play ball or play balls

cow

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Mar 25, 2005, 11:12:55 PM3/25/05

to

I like to play ball.
I like to play balls.
I like to play with ball.
I like to play with balls.

May I know any sentences are incorrect?
Which one is better?

Tony Cooper

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Mar 26, 2005, 12:12:28 AM3/26/05

to

On 25 Mar 2005 20:12:55 -0800, "cow" <ic...@email.com> wrote:

>I like to play ball.

Correct.

>I like to play balls.

Incorrect.

>I like to play with ball.

Incorrect.

>I like to play with balls.

Highly discouraged. Possibly correct, but probably very misleading.

>
>May I know any sentences are incorrect?

>Which one is better?

The first.

--
Tony Cooper
Orlando FL

John O'Flaherty

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Mar 26, 2005, 12:23:52 AM3/26/05

to

One and four are correct, with different meanings. To play ball is to
play a game that uses a ball. To play with balls doesn't imply an
organized game.

--
john

Fred

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Mar 26, 2005, 4:25:37 AM3/26/05

to

"cow" <ic...@email.com> wrote in message
news:1111810375.4...@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...

>I like to play ball.

Yes

> I like to play balls.

No

> I like to play with ball.

No

> I like to play with balls.

Don't we all!
>

the Omrud

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Mar 26, 2005, 4:41:44 AM3/26/05

to

John O'Flaherty had it:

However, the first is not standard in UK English and marks the
speaker as an American. The only way I can think of expressing the
same meaning is "I like to play ball games".

--
David
=====
replace usenet with the

erehwon

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Mar 26, 2005, 5:05:00 AM3/26/05

to

'To play ball' also means to co-operate.

"John O'Flaherty" <quia...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:3ak9v8F...@individual.net...

Tony Cooper

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Mar 26, 2005, 10:05:01 AM3/26/05

to

On Sat, 26 Mar 2005 09:41:44 GMT, the Omrud <usenet...@gmail.com>
wrote:

>John O'Flaherty had it:
>
>> cow wrote:
>> > I like to play ball.
>> > I like to play balls.
>> > I like to play with ball.
>> > I like to play with balls.
>> >
>> > May I know any sentences are incorrect?
>> > Which one is better?
>> >
>> One and four are correct, with different meanings. To play ball is to
>> play a game that uses a ball. To play with balls doesn't imply an
>> organized game.
>
>However, the first is not standard in UK English and marks the
>speaker as an American.

You say this like it's a bad thing.

>The only way I can think of expressing the
>same meaning is "I like to play ball games".

--
Tony Cooper
Orlando FL

mUs1Ka

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Mar 26, 2005, 11:17:47 AM3/26/05

to

Tony Cooper wrote:
> On Sat, 26 Mar 2005 09:41:44 GMT, the Omrud <usenet...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> John O'Flaherty had it:
>>
>>> cow wrote:
>>>> I like to play ball.
>>>> I like to play balls.
>>>> I like to play with ball.
>>>> I like to play with balls.
>>>>
>>>> May I know any sentences are incorrect?
>>>> Which one is better?
>>>>
>>> One and four are correct, with different meanings. To play ball is
>>> to play a game that uses a ball. To play with balls doesn't imply an
>>> organized game.
>>
>> However, the first is not standard in UK English and marks the
>> speaker as an American.
>
> You say this like it's a bad thing.
>

Doesn't sound bad to me. It must be because you're an American.
--
Ray

the Omrud

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Mar 26, 2005, 11:39:40 AM3/26/05

to

Tony Cooper had it:

> On Sat, 26 Mar 2005 09:41:44 GMT, the Omrud <usenet...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> >John O'Flaherty had it:
> >
> >> cow wrote:
> >> > I like to play ball.
> >> > I like to play balls.
> >> > I like to play with ball.
> >> > I like to play with balls.
> >> >
> >> > May I know any sentences are incorrect?
> >> > Which one is better?
> >> >
> >> One and four are correct, with different meanings. To play ball is to
> >> play a game that uses a ball. To play with balls doesn't imply an
> >> organized game.
> >
> >However, the first is not standard in UK English and marks the
> >speaker as an American.
>
> You say this like it's a bad thing.

How can you tell?

John Dean

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Mar 26, 2005, 11:52:41 AM3/26/05

to

Or "I like to cooperate"
--
John Dean
Oxford

Stewart Gordon

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Mar 26, 2005, 12:20:07 PM3/26/05

to

cow wrote:

> I like to play ball.
> I like to play balls.
> I like to play with ball.
> I like to play with balls.

It's intersting that we "play ball" but "play cards". I guess there's a
difference in that a typical card game uses many cards, but most ball
games have only one ball in play at a time. In this respect, are you
"playing balls" if you're playing snooker, pool or billiards?

And what about (BrE) "play patience"? It seems that "patience" is seen
as an uncountable noun here, though I've probably heard "patiences"
meaning "patience games".

Stewart.

--
My e-mail is valid but not my primary mailbox. Please keep replies on
on the 'group where everyone may benefit.

