• Exciting news! With our new Ad-Free Premium Subscription you can enjoy a distraction-free browsing experience while supporting our site's growth. Without ads, you have less distractions and enjoy faster page load times. Upgrade is optional. Find out more here, and enjoy ad-free learning with us!

Spoken sentences

Status
Not open for further replies.

vvaann

Member
Joined
Mar 16, 2003
I heard these sentences from movies. I wonder I heard them correctly.

"He at a time used an alias known as the Godfather"
"Corleone is a term used by friends on the affection, on the respect"

Are they correct in grammar?
Thank you,
 
G

gwendolinest

Guest
vvaann said:
"He at a time used an alias known as the Godfather"
"Corlerone is a term used by friends on the affection, on the respect"

The first sentence is stretching grammar a little but I’d say it’s still grammatical. However, I would express it as follows:

     At one time, he used the alias the Godfather. (Note: no need for “known as”)

The second one is the one that doesn’t look right to me. I think it should be:

     Corlerone is used by friends as a term of affection and of respect.

:)Fade-col:)
 

vvaann

Member
Joined
Mar 16, 2003
Thanks for your comment.
What makes me wonder about these sentences is whether "at a time" and "on the affection, on the respect" are ever used. Do native speakers say so?
Thanks,
 
G

gwendolinest

Guest
“At a time” is used in such phrases as “one at a time”, “two at a time”, etc, but in your quoted example, it means “at one time”.

I have never heard of the phrases “on the affection” and “on the respect” before.

:)?)
 

Tdol

Editor, UsingEnglish.com
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Member Type
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
If you put commas in, it sounds better to me:
He, at a time, used an alias known as the Godfather
 
G

gwendolinest

Guest
tdol said:
He, at a time, used an alias known as the Godfather

I’d say “… used the alias the Godfather” – “an alias known as the Godfather” means that it is the alias, not the person, that is called the Godfather.

:)?)
 

Tdol

Editor, UsingEnglish.com
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Member Type
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
Good point- I was thinking about the 'at a time' and neglected the rest of the sentence. Sorry. 8)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Top