... un polmo ...

[María José]

Originally Posted by Alfonso

Can be both?

Thank you very much, Poli and Gemma, for your corrections!

You need a subject: Can/ Could it be both?

[Alfonso]

know need a subject. Wrote that because think heard of it. Isn't colloquial English?
Thanks a lot, dear.

[María José]

Ok, you win.
When talking you say things such as:
You coming?
Finished?
You went with him?

[poli]

English speakers tend to like pronouns because they are needed to clarify
the verb. Some extremely lazy people drop pronouns sometimes.
¿Que tipo de socio americano tienes allí en Madrid?

[María José]

Poli, I must be quite thick but I don't get the joke about the American partner...

[Alfonso]

Thanks a lot, Gemma! The only point is to know if you corrected it because it's definitively wrong or just because of an uncontrollable purist writing attack.
Believe me if I tell you that any correction makes wonder why. And sometimes it's really difficult to know.

[María José]

Must have been persecution mania that drove me to correct it. But anyway I would reserve that kind of sentence for the spoken language, and I would discourage anyone who's not a native from speaking like that to avoid mistakes.

[Alfonso]

Yeah, but the point to me is to know where mistakes begin. For example: do you consider a mistake: you know what?

[Alfonso]

Originally Posted by poli

I don't believe I changed the meaning. I'm sorry to hear about you bird's death.Sixteen years is a long time to be together.

Of course you changed the meaning. I said my bird signs and you say my bird sings.

[María José]

No, it's perfect. People say it all the time. You shouldn't let mistakes you so much. Your English is great, just find yourself an English girlfriend and keep on practising...