"I hear ..." vs. "I heard ..."
Yaroslav Mironov
Thanks for the replies to my previous question!
Now,
"I hear they have left London"
"I heard they had left London"
What is the difference in the meaning in these two sentences?
As far as I know, the second one means:
"I know of it, because somebody told me"
Does the first one mean the same?
In which situations one may say it the first way?
Help is greatly appreciated.
Virtually yours,
Yaroslav
Richard Fontana
> Now,
> "I hear they have left London"
> "I heard they had left London"
>
> What is the difference in the meaning in these two sentences?
>
> As far as I know, the second one means:
> "I know of it, because somebody told me"
>
> Does the first one mean the same?
> In which situations one may say it the first way?
In somewhat informal speech, both sentences can mean "It's my
understanding, based on what I've been told or overheard in the recent
past, that they've left London".
If the sentences are interpreted more 'literally' there is a difference,
due to the difference in verb tense.
RF
Charles Riggs
<ta...@mail.wplus.net> wrote:
>Hi again!
>
>Thanks for the replies to my previous question!
>
>Now,
>"I hear they have left London"
>"I heard they had left London"
>
>What is the difference in the meaning in these two sentences?
>As far as I know, the second one means:
>"I know of it, because somebody told me"
>
>Does the first one mean the same?
>In which situations one may say it the first way?
Interesting question. Addressing only the "hear/heard" difference, the
two sentences are nearly interchangeable except that in the first, I
would suspect that the person heard they had left London from more
than one source -- it is general knowledge. That's a distinction not
all speakers would make and I think the sentences mean the same thing
in many cases. I'll leave the "have/had" difference to grammarians.
Charles Riggs
Donna Richoux
> Hi again!
>
> Thanks for the replies to my previous question!
>
> Now,
> "I hear they have left London"
> "I heard they had left London"
>
> What is the difference in the meaning in these two sentences?
> As far as I know, the second one means:
> "I know of it, because somebody told me"
>
> Does the first one mean the same?
> In which situations one may say it the first way?
Although they could mean the same, there could be a slight difference.
The second, with "heard," could express doubt. "That's what I was told
at some time in the past, but now I wonder if it is true." Whereas I
would use "I hear that..." when I still think that whatever it is, is
true. It hasn't been contradicted since I heard it.
--
Best --- Donna Richoux
Monique James
about them leaving London. So it's a sentence in Present tense. And
Present Perfect refers here to the fact that they are no longer in
town=result.
"I heard they had left London" That's a classic use of past perfect and
here the sentence is in past tense and meaning. For example: Two days
ago somebody told me that they had left London, which means that the
fact that somebody told me about it is a past activity and the fact that
they left London happened before that.
The meaning of the two sentences is quite the same but the context in
which we'd use both of them isn't quite the same.
I hope this helps
Yaroslav Mironov wrote:
> Hi again!
>
> Thanks for the replies to my previous question!
>
> Now,
> "I hear they have left London"
> "I heard they had left London"
>
> What is the difference in the meaning in these two sentences?
> As far as I know, the second one means:
> "I know of it, because somebody told me"
>
> Does the first one mean the same?
> In which situations one may say it the first way?
>
Skitt
Monique James <Moni...@roadrunnernf.net> wrote in message
news:3933A56D...@roadrunner.nf.net...
> "I hear they have left London" - for example somebody is just telling me
> about them leaving London. So it's a sentence in Present tense. And
> Present Perfect refers here to the fact that they are no longer in
> town=result.
Actually, "I hear" in this case is an idiom meaning that it is the word all
around, or common knowledge. It would be extremely unlikely that someone
would be telling the news to the speaker at present.
--
Skitt (in SF Bay Area) http://i.am/skitt/
I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it,
people like me!
Monique James
I do.
Skitt
Monique James <Moni...@roadrunner.nf.net> wrote in message
news:393415AB...@roadrunner.nf.net...
> Don't you think you overuse the term 'Idiom'???
> I do.
Not when I'm talking about one.
Aside from that, would you please post _below_ the quoted material?
Monique James
Skitt wrote:
> Monique James <Moni...@roadrunner.nf.net> wrote in message
> news:393415AB...@roadrunner.nf.net...
> > Don't you think you overuse the term 'Idiom'???
> > I do.
>
> Not when I'm talking about one.
>
So how would you define "idiom"?
Skitt
>
>
> Skitt wrote:
>
> > Monique James <Moni...@roadrunner.nf.net> wrote in message
> > news:393415AB...@roadrunner.nf.net...
> > > Don't you think you overuse the term 'Idiom'???
> > > I do.
> >
> > Not when I'm talking about one.
> >
>
> So how would you define "idiom"?
Same as MWCD10. See definition 2.
Main Entry: id搏搗m
Pronunciation: 'i-dE-&m
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle French & Late Latin; Middle French
idiome, from Late Latin idioma individual peculiarity of
language, from Greek idiOmat-, idiOma, from idiousthai to
appropriate, from idios
Date: 1588
1 a : the language peculiar to a people or to a district,
community, or class : DIALECT b : the syntactical,
grammatical, or structural form peculiar to a language
2 : an expression in the usage of a language that is
peculiar to itself either grammatically (as no, it wasn't me) or
in having a meaning that cannot be derived from the
conjoined meanings of its elements (as Monday week for
"the Monday a week after next Monday")
3 : a style or form of artistic expression that is characteristic
of an individual, a period or movement, or a medium or
instrument <the modern jazz idiom>; broadly : MANNER,
STYLE <a new culinary idiom>
Monique James
Skitt
[Posts rearranged for clarity]
> Skitt wrote:
>
> > Monique James <Moni...@roadrunner.nf.net> wrote in message
> > news:3934435B...@roadrunner.nf.net...
> > >
> > >
> > > Skitt wrote:
> > >
> > > > Monique James <Moni...@roadrunner.nf.net> wrote in message
> > > > news:393415AB...@roadrunner.nf.net...
> > > > > Don't you think you overuse the term 'Idiom'???
> > > > > I do.
> > > >
> > > > Not when I'm talking about one.
> > > >
> > >
> > > So how would you define "idiom"?
> >
> > Same as MWCD10. [definition snipped]
>
> Yeah I have a dictionary too you know...
>
Oh, sorry -- it wasn't readily obvious.
--
Skitt (in SF Bay Area) http://i.am/skitt/
I speak English well -- I learn it from a book!
http://www.montypython.net/sounds/fawlty/learnit.wav