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 Mon Nov 19, 2007 4:15 am Expression: "How many of your fathers are doctors?" |
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| It's correct. |
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Jamie (K)
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| Mon Nov 19, 2007 13:45 pm Expression: "How many of your fathers are doctors?" |
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For what it's worth, the word 'fathers' in that question may sound a bit odd to Western ears in this day and age, Tom.
How many of your parents are doctors? would be more like it, in my opinion. |
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Conchita
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| Mon Nov 19, 2007 14:05 pm Expression: "How many of your fathers are doctors?" |
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Wow... I always assumed that one can have only one father... To me the sentense suggests that one can have more.
I'd say "How many of you have father who is a doctor"
I have no idea if it is correct, but in Russian I'd choose a similar construction:)
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Alex
A native speaker of Russian
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lost_soul
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| Mon Nov 19, 2007 14:30 pm Expression: "How many of your fathers are doctors?" |
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What about "How many of you whose father is a doctor?"
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Okotteru Papa mo suki dakedo, nikoniko yasashii Papa ha mo~tto suki! |
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NinaZara
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| Mon Nov 19, 2007 14:39 pm Expression: "How many of your fathers are doctors?" |
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Sorry, Nina, your sentence isn't correct.
Alex, yours almost is: How many of you have a father who is a doctor? (Though I'd prefer 'How many of you have a doctor parent?'. |
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Conchita
Language Coach
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| Mon Nov 19, 2007 14:47 pm Expression: "How many of your fathers are doctors?" |
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Why Conchita? I still can't get it.
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Okotteru Papa mo suki dakedo, nikoniko yasashii Papa ha mo~tto suki! |
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NinaZara
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| Mon Nov 19, 2007 15:28 pm Expression: "How many of your fathers are doctors?" |
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| NinaZara wrote: | | What about "How many of you whose father is a doctor?" |
Here's the problem, Nina.
How many of you... (It looks like you're starting a main claus, but you never get to the verb.)
...whose father is a doctor? (You wrote an adjective clause modifying "you", but you never put a main verb in the sentence.)
So, basically, you've written a noun phrase ("How many of you whose father is a doctor"), but there's no main verb. Without the verb, there's no sentence in that sentence. |
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Jamie (K)
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| Mon Nov 19, 2007 15:32 pm Expression: "How many of your fathers are doctors?" |
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| lost_soul wrote: | | Wow... I always assumed that one can have only one father... To me the sentense suggests that one can have more. |
It doesn't suggest that anyone can have more than one father any more than "how many of you" would suggest that one person can have several incarnations.
The word "you" is used as a collective pronoun here, referring to individuals in a group. I suppose that in the southern US, many people would say, "How many of y'all's fathers are doctors?" That would remove any ambiguity. |
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Jamie (K)
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