sara's notebook entry: Aug 11, 2010

do not think you are the only one to everybody can be always found replacement



Hi, Sara!  Here is another way you could phrase your statement:

Never think you mean everything to someone; they can always replace you with someone else.

I think love between people from different countries is a wonderful thing, but as a practical matter it only makes sense to pursue such love if there is a true hope of being together one day. Those involved in a long distance relationship must also beware not to prematurely define themselves as "in love". Two people can't really completely know one another without some consistent form of physical or "real" interaction. They may say all the right things on Skype, write all the right things in e-mail, and look beautiful on a web cam, but these things don't paint the complete picture of a person. In fact, these virtual instruments often serve to hide the truth about people.

Thank you for the suggestions.  I have looked on the web and found a few helpful sites, but nothing yet that pronounces the sounds very deliberately and methodically.  I will continue my search as well as look at the site you recommended. 

Thanks again for your kind response.

Regards,

Steve

I have rejected invitations and been rejected several times. I don't reject many invitations, but when I do it's usually for two reasons: 1) I share no common language with person making the invitation; 2) the inviation strikes me as bogus -- I have received many invitations trying to PHISH. I have been rejected a few times. It did not make me sad or angry. I usually assume they already have many friends and don't want any more or their goals are different from mine. I just shrug my shoulders and look for another person who may want to be my friend.

¡Hola, Sergio! I can't read your entire question, but I assume you are looking for examples of when one would use a gerund following the preoposition "to" other than in the phrase "I'm looking forward to ...". Well, I don't believe gerunds follow the word "to" that often, but it is commonly used in the sentence structure "everything from ... to ..." . For example, "I love sports -- everything from skiing to swimming." or "One needs many skills to be a good hockey player, everything from skating, to passing to shooting." I have used sports examples, but you could use these structures with any topic. Perhaps there are other uses of "to + gerund", but I can't think of any right now. Hope this helps.

English is not an easy language to write because it has so many spelling irregularities. It can also be difficult to know how to pronounce written words you have never seen before because the same letter combinations can make different sounds. English is relatively easy to learn how to speak because you don't have many of the rules inherent in the Romance languages like gender agreement for the definite article (all nouns are neutral in English) and many verbs are conjugated the same for every person (e.g., I can; you can; he, she, it can; we can; you can; they can)

Ciao, Beta. As someone who speaks American English, I believe a person could ask either of these questions to learn where someone was born (nationality) and raised or spent the majority of their life. I think this is almost always the case when someone asks, "Where do you come from?". The question "Where are you from?", however, could also be asked to find out where someone lives. It all depends upon the context. For example, if I meet a fellow American somewhere abroad and ask him or her, "Where are you from?", they would probably assume I wanted to know where they live because I already know they are American. Sometimes you'll hear English-speakers clarify the question "Where are you from?" by asking, "Where are you from originally?" if they are wanting to know your nationality rather than where you live. I hope this helps.