My car is spoilt.
I was told that “spoilt” is used wrongly and that “out of order”
should be used instead? Is the advice correct?
Thanks.
It looks like we are speaking two totally different languages. I don’t believe the word “spoilt” exists in AmE.
We might say “My car’s broken down.”
We might refer to a specific problem as in “My brakes are shot.”
If there is a bigger problem, “My car’s totaled,” meaning worth less than the cost to repair.
“Out of order” would not usually be applied to a car, but to something providing a public service like an elevator(lift) or ATM.
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SPOILT is the past form or the perfective participle form of SPOIL.
It may also be written as SPOILED.
In either case the usage is not correct in this context.
HAS BROKEN DOWN is more appropriate than IS OUT OF ORDER.
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Exactly the same explanation as in the link I provided.
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Why doesn’t the person who told you come forward? Obviously you didn’t believe them either, why else would you ask the forum members to answer your question. If there’s no one who told you, should we then not send for an exorcist, or so? From now on, sir, I’ll believe nothing you say any more. I hope, I’ve made myself clear. Moreover, if this has anything to do with the Chinese philosophy, then I must say that you are not an honourable man.
Have a nice day.
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As a non-native speaker, once in a while I am corrected in what I say or write. Besides this word, I remember being corrected when I wrote, “The couple were strolling in the park.” She is my former primary classmate of mine. She said the verb should be “was”. I wonder if she is correct.
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Hi,
Again, this is a question of SV-concord. If you see the couple as a single unit, then it should indeed be ‘was’, if you see them separate individuals it should be ‘were’. However, nowadays, many native speakers do understand what you mean if you were to use ‘were/was’ as they both seem to be used interchangeably.
Please, allow me to correct this one: She is a former primary classmate of mine or She is my former primary classmate. Remember, redudancy? ‘my’ is redundant in your first sentence.
By the way, when you write a text it’s always good to have someone else read it, so they might find some mistakes you’ve overlooked. By the way, I’m sorry, I was so rude to you.
In this sentence I see them as a single unit as they do the same thing, namely strolling in the park, so it should be ‘was’.
I once explained the difference to you, let me explain it to you again:
- The orchestra were tuning their instruments. In this sentence you cannot see the orchestra as one single unit, since all the musicians are playing some notes in order to tune their instruments; so each one of them is doing something else.
- The orchestra was playing one of Beethoven’s symphonies. In this sentence you cannot see them as seperate individuals, each one of them doing something else, because they’re all doing the same, namely playing one of Beethoven’s symphonies.