "were" is used to hypothesize, as in... If I were to lose her...If it were not (weren't) for the rain I'd go for a walk...etcNow, if I had only studied Swedish, then I could wish you luck in your mother tongue, the sound of which I have always enjoyed. If you were to give me a quick lesson, and I was in a receptive mood, then I would surely enjoy the opportunity to practice my new words, rather than chatter on in the same old english I usually communicate in.ChaoMewman

[brindabella]

Mar 15, 2009, 5:01am, byllsong wrote:My post was not for you specifically orest, but for folks in general. I've heard that English is a very complexed language to learn. No wonder we're so confused. We have different spellingCenter/Labor/Color/Neighbor...American Centre/Labour/Colour/Neighbour...EnglishWe have English English, American English, Jamaican English and our own version of Bahamian English. Then we have to deal with tenses, genders, pronouns, conjunctions, prepositions...ugh! 'All I no is when I does talk, people is no what I sayin' And do not forget the pronunciation ! Like in " Island". Where the heck does the " S" goes? Oh! And another that baffled me at the beginning: He fell down! Why do I have to say down? Of course you go down when you fall! English is hard!

[hummingbird]

Mar 15, 2009, 3:27am, orest wrote:I think I have your and you're under control, but the hard part can sometimes be this: has, have, had and so on. Taxi was/were a good thing and still is. Singular - TAXI was a good thing / TAXI still is a good thing.Plural - Leg warmers were a good thing, and still are. (This is slang).Singular (2nd person, now) - she HAS, he HASpast tense (before now) - she HAD, he HADSingular (first person) - I HAVEPlural (3rd person, now) - they HAVEpast tense (before now) - they HAD / I HADA good resource for this... if you're interested in having ithttp://www.amazon.com/Elements-Style-Fourth-Wi ... 0530902Xor read it on-line - http://www.bartleby.com/141/

[drew]

In Louisiana:Wrong = Turn the music downRight = The more louder, the more better

[mazz]

I was just hanging out with a couple of guys from New Orleans and one of the great phrases I heard was:"It just be's that way sometimes" (translation: "That's just the way it is!")I cracked up when I heard it!!Orest, that is NOT proper English, American or otherwise but it still gets the meaning across!Fun stuff!Mazz

[Mark Kaufman]

I'm usually pretty good about this kind of stuff--heck, I even know the "effect/affect" difference--but no matter how many times I learn and re-learn "lie-lay-lain", I never remember it correctly. (Meanwhile, here's hoping I get lain tonight.)

[heinsite]

this is turning out to be fun, but now i'm REALLY afraid to say something wrong! LOL.oh, "too" can also mean...well ALSO.glad i mentioned some of those swedish things...i've never met a swede that wasn't sweet...saab is gone? who owns them now? some american co.? i see 'em around, though can't afford 'em...whedit: mark-- i too hope i get lied tonight!

[orest]

Saab has gone out of business forever. No one owns them, they will not make new cars. The economy isn't what it should be..Well, actually, we are (Swedes) making fun of some Americans as well. Especially the once appearing on the "Jay walk"