# small village



## iloveme

which one do you think is better? and are there any mistakes?

Ich komme aus Ashwell, einem ziemlich großen Dorf in der Nähe von Letchworth in England. Man kann mit dem Zug nach Ashwell fahren. Vom Bahnhof Leraus, gehen Sie nach links und nehmen dann die zweite Straße rechts. 
Ashwell ist sehr ruhig und viel zu langweilig für junge Leute. Es gibt weder Geschäfte noch ein Kino. Ich wohne lieber in London, weil es viele Geschäfte gibt und London viel abwechslungsreicher ist als Ashwell. 
Letztes Wochenende bin ich mit meinen Freunden nach Letchworth gefahren. Wir sind ins Kino gegangen. Ich habe einen tollen Film gesehen. 
Wenn ich viel Geld hätte, würde ich nach Australien auswandern, um in der Nähe des Großen Barriereriffs zu leben.
____________________________________________________________​ 

Ich komme aus Ashwell in England. Es ist ein ziemlich großes Dorf. Es liegt in der Nähe von Letchworth auf dem Land. Man kann mit dem Zug nach Ashwell fahren. Vom Bahnhof heraus gehen Sie links und nehmen Sie die zweite Straße rechts.
Ashwell ist sehr ruhig und sehr langweilig. Es ist nicht gut für junge Leute. Es gibt keine Geschäfte und keine Kino. Ich wohne lieber in London, weil es viele Geschäfte gibt und London viel abwechslungsreicher als Ashwell ist.
Letztes Wochenende bin ich mit meinen Freunden nach Letchworth gegangen. Wir sind ins Kino gegangen. Ich habe einen tollen Film gesehen.
Wenn ich viele Geld hätte, würde ich am Great Barrier Reef leben

danke!


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## Jana337

iloveme said:
			
		

> which one do you think is better? and are there any mistakes?
> 
> Ich komme aus Ashwell, einem ziemlich großen Dorf in der Nähe von Letchworth in England. Man kann mit dem Zug nach Ashwell fahren. Vom Bahnhof heraus gehen Sie nach links und nehmen dann die zweite Straße rechts.
> Ashwell ist sehr ruhig und viel zu langweilig für junge Leute. Es gibt weder Geschäfte noch ein Kino. Ich wohne lieber in London, weil es dort viele Geschäfte gibt und weil London viel abwechslungsreicher ist als Ashwell.
> Letztes Wochenende bin ich mit einem Freund (it was one person, wasn't it?) nach Letchworth gefahren. Wir sind ins Kino gegangen. Ich habe einen tollen Film gesehen.
> Wenn ich viel Geld hätte, würde ich nach Australien auswandern, um in der Nähe des Großen Barriereriffs zu leben.



I rewrote the first text, changed places are underlined.

Jana


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## iloveme

thank you!

do you think there is anything else i could add which is related, as i have to write 150 words and only have 114!


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## Jana337

iloveme said:
			
		

> thank you!
> 
> do you think there is anything else i could add which is related, as i have to write 150 words and only have 114!



Sure, don't panic. There is a plethora of loosely related things you can add.

I am particularly sorry about the missing cinema in my village as I am an avid cinema-goer. If it were possible, I would like to see at least 3 movies a week etc.

Or explain what you do in London (it follows from the text that you actually live there and go home only to see your family). Describe the things that you do in London in your spare time.

Or whatever else...

Jana


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## iloveme

ok... what does 'ich wohne lieber in London' mean, and how do i say 'i would prefer to live in London' ... because i thought they were the same thing...  im really confused now!!


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## Jana337

iloveme said:
			
		

> ok... what does 'ich wohne lieber in London' mean, and how do i say 'i would prefer to live in London' ... because i thought they were the same thing...  im really confused now!!



Oh, now I see - you probably misinformed us because in the previous thread it reads that you actually live in London.

Ich wohne lieber in London - I prefer to live in London
Ich würde lieber in London wohnen - I would prefer to live in London

Well, I am sorry that we did not discover the mistake earlier but we unfortunately had no clue. Please rewrite and expand the text accordingly (write more about your hobbies...), and post it here for a new proofreading.

