[General] What would you say..?
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"You can't take him on his own" doesn't really make any sense. It suggests that you cannot "only take your cousin". Perhaps you have to take your cousin and a friend?! Very confusing.
The beginning of the sentence says "Your cousin offers to go with you to the doctor..." The assumption here is that you must visit the doctor, and your cousin has said "Shall I come with you?"
If the next part was "...but you can't take him on your own" it might make sense. That suggests that perhaps you are too weak to take your cousin, or that your cousin is a small or difficult child and it would be too difficult for you to control him/her on your own.
But in this context, I can't make any sense of "you can't take him on his own".
I really don't know where the word "his own " came from? ..my sentence has the phrase "your own"...then , what is the best reply on the situation?
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That's very strange. Both BarbD and I obviously read "on his own"!
Anyway, my explanation of what it means with "on your own" is in my previous post. I don't really know what you mean by "What is the best reply?"
The sentence you have posted doesn't require a reply! It's a statement.
Do you want to tell the other person something like "Don't be silly. Of course I can take him on my own" or "Why do you think I can't take him on my own?"
Thanks a lot my dear friends , from our discussion I can include that in this situation when "my cousin offers to go with me to the doctor's, but I can't take him on my own" I say to him "Thank you, but I can't take you on my own." ........ Do you agree with me?
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Yes, if you are actually talking about the content of the conversation between you and your cousin!
You: I have to go to the doctor.
Cousin: Would you like me to come with you?
You: Thanks, but I can't take you on my own.
I'm still not sure in what scenario this would be true. If your cousin is old enough to offer to accompany you to the doctor, then he/she is old enough, presumably, to simply go with you. You wouldn't have to "take" him/her, whether you're on your own or not!
I completely agree with you that it seems not to be logical and that is why i put this situation here for discussion as the exercise book for the second year secondary here in Egypt put this situation for students to answer and it seems unlogical for me.
thanks alot..i really get a great benefit of our discussion.
thanks alot..i really get a great benefit of our discussion.
Raymott
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It would seem to mean that you don't have a car, or that he needs two people to accompany him. Perhaps he's having a violent psychotic attack and he's a lot bigger than you.
"You can't take him on your own" means "You can't take him by yourself", "You can't take him without someone else also helping".
You still have a problem expressing who is going to the doctor's and who's talking whom, and who's having trouble.
If A is offering to take (go with) B to the doctor's, then it is A who is having trouble with taking B on his A's own.
Generally, if I offer to go with you to the doctor, I take you (to the doctor). You don't take me.
PS: I've just seen the last two posts. Maybe this reply isn't necessary.
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No, I really did read it, but I didn't understand the logic either.
I must visit the doctor.
You offer to come with me.
Why do I need a third person to make it possible for you to come? (Again, is the cousin a small child who needs minding? Prone to violent rages?)
This sentence really makes no sense without a specific context.
I must visit the doctor.
You offer to come with me.
Why do I need a third person to make it possible for you to come? (Again, is the cousin a small child who needs minding? Prone to violent rages?)
This sentence really makes no sense without a specific context.
nado92
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I can't take you on my own.
It may mean I can't be responsible for you.'Or
I am not ready to do that alone.
We are taught in Egypt that 'on...alone ' means alone.
It must be a bad translation from Arabic into English.
It may mean I can't be responsible for you.'Or
I am not ready to do that alone.
We are taught in Egypt that 'on...alone ' means alone.
It must be a bad translation from Arabic into English.
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"On .... own" and "by ...self" both mean alone.
We're not querying the meaning of your post now, we're just intrigued as to why the person can't take their cousin on their own!!!
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He is John, isn't he?
This is John, isn't it?
That's John, isn't it?
It's John, isn't it?
You tag a question with "isn't he?" if it contains "He's ...." The same goes for "You're ...... aren't you?" etc etc.
We use "isn't it?" when the sentence is made up of "It/This/That is...."
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