Make sure it's not something you can't do?

Forums:
Email this Topic • Print this Page

Hi.

My friend and I were to write about ways to say 'no' wisely.
How can we respond intelligently, maintaining good relationships?

This is what she said.

- Tell the person requesting your help that you need some time to think of it
and make sure it's something you can't do.

I don't think this sentence sounds perfect though I'm not quite sure what exactly is wrong with it.
First of all, I think 'time to think of it' must be 'time to think about it'. Right?

What about 'make sure' part? Does it sound natural?

To get a better understanding of the usage of 'make sure',
I looked up some sentences containing 'make sure'.

1. Make sure that the water is not too hot.
2. Make sure that she gets to school.
3.Make sure he wakes up on time.

Well, I think I get the gist of it.

Still, I can't help but wonder if the expression above sounds okay
- ... make sure it's something you can't do.

Does it look good enough?

Actually, I'd have said,
'make sure he or she realizes that it's something you can't do'.

Well, English is such a difficult language to learn,
I realize it quite often these days.

Anway, I'd appreciate any comments.
Thank you guys.

Topic Stats
Top Replies
Link to this Topic

Type: Question • Score: 0 • Views: 342 • Replies: 8

No top replies

View best answer, chosen by SMickey

@SMickey,

SMickey wrote:

First of all, I think 'time to think of it' must be 'time to think about it'. Right?

correct

your instincts are generally very good Smile

0 Replies

@SMickey,

SMickey wrote:

My friend and I were to write about ways to say 'no' wisely.
How can we respond intelligently, maintaining good relationships?

This is what she said.

- Tell the person requesting your help that you need some time to think of it
and make sure it's something you can't do.

to be clear, you're supposed to describe how you would respond, not actually write the sentence you'd use. is that correct?

1 Reply

@ehBeth,

I am afraid I didn't exactly understand what you said.

Do you mean that I'm supposed to explain the reason to the person who asked me to do something?

Well, a couple of my friends and have been practicing writing English,
and 'how to deal with it when you're asked to do something you can't handle' was the topic of this week. And I run into seemingly imperfetct or awkward sentences, and I post those suspicious expressions here to ask for your help. I fear I'm barking up the wrong tree, not understaning what you meant to say. Even so, it's all my fault.

1 Reply

@SMickey,

I was trying to figure out what your assignment was as your OP wasn't clear.

__

in any case, this

SMickey wrote:

'how to deal with it when you're asked to do something you can't handle' was the topic of this week.

is not what you described in the OP

Is the sentence you've quoted here the actual assignment?

1 Reply

@ehBeth,

Aware that trying to write in English is such a great way to improve English skills, a couple of my friends and I have decided to write in English once a week, about anything we like.

We are not attending school or anything like that, and no one forces us to do it. So I doubt whether any of it could be called 'assignment'.

Only, as we all share what each of us writes when the writing is done,
I get to see a lot of seemingly unnatural or funny expressions.
And then I post those unnatural phrases here, waiting for your answer.

This time, a friend of mine said,
'Make sure it's not something you can't do'
and I wanted to know if this sentence sounds okay to native speakers.

After getting the answer I want, I inform my friends of the mistakes to be corrected, making them believe it is me who did all.
Truth be told, I take all the credit you deserve. lol.

2 Replies

@SMickey,

Assignment doesn't necessarily have to do with school/classes.

___

In any case, what you're trying to write about is not the same in your original post as it is in your more recent post.

Quote:

My friend and I were to write about ways to say 'no' wisely.
How can we respond intelligently, maintaining good relationships?

Quote:

'how to deal with it when you're asked to do something you can't handle'

Which are you trying to get a response to? they're really very different.

__

You were right about your friend's sentence being awkward. The remaining question is whether their sentence has any relationship to what you were trying to write about.

__

My question toward the beginning of the thread was to try to clarify if you were supposed to write a sentence (to say) or to write instructions for the sentence. You clarified that the instructions were what you were working on.

0 Replies

@SMickey,

SMickey wrote:

Truth be told, I take all the credit you deserve. lol.

hahahahahaha

that's awful

and funny

__

you should make plans to have them log in here sometime so they can join in a conversation - maybe with some of the word game people. I bet it would be fun and useful if we can sort out the time zones.

0 Replies

When I win the lottery , I’ll give you half.
Make sure that’s not something you can’t do.

0 Replies

Forums
» Make sure it's not something you can't do?

Read Question
Reply to All

Make sure it's not something you can't do?

Quick Links

My Account

able2know