[General] reading drama improve practical usage

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justdoit1

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Is it true that reading drama's help improve practical usage of English more than a novel?
What would be some good playwrights to read in that respect, where there will be a lot of everyday conversations?
 

Raymott

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Is it true that reading drama's help improve practical usage of English more than a novel?
What would be some good playwrights to read in that respect, where there will be a lot of everyday conversations?
I'd say it's not true. Where did you find that opinion?
If dramas contained "a lot of everyday conversations", no one would bother going to see them. (Technically, dramas are meant to be acted and watched, not read.)
 

PeterValk

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The following has been written by a person who is neither an English teacher nor a native English speaker.

Is it true that reading dramas helps improve practical usage of English more than a novel?
What would be some good playwrights to read in that respect, where there will be a lot of everyday conversations?

"some good playwrights to read" looks grammatically incorrect to me.
A playwright is a person and one cannot read a person. (some people claim they can, but that has yet to be proven scientifically)
One can read the works of a playwright.
 

Raymott

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The following has been written by a person who is neither an English teacher nor a native English speaker.



"some good playwrights to read" looks grammatically incorrect to me.
A playwright is a person and one cannot read a person. (some people claim they can, but that has yet to be proven scientifically)
One can read the works of a playwright.
Strictly that's true, but it's colloquial to say that you read an author. A: "Have you read Dickens?" B: "Yes, about three of his novels."
Similarly acceptable are, "Can you play Chopin?" "Did you manage to view the Dutch masters when you were in Amsterdam?"
 

PeterValk

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I have to agree with you on this.
Maybe I have reacted too quickly and did not think it through.
But still -as far as grammar is concerned- it's not quite right, right?
 
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Raymott

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I have to agree with you on this.
Maybe I have reacted to quickly and did not think it through.
But still -as far as grammar is concerned- it's not quite right, right?
I think the grammar is fine. It's a semantic question of whether you accept a person's name as an indication of their works - which we do in English. That's not a grammatical issue.
 

PeterValk

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I stand corrected and humbled.
Another thing learned and another day not lived in vain.
 
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