Ras0888

Hi, just wanted to add that I also read this forum everyday, I also use another French forum. This one is far friendlier, the other is quite often nasty and confrontational. The atmosphere here is nice and its good to see some friendly banter in the posts.

Ruth

Novocastrian

Ah, a convert! My work here is done....

JWL

But aren't you just hearing "...would've"?

But I agree. I hate reading "would of".

Novocastrian

If I may revert to yesterday's thread drift, I swapped e-mails with Val50 today and passed on various posters good wishes.

The news on her OH is that he's stable after chemo and I think a stem cell treatment. He has however had a minor heart attack as well, but nonetheless has been given medical permission to travel and they'll both be spending a couple of weeks in Manche 50 in October.

I'm sure she was pleased to hear that she's still remembered on here.

bigglesworth

BTW Novo my comment apropos Fora was entirely coincidental, as I had not read the property thread - been away in Spain.

But I well remember a heated exhange between my very mild mannered Latin master (double First) and my senior English master (Also a First but from the other place) as to whether a foreign word that had become accepted usage in another language should be pluralised according to the original rule or whether it been transformed into a native word and should be pluralised accordingly.
I cannot for the life of me remember who won but did discover a belated appreciation for my Latin master whose life I had previously made a bit of a misery.

JWL

The people won. People, and the way they decided to use language, always come before pompous fuddy duddy grammarians (although sometimes I wish it could of been different than this...)

Novocastrian

Except, of course, in France and Germany.

Novocastrian

But thinking of German, often the foreign word was adopted so long ago that the plural form has been retained in modern English.

Example: Ochse, Ochsen (German)
Ox, oxen (English)

There is no hard and fast rule though in English, AFAIK.

bigglesworth

JWL - cheap shot!
And I might add Cervantes to Novos list.
Although I owe a huge debt to the Goethe Institut, but for whom i might never have come to know Wanderers Nachtlied. Which seems a very appropriate reference at this time of night, although I will probably stay late to see if Scotland does opt to leave.

But in principle yes I completely agree with your point. The great strength of English (IMO) is that it is NOT English. It belongs to America (the dominant commercial power), to the Anglosphere and, increasingly, to all those millions and millions of English speaking graduates who are spreading it across the developing world and who WILL decide its rules. If there are any. As an ex phonologist you only need to watch the progress of Estuary English across the UK to see how speech and grammar are changing constantly.
We in the British Isles are surfing on the back of a very fortuante inheritance.
But then that is only my opinion.

MillieF

I think this is a lovely forum. I didn't know about it when I was in France, as I only came upon it when we were planning to move to Canada. I too belonged to another French site, it was quite horrid sometimes people were nasty, rude and very confrontational. The Canadian forum is busier, but probably because it takes quite a lot more effort to get to Canada than simply crossing the Channel so there are a lot more questions, taking months and indeed years from start to finish so you become quite involved with the posters problems.

I can't imagine why anyone would prefer Facebook, a ghastly thing iMHO.

OP you might enjoy a travel to The Lounge? I occasionally visit. Spain however is always full of action, I often lurk at the back there in a dull moment.