Your Turn

[ngamary]

Dear Teachers,

1) It's your turn to do/cook dinner/supper.
- Is this natural?

2) "No more coffee. That does it for me" He told the waitress.
-What does "That does it for me" mean in this situation?

3) Can you help me with my homework/do my homework?

4) Can you come here a minute/ for a minute?

5) Can you be quite/keep silent?

6) You musn't watch so much TV/TV too much.

- Are 3,4,5,6 natural?

7) Does this pen belong to you?
- This means : Is this pen yours?, right?

Thanks a lot.

[sc231426]

1)

It's your turn to cook dinner/supper. (natural)
It's your turn to do the cooking. (natural)
It's your turn to do dinner/supper. (Unnatural in most contexts. "It's my turn to do dinner," seems to me to mean, "It's my turn to host the dinner party." In that context it means more than just cooking.)

2)"No more coffee. That does it for me," he told the waitress.

That does it for me. = I'm finished. I've had enough./I don't want any more.

3) Can you help me with my homework/do my homework?

Both natural.

4) Can you come here a minute/ for a minute?

"for a minute" is natural and grammatically correct.
"a minute" is common in casual speech, but not grammatically correct.

5) Can you be quiet/keep silent?

quite= (adv) very, rather
quiet= (adj) not loud or noisy, with little or no sound
silent= (adj) with no sound at all

Thus it is possible to speak quietly, but not speak silently.

Can/could you be quiet? (natural)
Can/could you keep quiet? (natural)
Can you keep silent? (not as natural, which leads to ambiguity: "would you mind keeping silent?" or "are you able to keep silent?")

Can/Could you keep it down?
Can/Could you _____ quietly/silently?

Be quiet!
Hush!
Keep it down!

6)
You musn't watch so much TV.
You musn't watch TV so much.
These are natural and mean the same thing: "You shouldn't watch TV as much as you do. You're watching too much."

You musn't watch too much TV.
You musn't watch TV too much.
These are natural and mean the same thing: "It's not good to watch a lot of TV. Don't watch too much."

So, all four of these say, "Don't watch too much TV." However, the first two say, "Stop!" and the second two say, "Be careful!" The second two may be interpreted as impersonal (applying to all people), but the first two are definitely directed to someone specific.

7) Correct.

Does this pen belong to you? = Is this pen yours?

If I own something, it belongs to me. --> It is mine.

Be careful: This does not work in reverse. I may call something "mine," but if I don't own it, it does not belong to me.
- It's our house [We live there], but we don't own it. We're renting. (The house belongs to the landlord/owner.)
- That's my pencil [I'm using it] that I borrowed from Susan. (The pencil belongs to Susan.)

Other uses of the verb "belong"
- What's this? It belongs to my game. = It is part of my game. It goes with my game. It belongs with the other pieces to my game.
- Where do the oven mitts go/belong? (They go/belong) in that drawer over there. = The drawer is their "place of belonging" = where they should be.

When applied to people:
- I belong in Texas. (I feel that Texas is my rightful place to be. I don't want to leave.)
- I belong at her side. (I should always be with her.)

[ngamary]

Dear sc231426!

I don't know what to you, but thanks very much for your help. You have helped me many times. Could you please tell me something about you?

Thanks again and hope to receive your reply soon.

Ngamary.

[ngamary]

Dear sc231426!

I don't know what to say, but thanks very much for your help. You have helped me many times. Could you please tell me something about you?

Thanks again and hope to receive your reply soon.

Ngamary.

[sc231426]

Could you please tell me something about you?Feel free to e-mail me at sc231426@yahoo.com. I'd be happy to answer any questions you have for me.