English Channel

[Budo 0]

/.../

It''s ok to talk or ask about rules of English here, nothing against the topic in it :)
And I agree with Firaxo, past perfect continous would fit here.

[Dann 0]

Hmm, k it''s good to have a place where you can ask for English grammar right here, on the best polish computer games forum ever :-P (although this is the only forum of this kind i know :-)).
So you say Present perfect continuous ? Well, i thought about this... form yesterday, but are you sure it''s correct ? I mean, don''t we use PPC (present perfect continuous in short :-)) in case of activities, which has already started (tutaj też nie jestem pewien co do czasu :-)) in the past and still last ? And if i want to say " Uczyłem się przez pięć lat ... ale już się nie uczę", then is PPC also acceptable in this sentence ?
Hope you do understand what i have just written above. :-P
You know ... it has been a while since i last talked in english with anyone and with no money to start an english course or something , you might find some mistakes in my comments. So feel free to make a mention of it. :-)

[Budo 0]

/.../

I tell you what. Just speak, write or whatever- if you know some basic rules and vocabulary everything should be just fine- most important thing is that other people will understand you. Not grammar rules, or tense usage. Do not think too much about rules, in fact it shuts mouth which is bad when you want to talk fluently...

[Dann 0]

Dnia 25.08.2007 o 15:37, Budo napisał:

Do not think too much about rules, in fact it shuts mouth
which is bad when you want to talk fluently...

Tell me about it. :-)
As my teacher used to say : the most important thing is vocabulary (to know the words).
But i think it has something to do with me ... i always pay much attention to details and it can sometimes turn into a disadvantage you know. :-) And when im about to say for egzample : "od rozpoczęcia szkoły byłem zainteresowany czymś tam" or "dwa miesiące temu skończyłem pracę" / "od dwóch miesięcy nie pracuję" (in english), then the real problem begins: what tense to use there ? And then, as you said (wrote ... whatever) : it can really shut yout mouth for some time or even make you stutter. :-/
But thanks for advice anyway. ;-)

PS. Could anyone translate those sentences written in polish language to english... correctly if possible. :-P

[Luke_Shadow 0]

Dnia 25.08.2007 o 16:30, Dann napisał:

PS. Could anyone translate those sentences written in polish language to english... correctly
if possible. :-P

Let me try...

Dnia 25.08.2007 o 16:30, Dann napisał:

"od rozpoczęcia szkoły byłem zainteresowany czymś tam"

Since the beginning of school I''ve been interested in something.

Dnia 25.08.2007 o 16:30, Dann napisał:

"dwa miesiące temu skończyłem pracę"

Two months ago I finished a work.

Dnia 25.08.2007 o 16:30, Dann napisał:

"od dwóch miesięcy nie pracuję"

In my opinion it''s most difficult one. - I haven''t been working since two months.

[Luke_Shadow 0]

Dnia 25.08.2007 o 17:08, Luke Shadow napisał:

In my opinion it''s most difficult one. - I haven''t been working since two months.

Or, I think, it would look better like this: I haven''t been working for two months, but, in fact, I''m not sure...

[Dann 0]

Dnia 25.08.2007 o 17:08, Luke Shadow napisał:

Let me try...

...

Well, if this is correct, then it''s almost exactly as i expected (past simple here ? :-P) it to be. :-)
But unfortunately i can''t tell whether you''re right or wrong. :-/

[Luke_Shadow 0]

Dnia 25.08.2007 o 17:31, Dann napisał:

Well, if this is correct, then it''s almost exactly as i expected (past simple here ? :-P)
it to be. :-)

Past simple becouse of phrase "two months".

[Dann 0]

Dnia 25.08.2007 o 17:41, Luke Shadow napisał:

Past simple becouse of phrase "two months".

No, no, no ... i referred that question to word "expected" (look at my previous comment ;-)), becouse i wasn''t sure about the tense of it. :-)
As for "two months" sentense, of course there should be past simple. :-)

(And again im not sure about the tense of word "referred" :-PP ... but no matter).

[tomoliop 0]

ehh... Tomorrow scholl starts again. I guess most of you people don''t enjoy this fact;/ It wouldn''t be so bad if my class was (is it correct sentense?) nicer, better, less stupid:) I''m starting third class of secondary school so I will have to get many points on tests in the end of the school year, but I don''t think it will be difficult:P Although many great games are coming this year, eg. Hellgate: London (I really looko forward to it) , new NFS and HOMMV: Tribes of The East. So i think this year won''t be bad:)

[Mr_Cin 0]

( the tense is correct)

I started school last wednesday (22nd) and i already hate it. The teachers give us loads of HW so I don''t have time for anything

[Splocky 0]

Lucky bastards! At least You guys know for sure, that You''re in for the next semester. Some of the college and university students are still struggling to pass the last semester. Me for instance. I''m taking my oral exam in danish tommorow. I''m not studying right now. Don''t want to make a bigger mess of my head than it already is. I''m trying to relax by drinking a few beers. In the last years I''ve discovered that in my case alcohol acts as some kind of fixer. I study and after that I drink a few pints. In the morning all it takes to be prepared for a test is just refreshing my memory and voila! Well, gotta go. Later fellas.

