row..row..row

Forums: English
Email this Topic • Print this Page

Hi..I am still rowing and rowing in grammar Smile

and learning is fun, especially here,with you guys.

1) I'm being foolish.

As I understood we have two rules to tell about the above form :

* It's present continuous, or

*It's because we might use be in the continuous form only with some adjectives like bad,good,foolish,etc.

Am I right here ?

2) How do you like the two sentences:

_ You are being funny ?

_ You are joking ?

3 ) A mother is talking to her son at dinner and reminding him about his previous behaviour with his uncle :

_ If you just were being polite. ( she means if you at least pretended )

_ If you were just polite.

which one is right?

4) Which is the correct to say :

_ How much is you hat ?

_ What does this hat cost ? ( I didn't get it here )

Topic Stats
Top Replies
Link to this Topic

Type: Discussion • Score: 1 • Views: 608 • Replies: 6

No top replies

In (3), 'If you were just polite.'-- This one sounds a little off, but I suppose I can't slight the grammar. The sentence before would benefit by reversing the order of 'just' and 'were'. I don't understand why they begin with 'if'.

The pair in (2) are not uncommon nowadays-- making a question by raising the tone at the end, rather than inverting S and V.

In (4), '<b>your</b> hat'. I wish folks would preview and proofread before posting.

The others sound fine, Navigator.

0 Replies

sorry for that , I did preview though :wink:

0 Replies

Quote:

2) How do you like the two sentences:

_ You are being funny ?
_ You are joking ?

Sorry, but you don't ask people whether their last statements were a joke, the point IS that you have understood the joke and react to it. In certain situations, to ask those questions may be considered aggressive or rude.

The problem is that to be funny is not always the point of making a joke. I may make a joke, but it may be offensive to some-one who hears it - not really funny at all.

0 Replies

No,you didn't get my point sir.I mean from a grammatical perspective .If we consider the first sentence:

You are being funny.

I found out that this could imply pretending and also the adjective makes the sentence in continuous form with be.

But the second one is what most people use,I guess.So, I am only asking about grammar things. Sad

0 Replies

you are being funny has a slightly different connotation in that it can be used as 'being funny' as in being awkward, non co-operative and obstructive (colloquial)

you are funny is a comment on someones wit or sense of humour

0 Replies

Thanks Vivien

0 Replies

row..row..row

Related Topics

Quick Links

My Account

able2know