6 - food, eating

[Lenka]

Could you correct this text, please? It's an article about food (genarally) and eating in the CZ and in the UK


FOOD AND EATING

Eating and drinking are some of the most important things that influence our health. That is why we should try to eat mainly healthy food and it it regularly. It means to eat more times a day less food – not to have one big meal for the whole day.
It is important to start the day with breakfast. British breakfast consists of some drink – e.g. a cup of tea, cofee or a glass of juice or milk and cereals – cornflakes with milk, cream or porridge. This can be followed by fried or grilled bacon and eggs, sausages, buttered toast with marmalade, sandwiches and so on. British like to eat much for their breakfast and unlike in the Czech Republic. Here, people ussually just drink some tea or coffee and eat some buttered bread or a roll, or a yoghurt. I myself don’t ussually even have much time for having some breakfast in the morning and I ussually don’t have appetite for it. My first meal of the day (except of the really small breakfast which I eat just to have something in my stomach before I get to school) is a supper (elevens).
Elevens is a small snack (refreshment) at about 11 (for me ussually at 10) o’clock in the morning – between breakfast and lunch.
Sometimes, ussually at the weekends when I don’t have to go to school, I don’t have breakfast at all, but brunch. This term expresses the first meal of the day eaten at lunchtime (it means it’s a breakfast mixed with lunch).
Other meal after lunch (in Britain usually simple, in the Czech Republic usually substantial – however, if you eat at (school) canteen or just somewhere at work you don’t eat to much; I usually eat more when I come home – at about 4pm) can be either some small snack or tea at 5pm and dinner. In Britain the dinner is the main meal of the day, while in the CZ it is considered to be just something like a small snack. If I should speak about myself, I will have to say that for me dinner is most important too. I eat the most for dinner. It is the time when I am already at home and I have enough time to cook a hot meal for myself, although the Czechs (the most) don’t eat much in the evening.
There is a tradition in Britain to drink just plain water (not tea, coffee or anything else) for dinner. However, I guess people don’t follow it nowadays, although plain water is healthy.
As to healthy and unhealthy diet, I have already said in the beginning that we should eat regularly. We shouldn’t eat too fat meals which contain fat meat (or we should replace it with lean meat), it could be also good if we avoided eating too much sugars and fried foodstuff. It is healthy to eat various food and we should respect it. A good diet is rich in minerals and vitamins. It’s good to eat in a quiet, relaxed atmosphere, as well as drink a lot. We should drink two litres of liquid every day.
Czech people like to eat much. Czech cuisine isn’t considered to be very healthy as it contains much fat meat and food and less vegetables. Czech national meal is pork with dumplings and sauerkraut. It isn’t just light meal, but we all love it! Also Wiener schnitzel and cream sauces with meat and dumplings are very popular. But most Czech are slowly becoming to understand they should be figure-conscious and eat at least a little healthier. Italian food such as spaghetti, pasta and pizza is very favoured and there are more and more Chinese and foreign restaurants appear in our country. Foodstuff that Czechs surely miss are fish. We can eat freshwater fish from ponds and rivers in our country or fish we bought in shops, but I don’t think Czechs are used to eat fish very often. Seafood such as oysters or octopus are quite unknown.
In my opinion, eating habits in the UK are much more healthier than the ones in my country. However, I believe eating of each person is individual and it doesn’t depend on where you come from. British (as entire nation) probably try to eat healthier food.
Eating habits in the USA aren’t probably just the best as many people suffer overweight. This is caused by eating to much and eating in fast foods, which is very popular there. I guess a hamburger, chips or crisps are normally eaten just for breakfasts. Fried food isn’t healthy and chips and all this food is fried. Many people in the USA don’t probably sport too much and they go everywhere by car, which can be one of the reasons (among others which contain also eating habits) that cause obesity.

[Lenka]

Well, I had a look over it and I found some mistakes on my own, so I corrected them. Anyway, I guess there are still many mistakes I didn't notice and it would be great if you could correct it for me.

And I have a special question:
Are both these sentences correct? Why?

1) But most of the Czechs is slowly becoming to understand they should be figure-conscious and eat at least a little healthier.
2) But most Czechs are slowly becoming to understand they should be figure-conscious and eat at least a little healthier.


