question for our multilingual friends:

[kinuta]

English basically but there are many times when I think in Japanese. I spent two hours at the hospital this morning and didn't think in English once, I guess I've long passed the stage of translating stuff in my head as I go along, 30 odd years has that effect.

In answer to King U, I'd say ' Please do it exactly as we did last time'.

Edited February 13, 2013 by kinuta

[BillF]

Glad you recommended exactly as I did!

English basically but there are many times when I think in Japanese. I spent two hours at the hospital this morning and didn't think in English once, I guess I've long passed the stage of translating stuff in my head as I go along, 30 odd years has that effect.

In answer to King U, I'd say ' Please do it exactly as we did last time'.

Glad you recommended exactly as I did!

[king ubu]

But I still wonder if "how" is flat out wrong and if there's an explanation why it is wrong?

[BillF]

But I still wonder if "how" is flat out wrong and if there's an explanation why it is wrong?

I don't think "how" is flat out wrong. It would sound OK if you were emphasising the manner or method of doing something, so that "how" = "in the same way as".

[king ubu]

Okay, that's almost what I was afraid of

English is a darn difficult language if you want to do it justice ... alas it's also the most commonly mis-treated and abused language in these times. But I guess the same would have applied to French in previous decades.

(edited for typo)

Edited February 13, 2013 by king ubu

[Big Beat Steve]

English is a darn difficult language if you want to do it justice ... alas it's also the most commonly mis-treated and abused language in these times. But I guess the same would have applied to French in previous decades.

I wouldn't say so:

1) You've got an AWFUL LOT of leeway in what would be "acceptable" in English one way or another. Or so it seems to me anyway. I work with the English language day in, day out, and quite often I have a hunch this or that phrase or wording that crosses my mind just doesn't sound right to me (that "how" thing above on the face of it would have sounded a bit too "German", i.e. translated verbatim, to me too, BTW, and I'd have opted for one of the two other versions as well). But after googling I've often found these "suspicious" phrases actually are in frequent use, and not even primarily on shoddily written blogs or forums or awkwardly translated sites only but on relatively "respectable" genuine English-language sites).

2) The problem with French as used by native speakers in writing does not look like a problem of "past decades" to me. I'd say written French is mistreated and abused TERRIBLY these days by an awful lot of "native speakers" (and writers). The ability of writing that language correctly as a "native speaker" seems to be going down, down and yet further down all the time. O.K,, many English native speakers seem to be incapable of differentiating between "principle" and "principal" (and the like, for example), but among the French? Ugh ... sometimes it's really garish what you read on forums, etc. This problem is getting pretty bad these days with German too and you have a feeling many schools spawn a generation of semi-illiterates as far as their writing skills go, but French seems to be even harder hit. Small wonder ... I've been told by friends in France that from a certain level in school the teachers aren't even supposed to correct any of the faults of their pupils anymore in their written tests (and of course are not to downgrade them for their faults either).

Edited February 14, 2013 by Big Beat Steve

[.:.impossible]

digging up this topic ... not sure it fits here, but as my dear friend Niko once said:

... we prefer it when people dig out threads from several years ago which are vaguely related to post their inquiries! it helps us keep the information together

So:

"Please do it exactly [as/like/how] we did it last time."

Why is "how" wrong? Or is it okay, too?

They all work for me.

Please do it exactly the way we did it last time.

[ejp626]

I'm fairly sure how is not correct, but I'm not sure I can give a precise reason, only some examples. You have two linked clauses, and sometimes if you reverse the order you can spot the problem.

You can imagine saying "We did it last time like this"

You might even say "We did it last time as such and such" (a bit snooty).

But you would never say "We did it last time how you wanted it." (Well, I wouldn't say this. It sounds very ignorant.) How just shouldn't be used to link a subordinate clause in this way.

[king ubu]

Okay, thanks Eric - makes sense to me!

Steve, I was mainly saying that no one cares nowadays how French is being used and/or abused (sorry, brownie!) ... I wasn't saying it's not being mistreated, just that it's irrelevant, as everyone speaks and writes English these days. I've got a job where it's common to write and speak English ... and sometimes I really have a hard time not splurting out laughing at what I hear day in, day out. This is not that different from the mix of Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Albanian etc. that you hear on construction sites. It's not proper language, it's more like a pidgin, and it does very often hurt my ears.

[Serioza]

there was british captain managing his crew with russian curses......

[Christiern]

I sometimes find myself thinking in regional Bulgarian, and it drives me crazy, because I don't understand a word of it.