Jana


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## Whodunit

Jana337 said:
			
		

> Ich komme aus Ashwell, einem ziemlich großen Dorf (why is this village big and has NO shops?) in der Nähe von Letchworth in England. Man kann mit dem Zug nach Ashwell fahren. Vom Bahnhof heraus geh*t man* nach links und n*immt* dann die zweite Straße rechts.
> Ashwell ist sehr ruhig und viel zu langweilig für junge Leute. Es gibt *keine* Geschäfte *und auch kein* Kino. Ich wohne lieber in London, weil es dort viele Geschäfte gibt und weil London viel abwechslungsreicher ist als Ashwell.
> Letztes Wochenende bin ich mit *m*einem Freund nach Letchworth gefahren. Wir sind ins Kino gegangen *und* habe*n* einen tollen Film gesehen.
> Wenn ich viel Geld hätte, würde ich nach Australien auswandern, um in der Nähe des Großen Barriereriffs (you'll twist your tongue if you want to pronounce the German name; use the English one) zu leben.



Well, let me add two sentences:

Ich treibe gerne Sport. Meine Lieblingssportart ist <your favorite kind of sports>, aber ich fahre auch gerne Rad.
Ich möchte später einmal eine Sprachreise nach Deutschland machen, um mein Deutsch zu verbessern. Leider hatte ich dazu bisher nur wenig Möglichkeiten.

If you want to have a translation, please ask me or Jana.


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## iloveme

ok thanks very much! ... 
how can i say, 'especially' in this sentence:

ich treibe gern sport _especially_ tennis. i play tennis 3 times a week. i also like watching tennis in wimbledon.

is there a better way to say this too?
thanks


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## Jana337

Besonders.

Jana


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## Whodunit

Jana337 said:
			
		

> Besonders.
> 
> Jana



Zunächst würde ich 'insbesondere" verwenden, da "besonders" halt ein wenig ungeschickt oder unvollständig klingt in diesem Satz.


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## Whodunit

whodunit said:
			
		

> Zunächst würde 'insbesondere" verwenden, da "besonders" halt ein wenig ungeschickt oder unvollständig klingt in diesem Satz.



Man könnte es vielleicht mit dem englischen "especially" statt "specially" beschreiben. Ich weiß nicht, ob du - Jana - lieber "specially" sagen würdest, aber ich würde "especially" vorschlagen


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## Whodunit

iloveme said:
			
		

> ok thanks very much! ...
> how can i say, 'especially' in this sentence:
> 
> ich treibe gern sport _especially_ tennis. i play tennis 3 times a week. i also like watching tennis in wimbledon.
> 
> is there a better way to say this too?
> thanks



... Ich spiele dreimal die Woche Tennis und schaue mir auch gerne das Wimbledon-Tennis an.


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## Jana337

Definitely especially. Why exactly is _besonders_ a poor choice?

Jana


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## Whodunit

Jana337 said:
			
		

> Definitely especially. Why exactly is _besonders_ a poor choice?
> 
> Jana



Because "specially" is a poor choice, too. I can't explain why, but I wouldn't use it as an adverb in THIS case. I can say "Ich mag besonders gern ...", but if you want to explain WHAT EXACTLY you like, you should use "insbesondere".


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## iloveme

whodunit said:
			
		

> Well, let me add two sentences:
> 
> Ich treibe gerne Sport. Meine Lieblingssportart ist <your favorite kind of sports>, aber ich fahre auch gerne Rad.
> *Ich möchte soäter einmal eine Sprachreise nach Deutschland machen, um mein Deutsch zu verbessern. Leider hatte ich dazu bisher nur wenig Möglichkeiten*.
> 
> If you want to have a translation, please ask me or Jana.


 
what does the sentence in bold mean?
thanx for all your help!


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## Whodunit

iloveme said:
			
		

> what does the sentence in bold mean?
> thanx for all your help!



soäter = später, sorry! A typo.

Ich möchte später einmal eine Sprachreise nach Deutschland machen,
Once, I want to make a language tour to Germany,

um mein Deutsch zu verbessern.
in order to improve my German.

Leider hatte ich dazu bisher nur wenig Möglichkeiten.
Unfortunetely, I hadn't had yet so much opportunities to make it.

Hope you can understand these phrases. I'm a loser in translating into another language.


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## gaer

whodunit said:
			
		

> Zunächst würde 'insbesondere" verwenden, da "besonders" halt ein wenig ungeschickt oder unvollständig klingt in diesem Satz.


Just in case someone needs to know what you just wrote, in English:

"Zunächst" would use "insbesondere", since "besonders" really sounds a bit awkward or a little incomplete in this sentence.  

Gaer


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## gaer

Who,

I hope you won't mind my making a few of my own suggestions for translation:

Ich möchte später einmal eine Sprachreise nach Deutschland machen,
I would like to make a language-tour to Germany later [in the future].
OR
Later [in the future] I would like to make a language-tour to Germany.

um mein Deutsch zu verbessern.
in order to improve my German.

