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Post by musik on Apr 8, 2012 17:25:40 GMT
Hellu! I'm reading British English grammar here today. It might be good to know, for a swede like me. One question: Charles's bike Charles' bike Why are these two pronounced exactly the same??  |
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Post by scfcrmagic on Apr 8, 2012 17:37:41 GMT
You're asking us lot ?? Crickey you're brave ....... It's doubtful you'll actually get an answer You can make any sense of ..you do realise that ..   |
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Post by alcommunicado on Apr 8, 2012 17:43:40 GMT
Hellu! I'm reading British English grammar here today. It might be good to know, for a swede like me. One question: Charles's bike Charles' bike Why are these two pronounced exactly the same?? If "Charles' bike" was pronounced how you think it should be then it would sound like the name of a person. In answer to the question I would assume they are pronounced that way to indicate possession On an unrelated note haven't you got anything better to do today in Sweden? ;D |
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Post by musik on Apr 8, 2012 17:55:55 GMT
Hellu! I'm reading British English grammar here today. It might be good to know, for a swede like me. One question: Charles's bike Charles' bike Why are these two pronounced exactly the same?? If "Charles' bike" was pronounced how you think it should be then it would sound like the name of a person. In answer to the question I would assume they are pronounced that way to indicate possession On an unrelated note haven't you got anything better to do today in Sweden? ;D Actually not, it was Arsenal vs Man City on tv you see hehe... |
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Post by alcommunicado on Apr 8, 2012 18:36:17 GMT
If "Charles' bike" was pronounced how you think it should be then it would sound like the name of a person. In answer to the question I would assume they are pronounced that way to indicate possession On an unrelated note haven't you got anything better to do today in Sweden? ;D Actually not, it was Arsenal vs Man City on tv you see hehe... Nothing worse than tippy tappy teams I take it that it's not tippy tappy in Sweden? I've watched a few games down the road from you in Denmark at Aab, AGF and Randers....... proper footie, played by men ;D |
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Post by lawrieleslie on Apr 8, 2012 20:04:49 GMT
Just asked my English teaching daughter she says that for most English names that end in "s", the possessive is usually formed by adding an apostrophe and another "s":
Charles's bike
Thomas's hat
Mrs. Harris's house
The most common exception to the rule involves names taken from ancient languages:
Moses' law
Jesus' robe
Achilles' heel
However, as far as she knows, both forms are acceptable but "Charles' bike" is more old-fashioned, whereas adding a second 's' is more modern. Apparently it's a matter of choice.
To add to the confusion :
The General's horses = the horses of the General
The Generals' horses = the horses of the Generals.
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Post by PotterLog on Apr 8, 2012 22:00:02 GMT
Hellu! I'm reading British English grammar here today. It might be good to know, for a swede like me. One question: Charles's bike Charles' bike Why are these two pronounced exactly the same?? As lawrie has pointed out above, it's more of a spelling convention than pronunciation. It's acceptable to use either. In natural speech you'll hear both "charlz" bike and "charlziz" bike too. But as a general point, you shouldn't be surprised that two things that are spelt differently in English sound the same. They are called heterographs (a type of homonym) and are very common, because spelling in English does not dictate pronunciation. bow - bough sew - sew ruff - rough berth - birth queue - cue etc etc etc... |
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Post by oasis on Apr 8, 2012 22:16:08 GMT
I wouldn't lose sleep over the matter, as long as you get the basics you're up there with 99% of our population!
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Post by musik on Apr 11, 2012 0:51:07 GMT
Actually not, it was Arsenal vs Man City on tv you see hehe... Nothing worse than tippy tappy teams I take it that it's not tippy tappy in Sweden? I've watched a few games down the road from you in Denmark at Aab, AGF and Randers....... proper footie, played by men ;D The Euro 2012 Champs will be interesting and fun we hope! |
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Post by musik on Apr 11, 2012 0:55:38 GMT
Just asked my English teaching daughter Charles' bike" is more old-fashioned, whereas adding a second 's' is more modern. Apparently it's a matter of choice. Ahaaa... interesting my confusion was caused by the fact the book "Bonniers Engelska Grammatik", J Gustafsson & M Oscarson says: both Charles' bike and Charles's bike are PRONOUNCED the same way = [chaalziz] bike |
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Post by musik on Apr 11, 2012 1:00:24 GMT
But as a general point, you shouldn't be surprised that two things that are spelt differently in English sound the same. They are called heterographs (a type of homonym) and are very common, because spelling in English does not dictate pronunciation. bow - bough sew - sew ruff - rough berth - birth queue - cue etc etc etc... Aaa.... more examples! Thank you very much! Learning every day. A bit better than... Goud moaning! (Police man in 'Allo 'allo) Are you orally men? (Manuel in Fawlty Towers) I hope. ;D |
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Post by PotterLog on Apr 11, 2012 2:52:24 GMT
Just asked my English teaching daughter Charles' bike" is more old-fashioned, whereas adding a second 's' is more modern. Apparently it's a matter of choice. Ahaaa... interesting my confusion was caused by the fact the book "Bonniers Engelska Grammatik", J Gustafsson & M Oscarson says: both Charles' bike and Charles's bike are PRONOUNCED the same way = [chaalziz] bike The key really is that writing is effectively an approximation of how we say things, and not the other way round. So while we might say [chaalziz], there are a couple of different spelling conventions when we write it down. That's all it is. |
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