Re: Rating Languages

David Peterson wrote:
> 2.) I'm eating (present/present progressive): "What are you doing?" "I'm
> eating; what's it look like?"
Which can sometimes be used in the future "I'm leaving tomorrow at noon"
or as a habitual "He's going to school at UF"

Speaking of English, has anyone else encountered "be staying" for
"live"?  E.g., "I'm staying at the Avenues [an apartment complex]"  I
don't think I've encountered it used for a place that you own, it might
be restricted to rental situations.  Still, I'd use "live" in those
cases.

> 3.) I'll eat (promisary): "You're going to eat your vegetables, right?" "Yes,
> mom, I'll eat them."
> 10.) I'll eat (conditional): "I'll eat if you get me something." (Here the
> emphasis is on the action taking
I think these are the same.  You're promising to eat *IF* that condition
is met.

> 11.) I eat (past iterative): "So I eat this big sandwich and I get this awful
> stomach-ache afterwards!"
>     (This is used when relating a story.  I didn't know what name to give
> it...)
Simple present tense.  You're relating a past event as if it were taking
place at the present time.

> 13.) I was going to eat (past interrupted): "I was going to eat when I was
> struck down by the Lord."
Related to that is the "future past", "I was about to eat", which can be
interrupted, but doesn't have to be, like "What were you doing at 5:00
yesterday?" "I was about to eat"

> 14.) I will've eaten (properfect): "Don't worry, Ma.  By the time your asleep
> I will've eaten."
I will've eaten sounds odd to me.  I'd say either I'll've eaten or I'll
have eaten or I will have eaten.

Future perfect is the normal term.

> 20.) I'm about to eat (immediate future): "Hey, can you help me with this?"
> "I'm about to eat; can it
In the South, the adverb (?) is often "Fixin'" or "fittin'" "I'm fixin'
to eat"

>     I wonder what other native English speakers will think of my little
> list...?
Well, I think you're leaving some things out, like:

21. Obligation: I must/have to/gotta eat
22. Semi-obligation?: I should eat, I oughta eat

Oh!  And a fairly major one
23. Past habitual?: I used to eat: "He used to eat meat, until he became
a vegetarian"
    And its negative: I didn't used to eat

Many others, of course.  :-)  English seems to be pretty free with
auxiliaries and adverbs, I guess you'd call them.  I don't think you can
really come up with a definitive list.

--
"No just cause can be advanced by terror"
ICQ: 18656696
AIM Screen-Name: NikTaylor42

Replies