Here the essay is:

FOOD AND EATING

Eating and drinking are some of the most important things that influence our health. That is why we should try to eat mainly healthy food and eat it regularly. It means to eat more times a day less food – not to have one big meal for the whole day.
It is important to start the day with breakfast. British breakfast consists of some drink – e.g. a cup of tea, coffee or a glass of juice or milk and cereals – cornflakes with milk, cream or porridge. This can be followed by fried or grilled bacon and eggs, sausages, buttered toast with marmalade, sandwiches and so on. British like to eat much for their breakfast and unlike in the Czech Republic, where people ussually just drink some tea or coffee and eat some buttered bread or a roll, or a yoghurt. I myself don’t ussually even have much time for having some breakfast in the morning and I ussually don’t have appetite for it. My first meal of the day (except of the really small breakfast which I eat just to have something in my stomach before I get to school) is a supper (elevens).
Elevens is a small snack (refreshment) at about 11 (for me ussually at 10) o’clock in the morning – between breakfast and lunch.
Sometimes, ussually at the weekends when I don’t have to go to school, I don’t have breakfast at all, but brunch. This term expresses the first meal of the day eaten at lunchtime (it means it’s a breakfast mixed with lunch).
Other meal after lunch (in Britain usually simple, in the Czech Republic usually substantial – however, if you eat at (school) canteen or just somewhere at work you don’t eat to much; I usually eat more when I come home – at about 4pm) can be either some small snack or tea at 5pm and dinner. In Britain the dinner is the main meal of the day, while in the CZ it is considered to be just something like a small snack. If I should speak about myself, I have to say that for me the dinner is the most important too. I eat the most for dinner. It is the time when I am already at home and I have enough time to cook a hot meal for myself, although the Czechs (the most) don’t eat much in the evening.
There is a tradition in Britain to drink just plain water (not tea, coffee or anything else) for dinner. However, I guess people don’t follow it nowadays, although plain water is healthy.
As to healthy and unhealthy diet, I have already said in the beginning that we should eat regularly. We shouldn’t eat too fat meals which contain fat meat (or we should replace it with lean meat), it could be also good if we avoided eating too much sugars and fried foodstuff. It is healthy to eat various food and we should respect it. A good diet is rich in minerals and vitamins. It’s good to eat in a quiet, relaxed atmosphere, as well as drink a lot. We should drink two litres of liquid every day.
Czech people like to eat much. Czech cuisine isn’t considered to be very healthy as it contains much fat meat and food and less vegetables. Czech national meal is pork with dumplings and sauerkraut. It isn’t just light meal, but we all love it! Also Wiener schnitzel and cream sauces with meat and dumplings are very popular. But most of the Czechs is slowly becoming to understand they should be figure-conscious and eat at least a little healthier. Italian food such as spaghetti, pasta and pizza is very favoured and more and more Chinese and foreign restaurants appear in our country. Foodstuff that Czechs surely miss are fish. We can eat freshwater fish from ponds and rivers in our country or fish we bought in shops, but I don’t think the Czechs are used to eat fish very often. Seafood such as oysters or octopus are quite unknown.
In my opinion, eating habits in the UK are much more healthier than the ones in my country. However, I believe eating of each person is individual and it doesn’t depend on where you come from. The British (as entire nation) probably try to eat healthier food.
Eating habits in the USA aren’t probably just the best as many people suffer overweight. This is caused by eating to much and eating in fast foods, which is very popular there. I guess a hamburger, chips or crisps are normally eaten just for breakfasts. Fried food isn’t healthy and chips and all this food is fried. Many people in the USA don’t probably sport too much and they go everywhere by car, which can be one of the reasons (among others which contain also eating habits) that cause obesity.

[Coffa]

Originally Posted by Lenka

Are both these sentences correct? Why?

1) But most of the Czechs is slowly becoming to understand they should be figure-conscious and eat at least a little healthier.
2) But most Czechs are slowly becoming to understand they should be figure-conscious and eat at least a little healthier.

1. "But most of the Czechs are slowly coming to understand..."
2. "But most Czechs are slowly coming to understand..."

