Mixed English Grammar Thread

How much of the money is the bank's? Ok...
How about: How many of the guns is the police's????

How many of the guns belong to the police? :)

Ok, I must admit it was a stupid question... Thanks anyway :)

It's always worth being sure :)

Should it be "Anything to do with that" or "Nothing to do with that" if I mean "Nothing of that sort"?

it has nothing to do with that

it doesn't have anything to do with that

Thanks Wroclaw :)


Can use here have got as well?

I have got nothing to do with that. ... I haven't got anything to do with that

I have got nothing to do with it .... It has got

Careful: the above doesn't quite fit with your original ..... "Nothing of that sort"

'got' makes have/possession stronger.

No.
You could say ' It hasn't got anything to do with that', but you can't say ' It hasn't got nothing to do with that', because the latter sentence is a double negative.

How should I understand this phrase: "the world is too much with me"?

try this or similar: sparknotes.com/poetry/wordsworth/section4.rhtml

At first glance, it doesn't look right or sound right. Here is an old poem called "The world is too much for us" which may help to explain your query.

shmoop.com/world-is-too-much-with-us/lines-1-8-summary.html

It's not from the poem, it's from an interview. What does it mean to be too much with somebody. I understand to be too much for somebody = too much to handle. Does using "with" change the meaning?


Ok, to be precise it goes: "I think the world was possibly too much with me"

I would say "for me" is correct, and "with" just doesn't sound right. Maybe one of our English teachers on PF will give a proper answer soon.

Is there a difference between can't have done and couldn't have done?

When can we say nobody knows nothing? . I saw it several times but doesn`t it conflict with the rule of avoiding the double negation in a sentence?

I would use nobody knows anything but the exercise requires nothing.
Or is it possible to say: anybody knows nothing?

can't have donesounds better can't have it done (needs a reason why it can't be done)
Couldn't have done it - might be a form of regret

"Nobody knows nothing" is colloquial language in the UK, so I guess the double negation wouldn't matter. "Nobody knows anything" is formal and correct.

Oh, thanks, I suspected it but wasn`t sure. I was doing English Olympic competition test with the kid and I had a problem how to wiggle out of what I had said earlier about double negation.

'I never said nothing to nobody'....

This triple negation is possible coz only double negation isn`t.

double negation (technically 'negative concord') is frowned upon in formal usage but quite common and unambiguous in spoken English

US version:

He didn't say nothing. (stressing both didn't and nothing) = he said something

He didn't say nothing. (only stressing nothing usually pronounced nothin' ) = he didn't say anything (and he should have or I was expecting him to say something).

Somehow, I can`t get no satisfaction from common English, I feel the need to speak like the Queen.

Ready for your close up?

You won't never do that Pawian....luckily for you.....nobody speaks like the Queen except....the Queen.

I have done better stunts in my life. You would be surprised.... :):)

Ah yes she is a cunning stunt.....

First I got shocked reading your description of the queen coz I read it too fast and somehow imagined the first letters are rearranged. Phew!

Exactly, anybody is a stunt at the age of 99.

Hahaha I knew you would. ..

It was a trap!!