4 ms·

Working with ESL people makes it clear that grammar isn't so important. One of my friends would say, instead of "go shopping", would say "make some shoppings".

Working with ESL people makes it clear that grammar isn't so important. One of my friends would say, instead of "go shopping", would say "make some shoppings". Instead of "it's time to go", he'd say "time for go". All words that started with 's' were pronounced 'ehs', as in "gas ehstation". The other people at work soon picked those lines up, and we used them regularly amongst ourselves. I still use them decades later!

ButlerianJihad 3mo ago
But your friend was applying consistent rules of grammar from his mother tongue. Having learned some vocabulary, he would mentally form the phrases in his head, and then literally translate out the words and tenses. Grammar was so important to him that he was adhering to the grammatical rules he knew. It would be interesting to know how he would perform with writing or typing instead of contemporaneous conversation. "go" in particular is an irregular verb, and also one of the most versatile words in the English language. Having studied how to conjugate "go" in other languages, I do not envy anyone trying to conjugate or just use it in an English sentence!
- WalterBright 3mo ago
  The point was I understood him perfectly despite the execrable grammar.
  - Thraway198 3mo ago
    That's cause you knew what he wanted to do, and there was no other possible meaning from "make some shopping." If he just said "make shopping some" it would have been less clear.
Thraway198 3mo ago
This is grammar from their native language. They dont know the English grammar, so they just assume it's the same as the one they understand. You just understand them via the context. Older Europeans used to say 'AND NOW WE MAKE PARTY!"
kevin_thibedeau 3mo ago
English is a fault tolerant language that is usually comprehensible with errors. That isn't generally applicable to all languages.
- WalterBright 3mo ago
  > That isn't generally applicable to all languages. I'm skeptical of that claim.
teddyh 3mo ago
Put volume! — Trevor Noah, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wtz0WZSNcPA#t=43s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wtz0WZSNcPA#t=43s>

ButlerianJihad 3mo ago

But your friend was applying consistent rules of grammar from his mother tongue. Having learned some vocabulary, he would mentally form the phrases in his head, and then literally translate out the words and tenses. Grammar was so important to him that he was adhering to the grammatical rules he knew. It would be interesting to know how he would perform with writing or typing instead of contemporaneous conversation. "go" in particular is an irregular verb, and also one of the most versatile words in the English language. Having studied how to conjugate "go" in other languages, I do not envy anyone trying to conjugate or just use it in an English sentence!

WalterBright 3mo ago
The point was I understood him perfectly despite the execrable grammar.
- Thraway198 3mo ago
  That's cause you knew what he wanted to do, and there was no other possible meaning from "make some shopping." If he just said "make shopping some" it would have been less clear.

Thraway198 3mo ago

This is grammar from their native language. They dont know the English grammar, so they just assume it's the same as the one they understand. You just understand them via the context. Older Europeans used to say 'AND NOW WE MAKE PARTY!"

kevin_thibedeau 3mo ago

English is a fault tolerant language that is usually comprehensible with errors. That isn't generally applicable to all languages.

WalterBright 3mo ago
> That isn't generally applicable to all languages. I'm skeptical of that claim.

teddyh 3mo ago

Put volume! — Trevor Noah, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wtz0WZSNcPA#t=43s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wtz0WZSNcPA#t=43s>