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17071. Magoseph - 10/20/2005 10:08:11 AM Split infinitives
For the hyper-critical, “to boldly go where no man has gone before” should be “to go boldly. . . .” It is good to be aware that inserting one or more words between “to” and a verb is not strictly speaking an error, and is often more expressive and graceful than moving the intervening words elsewhere.
One of my grammar guru in this excerpt above agrees with you, Arky.
Hello, Mac. 17072. alistairconnor - 10/20/2005 10:23:24 AM yes Wonk, the Rs are the only sticking point for the pronunciation. I am incapable of rolling them. God, it's taken me twenty years to get the French R roughly right.
Luckily I have a good tutor... my girlfriend used to live in Chile... maybe I'll pick up the accent. 17073. alistairconnor - 10/20/2005 10:28:41 AM Yes Mago, if I put my mind to it, I'm sure I can make rapid progress... if I have time. As soon as I get a bit of grammar into my head, I'll start laboriously deciphering newspapers, and watching Almodovar films.
I probably won't get much chance to practice in Madrid : English is the working language for the project. It's more that I don't want to be a complete foreigner. Also, it's high time I learned another language. 17074. Macnas - 10/20/2005 11:19:30 AM Do you know, I am one of the few people who cannot roll the "r" sound.
And I don't mean bad at it or not doing it the right way, it's just physically impossible for me to do it.
17075. Macnas - 10/20/2005 11:20:01 AM Well, me and alistair. 17076. Macnas - 10/20/2005 11:20:19 AM Hello Mago. 17077. thoughtful - 10/20/2005 3:22:41 PM Mac, can you curl your tongue? 17078. Macnas - 10/20/2005 3:36:12 PM Trust me thoughtful, I cannot roll the "r" sound. 17079. wonkers2 - 10/20/2005 4:20:45 PM Cap'n Dirty sez, "Alistair, all you need is two phrases: "Otra cerveza, por favor." and "Tu cuarto o mio?" 17080. Macnas - 10/20/2005 4:32:02 PM I know cerveza is beer, I reckon I can guess the other. 17081. alistairconnor - 10/20/2005 4:36:29 PM well, Cap'n... my language tutor worked out that the Spanish wasn't actually necessary for my work... now she wants to come with me to Madrid! 17082. Macnas - 10/20/2005 4:39:12 PM This isn't the same person as is the climbing instructor is it? 17083. thoughtful - 10/20/2005 4:47:19 PM Mac, yes but can you curl your tongue? It's a dominant genetic trait. 17084. Macnas - 10/20/2005 4:50:26 PM Curl it which way? 17085. alistairconnor - 10/20/2005 4:54:47 PM Oh yes it is Mac... many talents. 17086. PelleNilsson - 10/20/2005 5:16:54 PM It seems to me most Anglos (except Scots and some other odds and ends)have difficulties with the rolling 'r'. An Anglo-Swedish accent is very easy to imitate. You just move your tongue back a bit and let the long wowels take on a somewhat diphtong-like quality. 17087. jayackroyd - 10/20/2005 5:33:47 PM "wowels"
Pretty good, that. 17088. Ms. No - 10/20/2005 5:35:53 PM I can roll r's easily but haven't figured out where in the throat those African click languages are formed. The closest I've come is a kind of "I swallowed a bug" inhale-click at about the uvula or just a little behind. 17089. Ms. No - 10/20/2005 5:36:40 PM Not that I've ever spoken with anyone who is actually fluent such and might be able to teach me the sound. 17090. PelleNilsson - 10/20/2005 5:58:34 PM On the other hand I cannot do a proper French 'r', just a croaking noise very far from Piaf quality. But from what I understand the rolling 'r' is used by in some dialects and by many-excolonials, so what the hell. The croak goes very well with German, thoughy.
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