Tuesday, March 17, 2020
Sometime, Sometimes, and Some Time
Sometime, Sometimes, and Some Time Sometime, Sometimes, and Some Time Sometime, Sometimes, and Some Time By Maeve Maddox A reader questions a friendââ¬â¢s use of sometimes: She will say ââ¬Å"I hope we get to see you sometimes.â⬠Is there supposed to be a plural for sometime? There is an s form of sometime, but it is not a plural. Adverbs donââ¬â¢t have plural forms. The morphemes some and time occur in three combinations: sometime, sometimes, and some time. Written as one word, sometime is an adverb implying a vague time in the future: I hope we get to see you sometime.â⬠Sometimes, also an adverb, denotes the sense of occasionally: Sometimes I see a deer in my backyard. One-word sometime can be used as an adjective meaning occasional or former: [John M. Robertson] worked throughout his life primarily as a writer, aà sometimeà journalist, and a sometime politician, having been elected to Parliament in 1906.à Hamlet laments the betrayal by his sometime friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.à Written as two words, some time has different meanings. Some time can mean ââ¬Å"quite a whileâ⬠: It has been some time since the school district had a competent administrator. Some may simply be an adjective qualifying time: Margaret said she needed some time to think about her relationship with Charles. The following sentence illustrates all these forms: Sometimes I spend some time wishing I could see the sometime friends I havenââ¬â¢t seen for some time. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Writing a Reference Letter (With Examples)The Four Sounds of the Spelling OUAppropriate vs. Apropos vs. Apt
Sunday, March 1, 2020
Simple Décrire Verb Conjugations in French
Simple Dà ©crire Verb Conjugations in French In French, to say to describe, you must use the verbà dà ©crire. Admittedly, conjugating this verb to mean described or will describe is not the easiest thing to do. However, a quick lesson and some dedicated practice will help you memorize this tricky verb. Conjugating the French Verbà Dà ©crire Dà ©crireà is anà irregular verb, so it does not follow one of the common verb conjugation patterns found in French. Yet, allà French verbs ending inà -crireà are conjugated this way. You might consider studying a few at the same time to make learning each just a little easier. Conjugations transform the verb into the present, future, or past tense so the sentence makes sense. This is done by identifying the verb stem - in this case,à ââ¬â¹dà ©cri- - then adding the appropriate infinitive ending for the subject pronoun. For instance, I describe is je dà ©cris and we will describe is nous dà ©crirons. Subject Present Future Imperfect je dà ©cris dà ©crirai dà ©crivais tu dà ©cris dà ©criras dà ©crivais il dà ©cris dà ©crira dà ©crivait nous dà ©crivons dà ©crirons dà ©crivions vous dà ©crivez dà ©crirez dà ©criviez ils dà ©crivent dà ©criront dà ©crivaient The Present Participle ofà Dà ©crire When you add -antà to the verb stem ofà dà ©crire, you form theà present participleà dà ©crivant. It is a verb, of course, yet youll also find it used as an adjective, gerund, or noun at times. The Past Participle and Passà © Composà © Theà past participleà ofà dà ©crireà isà dà ©crit.à Its used in the construction of theà passà © composà ©Ã for the past tense of described. To use it, you must also conjugate theà auxiliary verbà avoir. The passà © composà © comes together quickly once you know these rules. As an example, I described is jai dà ©crit and we described is nous avons dà ©crit. More Simple Dà ©crireà Conjugations Among the other simple verb conjugations ofà dà ©crireà that you should know are the subjunctive and conditional. Each implies some degree of uncertainty or dependency in the act of deciding. In literature, youll come across either the passà © simple or imperfect subjunctive forms. While you may not use them yourself, recognizing them as a form ofà dà ©crireà will help with comprehension. Subject Subjunctive Conditional Passà © Simple Imperfect Subjunctive je dà ©crive dà ©crirais dà ©crivis dà ©crivisse tu dà ©crives dà ©crirais dà ©crivis dà ©crivisses il dà ©crive dà ©crirait dà ©crivit dà ©crivà ®t nous dà ©crivions dà ©cririons dà ©crivà ®mes dà ©crivissions vous dà ©criviez dà ©cririez dà ©crivà ®tes dà ©crivissiez ils dà ©crivent dà ©criraient dà ©crivirent dà ©crivissent In short, assertive commands and requests, the imperative verb form is used. When using this, keep the sentence short and skip the subject pronoun: dà ©cris rather than tu dà ©cris. Imperative (tu) dà ©cris (nous) dà ©crivons (vous) dà ©crivez
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