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ESL forum > Ask for help > I have a question...    

I have a question...



chenchen_castrourdiales
Spain

I have a question...
 
Hi there,
 
I am correcting a composition and I don �t know how to correct a mistake. The given sentence is "In the note was written an address". The problem is that I don �t know if I should write THERE or IT before the verb. "ON the note IT / THERE was written an address"? I know we use THERE to describe sth, to express existance but IT is used to refer to an antecedent, sth mentioned before, which is not the case. I always get confused when dealing with this sort of sentences.
 
The second question is about an adjective. Do you know an adjective to describe how so feels when (s)he goes out at night is having fun, everybody else wants to go back home but (s)he doesn �t. (s)he wants to have a night cap, dance, have more fun. Can we use EXCITED? The point is that so is excited because sth good is gonna happen, which is not the case, but can �t think of another adjective. In Spanish it is said "tener ganas de marcha".
Thanks in advance.

23 Oct 2010      





yanogator
United States

Hi,
First, the sentence isn �t wrong, but is overly formal. I would change it to "An address was written in the note", which is simpler. If you want to add a word, it is definitely "there", and not "it". The new "In the note there was written an address" is still extremely formal-sounding, and would never be used in spoken English (in the US, at least).
 
On the other matter, I don �t think we have an adjective for this person. "Excited" doesn �t just refer to something good going to happen, but I still wouldn �t use it here. I would say she is not ready for the fun to end, or not ready to go home (very similar to "no tener ganas de marcha", as I understand it).
 
I hope this helps,
Bruce

23 Oct 2010     



chenchen_castrourdiales
Spain

Thanks a million Bruce for your prompt reply!

23 Oct 2010     



SueThom
United States

I agree with Bruce (as I often do) regarding the first of your questions.

The first sentence is simply inverted (subject and verb order switched from their normal positions).  It would more likely be written these days as he suggested:  "An address was written in the note" or even "In the note an address was written."  It is a more "formal" style and also a style which was more common in the past.  It also might be characterized as a "literary" style.

It would be very unusual to hear something like that in conversation here in the US.

As for the "tener ganas de marcha", I could see using Bruce �s phrases ("not ready for the fun to end" and "not ready to go home"), but I �d be more likely to say something along the lines of "she wanted to keep partying" or even "she wanted to keep going". 

Please take into account that my Spanish isn �t very good, but as I understand it, "tener ganas" could be translated as "to feel like" or "to want to" and "de marcha" as "to go out (to bars)" or "to go (out) clubbing" (go to clubs).  So, "no tener ganas de marcha" to me would mean "not to feel like going out".

If I �m mistaken, I �d appreciate being corrected.

Sue

23 Oct 2010