[tomoliop 0]

>/cut/:)\

This method with drinking beers after learning is really interesting:P

[Falcon 0]

Dnia 02.09.2007 o 19:48, Mr. Cin napisał:

( the tense is correct)

I started school last wednesday (22nd) and i already hate it. The teachers give us loads of
HW so I don''t have time for anything

Last wednesday? Why? Anyway everybody hates school, you aren''t original :) Last school year, when I was at sixth class, I didn''t had any problems with my homework, so I had many time to play computer :P But now I''m starting secondary school, I have many new subjects, so it''s might be not so easily :)

PS. Sorry for mistakes, if they are some, I''m still learning :)

[Klimos 0]

Dnia 02.09.2007 o 22:32, Laska-z-Polski napisał:

PS. Sorry for mistakes, if they are some, I''m still learning :)

You don''t have to be sorry, your written English is quite good, especialy taking into consideration the fact that you have just finished a primary school. I doubt whether in your age I could have been able to write so well.

Anyway, school doesn''t fear me any more as I passed my Matura long time ago. Tomorrow will be a day like everyday. Gettig up at seven and going to work. The sad thing is that besides working I don''t have time for anthing. After getting back home I have to write my master thesis and that really starts to piss me off. I wish it was already completed. Although if everything goes according to plan I will have completed the initial version by the end of the following week. Wish me good luck to keep the schedule :)

[Monastor 0]

Yeah, Matura :/
The whole thing about the exam and all the Cambridge certificates drives me crazy. I''ve already passed my CPE test and it means nothing to those responsible for our system of education. I must take ''matura'', which, by the way, has hardly anything to do with English itself. It''s all about a couple of made-up, worthless rules. Last year, some really good people I knew got the same grades as a bunch of idiots who couldn''t spell their own names.
All the certificates used to be enough to avoid it all. Now they''re not.

I got the Certificate of Proficiency in English and I still have to struggle with Matura. This IS ridiculous

[Klimos 0]

Dnia 03.09.2007 o 00:16, Monastor napisał:

/.../

How is it possible? Did our education system make a step backwards?
When I was passing my Matura in 2002 I already had CAE and I automatically had a highest grade from English exam.

[Monastor 0]

Nope, it doesn''t work like this anymore. There''s only one way not to have to take it. It''s a strange competition called ''The Olympiad''. It consists of grammar and vocabulary tests and, on the higher stages, a series of interviews. Some knowledge of the literature and culture of the UK and the USA is welcome as well. Last year, I qualified to the second stage. I didn''t manage to become a finalist though. I''m planning to go for it this year. Hopefully, I''ll do better.

[Yorrickus 0]

Dnia 03.09.2007 o 00:16, Monastor napisał:

I got the Certificate of Proficiency in English and I still have to struggle with Matura. This
IS ridiculous

Indeed! Oh shoot, is that a fact? I can understand that people who have FC should pass matura, but a guy with CPE? Freakin'' bullshit in my opinion.

I''m starting to be kinda glad, that this exam is waaay behind me, and yet, on the other hand...well, these were the times.:)

[Yorrickus 0]

Dnia 24.08.2007 o 23:36, Dann napisał:

Im not sure if this is the right place to ask for such questions, but this is an English Channel
after all. ;-P
Since im logged in to gram.pl''s forum for a while, i would like to ask you, fluent english
speaking ppl :-), about 1 thing.
How to say (in english of course :-) this sentense : "Uczyłem się czegoś tam (np. angielskiego)
od 5-ciu lat (lub "przez 5 lat")". Considering im no longer doing this (zakładając, że już
się tego nie uczę). What tense to use here ? Past continuous ? Or maybe Present perfect r Past
simple ?
Sorry this post is not exactly with the topic''s rules, but ATM i just don''t have anyone else
i could ask for this. :-)

I think that Past Continuous would fit in here: I was learning English for five years (in the past).

Uhm, Present Perfect Continuous, the tense that Firaxo used in his sentence (it''s not Past Perfect Continous, mate), is used for things that have been done continuously for some time till the moment of speaking (czynności trwające nieprzerwanie od jakiegoś czasu aż do chwili mówienia) and we usually translate them into Polish using Present time: Uczę się już od czterech godzin. (I''ve been studying for four hours.) and so on, and so forth.

And Past Perfect Continuous- well, that''s another pair of shoes.:)