[Grammar] Berliner or a Berliner

[atalanta]

Hi , I know that proper nouns such as Berlin , Prague , London have zero article. But how about their derivatives - people living there ? Is an inhabitant of Berlin called Berliner or a Berliner ?

 

[White Hat]

a Berliner

He is English. (adjective)
He is an Englishman. (noun)

 

[nyota]

Hi , I know that proper nouns such as Berlin , Prague , London have zero article. But how about their derivatives - people living there ? Is an inhabitant of Berlin called Berliner or a Berliner ?

"A Berliner" would actually mean a doughnut.

 

[TheParser]

"A Berliner" would actually mean a doughnut.

NOTICE: NOT A TEACHER


I am sure that you know about President Kennedy's 1963 trip to Berlin when he

announced to the crowd: Ich Bin Ein Berliner. (I am a Berliner.)

 

[nyota]

NOTICE: NOT A TEACHER


I am sure that you know about President Kennedy's 1963 trip to Berlin when he

announced to the crowd: Ich Bin Ein Berliner. (I am a Berliner.)

That's exactly what I had in mind Parser. It also reminds me of one comedian who said it was fortunate President Kennedy hadn't done a tour of Germany - Ich bin ein Frankfurter, Ich bin ein Hamburger... ;-)

 

[TheParser]

That's exactly what I had in mind Parser. It also reminds me of one comedian who said it was fortunate President Kennedy hadn't done a tour of Germany - Ich bin ein Frankfurter, Ich bin ein Hamburger... ;-)

NOTICE: NOT A TEACHER


That's nothing compared with what happened when President Carter visited

Poland. His less-than-proficient interpreter changed one of the president's

English sentences into Polish that meant something like: I want to have romantic

relations with the Polish people.

 

[nyota]

NOTICE: NOT A TEACHER


That's nothing compared with what happened when President Carter visited

Poland. His less-than-proficient interpreter changed one of the president's

English sentences into Polish that meant something like: I want to have romantic

relations with the Polish people.

I didn't know that one :-D, but I found more bloopers of the same interpreter: President Carter & Polish interpreter

 

[Tdol]

...Tony Blair's effort some years ago during a news conference with French PM Lionel Jospin. Blair, who spoke French quite well, meant to say: ''I admire Lionel Jospin, although we have differing views.'' Unfortunately, his French apparently translated as: ''I desire Lionel Jospin in many different positions.''

www.theage.com.au - PM Gives Speech To US Congress

 

[TheParser]

I didn't know that one :-D


NOTICE: NOT A TEACHER


(1) Actually you did.

(2) I paraphrased the first "blooper" that appears in your excellent link.

(a) I was too modest and shy to repeat the exact words, so I tried to express

the idea in a more delicate manner.

 

[TheParser]

www.theage.com.au - PM Gives Speech To US Congress

NOTICE: NOT A TEACHER


I read somewhere that most French people are quite amused when British people

try to speak French.

 

[emsr2d2]

NOTICE: NOT A TEACHER


I read somewhere that most French people are quite amused when British people

try to speak French.

I don't know about amused, they're certainly bemused!

 

[5jj]

There is the probably apocryphal story of Winston Churchill, thinking that he was talking to his French audience about his past life, said, "Quand je regarde mon derrière, je vois qu’il se divise en deux parties”

(When I look at my backside, I see that it is divided into two parts)

 

[nyota]

NOTICE: NOT A TEACHER

(1) Actually you did.

(2) I paraphrased the first "blooper" that appears in your excellent link.

(a) I was too modest and shy to repeat the exact words, so I tried to express

the idea in a more delicate manner.

I only started looking for those bloopers after having read your post.