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Mon 17 Aug, 2015 09:02 am
I wonder why not just use "My mother didn't like being left alone all that time"?
Well, she meant that she disliked being left alone. "Feel" seems to be abundant to me.
What is your opinion?
Context:
WHEN WE first came to St. Albans, I was sent to the High School for Girls, which despite its name took boys up to the age of ten. After I had been there one term, however, mu father made one of his almost yearly visits to Africa, this time for a rather long period, about four months. My mother didn't feel like being left alone all that time, so she took my two sisters and me to visit her school friend Beryl, who was married to the poet Robert Graves.
- My Brief History by Stephen Hawking
@oristarA,
Don't read too much into what may just be the author's personal writing style.
Quote:Feel" seems to be abundant to me.
Did you mean
redundant?
@tsarstepan,
tsarstepan wrote:
Don't read too much into what may just be the author's personal writing style.
Quote:Feel" seems to be abundant to me.
Did you mean
redundant?
Yeah, redundant. Sorry for misspelling.
Now please explain. Is it just about personal writing style?
@oristarA,
It seems to me, the simpler sentence and what Stephen Hawking wrote mean basically the same thing. Hawking's version is mainly wordier. The author might see an emotional distinction using the word "feel" in the sentence but without further explanation, they're basically the same.
No, there is a difference, and it is to do with when the absence happened.
She didn't like being left alone: it had already happened.
She didn't feel like being left alone: she was considering a future event, and she did not approve.
@oristarA,
These are two completely different grammatical forms with slightly different meanings.
It is confusing because the word "like" (a verb meaning to find agreeable) happens to be spelled the same as the word "like" (a conjunction meaning 'as if').
I might say "I feel like cookies tonight" which means that right now I have a desire for cookies that I might not have tomorrow. The verb is "feel", and the "like" is a conjunction that adds the dependent clause.
When I say "I like cookies' the verb is "like". The meaning changes a bit, and now it means that in general I find cookies to be something I enjoy.
@maxdancona,
Time flies like an arrow: fruit flies like a banana.
I though my previous answer was extraordinarily helpful. Just like Max's, above.
Where's Oristar gone? He's missing all the good stuff.
@McTag,
McTag wrote:
Where's Oristar gone? He's missing all the good stuff.
Not missing at all. I was the one who voted you and Max up (it seems there was someone who voted him down).
@oristarA,
So you understand it now? Good.
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