A new book I bought, The French Subjunctive Up Close by Annie Heminway, begins with the following question: “Are you ‘subjunctophobic’?” Me, Going to Concert at St. Bartholomew’s Church; It Did Not Remind Me of Subjunctive This…
As indicated in the subtitle above, yesterday I spoke five languages in four hours during my volunteer shift at an NYC & Company information center, where tourists from around the world descend to get information about, and tickets for, many…
In my grammar travels in English, I have often noticed the terms “present participle” and “gerund” being used interchangeably. The word “walking” can be either a participle or a gerund, depending on how it is employed in a sentence. I…
This weekend is my 25th college reunion. Back in 1987, a quarter of a century ago, I graduated and began a reasonable semblance of adult life. I felt much better this year than I did 25 years ago. On my graduation day,…
In Spanish you add an a before most direct objects that are people. So, for example, in English where you would say, “I saw Juan,” in Spanish you would say, Vi a Juan. The
In Spanish Verb Tenses, author Dorothy Richmond seems to be trying to start a Romance language war. In a provocative chapter on stem-changing verbs, which are verbs like almorzar (to eat lunch), morir (to…
I have been re-making my way through Pimsleur Italian Plus (lessons 91-100). I have to be careful, when doing Pimsleur, not to turn my ankle in the potholes that are accumulating in an intersection I cross frequently at 73rd and…
Yesterday I came across the word for “tool” in French. It is outil. Look at the Filled-In Potholes! I Texted a Complaint and They Filled Them Right Up! I have learned and relearned that word before, but I…
In Italian, you can’t separate your prepositions and pronouns. As Daniela Gobetti, author of Italian Pronouns and Prepositions points out, in Italian you would say, “Per chi stai comprando quel regalo?” In English, you could say, “Who…
Reviewing (and Forgetting) Spanish at a Neighborhood Cafe I am getting confused about how to say “will be” in multiple languages. For example, as in “What will be, will be.” Spanish, Italian, and French are very similar. They converge. Or…
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