[Grammar] Have you been playing any sport(s)?

[beachboy]

"Have you been eating any pizza(s)?" doesn't seem natural at all to me. Try:

Do you lke pizza?

Or:

Have you had any pizza lately?

Or:

What kind of pizza do you prefer?

(I like everything.)

What if you know that I am addicted to pizza and you know that my doctor has told me to cut it out? Wouldn't you ever ask anything like that?

 

[jutfrank]

What if you know that I am addicted to pizza and you know that my doctor has told me to cut it out? Wouldn't you ever ask anything like that?

Yes, you're right, but I really think we should open a new thread if we are to talk about pizza. It's not quite comparable to sports, and this thread is already quite hard to follow.

 

[Yankee]

Noted, thanks.

But you wouldn't say in AmE Do you watch much sports?, would you? How would you ask this question in US English?

​

Actually, you could/would hear it expressed that way, but other possibilities include, "Do you watch sports" or "...any sports?" "What sports do you watch?"

 

[jutfrank]

Actually, you could/would hear it expressed that way, but other possibilities include, "Do you watch sports" or "...any sports?" "What sports do you watch?"

Haven't you basically said this in post #14, to which I responded in post #15? These are not other possibilities for what I meant.

 

[Yankee]

Right, but I didn't mean that exactly. The question was Do you watch much sport?, with the focus on quantity (much).

Could you also say in AmE Do you watch a lot of sports?, to be used in the uncountable sense (I mean that the question is about how much time is spent watching rather than how many different sports are watched.)

Sorry for the repeat further on , but as to your post above, depending on the exchange / context between speakers, either time watching or number of sports could be the inquiry. So, if the verbal stress was on "lot", I think the listener would consider time as the issue. And if the stress were on "sports", number of sports would be the focus.

 

[Tarheel]

What if you know that I am addicted to pizza and you know that my doctor has told me not to eat it? Would you ever ask me anything like that?

Bad doctor!

More seriously, if I already know you are a pizza addict I would not, of course, ask you if you like pizza.

(Pizza! Now there's something I can sink my teeth into. ;-) )

 

[beachboy]

Bad doctor!

More seriously, if I already know you are a pizza addict I would not, of course, ask you if you like pizza.

(Pizza! Now there's something I can sink my teeth into. ;-) )

You haven't explained why the corrections. I can't see what my mistakes were.

 

[Tarheel]

I had to look at the original text (post #21). For starters, it is highly unlikely that a doctor would tell you (or anybody) to cut it out. Also, "Would you ...?" is a straightforward question. "Wouldn't you ...?" is something else entirely.

(Now I have to explain things? I need a raise in pay. ;-) )

 

[Tarheel]

You haven't explained why the corrections.

How should you change that?

 

[beachboy]

I had to look at the original text (post #21l. For starters, it is highly unlikely that a doctor would tell you (or anybody) to cut it out. Also, "Would you ...?" is a straightforward question. "Wouldn't you ...?" is something else entirely.

(Now I have to explain things? I need a raise in pay. ;-) )

Actually, you didn't have to. I kindly thank you attention.

 

[beachboy]

How should you change that?

Sorry. Change what?

 

[Tarheel]

"You haven't explained why the corrections."

How would you change that into grammatical English?

 

[beachboy]

"You haven't explained why the corrections."

How would you change that into grammatical English?

I have no idea. "...why you made all the corrections"?

 

[Tarheel]

Okay, here goes.

You haven't explained why you you made the corrections.

Or:

You haven't given the reasons for the corrections.

Also:

Why did you make the corrections?

To answer that last one, I have too much time on my hands.
;-)

 

[beachboy]

Okay, here goes.

You haven't explained why you you made the corrections.

Or:

You haven't given the reasons for the corrections.

Also:

Why did you make the corrections?

To answer that last one, I have too much time on my hands.
;-)

I'd like to go on with the thread, but I'm afraid I'll be told that it's too long. Anyway, I understand your corrections are perfect. But I really thought that it was right to omit the words 'you" and "made" in my sentence. You're telling me that if I happen to see a close friend wearing rather weird clothes, I can't tell him (jokingly): "Why the carnival costume?" Is that it?

 

[Tarheel]

I'd like to go on with the thread, but I'm afraid I'll be told that it's too long. Anyway, I understand your corrections are perfect. But I really thought that it was right to omit the words 'you" and "made" in my sentence. You're telling me that if I happen to see a close friend wearing rather weird clothes, I can't say (jokingly): "Why the carnival costume?" Is that right?

Yes, it has become too long. The original question was answered long ago.

I don't know what sentence you are referring to, so I can't comment on that.

You can say that.

 

[beachboy]

Yes, it has become too long. The original question was answered long ago.

I don't know what sentence you are referring to, so I can't comment on that.

You can say that.

The sentence is "You haven't explained why the corrections".

 

[Tarheel]

You can use that construction sometimes (sort of). Example:

John, why the long face?

That is shorthand for John, why do you look so glum?

You can't leave words out and expect a sentence to mean the same thing.

You can expect corrections to be relevant to grammar or usage.

I already gave you alternatives to that (ungrammatical) sentence.

Enough said!

:-D

 

[beachboy]

You can use that construction sometimes (sort of). Example:

John, why the long face?

That is shorthand for John, why do you look so glum?


You can't leave words out and expect a sentence to mean the same thing.

You can expect corrections to be relevant to grammar or usage.

I already gave you alternatives to that (ungrammatical) sentence.

Enough said!

:-D

I understand that. But if there isn't a rule, then it's difficult for a learner to be able to come up with good sentences. It's impossible to know when I can or when I can't leave words out. And I will end up quitting some expressions unless I hear a native speaking...

 

[beachboy]

But if you told me, let's say, that "You haven't explained why the corrections" is wrong because the "why part" is in a subordinate clause, then we'd have a rule.