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ESL forum >
Ask for help > apologise for/because
apologise for/because
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aldonza
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apologise for/because
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Hi!
In a reported speech test, would you accept the following answer (in red)?
"I�m sorry I didn�t go to your party", he said to me
He apologised to me because he hadn�t come to my party
or only
"He apologised to me for not having come to my party"?
Thanks in advance
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9 Mar 2013
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florimago
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I�d say He apologised (to me ) for not going/coming to my party . Let�s see what dear Bruce says  |
9 Mar 2013
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yanogator
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Thank you for your confidence, Flori, but I �m not the only person here with answers. Be careful not to slight the many other people who help all the time here, and even those who only help occasionally. Anyway, here �s what I have to say about this one: Dulcinea �s first answer is definitely not wrong. However, we usually apologise (apologize in the US) for something, not because of something. If you use "because of", it just gives the reason for the apology, rather than saying that you are sorry for the action. Flori, your answer, with "come", rather than "go", since this sentence is from the point of view of the party giver, not the partygoer (actually, the party not-goer), is correct, but less formal. So, all three are correct, the "because" answer doesn �t really express the situation, the "not having come" is a formal sentence, and the "not coming" an informal sentence. Bruce
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9 Mar 2013
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mohamedthabet
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I totally agree with Bruce.
I have yet to note that some colleagues and I "only help occasionally" because we often feel natives are more reliable to provide the answers required.
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9 Mar 2013
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florimago
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Don�t misunderstand me , Bruce (and the rest of you) I just meant you �re always there to solve non native �s doubts , using solid arguments . Sorry for being so direct , I didn�t mean to alienate anybody . |
9 Mar 2013
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cunliffe
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Come on florimago, stick to your guns! Bruce, you have been a constant on here and a stalwart recently.  |
9 Mar 2013
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yanogator
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Flori, I certainly don �t think you would alienate anyone, but I don �t want anyone to think their answers are less welcome than mine, which definitely wasn �t your intention. With that said, though, I know the other regular answer-givers aren �t so delicate that they would be offended. Thanks, Lynne. Bruce |
9 Mar 2013
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aldonza
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Thank you all for your answers and your interesting contributions to my question. It is true that not only Bruce solves our doubts, but in my case he has been here every time I wasn�t sure about something, which I really appreciate.
Luckily, whenever I have a question, I�m 100% sure I�ll find someone among us (natives and non-natives) willing to help.
Thank you again
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9 Mar 2013
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cunliffe
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What I find, if we are talking about natives and non-natives, is that, as a native, I usually know the right answer, BUT, I can �t always explain why, because I don �t know the rules. I just say what comes naturally.We need the non-natives, who have studied the rules of grammar, for that purpose. Bottom line: we are all here to support each other. |
9 Mar 2013
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aldonza
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I couldn�t have said it better myself!
Cheers
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9 Mar 2013
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anaram
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I�d like to join the �thanksgiving
� spirit  . No kidding, I really appreciate people�s contributions and sites like
this renovate my faith in the human race. The fact that people like Bruce take
the time to answer our questions, in length and with solid explanations, is
very comforting.
As for the reported
speech question, I totally agree with Bruce�s explanation and would explain the
point to the student in question. That said, if the point you are testing is
reported speech, I would say the answer is worth the total score even with that
nuance of meaning. Sometimes, when we
work at a sentence level there is not much context to support an interpretation
and students come up with readings with had not thought of previously.
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10 Mar 2013
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