I am ashamed of his/him talking like that

hirashin

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8 Apr 2004

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• 23 Nov 2018

• #1

Dear native English speakers,
do all the sentences below sound right? And if so, do each pair have almost the same meaning?

1a) I woke up to find myself alone in the room.
1b) I woke up and found myself alone in the room.

2a) I am ashamed of his/him talking like that.
2b) I am ashamed that he talks like that.

3a) She is used to talking in public.
3b) She is used to speaking in public.

4a) I decided to take the computer class.
4b) I decided on taking the computer class.

Hirashin

 

mdchachi

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• 23 Nov 2018

• #2

Looks good to me.

 

hirashin

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• #3

Thanks for the help, mdchachi.

 

M

Michael2

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• 24 Nov 2018

• #4

Yes, pretty good, although I would say the difference in 2a and b is that "a" would be referring to a specific occasion and "b" would mean in general, and 3a is a little strange as "talking" sounds like just chatting to friends, whereas "speaking" sounds like giving a speech or suchlike in front of lots of people, which is what makes people nervous, not having a general chat.

 

hirashin

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• 24 Nov 2018

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• #5

Thanks for the help, Michael2.

Michael2 said:

Yes, pretty good, although I would say the difference in 2a and b is that "a" would be referring to a specific occasion and "b" would mean in general,

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Is the sentence (2c) closer to (2a) in meaning?
(2c) I am ashamed that he talked like that.

 

M

Michael2

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• 25 Nov 2018

• #6

Yes, 2c would be closer in meaning to 2a, although looking at 2a more closely I think it could be interpreted both as referring to an event in the past, or a set of regular, present actions. 2C would definitely be referring to an event in the past however.

 

hirashin

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Thanks for the further help, Michael2.

Michael2 said:

Yes, 2c would be closer in meaning to 2a, although looking at 2a more closely I think it could be interpreted both as referring to an event in the past, or a set of regular, present actions. 2C would definitely be referring to an event in the past however.

Click to expand...

Sorry. I'm not sure what you mean. Do you mean that 2a can also mean 2b?

 

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Michael2

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• 25 Nov 2018

• #8

Yes, that's right Hirashin.

 

hirashin

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• #9

Thanks, Michael2.

 

J

johnnyG

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• 26 Nov 2018

• #10

hirashin said:

2a) I am ashamed of his/him talking like that.

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"Him" is correct there, as the object of the preposition. (You'll probably hear "his" in informal speaking.)