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Eugenia
Is this sentence correct?
I was amazed by how fluent your Korean is especially considering the fact you've been self taught.
Thank you in advance!
29 aug. 2017 18:32
Antwoorden · 6
2
Hi, I would change that sentence this way:
I was amazed by how fluent your Korean is especially considering the fact you've been self taught. ---> Correction ---> I was amazed by how fluent you are in Korean, especially considering you're self-taught.
Americans often use 'fluent' with 'be' verbs in sentences -- "I am fluent', 'she is fluent', etc. You could also say "...how fluently you speak Korean", or "how well you speak Korean". Using 'been' with 'self-taught' seems unnecessary, because been + taught emphasizes the passive quality and past tense state of been --- someone else performed an action on the person, they 'taught' the person, so the person has 'been taught' something, and received the action of teaching. But *teaching yourself* is more active, and I would use "You ARE* self-taught". Most of the time when I hear this, it's used in the present tense, because, in a way, the person's state of being self-taught that we're describing is an ongoing state . -- "She is self-taught. He is a self-taught musician", for example. It CAN be talked about in the past tense, but I think in this case it sounds more natural to use present tense, unless you say something like 'you've been teaching yourself', or 'you've been learning on your own'.
I don't think using 'been' with self-taught' is INCORRECT, I just wanted to offer a way that I, an American tutor, would phrase this. I think to keep the sentence the way it is with basic corrections, not adjusting it to be 'conversational' (as I did above), I would change it to:
I was amazed by how fluently you speak Korean, especially considering the fact that* you've been self-taught.
Corrections: change to 'how fluently you speak' instead of 'how fluent your Korean is' ; add a comma to separate the long phrases, add 'that' after 'the fact' for clarity, and add a dash for self-taught.
More than I thought I would write, but hopefully it helps! Feel free to contact me for a lesson anytime.
Sincerely,
Jade Palmer
29 augustus 2017
Looks fine .I would add a dash between self and taught, so it would be self-taught.
Also agree with the previous comment.
29 augustus 2017
To me, your sentence seems perfect. I would only add a comma before "especially" and "that" after "the fact".
29 augustus 2017
Heb je je antwoorden nog steeds niet gevonden?
Schrijf je vragen op en laat de moedertaalsprekers je helpen!
Eugenia
Taalvaardigheden
Engels, Koreaans
Taal die wordt geleerd
Engels
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