With best wishes

[Oyawmichael]

Hello Alan,
Thank you very much for the article. But apart from the introduction, which is a good one, I find it difficult to relate 'Suspension of Disbelief' with the rest of the essay. Can you please make a short summary of how the term applies to the rest of the essay?
Thank you very much.

From Michael.

[Chevra]

Hello, Alan! Many thanks for that essay. I really enjoyed reading it. Would you expain the origin of the following words from the text - "to dash off" and "to cough up"? Who and when introduce these words for the first time? Best regards. Tanya

[Alan]

Hi Tanya,

I can't tell you the origin of these expressions but I'll try to explain what they mean. I can't remember exactly in what context I used them and perhaps you could provide with a link. 'Dash off' can mean write something very quickly and 'cough up' can mean pay for something reluctantly.

Do they work? If not perhaps you could give me the exact context.

Alan
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Present Simple

[Pipiii]

Can we say: In the beginning we met......, In the very first days we met......? the second sentence is acceptable or not? thanks in advance.

[Beeesneees]

It's less usual, and would probably benefit from further information:

In the first days of this project, we met...
In the first days of this business venture, we met...
_________________
"Inside every old person is a young person wondering what happened."
Terry Pratchett

[Alan]

Yes, both are all right. You really need to show this in a fuller sentence to see how it would be used.

Alan
_________________
English as a Foreign Language
You can read my EFL story Progressive Forms

[Pipiii]

OK. Many thanks Beees and Prof. Alan.

[Sumesh]

hello sir,
You have used 'would you' in this essay. Can we use would in the present sense, actually would is the past tense of will, can't we use will you there instead of would you ? Please reply to this soon,
with regards,
Sumesh

[Alan]

Hi Sumesh,

Can you quote the example from what I have written. If you want to make a request asking someone to help you, for example, you can say: Will you help me? or Would you help me?. The second form is considered to be more polite.

Alan
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Passive Voice

[Sumesh]

Hello sir,
of course I can quote it
"So what would you do if you were marooned (left alone on a desert island unable to escape)? Eight records wouldn't be much good, would they? A mobile phone wouldn't help either. You probably couldn't get a signal and also you wouldn't know where you were, would you? You could write a letter but then how would you send it?"
regards
sumesh

[Alan]

Hi,

The use of 'would' in these sentences is used to indicate 'condition'. It is sometimes called Conditional 2 (probable) and all are dependent on 'if'. Look at these:

If you are marooned on a desert island, what will you do? Possible
If you were marooned on a desert island, what would you do? Probable
If you had been marooned on a desert island, what would you have done? Impossible

Alan
_________________
English as a Foreign Language
You can read my EFL story Prepositions

[Pratimaroy]

Dear Sir,
Good day to you. The lesson 'Best Wishes' is good but as a Lecturer in English Literature, I can't help but think of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the great Romantic Poet, who introduced this concept of 'willing suspension of disbelief'. This is now, in the modern and post-modern English world, even a trend called 'magic realism' also uses this concept.
I just wanted to share this.
Thank you,
Pratima Roy

[Pratimaroy]

Sir,
I made a syntactic error while mailing my previous mail on 'willing suspension of disbelief'. It is that in the last sentence I should have said
'"This is now, in the modern and post-modern English world, even a trend called 'magic realism' . It uses this concept. I just wanted to share this".
Thank you,
With regards,
Pratima Roy

[Ajay Nahta]

Hi Alan
Very informative essay! It helped me learn about origin of postal system. Such essays are good way of enhancing our word-hoard coupled with increasing our knowledge.