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prudent260
A fountain is 'playing' in front of the park.
When a fountain is jetting water, do you say, 'it's playing?'
What would you say normally?
THank you.
Jul 27, 2020 1:49 AM
Answers · 10
1
You can talk about a fountain playing, but it is unusual. This usage of the verb 'play' is fairly formal and old-fashioned: as you can see from the answers you've had so far, many English speakers are unfamiliar with it.
Here's the entry from the Cambridge dictionary which explains it:
to direct or be directed over or onto something:
- Firefighters played their hoses onto the base of the fire.
- A fountain was playing (= sending out water) in the courtyard outside.
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/play
This has the same etymology as the usual meaning of 'play', but it is unconnected in meaning. The modern word 'play' is derived from an Old English term meaning 'brisk movement'. You can see this in the phrase "a smile played across his face" which you used in your last notebook entry. As you can see, the use of 'play' to refer to this kind of movement is actually closer to the origins of the word than the more common meaning is.
July 27, 2020
1
There are a couple of things you could say:
- The fountain is on.
- The fountain is jetting/shooting/gushing/spraying water.
- The fountain is going. (In this case, "going" means the fountain is working to move water, not that the fountain is moving!)
July 27, 2020
Thank you, everyone. :)
July 27, 2020
Flowing... water flows.
July 27, 2020
Se dice la fuente esta Vertiendo agua por su orificio
July 27, 2020
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prudent260
Language Skills
Chinese (Mandarin), English
Learning Language
English
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