they will be hard, there will be hard, or it will be hard...

[Heidi]

Dear teachers,

The following is what I've heard from the cattle.mp3 below.

A: Cattle are usually the largest farm animals that people raise, and many of them weight more than 500 kgs. That's a very large animal.

B: That is a very large animal. And they(?) will be hard to have enough food for them as well as having enough space for them. So I think that is why we're gonna see how these mini cows can be so useful.

Could you please tell me if she was saying they will be hard to have...?

And in this case, can we use 'as well as to have enough space for them'?


Thank you!

[5jj]

This is unscripted dialogue. The speakers are not as careful as they would be if they wrote. Their minds pick on certain things

A: Cattle are usually the largest farm animals that people raise, and many of them weight more than 500 kgs. That's a very large animal.The speaker is, at that moment, thinking singularly - 'a cow weighing 500 kg is a very large animal'.

B: That is a very large animal. And they(?) will be hard to have enough food for them as well as having enough space for them.
The speaker is probably unconsciously combining 'it will be hard to have enough food for them' and 'they well be hard to feed (economically or logistically)'.

In speech we very often forget how we have started a sentence before we have finished it, and in finish something we didn't actually start. In normal conversation, neither speaker nor listener notice this. We are listening to the speaker's message, not the individual words.

[emsr2d2]

Dear teachers,

The following is what I've heard from the cattle.mp3 below.

A: Cattle are usually the largest farm animals that people raise, and many of them weight more than 500 kgs. That's a very large animal.

B: That is a very large animal. And they(?) will be hard to have enough food for them as well as having enough space for them. So I think that is why we're gonna see how these mini cows can be so useful.

Could you please tell me if she was saying they will be hard to have...?

And in this case, can we use 'as well as to have enough space for them'?


Thank you!

She says "it" not "they". It's probably the accent that put you off the right track. I did have to listen to it 3 times to be absolutely sure, but she says "And it will be hard to have enough food..."

She says "have" not "having". I think you heard the first syllable of "enough" and thought it was "-ing" on the end of "have". She says "as well as have enough space for them".

[5jj]

She says "it" not "they". It's probably the accent that put you off the right track. I did have to listen to it 3 times to be absolutely sure, but she says "And it will be hard to have enough food..."
I still hear 'they'.

She says "have" not "having". I think you heard the first syllable of "enough" and thought it was "-ing" on the end of "have". She says "as well as have enough space for them".
I agree - after re-listening.

5

[riquecohen]

Dear teachers,

The following is what I've heard from the cattle.mp3 below.

A: Cattle are usually the largest farm animals that people raise, and many of them weight weigh more than 500 kgs. That's a very large animal.

Thank you!

[Heidi]

Dear teachers,

Thank you very much for all your help! :)