LL-L "Grammar" 2005.03.28 (05) [E]

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From: "Mike Morgan" <Mike.Morgan at mb3.seikyou.ne.jp>
Subject: LL-L "Grammar" 2005.03.06 (04) [E]

Ingmar Roerdinkholder <ingmar.roerdinkholder at WORLDONLINE.NL> wrote:

> In Yiddish text I noticed a lot of: ikh hob gamokht, and  er hot gazogt,
> too. Does it have simple past as well? Is there a difference with German?

Nope, no simple past, only periphrastic past tenses with
האב  /hob/. (Sorry,
couldn't figure out how to
get the komets under my alef ... just installed the Windows Hebrew
keyboard.)

Mike Morgan
KCUFS

P.S.

In response to Mark Brooks, who wrote:

> Something similar is true for some words in American English.  For
example,
> "swim."  We cannot or will not say "I have swum in Lake Travis many
times."
> It just sounds so weird that it sounds wrong!

I, a "fellow" American (at least when it comes to language), have no
problems saying "I have swam in this lake many times" *I not only can and
will, but actually DO say it)
... though "have swum" feels very pedantic. Different dialect.

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From: jpkrause <jpkrause at sunflower.com>
Subject: Grammar

>Heather Rendall wrote:
>
>But I must admit to liking the new move to allow either, as I think it adds
>to the meaning.
>
>i.e. The Government is ........ (united)    The Government are ..... (split
>on this issue)
>
>The team has played well                    The team were all over the
>place
>
>The group has come up with a unanimous decision     The group have not been
>able to make up its mind
>
>What do you think?
>
>Heather
>
I can see the logic in a sentence structured like the: "The Government
are split on this issue."  But "The group have not been able to make up
its mind" is a little strange to my ear.  In the former, the verb
implies that there are two groups within a singular government.  In the
second, there is one group, and one mind.  So I think the second should
properly be "The group has not been able to make up its mind."
Contrariwise, the secons sentence could be constructed thus:  "The group
have not been able to make up their minds."   This implies that there is
more than one faction within the group.   There, that's better.  :-)
Jim Krause

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Grammar

Heather,

I, too, can see the logic behind you proposition (?), but I wonder if this
would not introduce a type of artificial distinctions that is not truly
necessary.

Even if we limit this to collective and humans, it might get us into an
area in which consistent application could seem weird, at least
unconventional, in quite a few instances; e.g.,

The Spanish class is involved in all sorts of activities.
* The Spanish class are involved in all sorts of activities.

The Labour Party is split right down the middle.
* The Labour Party are split right down the middle.

My family lives on three continents.
* My family live on three continents.

The organization accommodates a fair bit of political diversity.
* The organization accommodate a fair bit of political diversity.

What do you think?

Reinhard/Ron

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