I have some problems with english grammar and vocabulary

[nessie]

dear everybody, i am a non-native english learner and i have some problems with english grammar and vocabulary . hope to get help from u, thank u in advance

1/ is there any word in english which describe a person who is very respectful, dutiful and dedicated to his/her parents (in my mother tongue, there is one definite adjective for that, but when i look up in dictionaries, they just define the word with tantamount phrases but not give an equivalent word...

2/ plz consider this sentence:
a long time ago, i was a young artist and came to France ... i was travelling from place to place

a. where b. when

=> this is a multiple choice item in a test at school of mine, and the answer is a, but i don't agree . first, in this kind of optional test, we can only choose 1 correct answer, so if a is right, surely b is not, but then why b is wrong? i can't understand it very well...

second, if we use "where" here as a relative pronoun to connect the two clause, then the original sentence must be able to be splitted into two seperate sentences as follow:

a long time ago, i was a young artist and came to FRANCE.
i was travelling from place to place IN FRANCE

=> and if so, we can see that there is obviously a conflict in these two sentences: in the 2nd sentence, "i" was travelling from place to place in France, which means that i HAVE ALREADY BEEN in France, then at that time, how can i possibly CAME TO FRANCE? (according to the 1st sentence)

=> as for this matter, i have consult many people's idea, both native and non-native, and they give very different answers as well as explanations. however, that just makes me more and more confused , so i post it here to consult ur idea, plz help me!

thank you once again for ur time!
nessie.

[Mister Micawber]

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Hello Nessie--- and welcome to English-test.Net.

The word 'tantamount' in your vocabulary should be replaced by the word 'synonymous'.

1/ is there any word in english which describe a person who is very respectful, dutiful and dedicated to his/her parents?-- No word comes to mind offhand. The phrase, a dutiful son/daughter is common and apt.

2/ A long time ago, I was a young artist and came to France when I was travelling from place to place.

Where does not work in the above sentence because the verb aspect is wrong. This would be OK:

A long time ago, I was a young artist and came to France, where I travelled from place to place.

Frankly, I cannot understand the entirety of your argument, but much of it seems reasonable.
.
_________________
Canadian-American native speaker
who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
ESL cafe: Interview with Mister Micawber

[Torsten]

Hi Nessie,

Why are you using words that don't exist in the English language?
_________________
Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary

[SkiIucK]

I think Torsten is disturbed by the use of "u" and "ur" in your speech. Please, nessie, avoid using those forms to express yourself, as you will get many negative comments. Mister Micawber gave a very good and understandble insight upon the requested matters.
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[nessie]

dear Mister Micawber, Torsten and SkiIuck,
first of all, i'd like to thank you all very much for your comments .
i've understood Mister Micawber's explaination, but i wonder whether it is ok if we use this:

A long time ago, I was a young artist and came to France, where I was travelling from place to place.
besides, could you please tell me why we shouldn't use "tantamount" there?
thank you very much in advance

dear Torsten and SkiIuck,
i would like to send my greatest thank to you both. i am really sorry if i have disturbed you with my abbreviation. as you see, i am a new member at english-test.net and so i don't know much about regulations here. besides, in my country, it is very common for youngsters to use these . therefore i don't know they may cause vexation . i am terribly sorry for that. i will not do that again . thank you one more time and please let me know if i break the rule again (without meaning it)

[Mister Micawber]

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Hi Nessie,

I think you'll find that most English grammar sites discourage members from using the new 'email English' like u for you and small i for capital I-- they are fine for casual communications among close friends, but they can become a very bad habit when you are trying to write English properly.

Tantamount is not used in English to describe words that are similar; we use synonymous. In English, tantamount is quite formal and means "equivalent in effect or value: 'a request tantamount to a demand'." It is used when we wish to show that one thing-- though seemingly different-- is actually the same, and it is most often used of abstracts rather than physical objects.

[nessie]

thank you once again.
now I have another question:

is this sentence right:
it's fun being a witch
=> usually I just see "it's fun to be a witch", so I wonder if this is right
_________________
... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know..

