1. A cup of tea is always good to have starting a day.
2. A cup of tea is always good to have before starting a day.

Are both sentences 1 and 2 correct English?

See a translation

English (US)

I would say 2 is more natural than 1; 1 sounds a little awkward. But I would personally say it like "A cup of tea is always good to have when starting your day."

GlitterK

Korean

@hichew

Then is sentence 1 just wrong because 1 lacks the word "when"?
Is sentence 1 perfectly wrong? If so, why is that awkward?? Any reason?

hichew

English (US)

@leopard10 Personally, it sounds more natural to include some sort of conjunction between "have" and "starting" (like while, before, when, etc.) so that the sentence is clearer since "good to have" and "starting a day" are separate phrases. 1 could be misread as "have starting," which doesn't really make sense.

GlitterK

Korean

@hichew

Yeah, as you said, there could be such a possibility that the sentence can be misread in the way, and but more importantly, I'm curious whether sentence 1 is wrong.

And

If sentence 1 is wrong, is this sentence 3 below wrong as well?

3. The chirping sounds of birds are always pleasing to hear preparing food for my family in the morning.

Since no one would think of "starting a day" as the direct object of "have", I'm not sure if 1 could be considered wrong.

Athena9

English (US)

Maybe you can say “A cup of tea is always good to start your day off”.

For sentence 3, the chirping sounds of birds are always pleasing to hear while preparing food for my family in the morning.

hichew

English (US)

@leopard10 I feel the same about the first & third sentence. They technically do work, but they're not clear either and take effort to read and comprehend fully. Typically we would only omit relative pronouns like that or whom, and less so conjunctions relating to time. So on a technical level, 1 & 3 are correct, but I would never say it like that in everyday speech.

I hope that makes sense! I'm not great with explaining & I'm not aware if there are any grammatical conventions regarding this type of sentence, but it's more of a gut feeling for me.

GlitterK

21 January

Korean

@hichew

hi there are you there? could you help me out once again?

1. The problem is as simple to solve.
2. The problem isn't as simple to solve.
3. The problem is twice as simple to solve.
4. The problem can be solved as simply.
5. The problem can be solved just as simply.
6. The problem can be solved twice as simply.
7. The problem cannot be solved as simply.
8. The problem cannot be solved just as simply.
9. The problem cannot be solves twice as simply.

Which sentences are correct?