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This is also a common complaint about Simple English books written for English learners. The books claim to have a restricted vocabulary, but they cheat by usin
by Pitarou 10y ago
This is also a common complaint about Simple English books written for English learners. The books claim to have a restricted vocabulary, but they cheat by using phrasal verbs.
Their vocabulary includes verbs like put and set along with prepositions like up, with and upon. You can combine these to generate an enormous number of phrasal verbs like put up with, set upon and so on, which are normally considered to be separate vocabulary items.
- JorgeGT 10y agoAs a person whose first language is not English, I find phrasal verbs one of the most challenging parts of the language. In fact I just searched set upon and was greatly surprised that it means attacking violently! I would have never guessed that from the words alone.
- alanfalcon 10y agoContext helps: "His foe set upon him with such vigor that he knew he was hopelessly outmatched. He began to silently pray for assistance."
- Angostura 10y agoFrom what I recall, 'set' is the word in the English language which has most meanings - over 50.
- gotodengo 10y agoIn this case the phrase is a more artistic way of describing the beginning of a fight. Think of "John set upon Mike angrily" as John set, or selected, Mike as his target. It's also a great example of the topic at hand because the same phrase could be used like "The book was set upon the table." Describing a book that was placed on a table. Each version uses the same common vocabulary, to describe wildly different things.
- toothbrush 10y agoOr, John was set upon going to the movies tonight, but his friend refused to join him. Admittedly, that sounds a bit old-fashioned.
- ghaff 10y agoSet on is probably a bit more natural in that context although I'm not sure either is particularly common phraseology.
- jdmichal 10y agoHonestly any use of upon sounds old-fashioned. It's generally been replaced by on, except in a few contexts by up. Even Google defines it as "a more formal term for on".
- johnlbevan2 10y agoWhilst this ambiguity is a pain for those learning the language and for clarity, it's also one of the things which makes English a great language for puns/wordplay. I suspect that having a reduced vocabulary would likely increase the chances of ambiguity, so could be a great source of CNL puns.
- johnlbevan2 10y agoOr phonetically similar / by moving a space: "John was set up on a date" - someone arranged a romantic encounter for John. "John was setup on a date" - on some specific day John was assembled. "John was set upon a date" - John assaulted a piece of fruit.
- emartinelli 10y agoI remember when I was studying English in the U.S. with other foreign students some years ago, when the topic was phrasal verbs the grades decreased for entire class. I am Brazilian, the class was composed most of South Koreans and Saudi Arabians.
- schoen 10y agoPhrasal verbs are a hidden problem for estimating English vocabulary competence (as was alluded to earlier in this thread), because they play serious havoc with the idea of "knowing" a word. If you asked English learners if they knew the meanings of "work", "in", "out", and "off", most would say yes at a pretty early stage of their English education. But that doesn't mean that they'd necessarily correctly interpret (or produce) "work in" 'incorporate (in a narrative or plan), "work out" 'resolve (a problem); deduce (a solution or consequence); deliberately perform physical exercise', "work off" 'eliminate (a debt, obligation, or excessive food intake) through effort'. And there are hundreds more of those combinations with meanings that need to be learned independently.