^Obviously not a native English speaker.
The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
Robert Frost
Not least because 'but' is perfectly acceptable at the start of a sentence in this format.
Barring that, yes, clearly drivel.
Possibly a speaker of French as a first language, which would explain the messed up word order.
Indeed. Quite a lot of research in this area, and starting a sentence with a conjunction is very normal in all forms and formal levels of discourse. I once had a big argument with a Thai 'English/Linguistics' department about this.Originally Posted by cyrille
Thais: all students who start a sentence with a conjunction will score zero.
Me: why?
Thais: that's a grammar rule.
Me: really, can you show me.
Thais: errm, errm, it's appropriate for academic English.
Me: why did you choose the two reading passages in this test?
Thais: they are appropriate level academic English from respected sources.
Me: and how many times do they start sentences with conjunctions in those reading passages?
Thais: errm, none, errm, let me check, errm, ooo, ohhh, many.
Me: And?
Them: And, we should change our marking scheme.
Cycling should be banned!!!
Canadian?Originally Posted by cyrille
Using a coordinating conjunction at the beginning of a sentence is quite permissible as a literary style signalling an important point one might wish to emphasise:
....and thus I would conclude, in most circumstances, that the plaintiff's arguments must succeed. But, (However,) .........
^ Agree, but you must work on your ellipses.
^^ Kinda agree, but the term 'literary style' is meaningless (I suspect he is referring to a genre, but lacks the appropriate discourse), and he has added a complex conjunction at the end without defining it's use; of course, this may have been an attempt to challenge the reader by broadening the implications, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt...
Boo, you remind of the character in Pnin who studied languages, he was fluent in eight, and during the course of a dinner party our narrator (Nabokov) disclosed he was in the process of "entombing" a ninth.
Be careful, lots of traps out there and you don't want to become your own mausoleum, do you?
Alternatively, you could consider Cormac McCarthy's observation that life was too fucking short to worry about the use of a colon, as opposed to a semi-colon.
I resent that remark. I know one language, and I'm not very good at that...Originally Posted by Seekingasylum
^ 'very' is just a word used for emphasis, that's what adverbs do... Just try to read the sentence in context as opposed to trying to apply an ill understood grammar rule to a decontextualized micro-textual element.
Or, on the other hand, he could just stop nit-picking.
Isn't it very normal for people to point out TEFLer's poor use of English?
Very, an adverb of degree, is used to make the adverb, adjective or verb they are classifying stronger. Normalcy, in its glorified blandest, should not be strengthened as such.
A basic really or highly would be what you're looking for.
Unless you are an Indian. Then wobble your head while you say it and you're fine.
^ why bother trying to make yourself look silly, very silly, exceedingly silly, no doubt remorselessly silly...
Look at definition 2, below then compare to my usage...
adverb
1.
in a high degree; extremely; exceedingly:
A giant is very tall.
2.
(used as an intensive emphasizing superlatives or stressing identity or oppositeness):
Very | Define Very at Dictionary.com
I have one further comment for you, Mr Plumber's brother:
^ sorry, can you repeat that. Your head wobbling distracted me.
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