Michaelll
Banned
- Joined
- Aug 11, 2022
- Member Type
- Student or Learner
- Native Language
- Russian
- Home Country
- Belarus
- Current Location
- Belarus
The point is that those 'different' verbs in my native language all have different forms so that we can understand the meaning.I suggest that you get used to the idea that different verbs are different. Indeed, that should come as no surprise.
So I have to learn the meaning of all English verbs literally from scratch.Imperfect forms are neutral, we can say this just to show the activity/action. In English they can be followed by 'for + an amount of time'.
Perfect forms show successfully fulfilled actions (= results). In English they can be followed by 'in + an amount of time'.
- I insisted on going to the movies.
- I asked her to go to the movies.
-- We don't know whether 'they' went to the movies.- We defended our land.
-- Neutral, it's just means that someone else initiated the attack.
And of course cases related to objects: books/pictures/movies/ships/cakes etc. etc.
- I insistedest on going to the movies.
- I askedest her to go to the movies.
-- We know for sure just from the phrase that 'they' did go to the movies.- We defendedest our land.
-- Successfully. We won. The attackers were/have been defeated.
Who said that my idea was that English should have verbs that end in 'est'? As I said above I just resorted to the non-existent 'est' forms to show you the issue with understanding English verbs.Your idea that English should have verbs that end in "est" is not, I think, going to catch on.
He asked her to go to the movies. - does it mean that they went?
He insisted that they go to the movies. - does it mean that they went?
They defended their land. - does it mean that they were successful in their defending and eventually prevailed?
etc. etc. etc...
As I can see it's not only my problem. Some native speakers have different views on the verb 'to learn'.