Thread: Acceptance on Homosexuality

I've given some thought to this and have come to the conclusion that your teacher was right. Honetsly, I misread your post. I thought that you wrote that your teacher denied the second meaning (=specific). sorry

Угу, у тебя в последнем посте по-моему с временами не всё гладко... Там где I thought... Согласование вроде нарушается.

Ну ёпт...

Да не у тебя

Originally Posted by Vincent Tailors

Угу, у тебя в последнем посте по-моему с временами не всё гладко... Там где I thought... Согласование вроде нарушается.

You might be right, although I personally think my sentence is fine. *starts to wait for a native English speaker's comment*. Thanks anyway! :P

You don't "hint on", you "hint at" (unless it's some Americanism I've never stumbled across), and all that "concrete" could mean in this context is "real", which makes little sense.

Originally Posted by scotcher

You don't "hint on", you "hint at" (unless it's some Americanism I've never stumbled across), and all that "concrete" could mean in this context is "real", which makes little sense.

How about my sentence? Which of us (me or VT) is right?

Native English-speaker to the rescue!

First - ReDSanchous and Vincent Tailors are more-or-less right about "concrete". The dictionary examples are correct, there is that second meaning. But you can't say "someone certain". For that sentence you'd have to say something like "did you have someone specific in mind"? or "anyone in particular?"

For the problem of tenses - I'm not an English teacher, but it sounds right to me.

Originally Posted by ReDSanchous

I thought you meant that that your teacher denied the second meaning.

Я думал что твоя учительница отрицает второе значение. - правильно, да?

Это только в вашем сумасбродном языке времени не согласуются.

Edit: it's "hint at"

Originally Posted by Moryachka

Native English-speaker to the rescue!

First - ReDSanchous and Vincent Tailors are more-or-less right about "concrete". The dictionary examples are correct, there is that second meaning. But you can't say "someone certain". For that sentence you'd have to say something like "did you have someone specific in mind"? or "anyone in particular?"

For the problem of tenses - I'm not an English teacher, but it sounds right to me.

Originally Posted by ReDSanchous

I thought you meant that that your teacher denied the second meaning.

Я думал что твоя учительница отрицает второе значение. - правильно, да?

Это только в вашем сумасбродном языке времени не согласуются.

Edit: it's "hint at"

Hello Moryachka,

Thank you for your help! It's greatly appreciated. Is 'wrote' wrong in my sentence or does it simply sound unnatural?

Я думал что твоя учительница отрицает второе значение. - правильно, да?

What I meant in Russian was:
Я думал, что ты написал, что твоя учительница отрицает второе значение.

Your sentence is fine but it's not exactly what I meant because it does not contain the bit 'you wrote'.

Originally Posted by ReDSanchous

Is 'wrote' wrong in my sentence or does it simply sound unnatural?

Your sentence is fine but it's not exactly what I meant because it does not contain the bit 'you wrote'.

I'm sorry! I don't know if it's technically wrong, it just sounded funny to me. Now that I think about it, it's probably fine.

I thought that you wrote that your teacher denied the second meaning

This sentence? It's perfectly normal.

Originally Posted by Moryachka

Это только в вашем сумасбродном языке времена не согласуются.

This sentence? It's perfectly normal.

Блин, почему?

I thought -- past tense, If we replaced it with
"I think you wrote" -- it'd be fine, right?
And if I thought you wrote, it must be I thought you had written?

Because if an action in the past occured after another action in the past, the latter must be past perfect and the former must be in past simple. Kind of. Right? Sequence of tenses.

"Hardly had he entered the room, he heard someone's voice"
Не так же:
Hardly he entered the room, he heard someone's voice".

I'd thought and thought about exactly that but couldn't make up my mind. Hey - gimme a minute, I'll go to the library and find a grammar textbook. Постараюсь.

Originally Posted by Moryachka

Это только в вашем сумасбродном языке времена не согласуются.

Кстати, времена не согласуются не только в русском. Еще в немецком, например.

[quote="Vincent Tailors"]
Because if an action in the past occured after another action in the past, the latter must be past perfect and the former must be in past simple. Kind of. Right? Sequence of tenses.[quote]

Bсе верно. Кажется я многие тонкости английского давно забыла.

Four textbooks later and...

"I thought that you had written such-and-such" is correct. Past perfect, if I'm not mistaken. An action in the past (had written) completed before another (thought) which was also completed in the past. Rrrgh. Now I remember why I hated grammar so much.

Oh, thank you, Moryachka .

Basurero? You seem to have quite the opposite opinion?

Originally Posted by Vincent Tailors

Oh, thank you, Moryachka .

Basurero? You seem to have quite the opposite opinion?

Hmm, I don't believe it is wrong.

Take the verb "to say" instead of "to write" and you have:

"I thought you said that your teacher denied the second meaning" - Sounds perfectly normal

On the other hand...

"I thought that you had said that your teacher denied the second meaning" - Sounds terrible, no one would ever say that.

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that "I thought" is not really referring to the past in this case, but rather expresses uncertainty. "I think you wrote that your teacher denied the second meaning" has different connotations. "Thought" in this case is really referring to the present so your not really comparing between two events... eg

I thought you entered the room at 5.
I thought you ate at John's.

But

I thought that you had already entered the room when Jane arrived. (comparing two past events)

"Hardly had he entered the room, when he heard someone's voice"

Anyway, I don't know much about grammar, only what sounds right. So maybe it is technically incorrect, but to me it sounds perfectly normal.

"I thought you said that your teacher denied the second meaning"

Let's shift the tenses.
"I think you say" -- Я думаю, ты говоришь то-то и то-то
I thought you said -- Я думал, ты говорил/сказал то-то и то-то
See?
I think you said -- Я думаю, ты сказал
I thought you'd said -- Я думал, ты сказал

Maybe it's better to not pronounce it "you had said" for it will be longer. And if we shortened it to "you'd said" it'd sound normal? What do you think?

Originally Posted by Vincent Tailors

"I thought you said that your teacher denied the second meaning"

Let's shift the tenses.
"I think you say" -- Я думаю, ты говоришь то-то и то-то
I thought you said -- Я думал, ты говорил/сказал то-то и то-то
See?
I think you said -- Я думаю, ты сказал
I thought you'd said -- Я думал, ты сказал

Maybe it's better to not pronounce it "you had said" for it will be longer. And if we shortened it to "you'd said" it'd sound normal? What do you think?

Vincent Tailors, I don't think it's necessary to worry so much over all this. RElax. I see that you want to understand why my use of the tenses is correct in that sentence but you don't seem to understand that grammar books don't always apply in real life. If your ultimate goal is to have a perfect command of Enlgish grammar, then there's probably a desperate need for you to pay so much attention to why you can or cannot say this or that in a particular situation. However, if your aim is to master the language that is used in everyday life, all you've got to do is simply remember that native speakers consider that usage of the tenses correct. I can give you the following example - I sometimes stumble across topics on this forum dealing with Russian grammar and I find that the way I've been using the grammatical rule under discussion all my life is actually wrong. But I won't stop using it that way - at least, in everyday situations. Unless it's something serious or important for me personally.

It's like arguing over whether the sentence "I better go home" is ok. Again, you can say that grammar books oblige you to use 'had' or its shortened form ' 'd ' in that sentence.