Take a sentence like "Isn't that it?"...
"Isn't" is a contraction of "Is not", right?
So why do we expand it to "Is that not it?", the not has moved position, shouldn't it be "Is not that it?", yet saying things that way either feels old fashioned or wrong.
Either the contraction should expand in the correct order, or we should change the contraction, i.e:
a) "Isn't that it?" = "Is not that it?"
or
b) "Is thatn't it?" = "Is that not it?"
English is illogical. :(
Is that it?
Seriously... Proper English can make sense, but all the colloquialisms make it illogical. I personally hate using contraction in the first place.
First grade: I before E except after C
Real life: LOL u nub
We are plagued with the same word moving phenomenon in French. If possible, it is even more tricky than in English. For example:
Written: "Je te donne le livre." Word-by-word translation gives: "I to-you give the book."
Spoken: "Le livre, je te le donne." Now, the word order becomes "The book, I to-you it give."
Few languages make sense if literally translated into other languages. For instance, in English, we often use the construction "there is...", or "is there...?". The equivalent German phrase "Es gibt..." or "gibt es?/gibt's?" literally translates as "it gives..." and "gives it...?".
When learning another language, try not to translate back and forth in your head, just use it.
Engrish is ellatic because it can't make sentences without habing folms.
>>1
is not that it is what singaporeans like to say
it a not proper english
Because grammar books and prescriptive grammarians came along after language was invented. Languages do not have to conform to rules.
> "Isn't" is a contraction of "Is not", right?'
It's no longer a contraction. It's a word of its own that originally was a contraction. Situation is the same as with "aren't I?" = "am I not?".
American and Britain have different usage of English... Damn it always confuses me.
>>7 That why we(including me) call it Singlish... We even have things such as lah meh etc.
Congratulations OP, for realizing English is very illogical. Casting aside the various silly rules to apply in many cases, the bane of English is making sentences flow logically, seem proper and wording it in a way that's overall pleasant to understand. Ever since the birth of the English language hundreds of years ago, the very nature of it has allowed for it to change rapidly, undergo changes in syntax, mingle with its previous rules and just fucking mutate in general, which is why the grammar of the English language is often an inconsistent clusterfuck.
>>12
And that's why we love it!
Whether or not something sounds natural is the ultimate rule, you know.
Take a look at every other language out there and study them, not for one semester but for years. They're all fucked.
You're fucked for posting that in English faggot.
If you don't like it, don't speak it.
Isn't that right?
Languages are not always what you learnt at institutes or lessons abroad. There is nothing wrong to talk like that or go outside what is considered "ungrammatical" really.
Let me tell you. BIG PENIS. Every language is mad. For example, the languages that have genders for nouns, like German, or etc. Why should different non-living objects belong to different genders? It's crazy. That's why I speak English. Here with English, everyone feels good, and nobody get sick.