with honey

[jiang]

Dear teachers,

One day her daughter quarrelled with her husband's parentes so her mother asked her to appologize to them. The daughter objected :"But Mama I can't swallow them, not even with honey".
Could you explain what "swallow them" and "even with honey" mean? I think the former means "I can't bear the fact that I have to appologize" and the latter means "no matter how hard you persuade me". Is that right?

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.

Jiang

 

[billmcd]

Dear teachers,

One day her daughter quarrelled with her husband's parentes so her mother asked her to appologize to them. The daughter objected :"But Mama I can't swallow them, not even with honey".
Could you explain what "swallow them" and "even with honey" mean? I think the former means "I can't bear the fact that I have to appologize" and the latter means "no matter how hard you persuade me". Is that right?

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.

Jiang

Yes. That would be an acceptable meaning.

 

[Raymott]

Dear teachers,

One day her daughter quarrelled with her husband's parentes so her mother asked her to appologize to them ...

You need to be careful about who the referents of 'her' are.
If her daughter quarreled, and her mother asked her to apologise, then it could be the daughter's grandmother who is asking her to apologize to the daughter's paternal grandparents.
If the referent of the first 'her' is Betty, then "One day, Betty's daughter quarrelled with Betty's husband's parents, so Betty's mother asked Betty to apologize."

 

[jiang]

Hi Raymott,

The daughter (Mary) quarrelled with her husband's parents. Her mother asked Mary to apologize to Mary's husband's parents. Then Mary said.......


Looking forward to hearing from you.
Jiang

 

[Raymott]

Hi Raymott,

The daughter (Mary) quarrelled with her husband's parents. Her mother asked Mary to apologize to Mary's husband's parents. Then Mary said.......


Looking forward to hearing from you.
Jiang

Yes, that's better. The following is also acceptable:
"The daughter, Mary, quarrelled with her husband's parents. Mary's mother asked her to apologize to them. Then Mary said ... "
The referent of a pronoun can often be worked out from the context (as "them" and the residual "hers" can be in my sentence). And the preceding and following sentences can help too. There are a lot of possible ways of doing this, but your original, I thought, was just a bit too ambiguous.

 

[jiang]

Dear Raymott,

You did not answer the question I asked. What does this sentence mean?

Jiang

 

[Raymott]

Dear Raymott,

You did not answer the question I asked. What does this sentence mean?

Jiang

Do you mean the original question which billmcd answered and you "liked" his post for?

 

[jiang]

Dear Raymott,

Yes. Does it mean you agree with the answer?


And if it is possible could you please kindly explain the "hand and face" question?

Looking forward to hearing from you.


Jiang

 

[Raymott]

Dear Raymott,

Yes. Does it mean you agree with the answer?
It means that your guess is as good as mine in this case, and that bill's answer was good enough. I have nothing useful to add, and you'll probably never see that expression again. (But you will have problems with referents of pronouns again.)

And if it is possible could you please kindly explain the "hand and face" question?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Jiang

Sometimes I choose not to answer a question because I don't know the answer either :shock: - this applies to the "hand and face" question.

 

[jiang]

Dear Roymott,

Thank you very much for your explanation.

If you don't understand the "hand and face" question how can we know it?


Jiang

 

[Raymott]

Dear Roymott,

Thank you very much for your explanation.

If you don't understand the "hand and face" question how can we know it?

Jiang

I don't know. Since I did not write it, I do not feel obliged to explain it. I can't save the world from people who write inexplicable English.

 

[jiang]

Dear Raymott,

I am sorry I make myself misunderstood. I didn't mean you were obliged to explain it. I simply felt helpless that such exercises are included in the textbook and I can't work out. When I posted the reply I meant if you don't understand it it must be something quite unusual therefore it should not be included in the textbook for us to learn.

Jiang