With these modifications, both sentences are correct, but 2 is more natural.

[Coffa]

Eating and drinking are two of the most important things that influence our health. That is why we should try to eat mostly healthy food and eat it regularly. It means eating less food more often – not having one big meal for the whole day.

It is important to start the day with breakfast. A British breakfast consists of something to drink – e.g. a cup of tea or coffee, or a glass of juice or milk, and cereal – cornflakes with milk or cream, or porridge. This can be followed by fried or grilled bacon and eggs, sausages, buttered toast with marmalade, sandwiches and so on. The British like to eat a lot for their breakfast, unlike the Czech Republic, where people usually just drink some tea or coffee and eat bread and butter or a roll, or a yoghurt. I, myself, don’t usually have time for any breakfast in the morning and often don’t have the appetite for it either. My first meal of the day (except for a really small breakfast which I eat just to have something in my stomach before I get to school) is elevenses.

Elevenses is a small snack or refreshment at about 11 (for me usually at 10) o’clock in the morning – between breakfast and lunch.

Sometimes, usually at the weekends when I don’t have to go to school, I don’t have breakfast at all, but brunch. This term describes the first meal of the day when eaten at lunchtime (it means breakfast mixed with lunch).

Lunch in Britain is usually simple, while in the Czech Republic it's usually substantial – however, if you eat at the school canteen or at work, you won’t eat much; I usually eat more when I come home – at about 4pm. The meal after lunch can be either a small snack or tea at 5pm or dinner. In Britain dinner is the main meal of the day, while in the CZ it is considered to be just a small snack. Speaking for myself, I have to say that dinner is the most important meal too. That is when I eat most. This is the time when I am at home and have enough time to cook a hot meal for myself, although most Czechs don’t eat much in the evening.

There is a tradition in Britain to drink just plain water (not tea, coffee or anything else) for dinner. However, I believe people don’t follow this tradition as much nowadays, even though plain water is healthy.

As for a healthy diet, I said in the beginning that we should eat regularly. We shouldn’t eat meals which contain fat meat (or we should replace it with lean meat) and it would also be a good idea if we avoided eating too much sugar and fried foodstuff. It is healthy to eat a variety of food and we should respect that. A good diet is rich in minerals and vitamins. It’s good to eat in a quiet, relaxed atmosphere, as well as drink a lot. We should drink two litres of liquid every day.

Czech people like to eat a lot. Czech cuisine isn’t considered very healthy as it contains a lot of fatty meat and food and few vegetables. The Czech national meal is pork with dumplings and sauerkraut. It isn’t a light meal, but we all love it! Wiener schnitzel and cream sauces with meat and dumplings are also very popular. But most Czechs are slowly coming to understand that they should be conscious of their figures and eat at least a little more healthily. Italian food such as spaghetti, pasta and pizza is very popular and more and more Chinese and foreign restaurants are starting to appear in our country. The foodstuff that Czechs certainly miss is fish. We can eat freshwater fish from ponds and rivers in our country or fish bought from shops, but I don’t think Czechs are used to eating fish very often. Seafood such as oysters or octopus is quite unknown.

In my opinion, eating habits in the UK are much healthier than the ones in my country. However, I believe each person's eating habits are individual and it doesn’t depend on where you come from. The British (as a nation) probably try to eat healthier food.

Eating habits in the USA are probably not the best as many people suffer from being overweight. This is caused by eating too much, and fast food in particular, which is very popular there. I believe hamburger, chips or crisps are normally eaten just for breakfast. Fried food isn’t healthy and all this food is fried. Many people in the USA don’t play sport much and they travel everywhere by car, which can be one of the factors that cause obesity, along with their eating habits.

-------------------------------

Lenka, I notice you use parentheses a lot. They can often be useful, but used to excess they cause the reader to forget the thread of the sentence - particularly when inserted into long subclauses. Might I suggest you concentrate on simplifying your sentence structure - try to rephrase using the minimum of words and look for ways of saying what you want to say as directly as possible.

