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This is what I am trying to say in Arabic.
I love you very much Ian. Shoot me one of your sweet smiles today, they always make my day. (this is from a man to another man)
is this correct: I love you very much Ian. Shoot me one of your sweet smiles today, they always make my day.
أحبك كثيرا ايان. اطلاق الرصاص على واحدة من الابتسامات الحلوة اليوم ، أنهم دائما أصنع يومي.???
What is the structure of the sentence? It doesn't have a subject but based on the meaning it shouldn't be an imperative sentence. Is it a declarative sentence with an omitted subject and an omitted object (something like "[We] welcome [you] aboard")? If not, how do you explain the formation of the sentence in terms of traditional English grammar rules? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.49.12.134 ( talk) 12:18, 26 June 2009 (UTC)
I saw a caption on a TV news program tonight – “Laying low”. I thought about it for a while, and concluded it was wrong; it should have been “Lying low”. People in my neck of the woods often use the verb “to lay (down)” to mean “to assume a horizontal position, usually on a bed”. My understanding of the differences between lay and the two meanings of lie, is as follows:
Verb or expression | Transitive/ intransitive |
Meaning (rough) | Past tense | Present participle |
Past participle |
Examples |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
To lay | transitive | To place something on to something else | laid | laying | He laid the pipes, she is laying the cement, they had | |
To lie (1) | intransitive | To be in a horizontal position | lay | lying | lain | I am lying on my bed; he is going to lie down; she lay down for a rest; after they had lain together for a while, they had sex; let sleeping dogs lie |
To lie (2) | intransitive | To tell a wilful untruth | lied | lying | lied | He lies through his teeth; she lied about her age; they are lying when they say that; they were expelled because they had lied to their teacher |
To lie low [lie (1)] | intransitive | To avoid being conspicuous; to be in hiding | lay low | lying low | lain low | The suspect is lying low today; yesterday she lay low; he had lain low for a week but was now back home |
To lay low | transitive | To make weak, tired, etc | laid low | laying low | That flu has really laid me low; and now Ali is laying Foreman low with a series of rights to the head |
Then, I was wondering about the expression “to lie low”. It doesn’t literally mean lying horizontally as in a bed, but it is nevertheless lie, not lay, isn’t it? I suppose one could contrive an expression using “laying low”, but it wouldn’t mean “keeping out of the spotlight”, as the TV caption was supposed to mean. Is my understanding correct, or has the common usage of “lay” to mean what “lie” (1) is supposed to mean, trumped the prescriptivists? -- JackofOz ( talk) 13:36, 26 June 2009 (UTC)
Language desk | ||
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< June 25 | << May | June | Jul >> | June 27 > |
Welcome to the Wikipedia Language Reference Desk Archives |
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The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages. |
This is what I am trying to say in Arabic.
I love you very much Ian. Shoot me one of your sweet smiles today, they always make my day. (this is from a man to another man)
is this correct: I love you very much Ian. Shoot me one of your sweet smiles today, they always make my day.
أحبك كثيرا ايان. اطلاق الرصاص على واحدة من الابتسامات الحلوة اليوم ، أنهم دائما أصنع يومي.???
What is the structure of the sentence? It doesn't have a subject but based on the meaning it shouldn't be an imperative sentence. Is it a declarative sentence with an omitted subject and an omitted object (something like "[We] welcome [you] aboard")? If not, how do you explain the formation of the sentence in terms of traditional English grammar rules? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.49.12.134 ( talk) 12:18, 26 June 2009 (UTC)
I saw a caption on a TV news program tonight – “Laying low”. I thought about it for a while, and concluded it was wrong; it should have been “Lying low”. People in my neck of the woods often use the verb “to lay (down)” to mean “to assume a horizontal position, usually on a bed”. My understanding of the differences between lay and the two meanings of lie, is as follows:
Verb or expression | Transitive/ intransitive |
Meaning (rough) | Past tense | Present participle |
Past participle |
Examples |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
To lay | transitive | To place something on to something else | laid | laying | He laid the pipes, she is laying the cement, they had | |
To lie (1) | intransitive | To be in a horizontal position | lay | lying | lain | I am lying on my bed; he is going to lie down; she lay down for a rest; after they had lain together for a while, they had sex; let sleeping dogs lie |
To lie (2) | intransitive | To tell a wilful untruth | lied | lying | lied | He lies through his teeth; she lied about her age; they are lying when they say that; they were expelled because they had lied to their teacher |
To lie low [lie (1)] | intransitive | To avoid being conspicuous; to be in hiding | lay low | lying low | lain low | The suspect is lying low today; yesterday she lay low; he had lain low for a week but was now back home |
To lay low | transitive | To make weak, tired, etc | laid low | laying low | That flu has really laid me low; and now Ali is laying Foreman low with a series of rights to the head |
Then, I was wondering about the expression “to lie low”. It doesn’t literally mean lying horizontally as in a bed, but it is nevertheless lie, not lay, isn’t it? I suppose one could contrive an expression using “laying low”, but it wouldn’t mean “keeping out of the spotlight”, as the TV caption was supposed to mean. Is my understanding correct, or has the common usage of “lay” to mean what “lie” (1) is supposed to mean, trumped the prescriptivists? -- JackofOz ( talk) 13:36, 26 June 2009 (UTC)