Aaron Davies

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Mar 26, 2005, 11:56:40 PM3/26/05

to

the Omrud <usenet...@gmail.com> wrote:

Also, in AmE, "play ball" almost invariably refers specifically to
baseball, not to any other games involving balls. (In a context where
another game is understood, it could be used to refer to that game, but
context-less, it means baseball.)
--
Aaron Davies
Opinions expressed are solely those of a random number generator.
"I don't know if it's real or not but it is a myth."
-Jami JoAnne of alt.folklore.urban, showing her grasp on reality.

Charles Riggs

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Mar 27, 2005, 5:29:52 AM3/27/05

to

On Sat, 26 Mar 2005 05:12:28 GMT, Tony Cooper
<tony_co...@earthlink.net> wrote:

>On 25 Mar 2005 20:12:55 -0800, "cow" <ic...@email.com> wrote:
>
>>I like to play ball.
>
>Correct.

In a sense.

>>I like to play balls.
>
>Incorrect.

One can say 'I like to play bowls', a near soundalike.

By the way, nothing said in this world or another is either correct or
incorrect. To think otherwise is delusional thinking, as a Buddhist
monk would put it. Even Schultzie might say so, and I know I would.
Stamp out dualistic thinking before it spreads!

Charles Riggs --

There are no accented letters in my email address.

cow

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Mar 27, 2005, 10:45:32 PM3/27/05

to

Thanks for all you gugs!

How about
A cat likes to play ball. An English teacher in hong kong said it
should be "A cat likes to play balls".

the Omrud

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Mar 28, 2005, 3:48:58 AM3/28/05

to

cow had it:

If it's UK English you are after, it would have to be "A cat likes to
play with balls". But it would be more idiomatic to say "Cats like
to play with balls".

cow

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Mar 28, 2005, 12:15:35 PM3/28/05

to

If I had read carefully about what you explained, I could have figured
it out that cats like playing with balls but not cats like playing ball
since they should not know how to play ball games.

Iskandar Baharuddin

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Mar 28, 2005, 1:46:08 PM3/28/05

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"cow" <ic...@email.com> wrote in message

news:1112030135....@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...

> If I had read carefully about what you explained, I could have figured
> it out that cats like playing with balls but not cats like playing ball
> since they should not know how to play ball games.

Which reminds me of Lennie Bruce's book "Cleans and Dirties":

"One ball" is OK, "balls" is not OK

"A big boob" is OK, "two big boobs" is not.

He gave a number of examples of "dirty plurals".

Alas, my copy is in Jakarta.

Izzy

R H Draney

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Mar 28, 2005, 2:33:36 PM3/28/05

to

Iskandar Baharuddin filted:

>
>Which reminds me of Lennie Bruce's book "Cleans and Dirties":
>
>"One ball" is OK, "balls" is not OK
>
>"A big boob" is OK, "two big boobs" is not.
>
>He gave a number of examples of "dirty plurals".
>
>Alas, my copy is in Jakarta.

Did he have the one that George Carlin was so fond of?

"You can prick your finger, but you'd better not finger your prick!"

....r

Iskandar Baharuddin

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Mar 28, 2005, 4:43:09 PM3/28/05

to

"R H Draney" <dado...@spamcop.net> wrote in message
news:d29m6...@drn.newsguy.com...

IIRC he stuck to plurals.

Izzy

Sara Lorimer

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Mar 28, 2005, 5:02:43 PM3/28/05

to

Iskandar Baharuddin <bren...@mcpc.net.au> wrote:

Alas, my copy is in Jakarta's...

--
SML

Stewart Gordon

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Mar 30, 2005, 4:05:46 PM3/30/05

to

the Omrud wrote:

<snip>

> If it's UK English you are after, it would have to be "A cat likes to
> play with balls". But it would be more idiomatic to say "Cats like
> to play with balls".

Even if you really _are_ talking about one cat that you happen to know?

vasabda...@gmail.com

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May 22, 2018, 2:48:33 AM5/22/18

to

I like to play with the ball

Peter Moylan

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May 22, 2018, 10:45:38 AM5/22/18

to

On 22/05/18 16:48, vasabda...@gmail.com wrote:

> I like to play with the ball

Since this statement makes no sense in isolation, I'm guessing that this
is a resurrection of an ancient thread. But then why was there no "Re:"
in the subject line? Someone's software is buggy.

--
Peter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org
Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Peter T. Daniels

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May 22, 2018, 4:19:43 PM5/22/18

to

On Tuesday, May 22, 2018 at 10:45:38 AM UTC-4, Peter Moylan wrote:
> On 22/05/18 16:48, vasabda...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> > I like to play with the ball
>
> Since this statement makes no sense in isolation, I'm guessing that this
> is a resurrection of an ancient thread.

March 25, 2005. The first respondent was someone billing himself at that
time as "Tony," but who signed his message "Tony Cooper / Orlando FL".

> But then why was there no "Re:"
> in the subject line? Someone's software is buggy.

It is a gmail user who was directed to a root posting with no indication
that it was the root of a thread. How is it possible that you still do
not understand that?