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 Fri Apr 18, 2008 4:54 am Does this conversation sound natural? |
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A: What happened to your hand?
B: I got into an accident a couple of days ago.
A. How?
B: My friend and I were on his motor bike. He was driving and I was sitting behind him. The lorry in front of us suddenly stopped and my friend couldn't brake in time so we crashed into the back of the lorry. He was severely injured. I got away with minor injuries.
A: You were lucky to be sitting on the back then. How is your friend anyway?
B: He's OK now.
'Severely injured' 'a couple of days ago' and already 'OK now'? Not realistic!
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Canadian-American native speaker
who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
ESL cafe: Interview with Mr. Micawber |
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Mister Micawber
Language Coach
Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 4265
Location: Yokohama, Japan
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| Fri Apr 18, 2008 12:02 pm Does this conversation sound natural? |
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Thanks Mister Micawber.
May I know why I shouldn't use riding? Can you please explain the difference to me?
When B said his friend was OK, he meant he was out of danger and was recovering. 
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Non-native speaker of English
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I intend to live forever - so far, so good. |
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daemon99
I'm here quite often ;-)
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Posts: 347
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| Fri Apr 18, 2008 13:36 pm Does this conversation sound natural? |
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Driving is not riding.
'OK' does not mean out of danger and recovering.
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_________________
Canadian-American native speaker
who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
ESL cafe: Interview with Mr. Micawber |
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Mister Micawber
Language Coach
Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 4265
Location: Yokohama, Japan
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| Fri Apr 18, 2008 16:51 pm Does this conversation sound natural? |
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Riding is fine and the language used is fine. It is just NATIVE! OK grammatically not correct (looking towards America) but hey, a language is alive (smile)
Tollerance in the realms of language experts is very low, but nevertheless, the language will be here long after they have gone.
We ride bikes, horses and wo... whoops I cant say that here can I (laughing)
Rob
Have lots of tollerance people, after all, a native English speaker is as good as any expert.
Should I now check for spelling mistakes .... naw .. I like native spelling mistakes, but that doesent mean I teach it (smile) Just another tollerance point. |
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HamburgEnglish
I'm here quite often ;-)
Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 119
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| Fri Apr 18, 2008 17:35 pm Does this conversation sound natural? |
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From strictly a native speaker's point of view, I have to agree with Mister Micawber's take that the word 'riding' is inappropriate in Daemon99's sentence in particular. This has nothing whatsoever to do with tolerance and the 'usual usage'. It has everything to do with context and meaning.
The use of 'riding' sounds weird and wrong to me in Daemon99's sentence.
| daemon99 wrote: | | My friend and I were going on a motor bike. He was riding and I was sitting behind him. |
| Mister Micawber wrote: | | My friend and I were on his motor bike. He was driving and I was sitting behind him. |
From an ESL teacher's point of view, I agree with MM, too. And I agree with MM despite the fact that probably the majority of ESL grammar books state that 'ride a motor bike/motorcycle' is correct and 'drive a motor bike/motorcycle' is wrong! The categorization of 'drive a motorcycle' as being incorrect is just an easy general rule that works much of the time. However, it definitely does not work all the time. Despite what the 'rules' usually state, the word 'driving' works quite nicely in the context of Daemon99's sentences. 
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Amy
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ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English |
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Yankee
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 16 Apr 2006
Posts: 7787
Location: USA
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| Fri Apr 18, 2008 18:27 pm Does this conversation sound natural? |
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Hi, Amy
And from the point of view of the guy on the backseat? Was he riding the motorbike?
Also, can I say I like riding motorbikes ?
Many thanks in advance.
| HamburgEnglish wrote: | | I like native spelling mistakes, but that doesent mean I teach it (smile) Just another tollerance point. |
Hi,
What kind of spelling mistakes do you classify as "native" ? 
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Alex
How much upchuck would a woodchuck upchuck if a woodchuck could upchuck ?
(a guy from Russia) |
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lost_soul
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 15 Sep 2006
Posts: 1808
Location: South Park, Colorado, USA
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| Fri Apr 18, 2008 18:46 pm Does this conversation sound natural? |
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| lost_soul wrote: | | And from the point of view of the guy on the backseat? Was he riding the motorbike? |
From the point of view of the guy on the back seat, he has the option of saying that he was riding or sitting behind the driver. There are probably a number of other ways he could say that, too. However, unless he was actually operating the motorcycle, he wouldn't be said to be 'driving' it.
| lost_soul wrote: | | Also, can I say I like riding motorbikes ? |
Yes, that would be a normal way to say that. However, Daemon's sentence makes a distinction between the operator (driver) of the motorcycle and the passenger. That's why I think 'driving' sounds far better in Daemon's particular sentence.
| lost_soul wrote: | | HamburgEnglish wrote: | | I like native spelling mistakes, but that doesent mean I teach it (smile) Just another tollerance point. |
Hi,
What kind of spelling mistakes do you classify as "native" ? |
Just a little comment from me about that:
One of my three brothers is notorious for his incredibly bad spelling. We tease him and laugh endlessly about it. However, bad spelling in a formal context can do a lot of damage in terms of accomplishing what you want to accomplish.
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Amy
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ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English |
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Yankee
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 16 Apr 2006
Posts: 7787
Location: USA
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Ralf
Language Coach
Joined: 20 Apr 2006
Posts: 1414
Location: EU (Ireland and Germany)
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| Fri Apr 18, 2008 19:16 pm Does this conversation sound natural? |
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If a native speaker came up with the following figurative usage of the word 'intrude', would you accept it?
Sorry for intruding into your mailbox (email-box).
Here the writer needs to check on something for which he needs to send an email to a large group of people. He wants to apologize for the inconvenience caused.
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Non-native speaker of English
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I intend to live forever - so far, so good. |
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daemon99
I'm here quite often ;-)
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Posts: 347
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| Fri Apr 18, 2008 19:31 pm Does this conversation sound natural? |
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That sentence sounds awkward to me and it seems to mean that someone is apologizing for opening and reading someone else's email.
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Amy
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ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English |
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Yankee
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 16 Apr 2006
Posts: 7787
Location: USA
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| Fri Apr 18, 2008 21:12 pm Does this conversation sound natural? |
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Queens English me.
But only me and er speek it !
laughing ....... |
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HamburgEnglish
I'm here quite often ;-)
Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 119
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| Can I pick your brains? | Difference between surprised, filled, tired or sick |
