Word order

[borsbali]

Hi!

I really want to enquire about some word order with the following sentences.
Please, let me know which one exactly means what? Or if there is any difference between the different bunch of sentences?

- Here everybody speaks English.
- Everybody here speaks English.
- Everybody speaks here English.
- Everybody speaks English here.

- I, too, have gone to the cinema.
- I have gone to the cinema, too.
- I have gone to the cinema, as well.

- Also I have gone to the cinema.
- I also have gone to the cinema.
- I have also gone to the cinema.
- I have gone also to the cinema.
- I have gone to the cinema also.

Thx a lot. Bye.

Balázs.

[riverkid]

Originally Posted by borsbali

Hi!

I really want to enquire about some word order with the following sentences.
Please, let me know which one exactly means what? Or if there is any difference between the different bunch of sentences?

- Here everybody speaks English. At this place, everyone speaks English.
- Everybody here speaks English. Everyone who's here, speaks English.
- Everybody speaks here English. A strange word order; maybe there's a use. ??
- Everybody speaks English here. Pretty much the same as the first one.

- I, too, have gone to the cinema. More emphatic than the normal neutral in the second one.
- I have gone to the cinema, too. See remarks above.
- I have gone to the cinema as well. In addition to some other places, I went to the cinema.

- Also I have gone to the cinema. In addition to some other places, I went to the cinema.

- I also have gone to the cinema. In addition to some other places, I went to the cinema.

- I have also gone to the cinema. In addition to some other places, I went to the cinema.

- I have gone, also, to the cinema. In addition to some other places, I went to the cinema. This placement of 'also' sounds like the speaker started, decided to add 'also' late, so injected it in what isn't really a normal word order.

- I have gone to the cinema also. In addition to some other places, I went to the cinema.


Thx a lot. Bye.

Balázs.

#

[RonBee]

Originally Posted by riverkid

#

Your quote isn't really a quote.

[riverkid]

I think that Balasz can figure it out, Ron.

[borsbali]

Hello, riverkid and RonBee!

I have already got answers to my questions mentioned above, but I have two other Qs for you to answer, so please help me.

1. When it comes to instruction manuals, you should write "How to use it", but at the same time, as a title of your essay, you should write "Why panic when there is a bomb on the plane?".
Why is the structure not the same? Once you must use "to" at the beginning of an incomplete sentence, other time you mustn't?


2. Which is right, which is wrong, and why?

- The first thing I will do is find/to find/finding a job for me.
- My aim is find/to find/finding a job for me.
- What I really want is find/to find/finding a job for me.
- What we are doing now is help/to help/helping the poor.
- What we have done is help/to help/helping/helped the poor

Thank you very much. Bye,

Balázs.

[rewboss]

Originally Posted by riverkid

I think that Balasz can figure it out, Ron.

No doubt he can, but if somebody wants to quote you, they can't -- you can't quote quotes.

borsbali, your question about titles has to do with style. For an instruction manual, you just need a short, descriptive title so that the owner of the manual knows which manual he needs for which task. But for an essay, you need a title which will make readers interested in the essay.

Titles (including newspaper headlines) don't follow all the same rules about sentence structure as prose. In fact, many pieces of literature have titles which are not complete sentences: an example would be Harper Lee's famous novel To Kill a Mockingbird.

However, to be on the safe side, it is probably better to keep to complete sentences for essay titles. Breaking the rules is not as easy as it sounds: you have to know how to break the rules.

[riverkid]

Originally Posted by rewboss

No doubt he can, but if somebody wants to quote you, they can't -- you can't quote quotes.

I don't seem to have any problem at all, RB. I think that most everyone is familiar with COPY & PASTE.

[borsbali]

Hi!

Rewboss, thanks for explaining style in texts.
Riverkid, I kindly ask you to answer the second part of my question about (bare) infinitive.

Thanks a lot.
Bye,

Balázs.

[riverkid]

Originally Posted by borsbali

Hello, riverkid and RonBee!

I have already got answers to my questions mentioned above, but I have two other Qs for you to answer, so please help me.

1. When it comes to instruction manuals, you should write "How to use it", but at the same time, as a title of your essay, you should write "Why panic when there is a bomb on the plane?".
Why is the structure not the same? Once you must use "to" at the beginning of an incomplete sentence, other time you mustn't?

Essays and instruction manuals are two different animals. In instruction manuals we often use short, terse, to the point language. Essays are essays and in them we express ourselves in fuller language.


2. Which is right, which is wrong, and why?

- The first thing I will do is find [to find/finding] a job for me.
- My aim is find/to find/finding a job for me. All would work.
- What I really want is [find] to find [finding] a job for me.
- What we are doing now is [help] to help/helping the poor. Two would work, with different meanings
- What we have done is help/to help/helping the poor.

Thank you very much. Bye,

Balázs.

#

[borsbali]

Thanks a lot, riverkid. It was very helpful.

Balázs.