awkward sentences

Status
Not open for further replies.

Verona_82

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2010
Member Type
Other
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Russian Federation
Current Location
Ukraine
Hello!

I blurted out some phrases today that are definitely no good English. There are better ways to express the ideas, but the damage was done. Do the phrases sound horrible to a native speaker's ears?

a seaside city
The city doesn't cover much area
It's the place where you can try different cuisines.
The holidays were too long and it seems like he got out of the habit of studying (people usually get out of bad habits, so it seems to me there's something wrong here)

I'd be very grateful for help.
 

2006

Key Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2007
Member Type
Other
Native Language
English
Home Country
Canada
Current Location
Canada
Hello!

I blurted out some phrases today that are definitely not good English. There are better ways to express the ideas, but the damage was done. Do the phrases sound horrible to a native speaker's ears?

a seaside city :tick:
The city doesn't cover a large area. "a large area" is better than ''much area" and is grammatically correct, but 'The city isn't big.' is a much more common and natural sentence.

It's the place where you can try different cuisines. :tick: If there is only one place like that, use "the"; if there is more than one place, use 'a'.

The holidays were too long, and it seems that he got out of the habit of studying. :tick:

(people usually get out of bad habits, so it seems to me there's something wrong here) No, people can fall out of good habits too.

I'd be very grateful for help.
2006
 

billmcd

Key Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
Hello!

I blurted out some phrases today that are definitely no good English. There are better ways to express the ideas, but the damage was done. Do the phrases sound horrible to a native speaker's ears?

a seaside city
The city doesn't cover much area
It's the place where you can try different cuisines.
The holidays were too long and it seems like he got out of the habit of studying (people usually get out of bad habits, so it seems to me there's something wrong here)

I'd be very grateful for help.

I wouldn't say that "they are definitely not good English" even though there might be other ways to express those statements. But I consider "cuisine" a non-count noun.
 

2006

Key Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2007
Member Type
Other
Native Language
English
Home Country
Canada
Current Location
Canada
But I consider "cuisine" a non-count noun.
That's a good point; I didn't consider that.
.
"cuisine" sounds like a noun that 'wants to be counted'. :) But I suppose that 'different types of cuisine' is correct English.
 

5jj

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 14, 2010
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
Czech Republic
Current Location
Czech Republic
But I consider "cuisine" a non-count noun.
I think it can be countable these days.

French cusine, haute cuisine, lean cuisine - there are just too many cuisines for me.

Verona's sentence sounds fine, in my opinion.
 

Raymott

VIP Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2008
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
English
Home Country
Australia
Current Location
Australia
Hello!

I blurted out some phrases today that are definitely no good English. There are better ways to express the ideas, but the damage was done. Do the phrases sound horrible to a native speaker's ears?

a seaside city
The city doesn't cover much area
It's the place where you can try different cuisines.
The holidays were too long and it seems like he got out of the habit of studying (people usually get out of bad habits, so it seems to me there's something wrong here)

I'd be very grateful for help.
I'm sure that most learners here wish they could "blurt out" as good English as that. :-D
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top