Does this sentence sound alright to native speakers? I feel like it doesn't run smoothly on my tongue. I got it from one of Tom's recent articles.
I get motivated and learn to learn on my own
∆ I don't think many posters would want to offend the sensibilities of the BürgerMeister. ;-)
The present tense sounds a bit odd, and the repeated "learn" is clunky. I would have to see the context to see whether the present tense is correct.
http://www.antimoon.com/learners/tomasz_szynalski.htm
[2. I get motivated and learn to learn on my own]
I would love to tell you that I started to learn English seriously because I wanted to improve myself, communicate with the world, or even get good grades and a well-paying job. In the beginning, my motivation was far more evil: it was my competitive spirit.
[2. I get motivated and learn to learn on my own]
I would love to tell you that I started to learn English seriously because I wanted to improve myself, communicate with the world, or even get good grades and a well-paying job. In the beginning, my motivation was far more evil: it was my competitive spirit.
Well, it's a section title, so it doesn't to be a valid sentence. It's still a bit odd, but not as odd as if it were intended as an actual sentence.
The problem is easily found if you split it up into separate sentences or phrases.
Basically, if i'm interpreting this correctly, you have two verbs instead of one. The two sentences you are putting together are:
I get motivated to learn on my own
I learn to learn on my own
I cannot tell you the specific grammar rules, but we can look at this in terms of consistency.
"I get motivated" compared with "I learn." Simple: in the first case, you have two words while in the second, it's just one. DO NOT QUOTE THIS AS BEING THE RIGHT TERMINOLOGY, but I see "get" as being like a helping verb, and the only verb; the same structure as saying "I am motivated."
the verb is "get," as if it were "become."
Since your two thoughts aren't conveyed with the same exact structure, you cannot just put the other verb in. You need to restate the subject.
"I get motivated and I learn to learn on my own."
There you go.
In other cases, you could just swtich the verbs, but it doesn't work here because you need to go chronologically (motivation comes before action), and because "learn to learn" needs to stay together.
True, you could be told that there are better ways to say that, BUT, it's a title, doesn't have to be a good sentence, and in this case, I think there's a of creative freedom; i think it's nice how "learn" is repeated and used in that way, and I like it.
So again, I would say you simply need to add "I" and make your sentence perfect:
"I get motivated and I learn to learn on my own."
:)
Basically, if i'm interpreting this correctly, you have two verbs instead of one. The two sentences you are putting together are:
I get motivated to learn on my own
I learn to learn on my own
I cannot tell you the specific grammar rules, but we can look at this in terms of consistency.
"I get motivated" compared with "I learn." Simple: in the first case, you have two words while in the second, it's just one. DO NOT QUOTE THIS AS BEING THE RIGHT TERMINOLOGY, but I see "get" as being like a helping verb, and the only verb; the same structure as saying "I am motivated."
the verb is "get," as if it were "become."
Since your two thoughts aren't conveyed with the same exact structure, you cannot just put the other verb in. You need to restate the subject.
"I get motivated and I learn to learn on my own."
There you go.
In other cases, you could just swtich the verbs, but it doesn't work here because you need to go chronologically (motivation comes before action), and because "learn to learn" needs to stay together.
True, you could be told that there are better ways to say that, BUT, it's a title, doesn't have to be a good sentence, and in this case, I think there's a of creative freedom; i think it's nice how "learn" is repeated and used in that way, and I like it.
So again, I would say you simply need to add "I" and make your sentence perfect:
"I get motivated and I learn to learn on my own."
:)
oh, i forgot to say, again, I'm not saying that it's grammatically incorrect; I just do not really know, but from looking at it the way I explained, you can see why there's an issue, why it doesn't flow smoothly.
And of course, there's definitely no grammar problems in the sentence "I get motivated and I learn to learn on my own."
And of course, there's definitely no grammar problems in the sentence "I get motivated and I learn to learn on my own."