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  1. #1
    Властелин iCake's Avatar
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    I'm going to ask more of the ''why is that so' questions today.

    I have to write down a dialogue from a movie I watched today to lay the foundation for my first two questions.

    A critically ill girl sits on a bench in the graveyard. The girl's friend comes up to her and the girl says:
    - G: Big ups for finding me
    - F: It's a rather morbid choice of resting place
    - G: I came here a lot when I was a kid. Sometimes you just need a place to think, you know.
    Some unimportant stuff
    - F: I'll take you somewhere else, somewhere safe.
    - G: Okay, but can we stay here a bit longer? It's nice. Unless, you have somewhere to be
    - F: No, I'm good

    1) Why the friend says '... of resting place'. Shouldn't it have been '... of a resting place'? I've been noticing that sometimes countable nouns go with no article at all. Is it because they're used in set phrases? Or maybe there is a rule for when you should not place any article before a noun, even though the noun is countable? Please, help me work through this thing. It would be impossible for me to get to the desired level of English thinking untill this stuff is dealt with Right now it plunges me into total confusion. One more thing, the last thing of this kind I can remember right now is "heat of battle" rather than "heat of a battle"

    2) The last phrase of the dialogue, which is "No, I'm good", just stuns me. Yeah, I know that it basically means that the friend doesn't have somewhere else to be, but the logic of the phrase is just beyond my comprehension. Please, someone tell me why this phrase was ever even used.

    3) I've seen a lot of sentences of this pattern on the internet.

    -- how do/would I do that.

    I ask that because we don't really ask themselves 'how do I do that' questions. In fact, it would be transformed into an infinitive form as this - how to do that? So, the question itself is this. Do you ask themselves "how do I" questions rather than "how to do" ones. I think it'd be invaluable to know that if I want to achieve what I seek.

    Well, I still have some questions but I think it's a rather long post already. Don't want to take too much of your time. I can't wait to see your replies and thank you in advance

  2. #2
    Подающий надежды оратор Vanstraiten's Avatar
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    A critically ill girl sits on a bench in the graveyard. The girl's friend comes up to her and the girl says:
    - G: Big ups for finding me
    - F: It's a rather morbid choice of resting place
    - G: I came here a lot when I was a kid. Sometimes you just need a place to think, you know.
    It should be "of a resting place". It just sounds weird otherwise...

    Some unimportant stuff
    - F: I'll take you somewhere else, somewhere safe.
    - G: Okay, but can we stay here a bit longer? It's nice. Unless, you have somewhere to be
    - F: No, I'm good
    "I'm good" is a saying we all use... a lot.
    I suppose it would be considered slang, but basically it's saying "I'm satisfied/content" or something to that degree.

    -- how do/would I do that.

    I ask that because we don't really ask themselves 'how do I do that' questions. In fact, it would be transformed into an infinitive form as this - how to do that? So, the question itself is this. Do you ask themselves "how do I" questions rather than "how to do" ones. I think it'd be invaluable to know that if I want to achieve what I seek.
    In general we never say "How to do", it's always "How do I" or "how do you" and so on. "How to do" sounds very wrong.
    MISSFOXYSWEETCHERRY and iCake like this.
    "Мертвому, конечно, спокойней, да уж больно скучно"
    - Сухов
    "Скільки мов ти знаєш - Стільки разів ти людина."

    - Павло Тичина

  3. #3
    Старший оракул Seraph's Avatar
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    It should be "of a resting place". It just sounds weird otherwise...
    Not sure if regionalism has anything to do with this. "That's a strange choice of profession!" "What a lovely shade of pink/rose/green etc!" "He's a despicable kind of thief!" For me, no article is necessary for those to sound normal. Likewise "It's a rather morbid choice of resting place."
    "I'm good" is a saying we all use... a lot.
    I never say it. "I'm fine, thanks" is what I use, along with some other phrases. As far as the movie dialog, don't know what I'd say.
    Tararwen and iCake like this.

  4. #4
    Властелин iCake's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Seraph View Post
    "That's a strange choice of profession!" "What a lovely shade of pink/rose/green etc!" "He's a despicable kind of thief!" For me, no article is necessary for those to sound normal. Likewise "It's a rather morbid choice of resting place."
    Correct me if I'm wrong but you basically just said that it's safe to omit an article before a counable singular noun if it's preceded by of? And I would be much obliged if you elaborate on these and those things.

    Today's questions:

    1) What verb do you use to describe a process of making an expansible furniture, um, become something else? For example, I have a couch which is capable of being turned into a bed if you pull out its bottom part to expand it. I was thinking about the verb to fold, but I don't think if it's the right word. Also I would like to know a verb of a conrary meaning, as in to make my couch back into a couch I would use вытащить, вытянуть, расправить or even сделать to mean the first part of my question in Russian. Заправить, собрать, or втащить for the second part

    2) What the difference between these things:
    Have you done that yet?
    Have you done it already?

    As I understand it now the first one is kind of more impatient like you want that to be already done at the time you ask it. The second one is more general. Do I get it right?

    3) I was thinking about what verb do you use to mean the proccess of smell's gradual disappearance, usually a bad one. Blown away or something like that? I'd use выветриваться in Russian

    That's it for today. As always I can't thank you enough for all of the great help I've already got from you and more than that I'm sure there is more of that to come. Good day!
    I do not claim that my opinion is absolutely true.
    If you've spotted any mistake in my English, please, correct it. I want to be aware of any mistakes to efficiently eliminate them before they become a habit.

  5. #5
    Старший оракул Seraph's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by iCake View Post
    Today's questions:

    1) What verb do you use to describe a process of making an expansible furniture, um, become something else? For example, I have a couch which is capable of being turned into a bed if you pull out its bottom part to expand it. I was thinking about the verb to fold, but I don't think if it's the right word. Also I would like to know a verb of a conrary meaning, as in to make my couch back into a couch I would use вытащить, вытянуть, расправить or even сделать to mean the first part of my question in Russian. Заправить, собрать, or втащить for the second part
    fold out couch => Fold the couch out into a bed. Fold the bed back (up) into a couch.
    2) What the difference between these things:
    Have you done that yet?
    Have you done it already?

    As I understand it now the first one is kind of more impatient like you want that to be already done at the time you ask it. The second one is more general. Do I get it right?
    I can't really answer this one. For me the tone of voice is more telling about the degree of impatience. I think you just might be right.
    3) I was thinking about what verb do you use to mean the proccess of smell's gradual disappearance, usually a bad one. Blown away or something like that? I'd use выветриваться in Russian

    That's it for today. As always I can't thank you enough for all of the great help I've already got from you and more than that I'm sure there is more of that to come. Good day!
    The foul reek/odour/smell faded/dissipated/dispersed/diminished gradually. You don't want bookish things do you? "The malodorous scent evanesced..."
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