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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2004word "surprise"
Yesterday i came across this Multiple Choice question on my english examination. Can someone give me some ideas which one is the right answer? She felt ------ when she heard the news. a) so surprise b) so surprising c) very surprising d) so surprsied -tap thanx > Yesterday i came across this Multiple Choice question on my english > examination. Can someone give me some ideas which one is the right [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > c) very surprising > d) so surprsied (D) is correct (if misspelt). (B) and (c) are both incorrect because it is the news that is surprising, not the person hearing the news. (A) is grammatically incorrect. > > Yesterday i came across this Multiple Choice question on my english > > examination. Can someone give me some ideas which one is the right [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > is the news that is surprising, not the person hearing the news. (A) is > grammatically incorrect. And beware of English teachers who tell you that "so" can always be used in place of "very". It's a very common mistake. Mike. > > > Yesterday i came across this Multiple Choice question on my english > > > examination. Can someone give me some ideas which one is the right [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > And beware of English teachers who tell you that "so" can always be > used in place of "very". It's a very common mistake. Is it indeed so common a mistake? Gary >>> Yesterday i came across this Multiple Choice question on my english >>> examination. Can someone give me some ideas which one is the right [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > And beware of English teachers who tell you that "so" can always be > used in place of "very". It's a very common mistake. Another common mistake I've noticed Asian learners make is the use of "too" when they mean "very".  SignatureSkitt (in Hayward, California) www.geocities.com/opus731/ >> > Yesterday i came across this Multiple Choice question on my english >> > examination. Can someone give me some ideas which one is the right [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] >And beware of English teachers who tell you that "so" can always be >used in place of "very". It's a very common mistake. Or, in US English, "it's so a common mistake". At least that was the gist of a discusion here a few months ago. SignatureSteve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk > >> > Yesterday i came across this Multiple Choice question on my english > >> > examination. Can someone give me some ideas which one is the right [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > At least that was the gist of a discusion here a few months ago. I don't recall the resolution of any such discussion. However, I think in my version of US English: "It is so a common mistake" might be part of an argument. Note the separate words, indicating at least an equal stress on the "is so". "It is a so common mistake" might also be heard. >> Or, in US English, "it's so a common mistake". >> [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > "It is so a common mistake" might be part of an argument. Note the > separate words, indicating at least an equal stress on the "is so". I have the usage of "so" that Steve is alluding to, but I can't use it in the sentence in question - in particular, I don't think it can be used where it can be grammatically replaced by "such" (e.g., before a noun phrase with "a"/"an"). This is the usage of "so" to modify the complement of the copula "be" in order to emphasize the state of affairs indicated by the sentence. "So" is stressed; the copula usually isn't. For instance, "You are so not my friend anymore"; "As soon as I get home, I'm so going right to bed." This is different from the use of "so" you describe, which has the meaning 'I reassert my claim in the face of your denial.' This "so", as you note, requires stress on both "so" and the verb auxiliary, and it can't be used with "not", so this can't be the "so" in either of the example sentences above. > "It is a so common mistake" might also be heard. I don't think this is grammatical for me. It'd have to be "such a common mistake" or "so common a mistake". -Aaron J. Dinkin Dr. Whom |
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