Question

Actualizado en 15 ago 2018

yezi

4 ago 2015

Chino simplificado

Inglés (US)
Coreano

Pregunta de Inglés (US)

Why are English so strict with the singular or the plural of a noun ? I feel just so strange, because sometimes we both know how many they are. Hope someone can give me a pro answer~

Respuestas

qwerty1973

8 ago 2015

Respuesta destacada

Inglés (US)
Español (México)

Remember English is a Indo-European language, it has linguistic similarities with many languages you would never think, from German and Italian to Persian and Hindi. All of these cultures are very different yet we share linguistic traits. Those linguistic traits in some instances shape our communities but in many don't as you can see the 4 examples I gave you are cultures which are completely different. In addition to that the U.S. Is a country of immigrants each following its own unique culture and ways. They all learn English, yet some continue their mother cultures whiles others abandon them. If only language gave us qualities I would learn the language which would give me the qualities which would give me all of the best values as a man, yet mans' values are unique to his heart and to what he does in this world. Words are disappear and are erased with time your actions endure and give you measure as a man.

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vellyr

4 ago 2015

Inglés (US)

There are other times when we don't know though. There can be a large difference in meaning.

我吃包子 can be translated as "I ate a dumpling" (a snack) or "I ate dumplings" (a meal).

Depending on whether I say,
"I am older than my brother."
or
"I am older than my brothers."
You can easily learn about the size of my family.

Usually, you only need to change 1 letter, so I think it's a very efficient way to communicate.

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qwerty1973

4 ago 2015

Inglés (US)
Español (México)

The s and this ' s can change many things in a sentence. It is not being strict as much as it changes the whole meaning of sentences.
First of all you know that an s makes every thing plural that is easy (try German or Swahili, and you will see English is easy add only an s is easy).
Now the apostrophe ' . This is used to tell you something belongs to someone or something for example: "Peter's car". That means the car that belongs to Peter or "the tree's apples". The apples that belong to the tree. Now if you have a noun that is already plural for example not one apple but many apples, if you want to show possession when something is plural then it is easy you will add the apostrophe ' after the word so in apple it would be apples'. The last word that s is used is as a contraction all that means is two word which are put together. So Peter is will be Peter's. For example " Peter's my friend. As you can see there it is no longer a possession it means is.
To summarize remember:

Apple singular
Apples many apples
Garden's something/s that belongs to one garden
Gardens' something/s that belong to many gardens
GEORGE's two words together George and is

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yezi

8 ago 2015

Chino simplificado

We simply think this issue in different ways. As I think it's inconvenient and you guys see it from ur aspect. And we Chinese see the world all from our own view, while you guys treat man and a thing as equals. Kinda reflects ur different thinking patterns.

yezi

8 ago 2015

Chino simplificado

I'm got a different thinking dimension~ thank u guys a lot

qwerty1973

8 ago 2015

Inglés (US)
Español (México)

Remember English is a Indo-European language, it has linguistic similarities with many languages you would never think, from German and Italian to Persian and Hindi. All of these cultures are very different yet we share linguistic traits. Those linguistic traits in some instances shape our communities but in many don't as you can see the 4 examples I gave you are cultures which are completely different. In addition to that the U.S. Is a country of immigrants each following its own unique culture and ways. They all learn English, yet some continue their mother cultures whiles others abandon them. If only language gave us qualities I would learn the language which would give me the qualities which would give me all of the best values as a man, yet mans' values are unique to his heart and to what he does in this world. Words are disappear and are erased with time your actions endure and give you measure as a man.

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qwerty1973

8 ago 2015

Inglés (US)
Español (México)

Sorry for my typo I am having dinner and wrote this message very quickly. By the way I have been to China and love China very much.

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yezi

13 ago 2015

Chino simplificado

谢谢^_^ Currently I'm a translation student studying both English and Chinese as well. Actually I used to focus on the words or sentence patterns or the grammar of English. But now I'm having this thought that these visual differences are manipulated by the invisible " thinking patterns" behind them. We are raised in different culture, accepting varying civilizations. Thus we see and do things usually from quite different dimensions. And this is the fundamental reason for why we think differently and it leads to different language models. And thanks a lot. Thinking deeply into the roots of things is interesting. ^_^

yezi

13 ago 2015

Chino simplificado

And China indeed has many wonderful places. The Tibet , Jiuzhaigou, Great Wall and others. After all, we've got a history of over 5000years. We peoples are different in a lot of ways. Hope u'll see more about China ^_^