[Lenka]

Thanks a lot, Coffa! I realized you answered my thread quite late....at the moment - a few days later... I don't understand how I couldn't notice it before...
Well, I really thank you... I understand it's not just fun to read it all and then even correct it... I appreciate it!

[Lenka]

Coffa, I had a closer look at it and I realized I don't understand why some sentences were incorrect... Could you explain it please? I guess that the only reason you corrected some sentences was just the fact it sounded weird to you, but who knows....
1) SOME

Originally Posted by Lenka

British breakfast consists of some drink

Originally Posted by Coffa

A British breakfast consists of something to drink

Why is some drink bad?

Originally Posted by Lenka

can be either some small snack or tea at 5pm and dinner.

Originally Posted by Coffa

The meal after lunch can be either a small snack or tea at 5pm or dinner.

Why can't I use "some" in these sentences? It has the meaning of "some kind of", doesn't it?


2) MUCH / A LOT OF

Originally Posted by Lenka

British like to eat much for their breakfast

Originally Posted by Coffa

The British like to eat a lot for their breakfast

Why is much incorrect? Is it true that we can't use "much" in positive sentences?


3) AT THE WEEKENDS

Sometimes, usually at the weekends when I don’t have to go to school, I don’t have breakfast at all, but brunch.

My teacher told me that I can't say "at the weekends", but just "at weekends" in the previous sentence. Is she right?


4) MOST/THE MOST

Originally Posted by Lenka

I eat the most for dinner.

Originally Posted by Coffa

That is when I eat most.

Why can't I say "That is when I eat THE MOST" ?
I guess the reason is that "the most" is a noun, while "most" is an adverb, but I am not sure...


5) BELIEVE/GUESS

Originally Posted by Lenka

However, I guess people don’t follow it nowadays, although plain water is healthy.

Originally Posted by Coffa

However, I believe people don’t follow this tradition as much nowadays, even though plain water is healthy.

Does it just sound better with "believe" or there is a difference between usage of these two verbs?


6) ALTHOUGH / EVEN THOUGH; so, that, as

Originally Posted by Lenka

However, I guess people don’t follow it nowadays, although plain water is healthy.

Originally Posted by Coffa

However, I believe people don’t follow this tradition as much nowadays, even though plain water is healthy.

Why "even though" instead of "although"?
By the way, is it possible to say also "so" or "that" instead of "as" in the sentence?
However, I believe people don’t follow this tradition as much nowadays, even though plain water is healthy.


7) HOME / AT HOME

This is the time when I am at home and have enough time to cook a hot meal for myself, although most Czechs don’t eat much in the evening.

My teacher told corrected this sentence to ".....when I am home and... (without AT). Why? Is it right?

[Coffa]

Coffa, I had a closer look at it and I realized I don't understand why some sentences were incorrect... Could you explain it please? I guess that the only reason you corrected some sentences was just the fact it sounded weird to you, but who knows....

I can try .

1) SOME

Why is some drink bad?

Why can't I use "some" in these sentences? It has the meaning of "some kind of", doesn't it?

It has the meaning of "some kind of drink", yes. It has that meaning though primarily when used in the sense of "some drink or some food". That is, it is a generic sense. You used it in the sense of having a particular drink for breakfast. You do not have "some drink" for breakfast - you have "something to drink", or perhaps "a drink". You are not having drinks in general - you are having coffee or orange juice, etc. - in other words, a particular drink.

The same applies to "some small snack". It isn't wrong as such - I corrected it because it sounds unnatural in the context. In the context of your sentence, a native speaker would use the form I wrote, but would understand what you meant. To me, it instantly sounded like foreign speech.

2) MUCH / A LOT OF

Why is much incorrect? Is it true that we can't use "much" in positive sentences?

"Much" is ungrammatical here. It is an adjective without a noun.

3) AT THE WEEKENDS
My teacher told me that I can't say "at the weekends", but just "at weekends" in the previous sentence. Is she right?

Yes, technically she is . I apologise - the idiom I wrote is commonly used in speech by native speakers, but is technically incorrect. "The weekends" means particular weekends, not weekends in general. Give my compliments to your teacher.

4) MOST/THE MOST

Why can't I say "That is when I eat THE MOST" ?
I guess the reason is that "the most" is a noun, while "most" is an adverb, but I am not sure...

