WHat is wrong with these sentences?

[Radman]

Hi,I wonder if you could kindly help me.WHat is wrong with these sentences?1) I've good knowledge of German.2) I'm thankful for your help.3)Except Sarah, everyone was there.Thanks in advance.

 

[emsr2d2]

Hi, I wonder if you could kindly help me. What is wrong with these sentences?

1) I've good knowledge of German.
2) I'm thankful for your help.
3) Except Sarah, everyone was there.

[strike]Thanks in advance.[/strike] Unnecessary

3) is absolutely fine.
2) is OK but there's a more natural word than "thankful".
1) requires an article.

Note my amendments in red. Remember to put a space after a full stop, a comma, a question mark or an exclamation mark. There is no need to thank us in advance. After you read a helpful answer, just click the Like button on that answer and we'll know you found it useful.

 

[SoothingDave]

Did you mean to do 3,2,1 in that order?

For #1, I don't like it with the contraction. Since "have" is the main verb and not a helper.

For #3, it is more natural the other way around "Everyone was there, except Sarah."

 

[emsr2d2]

Did you mean to do 3,2,1 in that order?

For #1, I don't like it with the contraction. Since "have" is the main verb and not a helper.

For #3, it is more natural the other way around "Everyone was there, except Sarah."

I only did it as 3, 2 and then 1 because I did them in the order: completely correct, needs a very slight amendment but not grammatically incorrect and then grammatically incorrect.

As for "I've" as a contraction of "I have" to denote possession, it's OK (if a little old-fashioned) in BrE. My grandfather and father both say "I've only twenty pounds" or "I've a terrible headache". They would also say "I've to go to the post office later" (in my father's case, that may be because he has Irish ancestry).

I think 3 is fine either way round.

 

[SoothingDave]

I don't know what you think is missing from #1. It seems fine to me (other than "I've" being a little odd). I think in most possession cases in AmE, we would throw in a "got." I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts.

 

[emsr2d2]

OK, for me, "I've a good knowledge of German" would be correct. Maybe that's a BrE vs AmE thing.

 

[5jj]

As for "I've" as a contraction of "I have" to denote possession, it's OK (if a little old-fashioned) in BrE. My grandfather and father both say "I've only twenty pounds" or "I've a terrible headache".

I've a slight problem with these occasional reminders of my age.

 

[Mehrgan]

:up:
***not a teacher***

If I'm not wrong, the point is if we use words like all, everyone, nobody, etc at the beginning of a sentence, 'for' can be left out after 'except' while this is not a common usage (if not wrong) when the word 'except' is used at the beginning of a sentence. So,

Everyone was there, except (for) John.
Except for John, everybody was there.

I hope I'm not wrong.