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Message |
fred
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2005 3:41 pm
Post subject: how /what you look like |
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I've got a question to the native speakers out there.
Is it ok to say
"it shows HOW such a robot could look like" ?
And how about
"He cannot accept why to send men to Mars"
I feel that both phrases are grammatically wrong, but maybe someone can
disabuse me of that notion.
Alfred
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Robert Lieblich
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2005 7:08 pm
Post subject: Re: how /what you look like |
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fred wrote:
| Quote: |
I've got a question to the native speakers out there.
Is it ok to say
"it shows HOW such a robot could look like" ?
|
No. That is not idiomatic English. Delete "like". Or write "It
shows what such a robot should look like." (Also, in English we do
not put a space before question marks. Your question should end this
way -- like"?)
This uses of "how" is very common among non-native speakers trying to
translate directly from their native language. We frequently see
subject lines saying things like "How does this mean in English?"
That is unidiomatic and an error. Often the problem can be solved by
replacing "how" with "what", but not always.
| Quote: | And how about
"He cannot accept why to send men to Mars"
|
No. Depending on what is meant, you could say either "He cannot
accept sending men to Mars" or "He cannot accept the reasons for
sending men to Mars." Other variations are also possible.
| Quote: | I feel that both phrases are grammatically wrong, but maybe someone can
disabuse me of that notion.
|
They're sentences, not just phrases, and neither is idiomatic. Native
speakers of English regard both as errors.
--
Bob Lieblich
Idiom savant |
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Don Phillipson
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2005 8:23 pm
Post subject: Re: how /what you look like |
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"fred" <af.epple@t-online.de> wrote in message
news:djd1fk$o3v$00$1@news.t-online.com...
| Quote: | Is it ok to say
"it shows HOW such a robot could look like" ?
|
No: there are two OK alternatives:
"it shows what such a robot could look like"
"it shows how such a robot could look"
Case 1 ends with a preposition, which jars many
readers, but the correct English idiom for "resemble"
is "look like" i.e. two words and requires a direct
object viz. "what;" but "look how" does not.
| Quote: | "He cannot accept why to send men to Mars"
I feel that both phrases are grammatically wrong . . .
|
Better:
"He cannot accept that men be sent to Mars"
The English string ["why to" + verb] is seldom
euphonious, although it breaks no rule of grammar.
--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)
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fred
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 7:09 pm
Post subject: Re: how /what you look like |
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Robert Lieblich wrote:
| Quote: | fred wrote:
I've got a question to the native speakers out there.
Is it ok to say
"it shows HOW such a robot could look like" ?
No. That is not idiomatic English. Delete "like". Or write "It
shows what such a robot should look like." (Also, in English we do
not put a space before question marks. Your question should end this
way -- like"?)
This uses of "how" is very common among non-native speakers trying to
translate directly from their native language. We frequently see
subject lines saying things like "How does this mean in English?"
That is unidiomatic and an error. Often the problem can be solved by
replacing "how" with "what", but not always.
And how about
"He cannot accept why to send men to Mars"
No. Depending on what is meant, you could say either "He cannot
accept sending men to Mars" or "He cannot accept the reasons for
sending men to Mars." Other variations are also possible.
I feel that both phrases are grammatically wrong, but maybe someone can
disabuse me of that notion.
They're sentences, not just phrases, and neither is idiomatic. Native
speakers of English regard both as errors.
Thanks a lot. |
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