Correct. You are referring to "eating", not to "food" in the sentence. "The most" is an adjective modifying "food", whereas "most" is an adverb modifying "eating". Compare "I eat the most (food) of my food at weekends" with "I eat most (of my eating) at weekends".

5) BELIEVE/GUESS

Does it just sound better with "believe" or there is a difference between usage of these two verbs?

"I guess" would be used when you have reported something contrary to what you believe or are surprised by it, that is you are intending to be sarcastic. For example:

"I heard Americans eat twice their weight for breakfast. I guess they're not concerned about losing weight." - I might say this even though I know most Americans are concerned with losing weight, but intend to be sarcastic about how they practice that concern.

I read your sentence as meaning that you "believe" the tradition of drinking water is no longer followed, whereas with "guess" it sounds more like you are making a sarcastic statement.

6) ALTHOUGH / EVEN THOUGH; so, that, as

Why "even though" instead of "although"?
By the way, is it possible to say also "so" or "that" instead of "as" in the sentence?

I used "even though" to indicate that it is surprising that people don't drink water as much. "Although" does not convey this sense so strongly.

"So" and "that" are equally suitable in the sentence.

However, I believe people don’t follow this tradition as much nowadays, even though plain water is healthy.
7) HOME / AT HOME
My teacher told corrected this sentence to ".....when I am home and... (without AT). Why? Is it right?

No. In my opinion, both forms (with and without "at") are equally correct. Both are used in common speech, and I know of no grammatical reason to prefer one over the other. In fact, I chose "at home" deliberately to contrast with "at work", so I believe I was correct in this instance.

[Lenka]

you managed to explain it really very well!

and now I have some other questions...


8) MUCH / A LOT OF

Originally Posted by Lenka

Czech cuisine isn’t considered to be very healthy as it contains much fat meat and food and less vegetables.

Originally Posted by Coffa

Czech cuisine isn’t considered very healthy as it contains a lot of fatty meat and food and few vegetables.

I understood the explanation from my previous question on this topis, but it seems to me "much" could be used as well... Why not?


9) ARTICLE
Seafood such as oysters or an (?) octopus is quite unknown.

Should the "an" be there?


Well, that could be all I believe (or guess?)...
I'm sorry for bothering... If you ever needed to help with Czech (it sounds very funny, doesn't it?), you can ask me

[Coffa]

Originally Posted by Lenka

you managed to explain it really very well!
and now I have some other questions...
8) MUCH / A LOT OF

I understood the explanation from my previous question on this topis, but it seems to me "much" could be used as well... Why not?

I'm afraid I can't be much help to you on this one. I know "much" sounds incorrect here, but I can't explain why. In fact "too much" would sound correct. There may be others who can provide a proper answer, but to me "a lot of" is simply what would be said in this context. "Most" just makes the sentence very strange.

9) ARTICLE
Seafood such as oysters or an (?) octopus is quite unknown.
Should the "an" be there?

No. Your original passage as well as mine used "octopus". It has to be the plural of "an octopus" because it is one of many "seafood". It is open to some debate as to what that plural is. Classicists would say that the plural is "octopi" from Latin. Most English linguists would probably say that the Latin form in English is perverse except where commonly established. So we have "octopuses" or "octopus". Both have their advocates. I chose "octopus" as the plural because an octopus is a type of fish, and the plural of "a fish" is "fish".

[QUOTE=Lenka]
Well, that could be all I believe (or guess?)...
I'm sorry for bothering... If you ever needed to help with Czech (it sounds very funny, doesn't it?), you can ask me /[QUOTE]

I might do sometime . At the moment, I'm struggling more than enough with Spanish .

BTW, it's: "If you ever needed help with your Czech..." OR "If you ever needed me to help with your Czech..."

[Lenka]

Thank you a lot... (by the way, it has just occured to me other question... can I use "a lot" in the previous sentence?) <= ad 8)


10) PRESENT PERFECT / PAST SIMPLE

As for a healthy diet, I said in the beginning that we should eat regularly.

Why is "have already said" (instead of the highlighted "said") incorrect?



I promise these are really the last questions!