I'm free

[Nathan Mckane]

Which one is correct?

My time is fee this hour, so I decided to audit your class Sir.

I'm free this hour, so I decided to audit your class Sir.

I'm free for one hour, so I decided to audit your class Sir.

I had a two-hour free time, so I decided to audit your class Sir.

Thanks.

 

[bhaisahab]

Which one is correct?

My time is fee this hour, so I decided to audit your class Sir.

I'm free this hour, so I decided to audit your class Sir.

I'm free for one hour, so I decided to audit your class Sir.

I had a two-hour free time, so I decided to audit your class Sir.

Thanks.

The third one is OK.

 

[Nathan Mckane]

Do you dismiss the others completely?

 

[bhaisahab]

Do you dismiss the others completely?

Yes, I do.

 

[BobK]

:up: Here's why:

...
My time is fee this hour, so I decided to audit your class Sir.
Your time isn't free. You have free time, or you're free.

I'm free this [STRIKE]hour[/STRIKE], so I decided to audit your class Sir.
'Session' or 'period' would do.
...
I had a two-hour free time, so I decided to audit your class Sir.
'Time' is not countable when it refers to a measurable extent (even if you could use it here). There are some occasions when 'time' is countable, but it doesn't refer to an extent of time. 'We had a good time' says nothing about the extent of time; nor does 'the time of your life'.
...

Your use of 'Sir' sounds strange to me, but maybe it works in your part of the world: auditors are in a position of authority, and I would be surprised to hear them kowtowing like this. But maybe it's standard in your country - with local auditors and English native-speaker teachers.

b

 

[birdeen's call]

I would be surprised to hear them kowtowing like this.

It's surprising to me. I never thought calling other people "sirs" and "madams" was kowtowing! I thought it was simply a polite way of addressing other people. Some strangers in England called me madam not so long ago (according to my old woman's way of measuring time ;-)). Has it changed since then?

 

[Tullia]

Your use of 'Sir' sounds strange to me, but maybe it works in your part of the world: auditors are in a position of authority, and I would be surprised to hear them kowtowing like this. But maybe it's standard in your country - with local auditors and English native-speaker teachers.

I think this is a cultural thing. I know it mostly as an Americanism, but it's perhaps used elsewhere in the world too. In this context "auditing a class" doesn't mean what it sounds to English ears like it should!

It means attending a lecture series (and possibly doing the course assignments too) but not getting graded for it, and not having it count towards your final degree. As such an auditor in this sense would be just another student, and would in most places use an honorific when talking to a professor or lecturer I think.


EDIT: @ birdeen's call - I wouldn't have called it kow-towing either, but it is a clear signifier of the relative status of the two people. Using a "Sir" tends to give the idea that you are offering respect to or acknowledging the superiority of the person you are addressing. As such, an auditor in the English sense would be superior to a teacher, if they were auditing (inspecting) their teaching proficiency, and would be unlikely to use "Sir". But in the American sense where an auditor is a student, they are naturally more likely to be showing respect and using "Sir". Kow-tow is perhaps a very negative word for that.

 

[BobK]

...
It means attending a lecture series (and possibly doing the course assignments too) but not getting graded for it, and not having it count towards your final degree. As such an auditor in this sense would be just another student, and would in most places use an honorific when talking to a professor or lecturer I think.
...

You live and learn ;-)

BC Perhaps 'kowtow' was a bit strong; besides, I had relative statuses all wrong!

b

 

[Tullia]

You live and learn ;-)
b

It appears most of my learning seems to have come from too much American television lately

 

[birdeen's call]

EDIT: @ birdeen's call - I wouldn't have called it kow-towing either, but it is a clear signifier of the relative status of the two people. Using a "Sir" tends to give the idea that you are offering respect to or acknowledging the superiority of the person you are addressing. As such, an auditor in the English sense would be superior to a teacher, if they were auditing (inspecting) their teaching proficiency, and would be unlikely to use "Sir". But in the American sense where an auditor is a student, they are naturally more likely to be showing respect and using "Sir". Kow-tow is perhaps a very negative word for that.

I'm getting off-topic, but I have to ask.

Say, you meet a person on the street. They're apparently of your age and nothing indicates anything special about their social position. Is it unlikely that you'd ask that person, "Excuse me sir/madam, what time is it?"

Doesn't it happen that native speakers use it this way?

 

[Tullia]

I'm getting off-topic, but I have to ask.

Say, you meet a person on the street. They're apparently of your age and nothing indicates anything special about their social position. Is it unlikely that you'd ask that person, "Excuse me sir/madam, what time is it?"

Doesn't it happen that native speakers use it this way?

Perhaps a mod will separate out the off topic bits into a new thread for us, if we're going too far off-topic?

====

In the situation you describe, I think modern usage would only be to use the honorific if it was a younger person addressing an older person. Sadly, the old-fashioned courtesies are dying out a little. There would be nothing inherently wrong with using it to address a stranger the same age/younger, but I think it probably sounds a little formal nowadays. I would say that a younger person would be less likely to use it to a contemporary than an older person would.

You do still hear it in shops and the like, when a sales assistant will say "Can I help you Sir?" but in that situation we're back to relative statuses again - customer and service provider.

 

[BobK]

I'm getting off-topic, but I have to ask.

Say, you meet a person on the street. They're apparently of your age and nothing indicates anything special about their social position. Is it unlikely that you'd ask that person, "Excuse me sir/madam, what time is it?"

Doesn't it happen that native speakers use it this way?

Well I wouldn't, and I'm not notably impolite. I'd just say 'Excuse me, have you got the time?' This has been discussed many times in other threads, and even I am beginning to get bored by what I have to say ;-)

b

 

[Rover_KE]

I use 'sir' and 'ma'am' all the time here - probably because I have spent so much time in the USA.

You don't need to capitalise sir unless you are addressing a knight of the realm by name.

Rover