[Grammar] Use of there/it

[inase]

I wonder if you say sentences 1, 3, 5 and 10.

Do you go to church?
1. Yes, I go there every Sunday.
2. Yes, I do every Sunday.

Did you go to the church?
3. Yes, I went there last Sunday.
4. Yes, I did last Sunday.

Do you have a watch?
5. Yes, I have it.
6. Yes, I have one.
7. Yes, I do.

Did you wear the watch to the party?
8. Yes, I wore it to the party.
9. Yes, I wore the one to the party.
10. Yes, I did to the party.
11. Yes, I did. I wore it to the party.

Inase

 

[Raymott]

The ones that are really wrong are 5, 9 and 10.

 

[emsr2d2]

2 is also wrong unless you make it clear there would be a pause between "do" and "every". You could use a dash to show that.

 

[emsr2d2]

5 would be a correct answer to "Do you have the​ watch?"

 

[Lynxear]

@emsr2d2 You seem to consistently begin a sentence with a number. Is that not a mistake in British English? It certainly is in Canadian and American English.

I believe the proper way to write the sentence is:

Selection 5 would be the correct answer to "Do you have this watch?"

 

[emsr2d2]

I wouldn't do it in formal writing but here, when it's clear it refers to sentence 5 in post 1, I find it acceptable.

 

[Rover_KE]

It's a matter of choice in this context.

I write #5, for example.

'Selection 5' looks and sounds very odd to me.

 

[Lynxear]

I wouldn't do it in formal writing but here, when it's clear it refers to sentence 5 in post 1, I find it acceptable.

It is funny that you out me publicly for a typo and missed period.

But you completely put an incorrect sentence in your post and casually brush it off, as being not important. You are not showing the learners here how to create a proper sentence as you piously comment on my writing in another post.

You scrutinize my posts for minor details. I will have no compulsion for mentioning major ones on your part.

 

[Lynxear]

t's a matter of choice in this context.

No, it is not. It is an improperly composed sentence. Certainly not one that you would want your learners to emulate.

Choose "Sentence 5" or "Choice 5" to start the sentence instead, if you like. All of these selections are much better than starting the sentence with a number. That is clearly not good English practice.

 

[Rover_KE]

I will have no [STRIKE]compulsion for[/STRIKE] compunction about mentioning major ones on your part.

`

 

[tzfujimino]

Every member here is subject to being corrected, Lynxear.

 

[Lynxear]

Yes, this is true. But to bother a writer about a typo and a comma is trivial. I am in this case commenting on a bad English language practice of beginning a sentence with a number. There is always a better way to compose such a sentence to avoid the problem.

Note that I did not complain about Rover KE replacing my word "compulsion" with "compunction" in a post a little while ago. He was completely right and I was wrong. I did not try to weasel out of it.

 

[emsr2d2]

Notwithstanding opinions on starting a sentence with a number, I stand by my addition of a closing punctuation mark, deletion of a homemade emoticon and pointing out a discrepancy between your advice and your usage (the space before "pm"). I could not be sure that it was a typo.
The longer you're a member of the forum, the more chance there is that a moderator will simply choose to edit your posts in order to correct typos and other errors but we don't do that to "newbies" (whether learners or native speakers). (Edit: you will note that Rover_KE has done you the favour of correcting a typo in post 14 in this thread.)
When new native speakers join, we try to ensure that they retain a fairly consistent level of written English for the benefit of learners. There is a list of "important rules of written English" which we regularly cite to new members:

- Start the first word of every sentence with a capital letter.
- End every sentence with one appropriate punctuation mark.
- Always capitalise the word "I".
- Do not put a space before a comma, full stop, question mark or exclamation mark.
- Always put a space after a comma, full stop, question mark or exclamation mark.

It makes sense for us to ensure that native speakers on the site are following those rules too.

I'm aware that some style guides insist that starting a sentence with a number is poor form but you're going to see a lot of it on the forum, especially when responses refer to numbered examples in the first post of a thread.

 

[Lynxear]

I have had enough... this is like talking to the wall. I shall look carefully at more of your posts for trivial errors in future and point them out so Learners won't be confused by them. I have all ready noted a phrase that is not even close to a sentence in another of your posts. I think if you are interested in teaching good English you should use proper sentences in your posts, don't you think?

 

[emsr2d2]

To save learners the effort of having to read any more about this little difference of opinion between native speakers, I am closing this thread. I hope inase was satisfied with the answers he/she got to the original question.

 

[teechar]

I have had enough. This is like talking to a wall. I shall look carefully at more of your posts for trivial errors in future and point them out so learners won't be confused by them. I have [STRIKE]all ready[/STRIKE] already noted a phrase that is not even close to a sentence in another of your posts. I think if you are interested in teaching good English, you should use proper sentences in your posts, don't you think?

Note the corrections. I'm not sure what the part in blue is supposed to mean.

 

[emsr2d2]

For info, "... a phrase that is not even close to a sentence ..." is OK in BrE, teechar. The word "being" between "to" and "a" is assumed/implied.

 

[teechar]

For info, "... a phrase that is not even close to a sentence ..." is OK in BrE

Yes, of course. But why should a phrase be "close to (being) a sentence"? They're not one and the same. ;-)

 

[Tdol]

We're generating more heat than light here, so I shall close this. Please play nice.

 

[emsr2d2]

For info, I closed it after post #15. I don't think anyone reopened it - that's why the only comments after that are from moderators, who still have access.