Please help me to read this English sentence:

[YuriTokoro]

Originally Posted by Sangetsu

Outside the classroom, the two best ways to learn English are through conversation and reading. Since English conversation can often be hard to come by in Japan, I usually recommend reading.

Hi.
Yes, English conversation can be hard to afford. And I paid much money for English conversation classes but my English school has gone cankrupt. I've lost a lot of money.

What are you teaching? English?
What book would you recomend?
I've read Harry Potter and some SF stories. I just finished Holes.

[Echo]

Originally Posted by Bureda

Here's some examples:
- Today I met this lovely person in JF Forums. The person sounded eager in understanding the English Language! (See I am using 'this/the person' because I do not know their identity - Very indirect!)

Here's another example:
- Today I met YuriTokoro in JF Forums. She sounded eager in understanding the English Language! (Do you see how it varies slightly!?)

In case you don't understand, maybe I can explain this further.

The idea is that he/she is a pronoun while 'that person' is a noun. You can only use a pronoun when the noun it is replacing is clear. Also, in the first sentence, you do not know the gender. There are some people who would use 'he' just for the sake of shortening the sentence but technically you would have to keep the noun.

I'm sorry if I've confused you further but hopefully this helps.

[YuriTokoro]

[quote=MissMisa;565260]

Originally Posted by YuriTokoro

You would say this:

'I thought that 'lucky guess' meant something good happening, like he/she had expected.'


The present tense would be::

'I think that 'lucky guess' means something good happening, like he/she had expected.'

And if you know the statement you are making is correct, it's just:

'Lucky guess' means something good happening, like he/she had expected.'

^_^

Hi, MissMisa.

>'I thought that 'lucky guess' meant something good happening, like he/she had expected.'

Can you say ‘I thought that “lucky guess” meant something good he/she had expected happening’?


>'I think that 'lucky guess' means something good happening, like he/she had expected.'

This is very difficult.
Don’t you say ‘I think that “lucky guess” means something good happening, like he/she have expected’?

Thank you for helping me, MissMisa.

[YuriTokoro]

Originally Posted by Echo

In case you don't understand, maybe I can explain this further.

The idea is that he/she is a pronoun while 'that person' is a noun. You can only use a pronoun when the noun it is replacing is clear. Also, in the first sentence, you do not know the gender. There are some people who would use 'he' just for the sake of shortening the sentence but technically you would have to keep the noun.

I'm sorry if I've confused you further but hopefully this helps.

Hi, Echo.
I’m sorry but I don’t understand the last part ‘you would have to keep the noun’.
What does “keep the noun” mean? What do I have to do?

[Echo]

No, it was my fault. I wasn't clear.

What I mean is that you cannot replace the noun with a pronoun. You must use a noun once again. As in you would have to keep 'this/that person' rather than switching to 'he/she'.

[Echo]

>'I think that 'lucky guess' means something good happening, like he/she had expected.'

This is very difficult.
Don’t you say ‘I think that “lucky guess” means something good happening, like he/she have expected’?

Thank you for helping me, MissMisa.

'Expected' is in the past tense and so your helping verb (have/had) must agree in tense. Have is the present tense while had is the past tense.

[YuriTokoro]

Originally Posted by Bureda

TIP: NEVER use 'and' or 'but' after a full stop. Remember a full step indicates a closer in a sentence, therfore your next work has to be a subject! not a Conjunction. Conjunctions are used to join/balance a sentence!

Don't Panic. It's similar to Japanese in many ways. You can say mother in many, many ways: 'Oka-san', 'Oka-chan', 'Ofkuro', 'Haha'. I do not know if I spelt those right, but Japanese focuses more on 'words' where as English focuses more on 'sentence'. We are governed by sentence making, whereas in Japanese you can say 1 word and it will make perfect sense.

See, you have the ability to do it! just have self confidence and patience. English is a lot to swallow.

Past, Present and Future is the most problematic part of learning for new people.

You need to focus in understanding sentence structure. The rest will come naturally!


When you're being descriptive you say it. When you're saying it casually you don't really need to say it.


It's not that easy! You can use 'he or she or they' AFTER you know the subject!

Here's some examples:
- Today I met this lovely person in JF Forums. The person sounded eager in understanding the English Language! (See I am using 'this/the person' because I do not know their identity - Very indirect!)

Here's another example:
- Today I met YuriTokoro in JF Forums. She sounded eager in understanding the English Language! (Do you see how it varies slightly!?)

You're confused because posters in this forum use the term He or She a lot. They simply 'guess' or 'generalise' ones identity from the way they are typing/personality.

I will send you a PM with some facts and games! After you get the results PM me back!

Hi, Bureda.

What does TIP stand for?

Does ‘ your next work has to be a subject!’ mean ‘I have to write a subject right after a full stop’?

>When you're being descriptive you say it. When you're saying it casually you don't really need to say it
何かを記述するときにはthatを入れて、カジュアルに書� �たり話したりするときはthatを入れない。I’ve got it!
What’s the difference between ‘When you're being descriptive you say it.’ and ‘When you’re describing.’?
Is the first one formal? Can I say the second one?


>Today I met this lovely person in JF Forums.
It sounds like the person is sitting next to you.
Why do you say ‘this’ instead of ‘a’?

>After you get the results PM me back!
I don’t understand this.
Does it mean “I’ll PM you back after I finish reading and understanding your PM?
What does “get the results” mean?

[YuriTokoro]

Originally Posted by Echo

No, it was my fault. I wasn't clear.

What I mean is that you cannot replace the noun with a pronoun. You must use a noun once again. As in you would have to keep 'this/that person' rather than switching to 'he/she'.

Do you mean that I should keep using a noun when the person is unidentified?

Should I say “this person” in this case?
‘I should keep using a noun when this person is unidentified.’
Which of them is correct?

[YuriTokoro]

Originally Posted by Echo

'Expected' is in the past tense and so your helping verb (have/had) must agree in tense. Have is the present tense while had is the past tense.

How about this sentence: He has gone to London.
Has is the present tense and gone is not present tense.
Is this right?

[Bureda]

Originally Posted by YuriTokoro

Hi, Bureda.

Tip is a word in english that means 'hint' or 'clue'. It is there to help you.

A full stop indicates a completion of a sentence, therefore your next word/words after the full stop need to have a new subject. That is why after you complete a sentence and end it with a full stop you cannot use 'and' or' 'but'.

Good job.

No! they mean completely different things. When you're being descriptive means being informative and are including a lot of information in your sentence.

When you're describing means you are currently describing something. Describing means you're trying to be informative and descriptive means you are informative.

Japanese uses 'this','that' and 'that over there' to describe position, but English does not. The position of a person or an object can by anywhere!

'This' is used to indicate you know what the person is or where he/she.
A correct term would be "Today I met a lovely person in JF Forums."

PM = Private Message. I sent you a fact sheet through private message.

Yes, it means PM me back after you finish reading it. Which you did.

What does “get the results” mean?

When you finish and exam, what do you get?

What Echo means is:
If your sentence is in the past tense then you keep it in the past tense.

You can't write "Today I had English and I did superbly well in the exam, I am great"

Had = Past
Am = Present

the correct structure would be
"Today I had English and I did superbly well in the exam, I was great"

You must keep a sentence balanced to your subject and time/tense.