Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Food and grammar. Sorry.



It may be hard to believe, but I got tired of absolutely fresh crusty white bread, so felt compelled to make up this mess of kasha, or buckwheat groats as some people call them with fried onions and shallots (does anything smell better?)plus a couple of fried eggs, some peppers cut up...I so like the ones here, they are long and thin and the not nearly as meaty as the N. American ones, but they have such a lovely punchy flavour and the cupboard smells glorious when I open it, plus tomatoes from a garden! They grew in the GROUND! I had to wash DIRT off them. Boy do they taste good.

That was lunch.

The other thing that I discovered today is that past simple in English isn't. That is it isn't simple.

I walked seems straight forward, but all those regular past participles? Some of them we pronounce 'ed', some like a 't' for instance walked, and some like just a 'd'. Then there is using them. I walked to the store. A positive statement, but what if that is not what happened? I didn't walk to the store. An entire auxiliary verb appears, in the past and the main verb goes back into it's basic present form.

A question...Did I walk to the store? Auxiliary verb in past, changed word order, then the verb in normal mode. Yes, I did..Where the heck did that verb go anyway?

Then you have 'to be' like we never use that...I was, you were, he was she was etc...and in the negative? I wasn't. Question...Was I? Where did that auxiliary verb go and WHY?

Then finally, you've got to love this...Did I do that? No I didn't, you did that. Would that the the auxiliary or the main verb. How can you have an auxiliary that is the same as the main verb anyway. It just isn't FAIR.

Poor things.

Poor you for having to read all that. Sorry. The test is tomorrow, maybe I will stop harping on about grammatical forms after that.

Wish me luck. (Not Basic 1....PLEASE)

6 comments:

Beth said...

Good luck on your test. The grammar confuses the hell out of me but you sound like you know what's up.

That lunch you prepared looks like something that would be served in a fancy restaurant! Yummy.

Helen said...

I've always been glad I didn't have to learn English (much). Have you come across the spelling ones? The rough coated ploughman walked coughing and hiccoughing through the streets of Scarborough (though being a Brit and knowing that hiccoughing is an old spelling for hiccupping and Scarborough is pronounced scarbora helps. Then there are the ones you can't write. He is sowing. She is sewing. They are both so/ewing. Gotta love it really - so bizarre.

Anonymous said...

That photo of your lunch made my mouth water something terrible.
Yes, real down to earth tomaotes are one of the wonders of the rural world that we N.American urbanites appreciate a whole lot more than country folks will ever believe.At least my rural friends in the back and beyond of Latvia think I'm putting them on when I rave about the taste of their salads and eggs and freshly dug potatoes etc. etc.
Here I go again, something sounds like the refrain from "the king and I" I suspect.
Here they get summer fruit from the Black Sea area and that's a class of its own - tastes even fruitier and juicier than the ones in southern France or Italy, if you can believe it.
But the market women are really smart cookies - cut off pieces and feed all the tourists who consequently go "ape".Then the mad touries gullibly buy far more than they can eat at one go, the women make a packet, as very few of the touries pay attention to the price or weight(even Imants fell for this one), and everyone goes home happy as clams!Cau!

Angel said...

here's luck coming at you!!!

and I'll be right over for supper...or lunch..or whatever...cuz that looks YUMMY!

I love tomatoes that have actual dirt on them!!!!

Anonymous said...

That is way WAY too much grammar for me...

Good luck!

oreneta said...

Beth: I hate to break it to you, but grammar confuses me rather too...I think that is why I keep being so amazed by it when I understand something.

Helen: It is the final revenge of the Anglo-Saxons against those French interlopers in 1066 or whenever.

GM: It is true, I am not sure they appreciate the quality of the veg the way we do as they are used to it. Then again they are pretty die hard foodies around here.

Beth: Thanks for the luck, have you ever grown your own tomatoes? I always wanted to try and grow some of those heirloom varieties, I figure some of them must taste pretty darned good.

Trish: Thanks again, and sorry about all the grammar. It is complicated stuff isn't it.