Sorry seems to be the hardest word...

[Mister Micawber]

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Both are fine, but always capitalize the first letter of a sentence.
.
_________________
Canadian-American native speaker
who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
ESL cafe: Interview with Mister Micawber

[Theeny]

That's strange, I actually find "A long time ago, I was a young artist and came to France WHEN i was travelling from place to place" to be correct as well. I think it depends whether the person saying this travelled to places WITHIN France, or if France was one of the places they travelled to.

[nessie]

Both are fine? uhm... May be it is a bit strange for me since this is the first time I see this kind of sentence. So is there any difference between "It's fun to be a witch" and "It's fun being a witch"?
By the way, what is the difference between "love for" and "love of"
For example:
My love for English
My love of English
_________________
... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know..

Sorry seems to be the hardest word...

[Mister Micawber]

.
"It's fun to be a witch" and "It's fun being a witch"-- I see no real difference, since witches are mythical. In general, the 'to' form suggests a potentiality (the speaker may or may not be a witch), while the '-ing' form suggests an activity in progress (so that the speaker is likely a witch).

My love for English. My love of English -- I see no difference.
.
_________________
Canadian-American native speaker
who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
ESL cafe: Interview with Mister Micawber

[nessie]

Quote:
"It's fun to be a witch" and "It's fun being a witch"-- I see no real difference, since witches are mythical. In general, the 'to' form suggests a potentiality (the speaker may or may not be a witch), while the '-ing' form suggests an activity in progress (so that the speaker is likely a witch).

===>>> So is it true to all other cases with "to V" and "V-ing"?
For example:
- It's lovely to see you here.
- It's lovely seeing you here.
==> I think the one who say this is meeting someone at the moment of speaking, and in this case, I think "It's lovely to see you here" is more common... May be the difference is not very conspicuous, but English is like any other languages, which means that there are similar ways of expressing an idea, but there must be some difference. I am not a native English, so somehow I just cannot recognize them, but usually English native speakers can always recognize those small differences, though may be it's a bit hard to explain...

P.S: same query for "love of" and "love for"
Thank you very much.
_________________
... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know..

Sorry seems to be the hardest word...

[nessie]

Here are some other questions, please help me. Thank you in advance:

1/ He knows nearly everything there's to know about whales
=> could you please analyse this sentence and explain it? I don't get its meaning very clearly... This is obviously a complex sentence with a relative clause, but what are the two sentences that it is made from? Are they these:
- he knows nearly everything
- there is everything to know about whales
It sounds confusing...

2/ Does the word "complaintment" exist? I have checked it in many dictionaries without seeing, but my friend claims it is used in many websites and there are even a book about its usage.

3/ There is a hotel in my province whose name is "The Queen Hotel". I don't know why I somehow feel that the name is not quite all right. May be it's because I often see boards hung in front of shops with its name but not accompanied with its kind of shop. For example, in front of a restaurant, there can be "The Phoenix" or "Phoenix", or "Phoenix the restaurant" but not "The Phoenix restaurant". Therefore, I wonder if it is all right to use "The Queen hotel" here, or may be just "The Queen" is ok.

4/ I have seen this sentence right in our forum: "In this story will find many idioms with the word cool."
=> I think it must be "In this story you willl find many idioms with the word "cool"", mustn't it?

5/ Is it true that the forms "used not to" and "daren't" are old-fashioned? I have heard that people often use "usen't to", but how about "usedn't to"?

6/ As the railways lines start to buckle, the beaches continue to attract thousands and the treasured pot plants in my garden wither in the extreme heat, my befuddled brain, searching for air as the temperature soars, has turned to the use we make in English of expressions to do with the variations of hot and cold
=> could you please explain the meaning of the bold sentence in paragraph for me?

[nessie]

Hic, why doesn't anybody answer my questions?

[Mister Micawber]

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Too long. It's still on my 'To Do' list.
.
_________________
Canadian-American native speaker
who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
ESL cafe: Interview with Mister Micawber