LL-L "Grammar" 2009.02.23 (04) [E]

[Lowlands-L List]

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L O W L A N D S - L - 23 February 2009 - Volume 04
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From: Gary Taylor <gary_taylor_98 at yahoo.com>
Subject: LL-L Grammar

Dear All

As I was walking into work the other day - a time I get to let my mind
wander - I was thinking about the phrase 'to try to/and'. When I use this I
would say something like

'I'm going to try and do something',

so with try and (I think in my head 'I'm going to try to do something'
sounds somehow wrong). However, I would always say

'I'm trying to do something'

 and not 'trying to' (in my variety this latter comes out as 'chrina' - like
'china' but with an r). Was wondering if this was peculiar to me, or if this
was fairly widespread.

Gary Taylor
London

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

Hey, Gary! It's so nice to hear from you again!

I have a different question for folks:

What, if any, might be the justification for people to use "different" after
numbers, e.g.

Switzerland has four *different* languages.

The US political system is obsessed with two *different* parties, referred
to as the "two-party system".

In most of these cases, "different" seems redundant to me, as opposed to
e.g.

I have three *different* questions for you.
(where these are different from previously asked ones)

I see the redundant "different" more and more, and I wonder what it does for
the speakers and writers who on the other hand would not say things like "I
have three different children."

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
Seattle, USA

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