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Expression: "I could hear the music playing."


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ESL Forum | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
Based on or basing on? | pronuncation of Monday
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Expression: "I could hear the music playing." #1 (permalink) Tue Jun 03, 2008 18:40 pm   Expression: "I could hear the music playing."		  
Hi

Do you find the following sentence correct and natural--I mean the red part?
Quote:
"I could hear the music playing in your room so I assumed that you were in"


Tom
Tom
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Expression: "I could hear the music playing." #2 (permalink) Tue Jun 03, 2008 18:47 pm   Expression: "I could hear the music playing."		  
Hi Tom,
I'm not a native speaker, but I find the red part really odd. The music can't do the playing itself, right?
So i suggest changing it into:

I could hear the music being played in your room so I assumed that you were in
or
I could hear the music played in your room so I assumed that you were in

(I also think the former is better than the latter)
_________________
Sad... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know.. Sad

Sorry seems to be the hardest word...
Nessie
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Expression: "I could hear the music playing." #3 (permalink) Tue Jun 03, 2008 20:39 pm   Expression: "I could hear the music playing."		  
Sounds perfectly fine to me, though I am not native. Embarassed
SkiIucK
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Joined: 09 Oct 2006
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Expression: "I could hear the music playing." #4 (permalink) Wed Jun 04, 2008 5:28 am   Expression: "I could hear the music playing."		  
Differnt ideas. RazzRazz
Well, I've just had a look in the BNC and found no results for "heard music playing" but 23 results for "music playing". Anyway, since neither of us is a native speaker, we can just wait for some native speakers' ideas Smile
_________________
Sad... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know.. Sad

Sorry seems to be the hardest word...
Nessie
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Expression: "I could hear the music playing." #5 (permalink) Wed Jun 04, 2008 5:59 am   Expression: "I could hear the music playing."		  
Hi Tom

I'd only ask whether you want to say 'heard the music playing' or 'heard music playing' in your sentence.
.
Yankee
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Expression: "I could hear the music playing." #6 (permalink) Wed Jun 04, 2008 6:49 am   Expression: "I could hear the music playing."		  
Sorry, Amy, "the" is not there.

So what is your take on "heard music playing"?

Tom
Tom
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Expression: "I could hear the music playing." #7 (permalink) Wed Jun 04, 2008 7:05 am   Expression: "I could hear the music playing."		  
.
That sounds fine to me, Tom.
.
Yankee
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Expression: "I could hear the music playing." #8 (permalink) Wed Jun 04, 2008 7:12 am   Expression: "I could hear the music playing."		  
Yankee wrote:
Hi Tom

I'd only ask whether you want to say 'heard the music playing' or 'heard music playing' in your sentence.
.


Hi, Amy

Are you implying that "the" is wrong there and should be left out ?
But what if I have in mind a specific piece of music that I know only that person can play ?

Thanks !
Lost_Soul
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Expression: "I could hear the music playing." #9 (permalink) Wed Jun 04, 2008 16:30 pm   Expression: "I could hear the music playing."		  
Hi Alex

If we look at the rest of the sentence so I assumed that you were in, we will have to omit the in the given sentence. There thrust of the sentence is on "music playing" and "the person's being in the room".

Tom
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Expression: "I could hear the music playing." #10 (permalink) Thu Jun 05, 2008 8:04 am   Expression: "I could hear the music playing."		  
Hi, Tom

Thank you, but I'd rather that Amy answered my question Wink
Lost_Soul
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Expression: "I could hear the music playing." #11 (permalink) Thu Jun 05, 2008 8:22 am   Expression: "I could hear the music playing."		  
Yankee wrote:
.
That sounds fine to me, Tom.
.


Hi Amy, have you any idea about mine:
Quote:
Hi Tom,
I'm not a native speaker, but I find the red part really odd. The music can't do the playing itself, right?
So i suggest changing it into:

I could hear the music being played in your room so I assumed that you were in
or
I could hear the music played in your room so I assumed that you were in

(I also think the former is better than the latter)

_________________
Sad... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know.. Sad

Sorry seems to be the hardest word...
Nessie
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 16 Feb 2008
Posts: 1102
Expression: "I could hear the music playing." #12 (permalink) Thu Jun 05, 2008 9:15 am   Expression: "I could hear the music playing."		  
lost_soul wrote:
Hi, Amy

Are you implying that "the" is wrong there and should be left out ?
But what if I have in mind a specific piece of music that I know only that person can play ?
Hi Alex
No, I'm not implying that it is wrong, but without any further context, the word 'the' seems unnecessary/unjustified to me.

As you suggested, adding the word 'the' would imply a specific (or previously mentioned) piece of music. I think the use of 'the' would need to be justified by the broader context.
.
Yankee
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 16 Apr 2006
Posts: 8265
Location: USA
Expression: "I could hear the music playing." #13 (permalink) Thu Jun 05, 2008 9:42 am   Expression: "I could hear the music playing."		  
Yankee wrote:
No, I'm not implying that it is wrong, but without any further context, the word 'the' seems unnecessary/unjustified to me.
.

Yeah, that makes sense.
Thanks once again Smile
Lost_Soul
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Joined: 15 Sep 2006
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Location: South Park, Colorado, USA
Expression: "I could hear the music playing." #14 (permalink) Thu Jun 05, 2008 9:47 am   Expression: "I could hear the music playing."		  
Hi Nessie

To me, saying 'I could hear music playing' in Tom's sentence is similar to saying something such as 'I could smell cookies baking.' Cookies don't actually bake themselves. And if you want to get really technical, a person can't bake cookies either. Technically speaking, it is the heat of an oven that bakes cookies, and a person only causes this to happen.

In Tom's sentence, 'I could hear music playing' suggests to me that the sound was coming from something such as a CD in a CD player. It does not suggest that someone in the room was playing a musical instrument, for example. It suggests that someone in the room had caused a device to produce sound.
.
Yankee
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 16 Apr 2006
Posts: 8265
Location: USA
Expression: "I could hear the music playing." #15 (permalink) Thu Jun 05, 2008 10:01 am   Expression: "I could hear the music playing."		  
Hey girl whatcha doin down there
dancing alone every nite while I live rite above you
I can hear your music playin
I can feel your body swayin
one floor below me you don't even know me
I love you

chorus

Oh my darlin
knock three times on the ceiling if you want me
twice on the pipe if the answer is no
Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 4017
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Based on or basing on? | pronuncation of Monday
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