"Let's take a (very) hypothetical example. Suppose you want to say, "Bush read Chomsky's latest book." Let's focus on just the verb, "read." To say this sentence in English, we have to mark the verb for tense; in this case, we have to pronounce it like "red" and not like "reed." In Indonesian you need not (in fact, you can't) alter the verb to mark tense. In Russian you would have to alter the verb to indicate tense and gender. So if it was Laura Bush who did the reading, you'd use a different form of the verb than if it was George. In Russian you'd also have to include in the verb information about completion. If George read only part of the book, you'd use a different form of the verb than if he'd diligently plowed through the whole thing. In Turkish you'd have to include in the verb how you acquired this information: if you had witnessed this unlikely event with your own two eyes, you'd use one verb form, but if you had simply read or heard about it, or inferred it from something Bush said, you'd use a different verb form."
My initial and only reaction to Michael Jackson's death was of relief, relief at never hearing about his shenanigans again. How ignorant I was to think that!
Stories filled every newspaper and news channel, knocking the goings on in Iran to the bottom of the editorial in-tray.
This is the only article I've read about his death and I suspect it's the only one I'll have to
How can the sight of someone rippling with joy, pulling shapes and faces in time with a well crafted pop song be anything other than gleeful?!
This has made my day, even before I pour coffee down my throat
I like them
Jul 3, 11:57am
Jul 1, 4:06pm
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