Re: Aspects of English Grammar

Maybe there is a difference between Northern and
Southern Michigan ? Anyway, it would be hard to take a
train to Madrid from Michigan, except of course in
case there is a city called Madrid in Michigan, or
around.

Maybe there is also another possibility than the
expression "to be about to" ? In French I can think of
"etre sur le point de", "s'appreter a". They can be
used in the future tense just like in present or past:
"je serai sur le point de", "je m'appreterai a". What
is NOT possible in the future is to use the expression
"je vais faire quelque chose" (I'm going to do
something) = close future (futur proche).

Present: je vais sortir (I'm about to go out), ok

Future: *j'irai sortir, impossible (one has to say: je
serai sur le point de sortir, je m'appreterai a
sortir).

Maybe that's the cause for some reluctances about
"I'll be about to do something" ?

--- "Ph. D." <phild@...> wrote:
>
> Roger, you live in Michigan. Did you grow up in
> Michigan?
> I'm a native speaker who grew up in Michigan, and I
> find this
> construction perfectly acceptable.
>

=====
Philippe Caquant

"He thought he saw a Rattlesnake / That questioned him in Greek: / He looked
again, and found it was / The Middle of Next Week. / "The one thing I regret',
he said, / "Is that it cannot speak !' " (Lewis Carroll)

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