Could you proofread these 10 short sentences?

Status
Not open for further replies.

juliana0403

Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2006
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Korean
Home Country
South Korea
Current Location
South Korea
Could you proofread these 10 short sentences if there are grammatica

errors or broken English?

1. Can I make a reservation for acupuncture treatment next Friday, please?
2. I am sorry, we don't have an opening at that time you want.
3. John! I haven’t seen you in ages.
4. You should take good care of your blood pressure.
5. I haven't heard from him since he left for Italy five years ago.
6. I'd like to make an appointment to have a regular check-up, please.
7. Hello, do you have any openings for 3 o’clock?
8. Hey, how did your date go yesterday?
9. Please hold on the line so that I can check a few things.
10. Do you want to reschedule your appointment or cancel it?

Thank you. ^^
 

vgv8

Junior Member
Joined
Dec 18, 2010
Member Type
Other
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Ukraine
Current Location
Russian Federation
10. Do you want to reschedule your appointment or cancel it?
Cannot it be without repetitions:
"10. Do you want to reschedule or cancel your appointment?

Which is better and why?
 

juliana0403

Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2006
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Korean
Home Country
South Korea
Current Location
South Korea
Thank you very much guys ^^:lol::lol:
 

5jj

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 14, 2010
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
Czech Republic
Current Location
Czech Republic
10. Do you want to reschedule your appointment or cancel it.

Do you want to reschedule or cancel your appointment?

Which is better and why?

The first is clearer if the person asking the question is not sure what the other wants to do.

Juliana, I would omit 'on' in #9.
 

Nightmare85

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2009
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
German
Home Country
Germany
Current Location
Germany
***Neither a teacher nor a native speaker.***

Cannot it be without repetitions:

Just some advice:
Can't it be without repetitions? :tick:
Can it not be without repetitions :tick:
Cannot it be without repetitions?
:cross:

Cheers!
 

e2e4

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2007
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Serbo-Croatian
Home Country
Bosnia Herzegovina
Current Location
Bosnia Herzegovina
/A learner/

In #3, I think, I've mostly been hearing "for ages".
 

Nightmare85

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2009
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
German
Home Country
Germany
Current Location
Germany
***Neither a teacher nor a native speaker.***

/A learner/

In #3, I think, I've mostly been hearing "for ages".

I'm very sure both versions are correct.
I often read sentence like "I haven't seen him in weeks."
So I don't think it's wrong and that case.

Cheers!
 

vgv8

Junior Member
Joined
Dec 18, 2010
Member Type
Other
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Ukraine
Current Location
Russian Federation
***Neither a teacher nor a native speaker.***



Just some advice:
Can't it be without repetitions? :tick:
Can it not be without repetitions :tick:
Cannot it be without repetitions?
:cross:

Cheers!

I always thought that CANNOT is inseparable from "NOT" (i.e. can't be used as "can not") and is interchangeable with "can't".
Am I wrong and "cannot" may be correctly used as "can not"?

What are other cases when "cannot" is not interchangeable with "[STRIKE]cannot[/STRIKE] can't"?
 
Last edited:

Nightmare85

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2009
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
German
Home Country
Germany
Current Location
Germany
Hi vgv8,
It is possible to write "can not", however, under certain conditions.
I can not only see birds.
(I can also see other animals, not only birds.)
Anyway, this is different from the negative version of can.

The other topic:
Don't you see anyone? :tick:
Do you not see anyone? :tick:
Do not you see anyone?
:cross:

Won't you see anyone? :tick:
Will you not see anyone? :tick:
Will not you see anyone?
:cross:

Can't you see anyone? :tick:
Can you not see anyone? :tick:
Cannot you see anyone? :cross:
Can not you see anyone?
:cross:
It does not matter whether you say, "Cannot..." or "Can not...".
Both versions are wrong.
Whenever you start a sentence with an auxiliary verb, you have to put the subject before the not.

Cheers!
 

lauralie2

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2009
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
Canada
Current Location
China
I always thought that CANNOT is...interchangeable with "can't".
They express different meanings to me:


1. I can't open the door.

  • meaning, because it is stuck
2. I cannot open the door.

  • meaning, because it is forbidden.

3. I can not open the door or I can open it.

  • meaning, I have a choice.
 

5jj

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 14, 2010
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
Czech Republic
Current Location
Czech Republic
They express different meanings to me:
1. I can't open the door. meaning, because it is stuck.
2. I cannot open the door. meaning, because it is forbidden.
3. I can not open the door or I can open it. meaning, I have a choice.
I agree with you about #3.
For me, 'it is stuck' and 'it is forbidden' could work with both 'can't and 'cannot' - it depends on intonation and context.

Incidentally, v8g8, 'cannot' in BrE is, for some reason, normally one word, but some people nowadays write two words. In a formal negative-interrogative, the two parts must be separated, as nightmare said.

I would say nightmare's first example as ' I can see not only birds ..'
 
Last edited:

vgv8

Junior Member
Joined
Dec 18, 2010
Member Type
Other
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Ukraine
Current Location
Russian Federation

e2e4

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2007
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Serbo-Croatian
Home Country
Bosnia Herzegovina
Current Location
Bosnia Herzegovina
/A learner/

Cannot is a phrasal verb, for me, a learner.

cannot ~ not allowed to
 

Barb_D

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Mar 12, 2007
Member Type
Other
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
/A learner/

Cannot is a phrasal verb, for me, a learner.

cannot ~ not allowed to

No! "Cannot" is NOT a phrasal verb. It's a simple negation.

There is no verb and preposition. How could it possibly be a phrasal verb?
 
Last edited:

e2e4

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2007
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Serbo-Croatian
Home Country
Bosnia Herzegovina
Current Location
Bosnia Herzegovina
/A learner/

No! "Cannot" is NOT a phrasal verb. It's a simple negation.

There is no verb and there is no preposition. How could it possibly be a phrasal verb?
Huh, I made an oversight.
I thought to say that "cannot" is a phrasal modal.
Sorry.

I wonder does it, in all varieties of English, mean "not allowed to", " not permitted to" etc.
 

bhaisahab

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 12, 2008
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
Ireland
/A learner/


Huh, I made an oversight.
I thought to say that "cannot" is a phrasal modal.
Sorry.

I wonder does it, in all varieties of English, mean "not allowed to", " not permitted to" etc.
"Cannot" is not a "phrasal modal"; it is, as Barb said, a negation of "can".
It can mean "not allowed to" or it can mean that something is impossible, "it cannot be done", for example.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 5jj

vgv8

Junior Member
Joined
Dec 18, 2010
Member Type
Other
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Ukraine
Current Location
Russian Federation
Could you give examples of
- modal
and
- phrasal modal
verbs usage for "opening a door" case?
 

Tdol

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
Modal- can, could, shall, should, will, would, etc
Phrasal modal- I have heard this used for be able to, be allowed to- phrases with be that have a meaning similar to modals, but it's not a very common term and cannot wouldn't be covered by it.
 

vgv8

Junior Member
Joined
Dec 18, 2010
Member Type
Other
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Ukraine
Current Location
Russian Federation
I would say nightmare's first example as ' I can see not only birds ..'
This does not look to me that "not" is related (as negative/negation) to "can" but to "only"
 

bhaisahab

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 12, 2008
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
Ireland
This does not look to me that "not" is related (as negative/negation) to "can" but to "only"
Yes of course, nobody has said differently.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top