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English is a pragmatic language, meaning word order is flexible. In my first sentence, the 'even' can go in both places while retaining the same meaning. Good l
by iratewizard 5y ago
English is a pragmatic language, meaning word order is flexible. In my first sentence, the 'even' can go in both places while retaining the same meaning. Good luck with your ESL tests as well.
- jefftk 5y ago> In my first sentence, the 'even' can go in both places while retaining the same meaning. I really don't think it can. Looking through examples of people using that construction [1] they are all being used to emphasize the speaker's lack of something, without any implication that if someone were to have one it would be the speaker. Do you see any examples of someone using it your way? > Good luck with your ESL tests as well. I don't know if it's apparent to you how condescending that sounds? But, for what it's worth, I'm a native speaker of English and have a degree in linguistics. [1] https://www.google.com/search?q=%22i+don%27t+even+have%22 https://www.google.com/search?q=%22i+don%27t+even+have%22
- iratewizard 5y agoI can't even begin to explain how sad that is for you.
- jefftk 5y agoI'd interpret that as "this is incredibly sad for your", as in, it's so sad it's hard to even begin to explain it. Do you interpret it as "if anyone could explain how sad this is it would be me, and I can't"? (It would be helpful if you could link to an example in context, where we can see that the speaker is using it your way)