Question Hi, there Could you help me with two short questions? Please! 1) Does it sound odd to say "I consider it rude when someone uses that expression" and "I conside it to be rude when someone u

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Gabriel

Question Hi, there Could you help me with two short questions? Please! 1) Does it sound odd to say "I consider it rude when someone uses that expression" and "I conside it to be rude when someone uses that expression"? 2) I was talking to someone in the US and he said after I said I loved snow: "It is a dreamy image you conjure: someone sipping hot chocolate by the fireplace. But someone has to go outside and move the snow out of the way.. It is a nuisance!"... Would it sound odd if I said followed up on this(or followed this up?? What would you say?? Which one? follow up on????) with this answer: "It must be a hassle to shovel snow indeed." Does it sound odd? "Indeed"? Thank you!!

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Question

Hi, there

Could you help me with two short questions? Please!

1) Does it sound odd to say "I consider it rude when someone uses that expression" and "I conside it to be rude when someone uses that expression"?

Both are acceptable, but wouldn't normally be used in casual conversation. I would expect to hear those on a slightly formal radio interview (like BBC Radio 4), or see them in an essay or article. In everyday spoken English, I'd say, 'I think that expression is rude' or 'I think it's rude to use that expression' 'I think it's rude when someone says that' or something similar.

2) I was talking to someone in the US and he said after I said I loved snow: "It is a dreamy image you conjure: someone sipping hot chocolate by the fireplace. But someone has to go outside and move the snow out of the way.. It is a nuisance!"... Would it sound odd if I said followed up on this(or followed this up?? What would you say?? Which one? follow up on????) replied with this answer: "It must be a hassle to shovel snow indeed." Does it sound odd? "Indeed"?

This sounds like an email/IM conversation?

'follow up on' is a phrase often used in business. In your sentence, I'd use 'reply.'

To my ear (others might have a different idea), 'indeed' is very British. The sentence you've used is, again, something for written English, but lesson common in everyday speech, unless you're trying to sound clever in a funny way.

"Indeed, It must be a hassle to shovel snow."

"It must indeed be a hassle to shovel snow."

"It must be a hassle indeed to shovel snow."

Personally, in a spoken conversation I'd say, "Shovelling must be a (real) hassle." "I guess shovelling would be a real hassle."

Hello Gabriel, Regarding your first question, both are perfectly fine! In the first sentence, rude is an adjective describing "it," and in the second sentence you are using an infinitive to describe "it". Both are perfectly idiomatic. Regarding your second question, using "indeed" in that way would be deemed somewhat formal speech, but it is not incorrect. If you wanted to be less formal, you may say something like, "Yeah, it certainly must be a hassle shoveling snow!"

1) Either expression would be considered normal. 2) Using indeed at the end of the sentence make it a bit more "formal" and would not normally be used in general conversation.

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