On Fri, 07 Aug 2009 19:17:19 +0200, clipka wrote:

> Jim Henderson schrieb:
>> On Fri, 07 Aug 2009 09:08:56 -0400, Jeremy \"UncleHoot\" Praay wrote:
>> 
>>> In fact, it seems like people for whom English is a second language
>>> often have better grammar than many native speakers
>> 
>> I've found this to be generally the case, though I often see odd
>> constructions like:
>> 
>> "What option do you have to enter to [...]"
>> 
>> Instead of:
>> 
>> "Which option is used to [...]"
>> 
>> I've just been reviewing a skills assessment written in English by a
>> native German speaker, and this type of construction is very common in
>> German apparently.
> 
> It is, indeed. Although the second construction would be grammatically
> valid in German as well, it is seldom used for this purpose, as it has
> quite a strong connotation of asking about conventions, not requirements
> or possibilities - as in, "which option is *typically* used to [...]",
> or "which option is used to [...] at *this* company". Maybe quite akin
> to the progressive form, i.e. "which option is being used to [...]".
> 
> The German language only has one present tense, without distinguishing a
> simple and progressive form - maybe that's why.

Makes sense.  A few members of my team at work are based in Germany (and 
are paid to be developers of technical courses - ie, formal writing is a 
requirement of the job), so I see this kind of construction quite 
frequently. :-)

Jim

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