Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: verbi che cambiano significato col gerundio o infinito

Quali sono i verbi che cambiano di significato a seconda che siano 
seguiti da un gerundio o da un infinito, oltre a: stop regret forget 
remember?

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
Fino a "to stop" ci sono. Faresti degli esempi con gli altri verbi?
Ciao, FB
-- 
L'importante è che risplenda tu, sola primadonna e immarcescibile leggenda
del tuo pianerottolo.
Lucangel

 Fino a "to stop" ci sono. Faresti degli esempi con gli altri verbi?
I regret to inform you that your son was eaten by a shark on a school
trip yesterday.
(I am sorry to have to do so)
I regret informing you that I was having an affair with your wife.
(I wish I had not done so)
I forgot to feed the cat. (I didn't feed it)
I forgot feeding the cat. (I did feed it, but forgot that I had done so)
I remembered to plug the computer in before trying to use it.
I don't remember leaving that light on.
-- 
Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - 
http://www.Mailgate.ORG

 trip yesterday.
Non ci sono più le gite scolastiche di una volta....
P.
-- 
Passo lento, disinvolto e spensierato degli alpini che marciano
cantando sotto le parabole successive e accanite degli shrapnels. 

 Non ci sono più le gite scolastiche di una volta....
Secondo mia madre, un mio zio ha dovuto scrivere questa lettera.


 Secondo mia madre, un mio zio ha dovuto scrivere questa lettera.
Actually there was a time when letters had to just describe the truth.
I bet nobody would use such a crude form in 2004.
Perhaps something like "I regret to inform you that your son was chosen 
by a shark as a lunch companion on a schooltrip yesterday." 
Uhm.


 by a shark as a lunch companion on a schooltrip yesterday." 
"I'm glad to inform you..." is more consistent, isn't it?
Ciao, FB
-- 
Mrs. Palmer, in her way, was equally angry. 'She was determined to drop his
acquaintance immediately, and she was very thankful that she had never been
acquainted with him at all'.

 "I'm glad to inform you..." is more consistent, isn't it?
Uhm... only if the son had won some prize, I guess.


 I forgot feeding the cat. (I did feed it, but forgot that I had done so)
And I've recently learnt "I forget", which means "I can't remember whether
I've fed it or not".
Bye, FB
-- 
Se dico "siedi!" manca l'oggetto.
Siedo chi? Lei o me?
(da it.cultura.linguistica.italiano)

 
Either way, *not feeding the cat is a very serious and inexcusable 
error!*
-- 
I am Joey's Cat
Un-not my address, too, if you wanna reply.

error!*
What about feeding them to the dogs?
MHAHAHHAHA <-- scary laugh
ROTFLASTC
Hey, Ketzl, you li'l ketzleh, were you - by any chance - Snowbell in
Stuard Little I and II?
Sebastiano/ ^_^

 Stuard Little I and II?
Puh-LEEEZE. I have *turned down* better parts than Snowbell in Stuart 
Little. Snowbell. Oy. A pain only my enemies should know.
And just *how* do you know from "ketzleh"? You lived, maybe, some time on 
the Lower East Side? MMM???? Maybe the Upper West Side?? MMM???? Or maybe 
the Upper *East* Side? MM?? Or maybe Midtown? MM??? Or maybe The 
Village??? MMMM??? Or maybe.... oy, never mind. From ANYwhere you could 
know from "ketleh."
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"ketzleh"; sorry. I guess that "dog" thing got to me after all. :)


And just *how* do you know from "ketzleh"?
I don't know. :)
Sebastiano

 A dog should be so lucky!
Doesn't "I should be so lucky" become "he would be so lucky"? Just out of
curiosity.
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 curiosity.
It's a good question, but AmEng doesn't follow the "I shall/you will/he 
will" or "I should/you would/he would" any more.
"Shall is falling out of use altogether here, replaced by "will" for all 
persons, singular and plural, and only indicates future tense, not "the 
wish or will to do something."
In the case cited, it's an common AmEng expression; for that #%@#% dog, 
"he should *be* so lucky". (Accent on "be".) Saying "he would be so 
lucky" doesn't carry the same meaning.
If I may elaborate: (boy, I *do* go on, don't I?)
"He would be so lucky (if he had the chance to eat me.)" [still talking 
about the dog eating the cat.]
"He should *be* so lucky (but he will not.)"
"Should" almost always means "it's better for one to..." and "would", as 
you know, indicates the conditional.
Therefore "I should go if I had the time" is *not* American English, not 
in the sense of a straight conditional. "I would go if I had the time" 
but "I should go because I'll learn something." 
And then there's "could..."
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 "and scaring the cat" :)
I never heard it! (I haven't been a cat all that long.)


