Question
Updated on
10 Dec 2022
- Simplified Chinese (China)
-
English (US)
-
Japanese
Question about English (US)
Which sounds more natural?
1. He took the plane to school.
2. He took the flight to school.
Which sounds more natural?
1. He took the plane to school.
2. He took the flight to school.
1. He took the plane to school.
2. He took the flight to school.
Answers
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- English (US)
He took *a* plane to school.
or
He flew back to [name of place] for school.
Highly-rated answerer
- English (US)
1. “He took the plane to school.” Only makes sense if he’s carrying a toy plane to and from school, or that his family somehow owns a private plane. Another example would be: “He took the car to school.” This could mean that he took the family car to drive to school. That’s where it is.
2. “He took the flight to school.” Refers to him using the public transportation to go to his school.
- English (US)
- Simplified Chinese (China)
@bsloan7 Thank you! I wanted to talk about something that happened in the past, and the fact was that he flew to school.
So “took the plane” wouldn’t make any sense?
So “took the plane” wouldn’t make any sense?
- Simplified Chinese (China)
@therealtrash Thank you! What if the fact was that he flew to school? He doesn’t own a toy plane or anything. In that case, “he took the plane to school” only means his family owns a plane, and “he took the flight to school” only means he used the public transportation to go to school?
- English (US)
@suitboy I think I understand what you are asking?… I’d word it like this: “He had taken a flight to go to his school.” This is referring to his actions in the past tense.
- Simplified Chinese (China)
@therealtrash Hmm, but “had taken” is an uncommon verb tense in spoken English. Can I simply say “He took a flight to school”?
- English (US)
- Simplified Chinese (China)
@therealtrash Ok. Could you tell me how these sentences are different though?
1. He took a flight to school.
2. He took the flight to school.
1. He took a flight to school.
2. He took the flight to school.
- English (US)
@suitboy to my understanding, they are the same…
“The flight” refers specifically to the flight he went on. He went on THE flight.
“A flight” is more broad and isn’t specific.
Read more comments
- English (US)
@suitboy Yes, that’s natural as well 👍🏾
Highly-rated answerer
- Simplified Chinese (China)
@bsloan7 Ok. Do the past simple tense or past continuous tense work?
1. I played on my phone for 3 hours tonight.
2. I was playing on my phone for 3 hours tonight.
1. I played on my phone for 3 hours tonight.
2. I was playing on my phone for 3 hours tonight.
- English (US)
@suitboy Both of them are grammatically correct, but 2 doesn’t sound very natural to me for some reason.
Highly-rated answerer
- Simplified Chinese (China)
@bsloan7 Noted. Also, do these sentences sound natural to you?
1. Thank you for the effort you put into answering this question.
2. Thank you for your hard work on answering this question.
1. Thank you for the effort you put into answering this question.
2. Thank you for your hard work on answering this question.
- English (US)
@suitboy Yes, I think 1 is better though.
Highly-rated answerer
- Simplified Chinese (China)
@bsloan7 Ok. Vanessa said that when Americans say “your guess is”, the S sound in “guess” becomes a Z sound when linking them together. Is that true?
“your guess is” sounds like “yer ge’ ziz”.
Would you keep that S or also change S to Z?
“your guess is” sounds like “yer ge’ ziz”.
Would you keep that S or also change S to Z?
- English (US)
@suitboy Yeah, it still sounds like an S when I say it. Making it a Z sounds weird.
Highly-rated answerer
- Simplified Chinese (China)
@bsloan7 So you would say “yer ge’ siz” instead of “yer ge’ ziz”.
I’d like know when you pronounce “self worth is”, linking “worth” and “is” together, how would you say that TH?
Is it the TH sound in “that” or in “think”?
I’d like know when you pronounce “self worth is”, linking “worth” and “is” together, how would you say that TH?
Is it the TH sound in “that” or in “think”?
- English (US)
@suitboy The ‘th’ sound in “think”. Same as it is when you pronounce the word “worth” by itself.
I’ll admit that I don’t pay close attention to how sounds change when linking words together, so this might not always be the case. But for me, I really feel like the sounds in most words do not change. The sounds are the same. There’s just less of a pause (or no pause at all) between each word. (For example, “your guess is as good as mine” actually sounds like “yurgessizazgudazmine” when I say it). And I think putting too much focus on linking is a distraction, especially for non native speakers who already run the risk of being misunderstood due to their accents and common pronunciation mistakes.
In my opinion, if you pronounce words correctly, pay close attention to word stress, and progress to a point where you don’t need to translate in your head as much, fast speech/linking will come naturally. Trying to force it by purposely changing pronunciation in so many different situations is what will cause you to sound strange and/or be misunderstood.
Highly-rated answerer
- Simplified Chinese (China)
@bsloan7 Thank you for the tip! I asked about how sounds change when liking words together because Vanessa mentioned it, I also heard Billie Eilish do it.
When Vanessa said “your guess is as good as mine”, the S in “guess” changed to a Z.
When Billie Eilish said “self worth is only determined by you”, the TH in “worth” changed to the TH in “that”.
I wanted to make sure if sounds change like that is commonplace in American English, so that I can understand Americans better. Thank you!
When Vanessa said “your guess is as good as mine”, the S in “guess” changed to a Z.
When Billie Eilish said “self worth is only determined by you”, the TH in “worth” changed to the TH in “that”.
I wanted to make sure if sounds change like that is commonplace in American English, so that I can understand Americans better. Thank you!
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