英語の文法と語法の質問〜２

[furin]

Like explaining when to read words ON or Kun.

I see. I think so.

Tribes apparently don't get the same treatment. If the language is a tribal language not a national language, then there is no morphing.

That's an another new knowledge for me, thank you.

[furin]

質問３５．

What is the difference between "He has three brothers. All of them are married." and "He has three brothers, all of whom are married."?

My text tells me the former one needs two sentences and the latter one can be written in one sentence. それでは、意味の上ではニュアンスの違いがありますか？ それとも両者は全く同じ意味でしょうか。

[richvh]

The latter uses a relative pronoun (who/whom) which needs to refer to an antecedent in the main clause. I would say the latter must be written as a single sentence. "All of whom" can only be the subject of a main clause in a question. "All of them", on the other hand, if a subject, has to be the subject of a main clause, not a dependent clause. I don't think there is any difference in nuance, just whether a single complex sentence or two simple sentences are used.

A few other variations which I think are all natural:

He has three brothers, all married.
He has three brothers, all of them married.
He has three brothers. They are all married.
He has three brothers, who are all married.
He has three married brothers. (Slightly different; leaves open the possiblity of unmarried brothers.)

[Gundaetiapo]

What is the difference between "He has three brothers. All of them are married." and "He has three brothers, all of whom are married."?

There's no basic difference in meaning or correctness. The only reason you'd use one or the other is if you want a long sentence or two short ones.

For example the best flowing English prose contains a balance of long and short sentences, so you might use the one that maintains that balance.

Also, shorter sentences can convey more emphasis if they are contrasted against many long sentences.

[furin]

rich-san wrote:
"All of them", on the other hand, if a subject, has to be the subject of a main clause, not a dependent clause. I don't think there is any difference in nuance, just whether a single complex sentence or two simple sentences are used.

なるほど、そういうことでしたか。

Gundaetiapo-san wrote:
For example the best flowing English prose contains a balance of long and short sentences, so you might use the one that maintains that balance.
Also, shorter sentences can convey more emphasis if they are contrasted against many long sentences.

よくわかりました。 日本語の文章についても同様のことが言えるかもしれません。

お二人とも、ありがとうございました。

[furin]

質問３６．

みなさま、こんにちは。

Well, I can easily find a table of irregular verbs but hardly find a table or list for adjective comparative degrees.
like 'better', 'simpler', 'harder' etc..

不規則動詞の一覧浮?ﾚにすることはあります。それでは、good が better に変わるというように、形容詞の比較級変化を書いている浮ﾍありますか？

What I'd like to know is that if there are any rules or not for -er/more.

比較級を使う場合、形容詞がいつ -er の形になり、いつ more 〜 の形になるのかが知りたいのです。

よろしくお願いします。

[richvh]

In general, native Anglo-Saxon adjectives get compared with -er, -est; adjective borrowed from foreign languages get compared with more, most. (At least, that's my impression; I haven't really studied it.) English language dictionaries usually list the comparative and superlative forms for the first group.

[lalaith]

furin wrote:
Well, I can easily find a table of irregular verbs but hardly find a table or list for adjective comparative degrees.
like 'better', 'simpler', 'harder' etc..

Your question reminds me of an old poem that deals with adjective degrees:

"Good, better, best
Never let it rest
Until your good is better
And your better is best"

BTW, this poem is from my grandmother (my Irish one, obviously not my Japanese one). She didn't write it, but she liked it and taught it to my father when he was a child & he taught it to me. I even used it for a school poster once.

EDIT: Corrected verb tense and added personal history.

[flammable hippo]

Sometimes you can tell which to use just by what the adjective ends in. For example, adjectives that end in "ing" such as interesting or disgusting, use the more/most form. Same thing goes for adjectives that end in "ent" such as intelligent or diligent, use the more/most form.

But it's ok if you don't get it right all the time, even native speakers mix up which ones to use .

Have you ever heard of this children's rhyme?

-Girls go to college to get more knowledge
-Boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider

Stupid is one of those adjectives that doesn't take the er ending. Even saying more stupid sounds ackward.