Leider hatte ich dazu bisher nur wenig Möglichkeiten.
Unfortunetely, so far (up to now) I had [only a] few opportunities for that.

Now, I have a question: why not:
Leider habe ich dazu bisher nur wenig Möglichkeiten gehabt.

Because we would normally say:

Unfortunetely, so far (up to now) I have had [only a] few opportunities for that.

Is German different here? When we are talking about a period of time that is "up to the present", we usually use present perfect (have had…)

Gaer


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## Whodunit

gaer said:
			
		

> Just in case someone needs to know what you just wrote, in English:
> 
> "Zunächst" would use "insbesondere", since "besonders" really sounds a bit awkward or a little incomplete in this sentence.
> 
> Gaer



NO. Look at my original sentence again. I accidentally forgot ONE word that makes a completely other sense.


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## gaer

whodunit said:
			
		

> NO. Look at my original sentence again. I accidentally forgot ONE word that makes a completely other sense.


I'm sorry, Who, I screwed up the quotes, didn't I? I was writing on autopilot.

I think perhaps I need to cut my involvement in this forum back. I'm making too many mistakes.

Sorry. 

Gaer


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## Whodunit

gaer said:
			
		

> I'm sorry, Who, I screwed up the quotes, didn't I? I was writing on autopilot.
> 
> I think perhaps I need to cut my involvement in this forum back. I'm making too many mistakes.
> 
> Sorry.
> 
> Gaer



Oh no, you're always very helpful. That was what you wanted to hear, didn't you? And of course, we all need you and your involvement—as you cutely said—and nobody's perfect.


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## gaer

whodunit said:
			
		

> Oh no, you're always very helpful. That was what you wanted to hear, didn't you? And of course, we all need you and your involvement—as you cutely said—and nobody's perfect.


There was nothing "cute" about my comment. I attempted to add a translation to something when I was overtired, and I totally misread your sentence.

But you said you left out a word. You have yet to show me the sentence with the word you left out, right? I would appreciate seeing the corrected sentence so that I could see why I made such a silly mistake. 

Gaer


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## Whodunit

gaer said:
			
		

> There was nothing "cute" about my comment. I attempted to add a translation to something when I was overtired, and I totally misread your sentence.
> 
> But you said you left out a word. You have yet to show me the sentence with the word you left out, right? I would appreciate seeing the corrected sentence so that I could see why I made such a silly mistake.
> 
> Gaer



Here is the original one corrected and here's your try. Now search what word I left out and try it again.


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## gaer

whodunit said:
			
		

> Here is the original one corrected and here's your try. Now search what word I left out and try it again.


I have no idea what word you left out. 

Zunächst würde ich 'insbesondere" verwenden, da "besonders" halt ein wenig ungeschickt oder unvollständig klingt in diesem Satz.

Perhaps you are saying that first of all you would use inbesondere rather than besonders because the latter sounds a little awkward or incomplete…
Perhaps you might have added "lieber".

I don't know. My great weakness is moving from English to German. In English I would say this, but this might not be your meaning:

First of all, I would rather use 'insbesondere", because "besonders" really sounds a little awkward or incomplete in this sentence.

But please next time just give me you complete sentence as it should be. 

Gaer


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## Whodunit

gaer said:
			
		

> I have no idea what word you left out.
> 
> Zunächst würde ich 'insbesondere" verwenden, da "besonders" halt ein wenig ungeschickt oder unvollständig klingt in diesem Satz.
> 
> Perhaps you are saying that first of all you would use inbesondere rather than besonders because the latter sounds a little awkward or incomplete…
> Perhaps you might have added "lieber".
> 
> I don't know. My great weakness is moving from English to German. In English I would say this, but this might not be your meaning:
> 
> First of all, I would rather use 'insbesondere", because "besonders" really sounds a little awkward or incomplete in this sentence.
> 
> But please next time just give me you complete sentence as it should be.
> 
> Gaer



The original sentence:

Zunächst würde ich 'insbesondere" verwenden, da "besonders" halt ein wenig ungeschickt oder unvollständig klingt in diesem Satz.

The corrected sentence:

Zunächst würde ich 'insbesondere" verwenden, da "besonders" halt ein wenig ungeschickt oder unvollständig klingt in diesem Satz.

Do you see the difference? When I left out 'I', I did 'zunächst' as the subject which is actually the adverb. That's why you couldn't translate it perfectly. Your English sentence has totally  other sense than my German one. Do you see?

I don't have to add 'lieber', because it sounds a little unnecessary in this case. Don't ask me why!


