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It must confuse English learners to hear phrases like, "I'm home", instead of "I am at home." We don't say I'm school, or I'm post office. (lemmy.world)
submitted 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) by ParabolicMotion@lemmy.world to c/showerthoughts@lemmy.world
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[-] 0ops@lemm.ee 2 points 6 months ago

I will go to the store?

[-] merc@sh.itjust.works 2 points 6 months ago

What does willpower have to do with it?

[-] 0ops@lemm.ee 1 points 6 months ago

What does "going to" have to do with it? Do they need to spiritually travel to the motivation center of the brain before you go to the store? I'm just saying, if you say "going to go" over "will", you're gonna get tongue cramps, and for all intents and purposes, they mean the same thing. This is language that we're talking about. All words are made up, so just try to keep up and you will be fine.

[-] merc@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 months ago

The annoying thing is that "I'll go to work tomorrow" and "I'm going to go to work tomorrow" have subtly different meanings to English speakers, but good luck trying to come up with a rule to explain the difference to someone learning the language.

[-] 0ops@lemm.ee 1 points 6 months ago

You know, that's a good example, you have a good point. In some contexts they are slightly different. I'll take a wack at describing the difference though: "I'll go to work tomorrow" sounds like making a decision out loud, in the moment, while "I'm going to go to work tomorrow" just sounds like communicating intentions, regardless of when the decision was made or whether they were the ones to make it. In this context "I'm going to go" can substitute "I'll go", but the reverse might sound weird. So I concede but only a little

this post was submitted on 25 Apr 2024
385 points (91.0% liked)

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