[gaijinshiki]

英語の文法書によれば、短い形容詞（１つの音節）の場合には「-er]という接尾辞を使います。例えば、big => bigger, short => shorter, white => whiter, dark => darker, quick => quicker, slow => slower, などなど。

2つの音節の短い形容詞の場合には、同じであす。2つの音節の短い形容詞は　「-y」と「-er」と「-le」と「-ow」の終わりがありますよ。例えば、clever => cleverer, gentle => gentler, noble => nobler, narrow => narrower, shallow => shallower

それに対して、2つの音節の長い形容詞は、「more」を使います。長いの終わりは 「–ful」「–less」「–al」「–ous」 「–ile」「–ish」「–ive」「–id」。例えば、
useful => more useful, careful, useless, careless, usual, vital, curious, glorious, fertile, mobile, bookish, active, vivid, などなど。

2つの音節の「-a」という接頭辞がある形容詞も「more」のことです。例えば、alone, afraid。

接頭辞と接尾辞がない２つの音節の形容詞は両方のやり方がいいです。
Common => more common, commoner
Pleasant => more pleasant, pleasanter
Profound => more profound, profounder

長い形容詞は3つの音節とその以上の場合には、「more」を使います。
Difficult => more difficult
Comfortable => more comfortable
Picturesque => more picturesque

普通は、言葉の元は大事ではないと思います。

Hope this helps.

[gaijinshiki]

Accidentally posted twice, so I am kind of deleting the second one...oops.

失礼します。

[furin]

richvh wrote:
In general, native Anglo-Saxon adjectives get compared with -er, -est; adjective borrowed from foreign languages get compared with more, most. English language dictionaries usually list the comparative and superlative forms for the first group.

Unfortunately my dictionary Longman seems not to have such list. native Angli-Saxon adjectives については、それがどういうものなのかがまだ分かりません。ともあれ、ありがとうございます。

lalaith wrote:
"Good, better, best
Never let it rest
Until your good is better
And your better is best"

It's from your Irish grandmother? すぐれた詩は口から口へ伝わっていくものだと思います。ありがとうございます。

flammable hippo wrote:
-Girls go to college to get more knowledge
-Boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider

Stupid is one of those adjectives that doesn't take the er ending. Even saying more stupid sounds auckward.

Hahaha, I like this. その他の説明もよく理解できました。ありがとうございます。


そしてgaijinshikiさん、とても具体的なご説明ありがとうございます！ そういうルールがあったんですね。よく読み返して頭に入れておきたいと思います。

[Infidel]

Unfortunately my dictionary Longman seems not to have such list. native Angli-Saxon adjectives については、それがどういうものなのかがまだ分かりません。ともあれ、ありがとうございます。

English is basically a Germanic language Angles and Saxons were the dominant tribes. So if your dictionary shows the Etymology then it would probably say German.

I wouldn't worry about getting a list. Most English speakers learn them as they go.

This page shows some rules if your current textbook doesn't.

[furin]

ありがとうございますInfidelさん。That link is very useful to me so bookmarked it.

However I just noticed there are two ways of using comparative like 'happier/more happy' and confused. Both are exactly the same meanings? If you tell me the nuance of difference, I'd be more happy/happier.

[Infidel]

there is no real change in context. It's pretty much how 小さい　小さな and such that can go either way. Although, in the case of happier/more happy, Happier sounds more common and some people might correct you if you say more happy.

I know the Longman is better for ESL study, but merriam-webster.com is great too because it has audio samples of nearly every word.

Main Entry: hand·some
Pronunciation: 'han(t)-s&m
Function: adjective
Inflected Form(s): hand·som·er; -est
Etymology: Middle English handsom easy to manipulate
1 chiefly dialect : APPROPRIATE, SUITABLE
2 : moderately large : SIZABLE <a painting that commanded a handsome price>
3 : marked by skill or cleverness : ADROIT
4 : marked by graciousness or generosity : LIBERAL <handsome contributions to charity>
5 : having a pleasing and usually impressive or dignified appearance
synonym see BEAUTIFUL
- hand·some·ly adverb
- hand·some·ness noun

I know the Longman uses international phonetic symbols to indicate pronunciation but I'm just showing this sample to show what you can focus on. In general, the bold part is what you will look for in your dictionary when trying to learn how a word is inflected. However, even English speakers reguarly make mistakes here. I didn't know Handsome inflected, I would have sworn it only could be used "more handsome". This is why when in doubt use "more" or "most"

In general, 1 syllable inflect if you know it. 2 syllables you should probably inflect if you know it, but you can also probably use more/most if you can't remember. 3 syllables or more, few people will notice if you use more/most.

Most adjectives you can learn as you go. But there are some irregular adjectives. good > better> best. bad>worse>worst. and so on. These you need to memorize. Because making a mistake with an irregular verb really calls attention to itself.

good better best
bad worse worst
much more most uncountable nouns
many more most countable nouns
little less least
little smaller smallest