Miyeon Kim
What's the differences between these sentences? 1) Can anyone explain the difference between these two phrases? have a talk with / have a conversation with * I have had a talk with one of my friends on Skype this morning. * I have had a conversation with one of my friends on Skype this morning. 2) I'm wondering if these two sentences below have the same meaning. * There's nothing I can do about it but wait. * I can't help but wait.
Nov 13, 2018 10:18 AM
Answers · 7
2
Hi Mi Yeon, 'a talk' is natural, like you talked about something, but 'a conversation' seems organized, like a set topic from a teacher in school: 'today's topic is..' :) 'there's nothing I can do but..' or 'there's nothing for it but..' are ok, but 'I can't help (myself) but ..' is a different meaning, like it's your automatic action that you can't prevent! :)
November 13, 2018
Both "talk with" and "conversation" are very similar. "I can't help but..." means something like "I can't stop myself" "I can't help but wait" - implies, you are find yourself waiting, maybe you are trying to distract yourself but can't help counting down the minutes as you wait. "There is nothing I can do about it but wait." - means the the situation is out of your control. "When baking a scones, once you put them into the oven there is nothing you can do but wait 15 minutes for them to rise." - You can not do anything to make the scones cook quicker.
November 13, 2018
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