diego
How to use "to go on (and on)" Hi there, I was asked to correct the following sentence: "I'm hingeing on you to let me know when my talk has gone on for long enough" It comes from a series of exercises about phrasal verbs with "on". Honestly I can't figure out where the mistake might be: I can only suppose there could be something wrong with the verb "has gone on", lacking of the last part of the usual expression (" has gone on and on"); or at least something wrong with "for long enough", that could turn out to be a kind of repetition of the phrasal verb. what's your opinion about that? Thank you so much in advance to everyone who will help me.
Aug 8, 2018 10:38 PM
Answers · 9
"Hingeing" ?? The word "hinge" means "depend". For example, "Her decision to buy an umbrella hinged on the weather forecast. However, the word "hinging" is not used in the way you describe. The more common wording for this thought would be, " I am counting on you to let me know ..." "I am depending on you to let me know ..." "I'm relying on you to let me know when my talk has gone on too long." or "I'm hoping you will let me know when my talk has gone on for too long." Hope this helps
August 8, 2018
The only thing wrong with that sentence is the incorrect use of the verb "hinge". The writer probably means to say either "I'm relying on you ..." or "I'm depending on you...". The verb "hinge" can be synonym of "depend" in some contexts, but not in this one. "I'm hingeing on you ..." makes no sense. I presume this was written by a non-native who looked up a word a dictionary and came up with the wrong translation. Apart from that mistake, the sentence is fine. There's nothing wrong with saying "has gone on for long enough."
August 8, 2018
1. I think it's possible to use "hinging on" (which means depend on), but I've only heard it in the third person. http://learnersdictionary.com/definition/hinge%20ing hinge on [phrasal verb] also hinge upon hinge on/upon (something) : to be determined or decided by (something) : to depend on (something) The outcome of the election hinges on how the candidates perform in the debate. 2. It's ṕerfectly okay to say "has gone on" It's not necessary to say "on and on" (which just emphasizes the long duration). Examples: This noise has gone on long enough. I'm trying to sleep! Conflicts between people have gone on since the beginning of time. The debate about the actual cause of climate change has gone on for decades.
August 8, 2018
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