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  #1  
Old 10-Mar-2006, 16:19
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Country: taiwan
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First Language: chinese
shihhungchou is on a distinguished road
Default a grammar question

Dear all:

Does anyone help me explain the meaning of following sentences? Are all of these correct? Is the meaning the same? How will you rewrite the sentence?

1. it is difficult to understand what the teacher talks about.

2. the teacher talks about something that are difficult to understand.

3. the teacher talks about what is difficult to understand.

4. the teacher talks about what it is difficult to understand.


Chou
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  #2  
Old 10-Mar-2006, 16:53
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Country: France
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gbodet is on a distinguished road
Default Re: a grammar question

Quote:
Originally Posted by shihhungchou
1. it is difficult to understand what the teacher talks about.
2. the teacher talks about something that are difficult to understand.
3. the teacher talks about what is difficult to understand.
4. the teacher talks about what it is difficult to understand.
Chou
Hi,
1 The sentence is correct as far as it means that normally, on an everyday basis, I understand what the teacher says: the aspect here is "simple" or "0". There are no comments made, I'm just giving a caracteristic, a fact.
2 There is a mistake: "something" is singular, as are other pronominal forms such as "everybody" in the striking (for an non english speaker) example: Everybody was clapping their hand
3 Correect
4 Mistake: what is relative pronoun: subject of the proposition or sentence "is difficult to understand. So "what" and "it" are two subjects. Youi only want one. As in the above sentence.
I hope I have answered your question,
Cheers,

Guillaume
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