- Joined
- Oct 14, 2010
- Member Type
- English Teacher
- Native Language
- British English
- Home Country
- Czech Republic
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- Czech Republic
Yes, ted. However that particularl headline struck me as odd, so I wondered whether others had a similar feeling.It's usually "swap old for new"
Apart from me, one native speaker though that initially,and one thought it was possible., I'm still surprised that anyone would think they've replaced cabbage with lettuce.
I would have taken it to mean that they were using cabbage and were forced to change it to lettuce. That's the problem with using "swap ... for". Using "replace ... with" is never ambiguous.Apart from me, one native speaker though that initially,and one thought it was possible.
Hello, emsr2d2. I see your sentence using "would have", from what I have learnt, when you see "would have" in a sentence it means that the action didn't actually happen, because something else didn't happen first. - If I had received the money, I would have given it to you. (Meaning: I didn't receive the money, so I didn't give it to you.)I would have taken it to mean that they were using cabbage and were forced to change it to lettuce. That's the problem with using "swap ... for". Using "replace ... with" is never ambiguous.
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