I myself am + adjective or noun?

  1. Me, I reckon that…

— “me” is sometimes used as an emphatic pronoun in this way. Thus not strange.

  1. Personally, I reckon that…

— “Personally” qualifies the following sentence(s). Thus not strange.

  1. I, I reckon that…

— “I” tends not to be used as an emphatic pronoun in this way. Thus strange.

  1. I myself I reckon she’ll go back to London, because she’s got absolutely nothing left to give here.

— “I myself” tends not to be used before “I” in this way. Thus strange. Lose one “I” and it becomes “not strange”.

  1. myself, I think that if any thing happens to Keith which is obviously he’s not gonna live a long life if any thing happens to him I, I myself I reckon she’ll go back to London, because she’s got absolutely nothing here she’s got a cousin although, I don’t think she’d move in, in with her cousin

— the full version from the BNC. Natural incoherence + several pints of lager.

MrP

As maybe does “I” in “I myself, I reckon that” (Sometimes heard as “I, I reckon that”).

But saying “strange” doesn’t give us any real idea of why it does occur. You said earlier that it could be an example of a “false start”, but I just don’t see where you’re getting that from.

Would you say it’s an example of a false start here?

Aren’t “false starts” rather rare in written English?

And is this “false start” down Ms Jelinek, or to her translator?

Final word from Walt:

WHEN I read the book, the biography famous,
And is this, then, (said I,) what the author calls a man’s life?
And so will some one, when I am dead and gone, write my life?
(As if any man really knew aught of my life;
[color=blue]Why, even I myself, I often think, know little or nothing of my real life;
Only a few hints—a few diffused, faint clues and indirections,
I seek, for my own use, to trace out here.)

Interesting synonyms?

OK, so I for one I’m excited about Kevin being in the show.
OK, so I myself I’m excited about Kevin being in the show.
OK, so I personally I’m excited about Kevin being in the show.

Walt’s is a different case:

  1. Why, even I myself (I often think) know little or nothing of my real life

Cf.

  1. I myself (I reckon) she’ll go back to London, because she’s got absolutely nothing left to give here.

Doesn’t work.

MrP

And the others? Can you point out the false starts in them?

Elfriede’s is a different case. “I myself” is part of an attempt to render her particular style:

  1. Was immer geschieht, nur die Sprache geht von mir weg, ich selbst, ich bleibe weg. Die Sprache geht. Ich bleibe, aber weg. Nicht auf dem Weg. Und mir bleibt die Sprache weg.

MrP

Wow, what a difference between the English translation and the original!
.

The comma is probably needed in the written form, but do you feel there would always be a pause after “myself” in spoken usage?

I doubt it. Do you think it’s a style particular to her?

“Du schweigst? du seufzest? Ach! zu wohl nur, gute Amme,
Versteh’ ich was dein Schweigen mir verhehlt!
Du hoffest nichts für meine Flamme!
Ich selbst, ich hoffe nur weil beßrer Trost mir fehlt.”

From Oberon by Christoph Martin Wieland.


Titus.
Wir leben aber in der Welt des Scheins!

Mariamne.
Das seh ich jetzt, drum gehe ich hinaus!

Titus.
Ich selbst, ich habe gegen dich gezeugt!

Mariamne.
Damit du’s tätest, lud ich dich zum Fest!

From Herodes und Mariamne by Christian Friedrich Hebbel


Hon grät modiga tårar
på sin första rynkas andra dag
men jag själv,
jag känner förnyelse banka
skrämmande slag
i mitt bröst

Och jag själv, jag ska väl bli gammal någon gång, men när bestämmer jag, inte du. Ständigt nyfiken. Nya saker händer som jag inte trodde kunde hända, sådant som helt enkelt saknades på menyn och därför inte kunde väljas.

hem.bredband.net/wifsve/

Still having a little trouble finding the delete button, old chap? Maybe Slava could make it look like a big old Metal button so that it will be easier for you to find.
.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Having trouble finding this thread english-test.net/forum/ftopic25092.html ? There’re folks talking about you over there.
Go visit!

Maybe you’re too busy climbing into PMing bed with Mr P.

Absolutely.

In terms of relevance to English, these examples are hugely superfluous.

Ich fuer meinen Teil denke, dass ahnungslose Menschen wissen sollten, wann sie klein bei geben sollten.

How so?

Ich für meinen Teil würde denken, dass faule Gehirne anderswo einkaufen würden.

“Hugely superfluous” sounds rather superflous. Germanic collocation?

Naturally you can find other examples of “ich selbst”. But my comment related to “I myself”:

(A style which is quite different from the style of the passages you quote, incidentally.)

MrP

(A style which is quite different from the style of the passages you quote, incidentally.)

Tell us more. How do you see her particular style and why do you see the translation (I myself, I) as only “part of an attempt” to render her style?

Ich habe dir drei Fragen beantwortet, und das genügt.

Also, bleib beim Thema.

MrP

[color=violet]Hi Amy,
First of all, sorry for replying to your question so late. (I was offline on english-test.net for some days because I was so busy with my graduation exam)

[color=violet]I hate to disappoint you, dear Amy, but truly speaking I have no idea about this. May be because I had always think only “There is no flower in my garden./There isn’t any flower in my garden.” are correct. :roll:

[color=red]P.S: after all the problems about “the reason/the reason why”, “no + noun + Verb” and so on, I’m becoming so much skeptical about what I’ve been taught here :x now I can’t even believe myself :shock:

Hi Amy,
Have you any idea about this?

Many thanks
Nessie

Amy, are you theerrreeee…??? :P:P:P

Hi Nessie

It seems to me that either you have misinterpreted a “rule”, or the “rule” that you’ve been taught is simply bogus.

Basically, the following two sentences mean exactly the same thing, and both are grammatically correct. The version using ‘no’ places the negation on the word ‘flowers’ instead of negating the verb:

  • There aren’t any flowers in my garden.
  • There are no flowers in my garden.

You can also use ‘no + singular noun’ or ‘not any + singular noun’, but the most common usage would be with singular uncountable nouns:

  • There isn’t any water in the pool.
  • There is no water in the pool.
    .
    .
    In some situations, ‘no + singular countable noun’ and ‘not any + singular countable noun’ can also be used. Generally speaking, however, this would be restricted to emphatic usage. In other words, this would place more emphasis than usual on the idea of ‘not a single one of those things’.
    .