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## gaer

whodunit said:
			
		

> The original sentence:
> 
> Zunächst würde ich 'insbesondere" verwenden, da "besonders" halt ein wenig ungeschickt oder unvollständig klingt in diesem Satz.
> 
> The corrected sentence:
> 
> Zunächst würde ich 'insbesondere" verwenden, da "besonders" halt ein wenig ungeschickt oder unvollständig klingt in diesem Satz.
> 
> Do you see the difference? When I left out 'I', I did 'zunächst' as the subject which is actually the adverb. That's why you couldn't translate it perfectly. Your English sentence has totally other sense than my German one. Do you see?
> 
> I don't have to add 'lieber', because it sounds a little unnecessary in this case. Don't ask me why!


Okay, Who. I understand now. The problem is that you went back and edited your sentence, so when I looked at it today, "ich" was there. I think now you can understand why I was "scratching my head". 

The strange thing is that I believe I saw "ich" there the whole time. In other words, I believe I saw it in my mind, just as I often see simple words missing in my own text, sometimes even when I re-read something. 

Gaer


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## Whodunit

gaer said:
			
		

> Okay, Who. I understand now. The problem is that you went back and edited your sentence, so when I looked at it today, "ich" was there. I think now you can understand why I was "scratching my head".
> 
> The strange thing is that I believe I saw "ich" there the whole time. In other words, I believe I saw it in my mind, just as I often see simple words missing in my own text, sometimes even when I re-read something.
> 
> Gaer



Two suggestion/questions:

(1) I didn't quite understand you, because you could have seen (and you can still see) that I edited my post. I thought you would get back to my original sentence and compare it with your quoting me (is that correct?).

(2) Isn't it reread without a hyphen?


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## gaer

whodunit said:
			
		

> Two suggestion/questions:
> 
> (1) I didn't quite understand you, because you could have seen (and you can still see) that I edited my post. I thought you would get back to my original sentence and compare it with your quoting me (is that correct?).
> 
> (2) Isn't it reread without a hyphen?


 
"your quoting of me" would probably be better. Actually, if you think about it, there are a LOT of threads now, and it can take a lot of time to go back and find something. So no, I didn't think to check back. But it's not problem. All is clear now. 

Reread is probably find without a comma. Some verbs can't add "re" without a hyphen, and I was not in a place where I could spellcheck. It is not improper to hyphenate such a word, if you want to emphasize what you are saying, or make it especially clear. But one word would probably be better.  

Gaer


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## Whodunit

gaer said:
			
		

> "your quoting of me" would probably be better. Actually, if you think about it, there are a LOT of threads now, and it can take a lot of time to go back and find something. So no, I didn't think to check back. But it's not problem. All is clear now.



Fine.



> Reread is probably find without a comma. Some verbs can't add "re" without a hyphen, and I was not in a place where I could spellcheck. It is not improper to hyphenate such a word, if you want to emphasize what you are saying, or make it especially clear. But one word would probably be better.


 
Look at the underlined word: Is comma right here? Or did you want to say 'hyphen'? I think I understood your explanation well. Thanks as usual.


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## gaer

whodunit said:
			
		

> Look at the underlined word: Is comma right here? Or did you want to say 'hyphen'? I think I understood your explanation well. Thanks as usual.


Oh no!

At first I thought I typed "coma" by mistake. 

Yes, I meant hyphen. Another brain-burp. And I wrote find instead of fine. A typo and a totally wrong word.

But you understood it, right? 

Gaer


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## Whodunit

gaer said:
			
		

> Oh no!
> 
> At first I thought I typed "coma" by mistake.
> 
> Yes, I meant hyphen. Another brain-burp. And I wrote find instead of fine. A typo and a totally wrong word.
> 
> But you understood it, right?
> 
> Gaer



Oh, the thing with 'find' was correct for me, because I thought it would be the participle of 'find'    = found. It is probably found doesn't sound that strange, does it?


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## gaer

whodunit said:
			
		

> Oh, the thing with 'find' was correct for me, because I thought it would be the participle of 'find'  = found. It is probably found doesn't sound that strange, does it?


"Reread is probably find without a hyphen" is totally wrong.

"Reread is probably found without a hyphen" is a correct sentence.

So you are right. There were two solutions to my "typo". And my sentence was very poor. It should have been:

"The word 'reread' is is correct without a hyphen, although it is not always wrong to add a hyphen to words that may be written without them."

Sorry for the confusion!

