Subj : Have not or didn't have
To   : Anton Shepelev
From : alexander koryagin
Date : Thu Oct 05 2017 17:51:49

Hi, Anton Shepelev!
I read your message from  04.10.2017 23:38
about Have not or didn't have.

 AK>>>> Driving away, John Condon was the minor business-man again. He
 AK>>>> had not much time to get to town for that appointment. I heard
 AK>>>> that if you had a real thing you say "I had not it", but if it
 AK>>>> was not a real thing you should say "I didn't have it".
<skipped>
 AS> The concept of preference is vague. It depends on one's taste and
 AS> the desired style. I answered from the viewpoint of bare grammar.

 AK>> Both terms mean denying of possession.

 AS> Denial of posession. In general, the true noun is preferable to
 AS> the - ing form.

My error IMHO was in the other place. I meant a true gerund (a verb form), and 
it should be written without "of" - "Both terms mean denying possession."
BTW [posSession].

 AS>>> The rule you quoted is superficial and purely mnenomic, for it
 AS>>> provides neither deep insight into the "make" of the language nor
 AS>>> any kind of rationale. Shun such rules like the plague and study
 AS>>> the language instead of drilling ill-devised pseudo-rules, whose
 AS>>> only value is in helping poor IELTS and TOEFL students pass the
 AS>>> tests.
 AS>>
 AS>>> To get a feeling of what true study grammar looks like, try
 AS>>> reading some Folwer or Goold Brown:
 AS>>
 AS>>> http://www.bartleby.com/116/213.html
 AS>>> http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/11615/pg11615-images.html
 AK>
 AK>> It is too late to eat in such large portions. I prefer to nibble
 AK>> it. ;-)

 AS> Some things you can't nibble, for they come down smooth only in
 AS> hearty lumps. The more complicated the subject, the longer
 AS> attention span you need.

A clever man should divide a big, complicated problem into many small and easy 
ones. It is a good remedy against a muddle.

 AS>>> I should with pleasure recommend more contemporary works, but I
 AS>>> know none that show the same level of coherence and discipline as
 AS>>> these old books do.
 AK>> I often ask just to talk.

 AS> Do you this time? It is my fast conviction that talk is cheap
 AS> unless supported by intensive study and reading. As talent is 1%
 AS> inspiration and 99% perspiration

That IMHO was said by a common, not talented person. ;=)

 AS> so is the mastering of any knowledge: conversation should form the
 AS> icing on the very tip of the iceberg of reading :-)

Wow! ;)

 AS> I for one feel myself able to say or write something after I have
 AS> read many times as much on the subject, or, if it is my original
 AS> work, after I have spent many days working. A ten-page article may
 AS> be the fruit of several months of hard work. I can even talk about
 AS> it for about fifteen minutes, but fifteen minutes is insignificant
 AS> in comparison to several months.

We both have been studying English for a long time. Most of all, we probably 
need practice, to specify and clarify details, as long as our brains permit it. 
As for rules we can compare them with the Mnemonic skill. Rules are things for 
remembering, for making the system.

 AK>> Google has killed good companies. Google knows all, and I don't
 AK>> like it.

 AS> As one Russian scientist said, "There are thousands of books in my
 AS> library, but it is I who is a professor of mathematics, not my
 AS> bookcase."

What's your occupation?

 AK>> There was time when people preferred live conversations instead of
 AK>> asking robots or getting URLs.

 AS> They used libraries and reading rooms instead of robots and URLs.
 AS> There was a time, and not very long ago, when our country was the
 AS> most reading country in the world. Editions of 200-300 thousand
 AS> were normal, whereas nowadays they run around five thousand.

Now people prefer playing games. ;-)

Bye, Anton!
Alexander Koryagin
ENGLISH_TUTOR 2017

--- Paul's Win98SE VirtualBox
 * Origin: Quinn's Post - Maryborough, Queensland, OZ (3:640/384)

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