about hear

[wuwei]

Hi, teacher,
Could you tell the meaning of the word, hear, in following sentence,
The taxi will be hear in a few minutes, pls listen out.
Thanks
Ian

[englishstudent]

Originally Posted by wuwei

Hi, teacher,
Could you tell the meaning of the word, hear, in following sentence,
The taxi will be hear in a few minutes, pls listen out.

Ian, it should "here" not "hear". :)

I am not sure what is meant by "pls listen out".
May I ask where you found this sentence? I mean,
is it from a book?

There is a phrase "please listen up" which means,
"please pay attention", but I don't think that is
what is meant here.

[englishstudent]

Oh, I think I know what is intended in the sentence you posted.

It should be "The taxi will be heard in a few minutes. Please listen out".

That means someone is expecting a taxi to arrive and that they will hear
it when it arrives, so that person is being advised to listen for the
taxi.

[wuwei]

Hi, Englishstudent, I found it in the Phrasal verb 3 test on this website, and the previous sentence is 'The taxi will be hear in a few minutes, so listen out for it.'
I do think there is some mistake here,too, because I can not explain it according to the grammar.
Thanks!
Ian

[BobK]

Originally Posted by englishstudent

I am not sure what is meant by "pls listen out".
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.

It works fine for me (BE); 'listen up' is a relative newcomer. Some speakers avoid it even now, as an Americanism (but so was 'boyfriend' once, so where do you draw the line?)

b

[Philly]

Originally Posted by BobK

It works fine for me (BE); 'listen up' is a relative newcomer. Some speakers avoid it even now, as an Americanism (but so was 'boyfriend' once, so where do you draw the line?)
b

Hi Bob
In your opinion, what percentage of Brits think that way (I mean the avoiding of "Americanisms" and the drawing of lines)? Considering that English is a language that so happily absorbs so many words from so many languages, that really is quite an inexplicable mindset. What about Americans saying e.g. "fall" instead of "autumn"? What do people make of that in the UK?
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Hi wuwei
.
I haven't seen the test you're referring to, but I would assume it's a typo and the word should be here.
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Hi englishstudent
.
The phrasal verb "listen out" sounds a bit like British slang to me but the meaning seems to fit the test sentence nicely and I'd say your understanding of it is correct.
You could also say (at least in the US) "keep an ear out for something". In other words "listen and be prepared to hear some specific and expected sound."
.

[Coffa]

Originally Posted by Philly

Hi Bob
In your opinion, what percentage of Brits think that way (I mean the avoiding of "Americanisms" and the drawing of lines)? Considering that English is a language that so happily absorbs so many words from so many languages, that really is quite an inexplicable mindset. What about Americans saying e.g. "fall" instead of "autumn"? What do people make of that in the UK?

Is it not natural to wish to preserve the purity of the language from colonial imperfections ?

I think the vast majority of British English speakers, like any other language community, simply use whatever vocabulary and grammatical styles are current in their social group. That will vary with age, class and region. Since the influence of American English on British English is primarily through the media, it has a stronger effect on the speech patterns of younger age groups than older ones. The conscious avoidance, or even recognition, of 'Americanisms' is not a factor I detect to any great degree at all.

'Fall' is an interesting case, because there seems to be no sense that it has begun to supplant 'autumn' in British English at all, despite being almost universally recognised.

Originally Posted by Philly

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Hi wuwei
.
I haven't seen the test you're referring to, but I would assume it's a typo and the word should be here.

I'd agree. It has to be 'here'. The taxi 'will be heard' sounds extremely odd, albeit grammatically correct.

Originally Posted by Philly

...................................
.
Hi englishstudent
.
The phrasal verb "listen out" sounds a bit like British slang to me but the meaning seems to fit the test sentence nicely and I'd say your understanding of it is correct.
You could also say (at least in the US) "keep an ear out for something". In other words "listen and be prepared to hear some specific and expected sound."
.

To 'listen out' for something is standard in British English, rather than being slang. To 'keep an ear out' for something is perfectly acceptable too. They both mean the same thing.

[BobK]

Originally Posted by Philly

Hi Bob
In your opinion, what percentage of Brits think that way (I mean the avoiding of "Americanisms" and the drawing of lines)? Considering that English is a language that so happily absorbs so many words from so many languages, that really is quite an inexplicable mindset. What about Americans saying e.g. "fall" instead of "autumn"? What do people make of that in the UK?
...................................
.
.
.

I lie in wait for people condemning 'fall' as an Americanism. It was introduced by the Pilgrim Fathers. Many dialects of current English in the British Isles use the word 'fall'.

Percentage-wise, I guess it's not huge - single figures, maybe less than one. And maybe my view is exagerrated, as I'm more conscious of etymology than most. Still, this inexplicable mindset does exist.

b

[BobK]

Originally Posted by Coffa

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.
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The conscious avoidance, or even recognition, of 'Americanisms' is not a factor I detect to any great degree at all.

Our experiences differ. Twenty years in the area of technical documentation (sometimes as editor, sometimes as writer) exposed me to comments from many viewpoints. Often I would ask a developer for comments on the technical content of what I'd written, and get back nonsensical prejudices about linguistic matters. Among those prejudices, one was against 'Americanisms'.

I'm quite glad now to be earning (as a teacher) a small fraction of what I was getting then.

b

[Coffa]

Originally Posted by BobK

I lie in wait for people condemning 'fall' as an Americanism. It was introduced by the Pilgrim Fathers.

Are you suggesting the Pilgrim Fathers weren't proper Americans, Bob ?

Originally Posted by BobK

Many dialects of current English in the British Isles use the word 'fall'.

It just shows how far back the pernicious effects of Yankee cultural hegemony go...