Are these sentences natural? August 25

[musicgold]

Hi,

Are the following sentences natural to a native ear?

1. When I was small I used to finish my homework as soon as I came from school.

2. He is turning into an encyclopedia of soccer. These days whenever he talks to me he rattles out name and facts that I have never heard before in my life.

3. Who do we email to to report this incident? ( the consecutive ‘to’s seem awkward but I am not sure how avoid that)

Thanks,
MG.

[bhaisahab]

Hi,

Are the following sentences natural to a native ear?

1. When I was small I used to finish my homework as soon as I came from school.

2. He is turning into an encyclopedia of soccer. These days whenever he talks to me he rattles out names and facts that I have never heard before in my life.

3. Who do we email to to report this incident? ( the consecutive ‘to’s seem awkward but I am not sure how avoid that)

Thanks,
MG.

1. Do would be better than finish.
2. This is fine with the plural "names".
3. With"email" as a verb you can drop the first "to".

[5jj]

The firt sound better to me with an extra word.:1. When I was small I used to finish my homework as soon as I came in/home from school.

I prefer 'little' to 'small', though I'd probably say 'young(er)'.

[musicgold]

Thanks folks.

I have a follow up on #1, about the use of tense. I am using 'used to' to indicate a regular occurance, but I am not doing that for the action of 'coming from school'. What do think?

1. When I was small I used to finish my homework as soon as I came from school.

[bhaisahab]

Thanks folks.

I have a follow up on #1, about the use of tense. I am using 'used to' to indicate a regular occurance, but I am not doing that for the action of 'coming from school'. What do think?

1. When I was small I used to finish my homework as soon as I came from school.

I'd say "came home" or "came in".

[5jj]

I have a follow up on #1, about the use of tense. I am using 'used to' to indicate a regular occuraence, but I am not doing that for the action of 'coming from school'. What doyou think?

1. When I was small I used to finish my homework as soon as I came from school.

Just as one 'will' is enough in I will do it as soon as I come in, so one' used to' is enough in I used to do it as soon as I came in.

The point with the 'used to' example is that the common practice was to do/finish the homework on those occasions when the speaker came in. Common sense tells us that the coming in must have been a regular practice, but it doesn't have to be, as we see in this sentence:

I used to go into a cold sweat as soon as my (vomit-inducing) uncle came into the room and asked me for a kiss.

Fortunately for the speaker, the vile uncle came into her life (and room) perhaps only five times during her childhood, but each occasion left a never-to-be forgotten memory.