Re: Newbie stuff: I hope to learn



Soren Svendsen <immacolata2@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> It is the whole wanting to use two verbs in same sentence that Im
> struggling with. I wish to learn would have two verbs, but one is
> intransitive and the other isn't.

As you learn more of the grammar, you'll realise that English forces
verbs into many roles where they are uncomfortable. We don't have many
conjugations of verbs, so we say things like "want to do" or "plan to
do" and other such constructions.

In such a case, only the "do" is the verb; everything else is
modifying that verb's function in the statement. In Japanese, this is
done with many different verb conjugations. Others have already
pointed out that "want to learn" collapses from the apparent two verbs
in English, to the single verb 習う conjugated as 習いたい.

You're right to have an aversion to more than one verb per statement.
Keep searching for the meaning of the English sentence so that you can
find the right way to express it, rather than try to find an
equivalent for each English word.

--
\ "If it ain't bust don't fix it is a very sound principle and |
`\ remains so despite the fact that I have slavishly ignored it |
_o__) all my life." -- Douglas Adams |
Ben Finney
.



Relevant Pages

  • Re: pronunciation and general american-english
    ... I know the English grammer, but not by heart - it is too ... "Grammar" is of course the right word. ... but I have seen so few plural Swedish verbs compared ... I never studied Danish grammar. ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: Ireland Acts And Yurp Twitters.
    ... :>:I suspect that you inhabit a separate reality from the rest of us. ... :>:irregular verbs of German, ... :> significant additions from other languages (like the Old English ...
    (soc.culture.scottish)
  • Re: Parse "sooner"
    ... multi-word verbs. ... years older than Quirk et al.'s. ... straightforward English and an implied ellipsis. ... And its usages are inconsistent. ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: The definition of the Standard variation of British English
    ... It's probably true of "Give me __ pliers", but as you note at your site, some parts of standard English are inventions of writers and usage authorities. ... To try (as some "modern" grammars do) to roll all that up into two and a half cases with "modern" names is to show contempt for the entire purpose of grammar, which is to help us carefully describe and analyze what we do and how we do it. ... It is true that in German, which used to have quite a number of verbs that governed the genitive the genitive of "he" is similar in form to the words for "his", but I don't think that necessarily makes them the same part of speech. ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: Most hated neologisms/incorrect usage
    ... What was wrong with "to take a tour", and in what way can one ... language mavens have deplored the way English speakers convert nouns into verbs. ...
    (alt.usage.english)