And then there's "could..."
A: I would not do that if I were you...
B: There's no way you could be me, we're so different!
A: It's a methaphor, you should read between the lines!
B: Which lines?
Sebastiano

I never heard it! (I haven't been a cat all that long.)
Yawza! Nip and tuck? What were you before? ;)
Sebastiano

, Sebapop wrote...
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Perfetto.
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, Sebapop wrote...
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A Demigod, of course. :)
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A Demigod, of course. :)
Oh, I see, one of the lesser gods. I bet you had Egyptian - slaves,
scribes and Pharaohs -  all over you. People in awe, worshipping the
*Divine Feline*. You sitting on the fluffiest possible pillow, having
a huge number of virgins - or eunuch, you choose - around you, there
to please you, feed you, almost nurture you. Isn't that great?
A Demigod. Hey, waitaminute! You're saying that - in a way - Demi
Moore is a goddess?
Sebastiano

ROTFLASTC is quite common on Usenet and IRC (a chat program).
FWIW, AFAIK that acronym has been created by Pamela Dean when she used
to write messages in the SF Fidonet Echo area.
BTW:
Pamela Dean: American author, she writes fantasy books.
Fidonet: BBS network that uses Fidonet technology
Fido: the name of the first BBS program that used that technology.
Echo area: Something like a news group.
SF: Science Fiction. 
SF Echo area: an international Echo area whose topic is/was SF.
When all this did happen: around 1987, IIRC (all my fidonet message
base was MIA when a HD crashed years ago).
:-)
'bye

 lucky" doesn't carry the same meaning.
I see, but I thought that "should" in "I should be so lucky" was a
conditional ("I would be so lucky if..."), even if this expression is
fixed. Then, doesn't "he should be so lucky" mean only "he ought to be so
lucky", which is nonsense?
Bye, FB


base was MIA when a HD crashed years ago).
I know how that feels. I lost all my e-mails from June 2003 to less
then a month ago. :(
How dare them go AWOL like that and not come back! Who they think they
are!?
Sebastiano

 
Particularly pertinent, if you realize that "Fido" is a jokingly common 
name for a dog. Like "Rover," "Spot," "Rex," etc.


 lucky", which is nonsense?
Don't forget, I'm talking AmEng here.
In BrEng "I should" meaning the conditional is much more prevalent (I 
think) than in the US.
Although the conditional may have been the original connotation here, 
when that construction is uttered nowadays, it does in fact imply that 
"nonsense", as you put it, meaning "If he has a choice (or the 
intelligence, or the ability; which he doesn't) he will be lucky."
Again, the stress is not on the "should" or the object, but on the verb.
"We should *see* such a surge in sales."
"They should *have* that much money."


 lucky", which is nonsense?
Ahem... l'espressione 'he should be so lucky'  è ironica.

 Ahem... l'espressione 'he should be so lucky'  è ironica.
Infatti, significa più o meno "magari!"
E' poco usata in GB; credo che derivi dallo Yiddish.
-- 
Mary

 Ahem... l'espressione 'he should be so lucky'  è ironica.
Sarebbe "gli piacereeebbe, ma se lo può scordare"? Una cosa: se io dico "I
should be so lucky", è inevitabile che la frase venga interpretata a quel
modo? Non può tradurre "Sarei tanto fortunato, se..." (usando "should" come
"would")?
Ciao, FB
-- 
"Gli americani sono ignoranti per loro stessa natura"
that is "The Americans are naturally ignorant"
(Paolo Bonardi on it.cultura.linguistica)

 lucky", which is nonsense?
When I use an expression "I should be so lucky" the meaning taken is
that I wish I was so lucky. Should means many things and it's a
mistake to try and make English grammar fit Latin grammar, which it
appears is what they tried to do. So though the grammatical, terms
may seen similar it is a different language and trying to find logic
in it based on what it's grammar 'should' be like is a mistake. 
-- 
              O      __
      ___   /\     / / O  
     /__ \   | \   /  |
    O  /  \ /   \./   |       Loki
        |________ |
 

 name for a dog. Like "Rover," "Spot," "Rex," etc.
Unlike a friend who called his german shepherd "Felix".
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Dipende da dove si pronunciano le parole. Negli USA se dica "I should be 
so lucky" la frase sara' interpretata cosi': un desiderio. Se volessi 
significare "sarei tanto fortunato, se..." dovresti dire "I would be so 
lucky, if..."
Tutto questo non vale in UK, credo.


 Moore is a goddess?
more or less, we're almost there... ^_^;;;

 
Well, if we stick to the "rules of grammar" it means she's a half-Moore, 
but I think I agree more with your assessment. So much for rules of 
grammar.
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 Tutto questo non vale in UK, credo.
Vale anche in UK. "Should" per formare il condizionale si usa, ormai,
soprattutto con "think", "hope", "imagine", "say" e cose simili.
Ciao, FB
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 come "would")?
L'espressione è detta di solito nel senso ironico. Per esempio: 'He thinks
that Teresa loves him. He should be so lucky.' In questo caso, significa che
Teresa non l'ama ma se lei l'amasse pure lui sarebbe fortunato (perché
Teresa è un tesoro, per esempio).
Dire 'I should be so lucky', il senso ironico rimane. Si può dire
l'espressione anche per significare 'Sarei tanto fortunato, se', però l'uso
è insolito e suonarebbe quasi poetico. Allora, se vuoi dirlo in quel modo,
finge un'aria di fantasticheria: 'If I should be so lucky as to win the
heart of fair Teresa, methinks I would drop both Patrizia and Roberta in an
instant.'

 Teresa è un tesoro, per esempio).
That would possibly translate with "Gli piacerebbe!" :)
It's not literal, but its meaning is pretty much it, I think.
-- 
(T)EFL online communities
http://groups.msn.com/TEFL

 
LOL.
(But not Maria-Luisa.)


 It's not literal, but its meaning is pretty much it, I think.
Può darsi, ma a volte agli spaghetti non piaciono le polpette, anche se
sarebberò fortunati averle.

grammar.
^_^
Sebastiano