"To be" no fim de frase
Who can Laura's correspondent be?
Eu gostaria de saber se essa construção é formal.
Eu gostaria de saber se essa construção é formal.
MELHORE SUA PRONÚNCIA EM INGLÊS
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Simon and Gustavo, there is nothing particularly formal about the original phrasing. It's standard stuff, like
What could that mean?
Who could he be?
Who could that be?
A one-year old child, what could he say?
The two sentences aren't exactly the same. I don't see an issue of degree of formality. They typically mean different things:
Identifying a person:
A. Who can (might) this person be? I've never seen him before.
B. He's your new boss.
Assuming a role:
A. I need a fearless person to volunteer for this mission. Who can be this person?
B. I can be your fearless hero.
What could that mean?
Who could he be?
Who could that be?
A one-year old child, what could he say?
The two sentences aren't exactly the same. I don't see an issue of degree of formality. They typically mean different things:
Identifying a person:
A. Who can (might) this person be? I've never seen him before.
B. He's your new boss.
Assuming a role:
A. I need a fearless person to volunteer for this mission. Who can be this person?
B. I can be your fearless hero.
POWER QUESTIONS
Acredito que sim.
"Who can this person be?"(Formal)
"Who can be this person"(Informal)
Am I wrong?
Let's wait for another person's response
"Who can this person be?"(Formal)
"Who can be this person"(Informal)
Am I wrong?
Let's wait for another person's response
Which do you want to use?
Who can Laura's correspondent be? (We're asking because we don't know who is corresponding with Laura.)
Who can be Laura's correspondent? (We're asking because we want to identify somebody willing to be Laura's correspondent.)
Who can Laura's correspondent be? (We're asking because we don't know who is corresponding with Laura.)
Who can be Laura's correspondent? (We're asking because we want to identify somebody willing to be Laura's correspondent.)
Thanks a lot for the clarification Henry, I really was not ware of that.
Lembro da expressão "how can this be?"(= como pode ser? como isso veio a acontecer?)
INGLÊS PARA VIAGENS
Let your motto be:
Be all that you can be!
Somebody translate that -- with gusto!
Be all that you can be!
Somebody translate that -- with gusto!