3 Points of English Friday, 16 June 2012

CONFUSING		*FAUX AMIS*
Chance		Hasard
Hazard		Danger, risque
Luck		Chance
I have a chance to work there		J’ai la possibilité de travailler là
I’m fortunate enough to work there		J’ai la chance d’y travailler
U		*Or Non-U*
Guard / guide / guarantee In ‘Gu’ words the U tends not to be pronounced (it’s supposed to ‘harden’ the G)		“ga:d, gaïd, garanti:” Dans les mots en ‘Gu’ le U n’est normalement pas prononcé (il est censé ‘durcir’ le G)
quite / request / query Whereas, in ‘Qu’ words the U is pronounced (like a W)		« kwaït, rikwest, kwiri : » Tandis que, dans les mots en ‘Qu’Le U est* prononcé (comme un W)*
And ‘building’		est prononcé « bilding » (Non-U)
HE SPEAKS ENGLISH WELL	=	HE SPEAKS GOOD ENGLISH
First, the positions: 1 Verb + object (speaks English) 2 adverb of manner (well – or badly, beautifully, etc.)		D’abord, la place des elements: L’adverbe de manière (well – ou badly, beautifully, …) après le couple verbe (speaks) + complément d’objet (English)
Secondly, we say ‘good English’ (never ‘~~a good English~~’ as language names are uncountable nouns – like ‘weather’ in ‘good weather’ (which would be nice at the moment!)		Deuxièmement, on dit ‘good English’ (jamais ~~A good English~~) car une langue est indénombrable, comme ‘le temps’ – on dit donc ‘good weather’ (ce qui serait sympa en ce moment!)

and read about Martha Payne, school “dinners” and the “Streisand Effect” at

PS the name ‘neverseconds’ refers to the school slang ‘seconds’ for “second helpings” (deuxièmes portions)

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