Gaer


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## Whodunit

gaer said:
			
		

> "Reread is probably find without a hyphen" is totally wrong.
> 
> "Reread is probably found without a hyphen" is a correct sentence.
> 
> So you are right. There were two solutions to my "typo". And my sentence was very poor. It should have been:
> 
> "The word 'reread' is is correct without a hyphen, although it is not always wrong to add a hyphen to words that may be written without them."
> 
> Sorry for the confusion!
> 
> Gaer



Gotcha! You're right about your sentence. And I got it, but I have a question to a previous thread:

Does the "them" in your sentence indicates the word "hyphen", although it's in singular? If yes, I got you again. If no, I don't know.


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## gaer

whodunit said:
			
		

> Gotcha! You're right about your sentence. And I got it, but I have a question to a previous thread:
> 
> Does the "them" in your sentence indicates the word "hyphen", although it's in singular? If yes, I got you again. If no, I don't know.


Tought question. First, you are right—I was referring to hyphen(s).

And I think these sentences would be more correct:

1) "The word 'reread' is is correct without a hyphen, although it is not always wrong to add a hyphen to words that may be written without it."

2) "The word 'reread' is is correct without a hyphen, although it is not always wrong to add hyphens to words that may be written without them."

I would prefer sentence two. The noun and pronoun should agree in number. You are right. 

Gaer


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## Whodunit

gaer said:
			
		

> Tought question. First, you are right—I was referring to hyphen(s).
> 
> And I think these sentences would be more correct:
> 
> 1) "The word 'reread' is is correct without a hyphen, although it is not always wrong to add a hyphen to words that may be written without it."
> 
> 2) "The word 'reread' is is correct without a hyphen, although it is not always wrong to add hyphens to words that may be written without them."
> 
> I would prefer sentence two. The noun and pronoun should agree in number. You are right.
> 
> Gaer



Thanks for pointing out this proplem again.


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## gaer

whodunit said:
			
		

> Thanks for pointing out this proplem again.


This time I congratulate you on having a sharp eye, because you picked up on a detail that is really rather subtle. My sentence, as I originally wrote it, would probably be understood by everyone who speaks English as a first language, and many people might not object to my construction.

But it WAS wrong, technically, and it's pretty cool that you caught it. 

Gaer


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## Whodunit

gaer said:
			
		

> This time I congratulate you on having a sharp eye, because you picked up on a detail that is really rather subtle. My sentence, as I originally wrote it, would probably be understood by everyone who speaks English as a first language, and many people might not object to my construction.
> 
> But it WAS wrong, technically, and it's pretty cool that you caught it.
> 
> Gaer



Thank you very much for this compliment, but I have an eye for languages.    If it was wrong, why would it be undertood? Do you speak incorrect English? Or is your sentence more common than my corrected one?


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## gaer

whodunit said:
			
		

> Thank you very much for this compliment, but I have an eye for languages.  If it was wrong, why would it be undertood? Do you speak incorrect English? Or is your sentence more common than my corrected one?


That's tough to answer. If I remember correctly, the second of two revisions I gave you sound better to me than the first:

2) "The word 'reread' is is correct without a hyphen, although it is not always wrong to add hyphens to words that may be written without them."

The other sentence I wrote, using "a hyphen" with "them", is technically wrong, Who. But it's the kind of slightly sloppy mistake that we would make without thinking, and most people (English speakers) would not notice that there was a mistake. I have seen sentences just as wrong by fine writers, in famous books.

A contact in France sent me something simple to read in French. It has a repeated word. 99% of people in France don't see the repeated word. I flunked a similar test in English. But I immediately saw the mistake in French.

I hope that explains it to you. It's the best I can do. 

Gaer


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## Whodunit

gaer said:
			
		

> That's tough to answer. If I remember correctly, the second of two revisions I gave you sound better to me than the first:
> 
> 2) "The word 'reread' is is correct without a hyphen, although it is not always wrong to add hyphens to words that may be written without them."
> 
> The other sentence I wrote, using "a hyphen" with "them", is technically wrong, Who. But it's the kind of slightly sloppy mistake that we would make without thinking, and most people (English speakers) would not notice that there was a mistake. I have seen sentences just as wrong by fine writers, in famous books.
> 
> A contact in France sent me something simple to read in French. It has a repeated word. 99% of people in France don't see the repeated word. I flunked a similar test in English. But I immediately saw the mistake in French.
> 
> I hope that explains it to you. It's the best I can do.
> 
> Gaer



Yes, your explanation was fine. And it's right that foreigners notice mistakes rather than natives (only if they know the language). It's a throny topic, but we shouldn't continue it, because we aren't any psychologists.


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