Hey guys. So I’ve been speaking to this Polish lady, she wrote to me about her hobbies. I noticed she makes mistakes using past tense when it is not needed. I want to help but I’m not sure how to explain this error to her.
So for example she says things like,
“I love experimented with cosmetic, invent new use, mixed many colours or…”
“One hour of it makes me happy and give me energy for all day. You don’t even notice when you lost weight and your body became shapely and firm.”
What is the term for the correct grammar? -I love experimenting, mixing many colours, you don’t notice when you lose etcetc.
I think it is difficult to explain such things without knowing both languages to some degree. What if you try to draw her attention to the different verb forms she used. Ask her about the reasons. She wrote “love”, “invent”, “makes” and “give”, but “experimented”, “mixed”, etc. Why? It may give you some clues to make your explanations in the terms she would understand.
About grammar. “(I love) experimenting” is gerund. “(I love) to experiment” is infinitive. But I doubt this will make it any easier to explain. If Polish is similar to Russian or Ukrainian, infinitive will be easier to understand, because we use same constructions.
By the way, I do not understand why there should be present time in “you don’t notice when you lose…”. In Russian I say literally “you do not even notice how you had lost the weight”. So you can train on me with explanation
That’s a good point, I will talk to her about the different verbs she used. I assume her using “I love” or other correct forms is probably more force of habit rather than her properly understanding the way verbs are used. Polish grammar is very much like Russian. I have an understanding of Russian/Polish cases but I can’t form complex sentences myself. I probably know more about Russian grammar than I do English my native lang lol. If I tell her the terms for grammar maybe she can find some explanations for it in Polish. I’ve never heard of Gerund so I learnt something new today Kind of embarrassing knowing so little about English though.
“One hour of it makes me happy and give me energy for all day. You don’t even notice when you lost weight…” Using lose here instead of lost is Gerund right?
So you would choose to say “One hour of it makes me happy and gives me energy all day. You do not even notice when you had lost the weight”. If you put it in context maybe you can see something doesn’t sound right. “when you had lost all the weight” here its meaning is perfect or literal, but “when you lose the weight” is like “you could lose the weight” and “you” used here is meant like “вы” (I don’t know if you would actually use вы in russian here tho) You can use your version like this “You DID NOT even notice when you had lost all the weight” but not with “you do not”
It might be easiest to simply tell her about her use of tenses. If one says “I love…” (present tense) or “I loved” (past tense), the following word has to be in the correct tense. “I love experimenting” and “I loved experimenting.” “I have invented new uses” and “I invent new uses”. I wouldn’t question her choice of verbs, adjectives, etc - only the tense. For instance, it may be clearer and/or more eloquent-sounding within the context of cosmetics to say, “I invent new applications”, rather than “I invent new uses” - but virtually every English speaker would still understand her meaning.
No, I have talked about the part with “love experimented”, which you’ve corrected with “love experimenting”. “Experimenting” here is gerund. It can be replaced (I hope so) by infinitive “to experiment”. There is no gerund in Russian, by the way.
P.S. Lost vs lose is past indefinite tense vs. present indefinite tense only.
I’ll give this a try, but I know I won’t give as good expalations as you do in Russian.
“Every second week I notice that I lost weight.” - wrong?
– this is very colloquial, and not very “correct.” “That I have lost weight” is better.
“Every second week I notice that I lose weight.” - right?
– Right.
" - I have not seen you for ages! You look good. - Yes, I lost weight." - right?
– like #1. “Yes, I have lost weight” is better.
" - Hello! You look better each time we meet! - Hi! It’s because I lose weight." - right or wrong?
– Right, probably, but we wouldn’t say this normally, if ever. We would say, “It’s because I am losing weight.”
“I’m on a diet for three weeks. I notice that I lose weight. I lost 2 pounds yesterday. I have lost 10 pounds since the beginning.” - right?
– This is very good, but as with #4, we would say, “I notice that I am losing weight.”
russophile, I think me and A5 meant the same as you, her use of verbs in the tense rather than questioning the actual verb itself.
a5, yeah it can be replaced with “love to” So “lost” means to lose something as a whole, once and for all? I was losing it, I lost it, it was lost, I am losing it, I lose it. I will lose it, it will be lost.
Ernie already nailed everything except…
“Every second week I notice that I lost weight.” - wrong? I don’t even think it’s colloquial, it’s just wrong.
" I notice that I lose weight." - right? I think this is ok as well as “I am losing weight”
Well, I sent my friend a link about Gerund and she says she also has problems with adjectives which she mixes with past tense. a5 I might send her your practice sentences with blanks for her to work on.
Kind of embarrassing knowing so little about English though.