Thread: Perfective and imperfective verbs

Hi Helenej, your English is great. There are only a few words and letters which I would change to help the paragraph become slightly more natural: Eugene and I have spent a month’s holiday on that island. (Eugene, don't panic, I only said “let’s imagine”). Jackson died on the second day of our stay there. Later we arrived at the airport, caught a bus and went home. I took the mail out of the mail-box. We sat down at the table and I looked through the newspapers as we ate. Then I exclaimed, “Can you imagine? Michael Jackson has died!” Hope this helps

Originally Posted by Tovarisch

Hi Helenej, your English is great. There are only a few words and letters which I would change to help the paragraph become slightly more natural: Eugene and I have spent a month’s holiday on that island. (Eugene, don't panic, I only said “let’s imagine”). Jackson died on the second day of our stay there. Later we arrived at the airport, caught a bus and went home. I took the mail out of the mail-box. We sat down at the table and I looked through the newspapers as we ate. Then I exclaimed, “Can you imagine? Michael Jackson has died!” Hope this helps

"Eugene and I"... I had always thought that "...and me" sounds cooler.
And all the story in the past tense. Ok.
"Later" instead of my "then". How could I forget such a useful word?
"Caught a bus" instead of "took a bus". Agreed, it sounds more lively.
"Went home" instead of "come home". Uh-oh. Can you see me blushing for this boo-boo?

Thank you, Tovarisch.

So, do you mean that "Michael Jackson has died!” is ok for you?
Inspite of the fact that it occured a month before my saying that?
Actually it was the point of my request.

Originally Posted by Helenej

"Eugene and I"... I had always thought that "...and me" sounds cooler.
And all the story in the past tense. Ok.
"Later" instead of my "then". How could I forget such a useful word?
"Caught a bus" instead of "took a bus". Agreed, it sounds more lively.
"Went home" instead of "come home". Uh-oh. Can you see me blushing for this boo-boo?

Thank you, Tovarisch.

So, do you mean that "Michael Jackson has died!” is ok for you?
Inspite of the fact that it occured a month before my saying that?
Actually it was the point of my request.

Yeah, a lot of people, especially younger people (including myself in the past) have used "and me" as it sounds fairly correct, but our grammar teachers were always correcting us to use "and I" instead, as it's essentially the proper phrase, but it probably sounds strange to a non-native speaker, but either phrase should essentially do the job, the point is still the exact same :P
As for the"Went home" and "come home", it's no big problem, you could even change one letter and say 'Came home" and it still make sense.
As for your last quote, it's perfectly fine, since you learnt about Michael Jackson's death when you returned from the holiday, although he actually died while you were on the holiday, one month is still considered fairly recent. Your English really is great overall, honestly if I didn't know that you weren't a native speaker I would never have even realized

Originally Posted by Tovarisch

Yeah, a lot of people, especially younger people (including myself in the past) have used "and me" as it sounds fairly correct, but our grammar teachers were always correcting us to use "and I" instead, as it's essentially the proper phrase, but it probably sounds strange to a non-native speaker, but either phrase should essentially do the job, the point is still the exact same

We, Russians, always say "и я" and never "и меня" when it is the subject. So it doesn't sound strange for us at all.
On the contrary, quite natural. Though it's a very interesting remark of yours.

Originally Posted by Tovarisch

As for the"Went home" and "come home", it's no big problem, you could even change one letter and say 'Came home" and it still make sense.

There is a big difference between come and go. It's about directions. I shouldn't have confused them.

Originally Posted by Tovarisch

As for your last quote, it's perfectly fine, since you learnt about Michael Jackson's death when you returned from the holiday, although he actually died while you were on the holiday. Your English really is great overall, honestly if I didn't know that you weren't a native speaker I would never have even realized

Great! I'm working my way around that theory. It works.

And one thing more. What would you say about the situation described in my previous post which is a little above the first one?
It is of the 5th of November, 02:57 PM, in the blue colour.