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grammar

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Anonymous

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Is this correct: "Icould eat some of them cakes" or " I could eat some of those cakes"?
 

Casiopea

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idwt said:
Is this correct: "I could eat some of them cakes" or " I could eat some of those cakes"?

1. I could eat some of them. (OK)
2. I could eat some of them cakes (Not OK)
3. I could eat some of those. (OK)
4. I could eat some of those cakes. (OK)

Sentence 2. is Not OK because 'them' stands alone. It cannot modify a noun (i.e. *them cakes is incorrect). Sentence 3. and 4. are OK because 'those' can modify a noun (i.e. those cakes is correct) or 'those' can stand alone.

By the way, yhere are dialects of North American English in which "them cakes" is used, but it's not representative of the Standard North American dialect.

All the best,
 

Tdol

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'them cakes'also occurs in some British dialects, but, again, would be considered non-standard. ;-)
 

MikeNewYork

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tdol said:
'them cakes'also occurs in some British dialects, but, again, would be considered non-standard. ;-)

Thank goodness! :shock:
 

Tdol

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You hear it in Northern, Midland and Cockney English, but it would be marked wrong in an exam. :)
 

MikeNewYork

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tdol said:
You hear it in Northern, Midland and Cockney English, but it would be marked wrong in an exam. :)

One hears it New York City as well. :mad:
 
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