And welcome to the next episode of "Typical errors by Germans (trying to) speak(ing) English at Shandyr's university"
So this time our tutor made a pronunciation error, to be more specific he pronounced the word "variance" incorrectly. He pronounced the "i" in that word like you would say "I".
Also he said "drawed" for the past tense of "to draw"... Of course it's DREW DREW DREW!
I make many mistakes myself when speaking English, I admit. But I can't help but LOVE nitpicking about other people's* errors when they (try to) speak English...
You may consider that a character flaw of mine
EDIT: * Note: this only applies to fellow German students
I love to find errors in people's English too (especially my own mother's) but the truth is the only other language I have any reasonable knowledge in is French and I'm terrible at it. I blame it on the terrible curriculum in schools. So if I ever speak French on these forums, I hope someone will take extreme pleasure in correcting me.
That's always the most fun. After about 10 years of trying my mom finally says "He's doing well" instead of "He's doing good"... if I'm in the room... after a few seconds of silence... after she says the wrong one first.
"No pretty sure that's not the case here. It is one of common mistakes Germans do - that sometimes they don't know or mess up past tense/ past participle of irregular verbs.
Plus he did have to use past tense (active, not passive) in his sentence and not past participle."
As an English-speaking former student of German language, I can say that works both ways. German irregular participles are just as hard and easy to get wrong for GSL speakers as English irregulars are for ESL speakers. I also studied French, and the same is true there.
And stories have told, of black wings in the cold, That when brothers wage war come unfurled! @Anduin, bane of kinds, ancient shadow unbound, With a hunger to swallow the world!
And stories have told, of bandages in the cold, That when brothers wage war come unfurled! @Anduin, bane of kinds, ancient shortie unbound, With a hunger to swallow a turnip
At my job there is a department that insists on using the word "Inactivate" when referencing various accounts on our books. This kind of drives me nuts as I keep on wanting to correct them and tell them that they are 'Deactivating' the accounts to make them inactive. The problem is that 'Inactivate' is actually a valid word (according to websters), just not in general use. Any suggestions on how to deal with this?
At my job there is a department that insists on using the word "Inactivate" when referencing various accounts on our books. This kind of drives me nuts as I keep on wanting to correct them and tell them that they are 'Deactivating' the accounts to make them inactive. The problem is that 'Inactivate' is actually a valid word (according to websters), just not in general use. Any suggestions on how to deal with this?
In this situation, inactive, or inactivate is the proper action. If the accounts are no longer being used, then you inactivate them as they have been dormant for a period of time. If they are currently in use, but you wish them to cease, then you can make them inactive by deactivating them.
Or if an object is in use/performing an action, then you can deactivate it If the object is not being used/performing an action you can inactivate it.
Bomb ticking down, deactivate it. Bomb lying dormant, inactivate it.
Of course the masters of obtuse wording would be the government.
A trainee is a "developmental". Two planes too close together is a "separation error". And all the distinctions between "secret", "classified" and "sensitive" are just a hoot! (most FAA information is "sensitive", but dealings with the military and other government agencies quickly become the other sorts).
In academia, power can mean anything from political office to an invisible, undetectable and odorless mist that magically gravitates towards certain groups of people whom the speaker doesn't like.
In postmodernism, words mean whatever I want them to, and anyone who disagrees is just trying to assert their patriarchal capitalist hegemony over my discourse with their sinister oppressive metanarratives.
In postmodernism, words mean whatever I want them to, and anyone who disagrees is just trying to assert their patriarchal capitalist hegemony over my discourse with their sinister oppressive metanarratives.
I'm no linguist, but I would say "earnest" and "sincere" are synonyms. Earnest is maybe more formal? Maybe more British? Maybe deeper or just MORE. But I think most English speakers would consider the words to be the same.
@Shandyr: No particular difference. They're used a bit differently, but they can be interchangeable in most cases.
If somebody is saying something that they really believe, you would say they're being sincere. If you're describing how that person is in general, you would say they're earnest.
Or, if they're doing something real that they normally fake, then you'd say earnest. There's a line in the Call of the Wild in which Pike the malingerer, who normally faked getting hurt to justify his laziness, was once actually "limping in earnest." I can't believe I remember that phrase from back in high school.
Sincere more often refers to a single statement; earnest more often refers to a person's normal degree of honesty.
The British way of pronouncing that word seems so strange to me. I would always pronounce it the US way.
I've always pronounced it the 'US way', too. Bear in mind, pronunciation is going to vary with the accent. Even within Greater London, you'll probably get three or four different pronunciations or more. Asking just two people isn't really going to give you a good idea. As standard, back when I was in school many, many, many years ago, I was always taught that it's going to sound more or less phonetic: in-ven-tor-ee. I don't think I have ever heard a more lazy way to say it than in-ven-tree. Where did the O go?
Comments
edit to correct my misspelling: see? It is so "not normal" that I can't even spell "English" correctly. *laugh*
"No pretty sure that's not the case here. It is one of common mistakes Germans do - that sometimes they don't know or mess up past tense/ past participle of irregular verbs.
Plus he did have to use past tense (active, not passive) in his sentence and not past participle."
As an English-speaking former student of German language, I can say that works both ways. German irregular participles are just as hard and easy to get wrong for GSL speakers as English irregulars are for ESL speakers. I also studied French, and the same is true there.
Tr-o-o-don? Not even the oo sound as in loop or the u sound as found in book? Just o and o? Madness. Follows no rule.
@Troodon80 said himself it sounded like Trout but the t replaced with a d.
Wait...
How do I say your name...
What in the blazes are you calling me?
I teach phonics daily. But I already lost my sanity years ago...
That when brothers wage war come unfurled!
@Anduin, bane of kinds, ancient shadow unbound,
With a hunger to swallow the world!
Oh turnips fat, red and round,
Oh where, oh where, can you be found?
Dig a little here, and then there,
Oh yes I've found my underwear!
(An ode to commando farmers)
EDIT: Punctuation.
Or if an object is in use/performing an action, then you can deactivate it
If the object is not being used/performing an action you can inactivate it.
Bomb ticking down, deactivate it.
Bomb lying dormant, inactivate it.
A trainee is a "developmental".
Two planes too close together is a "separation error".
And all the distinctions between "secret", "classified" and "sensitive" are just a hoot! (most FAA information is "sensitive", but dealings with the military and other government agencies quickly become the other sorts).
In postmodernism, words mean whatever I want them to, and anyone who disagrees is just trying to assert their patriarchal capitalist hegemony over my discourse with their sinister oppressive metanarratives.
Earnest is maybe more formal? Maybe more British? Maybe deeper or just MORE. But I think most English speakers would consider the words to be the same.
If somebody is saying something that they really believe, you would say they're being sincere. If you're describing how that person is in general, you would say they're earnest.
Or, if they're doing something real that they normally fake, then you'd say earnest. There's a line in the Call of the Wild in which Pike the malingerer, who normally faked getting hurt to justify his laziness, was once actually "limping in earnest." I can't believe I remember that phrase from back in high school.
Sincere more often refers to a single statement; earnest more often refers to a person's normal degree of honesty.
It also sounds like they're saying infantry.
I counted the in-ven-tree this morning.
The in-ven-tory in the back needs to be counted.
But I say in-van-ta-ree when I use the word before a vowel as in... What in-van-ta-ree are you carrying.
And I say in-ven-tor-ee before a consonant. My in-ven-tor-ee consists of...
Not sure of the rule but it is similar to the reason you use an a before a consonant as in a dog and an an before a vowel an elephant
...
Sometimes my help is just evil in disguise...