Mixed English Grammar Thread

Ten policjant :) :)

The police aren't a unit? Don't they work together on common causes like the army?

They work as unit but police is not a name of a unite. In army you have: pluton, szwadron, oddział, pułk, kompania (I've never been in army so excuse me if I use those terms wrongly) so whole range of smaller and bigger units which togheter make the biggest unit - army. That's how I understand it.

Ok, Strzyga's question from previous page now:


I bet on first sentence.

Surely the disparate threads that go into making up the army is evidence in itself to say 'them' and 'they', no? They have different duties, depending on your squadron or even organisation.

So plural or singular or both?

AS WELL/TOO

Are those two expressions synonyms or we use them in different cases?

I would ban few other users as well
I would ban few other users too

Is there a difference in meaning between those two sentences?

Edit.
Ok I already know the difference.
I would ban few other users as well (I would ban other members just like the one who was banned)
I would ban few other users too (I think the same as you, I agree with you)

I would add 'a' before few in the 2 sentences.

The meaning is the same. Also goes between the subject and the verb most often. I also like....

Really?
So this is not true:



Why? There is users

A few means kilka, thus countable :)

Both are acceptable syntactically, though - it's the meaning that changes:

'few' - an insignificant number
'a few' - a significant, but small number

Few is mało and a few is kilka :)

So those two sentence mean that I would ban other members just like the one who was (had been?) banned.

What if I wanted to say that I agree with the person I was talking with and the person said that he/she would ban a few other users?

- I would ban other users either????

Maaarysia
I'd do the same. ;-)

Certainly no "either".

Either znaczy "też nie".

So I wouldn't ban them either is correct?
What about I wouldn't ban them neither?

No, Maaarysia. I wouldn't ban them either or I would ban neither (choice of 2)

You wrote it unclearly to me...
I would ban them neither = I wouldn't ban them either?

Me, either.


Neither I.

Neither do I.

I wouldn't ban either of them OR I'd ban neither of them :)

AS, me neither is correct

Neither I? is wrong. Me too :) :)

Maaarysia, neither would I is the correct rejoinder.

But it's not what I meant...

Ja bym też ich nie zawiesiła.

i'd argue this is wrong, but it seems ok in american english.

I'm with Wrocław on this one :)

-- I wouldn't ban them either
-- Me neither (ja też nie).

Joke to men:
-- Have you heard that famous joke not to be told to gays?

go ahead

The question was to our men, Maaarysia :-)

Don't discriminate! ;P

If you only opened your PM... Bump! Besides, good illustration of use of "neither".
What do the people on stage answer to the question?

SUBJUNCTIVE [Tryb łaczący]

Does the subjunctive mode, so vivid to this day in the Romance languages, seem equally obvious to the native speakers of English? Lyzko says that most Brits say 'if I was...' without thinking which suggests that the subjunctive mode might be well on its way to extinction in the minds of the Brits. Yet being aware of the existence of this mode helps understand, explain and use properly the conditionals in English.

In French, for example, it expresses the idea of wish, doubt or uncertainity of the speaker in affirmative clauses (in contrast to English, the conditional clauses in French do not necessitate the use of subjunctive mode). Has the subjunctive mode not survived in that role in English as well; in expressions like "I wish I were..." (vs. "I wish I was...") or even "God save the Queen"? Can any of the native speakers of English here comment on that?

It has that meaning in English too. This confuses students. For example, 'I wish I were rich'. The whole time, you are not rich so it's wishing for a situation which is different from present reality. It's all the time. Contrast that with 'I wish I hadn't said that'. You regret one specific thing in the past. However, that doesn't present the full picture. 'I wish I had been a braver person when I was younger' doesn't cover one instance of bravery but of a general regret about a lack of courage during his/her youth.

It boils down to preference sometimes and often word pairings. For example, I might say 'I wish I were taller' but 'I wish I was better'. Sound plays a large part. The same with the word often though I don't want to digress into that here.

Does that mean "I wish I were...[taller]" is typically employed for unrealistic wishes, while "I wish I was... [better]" for realistic ones?

And what about "I wish I am better". Is it allowed or not?

Absolutely not:

I wish I were better (or past tense) I wish I had been better ................... (at sports), (at cooking etc)

Seanus and Amathyst
Thanks for your answers. I take it then for granted that there should be "I wish I were" or "If I were..." in sentences that require using the subjunctive mode, but I realize that it is the habit of some native speakers to replace them with the past simple tense forms.