Use / any more

Use / any more
Message de ccbern posté le 08-05-2016 à 12:55:43 (S | E | F)
Hi everybody,
Could you help me, please.
Yesterday night I read this sentence on a web site newspaper: "she's not the beautiful girl she used to be any more".
I wonder if "any more" shouldn't be placed just after "not" rather than at the end of the sentence. It sounds more correct, doesn't it? And above all, clearer.
Thank you very much for your kind answers.

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Modifié par lucile83 le 08-05-2016 14:07

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Réponse: Use / any more de lucile83, postée le 08-05-2016 à 14:20:54 (S | E)
Hello,
she's not the beautiful girl she used to be any more is correct.
Any more is related to 'she's not the beautiful girl she used to be', not only 'she's not the beautiful girl'.
If you place 'any more' after 'not' the sentence will sound awkward. However you could say:
she's no more/no longer the beautiful girl she used to be.

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Réponse: Use / any more de ccbern, postée le 08-05-2016 à 14:55:42 (S | E)
Thank you for your quick answer, but I think the real meaning of the sentence was : she's no more the beautiful girl she used to be. At least it's what I understood, when reading it.
Best regards.

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Réponse: Use / any more de lucile83, postée le 08-05-2016 à 16:05:57 (S | E)
Hello,
Yes it is, and it was obvious you knew the meaning. You didn't ask about that, did you? You asked about the place of 'any more'.
I said also that 'she's no more/no longer the beautiful girl she used to be.' would be more commonly used.

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Réponse: Use / any more de ccbern, postée le 08-05-2016 à 16:23:17 (S | E)
Sure, I didn't ask about the meaning, because for me it was obvious in spite of the curious form it was written. The second one is much better and clearer.
Thanks a lot.
Best regards.

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Réponse: Use / any more de cynthia84, postée le 08-05-2016 à 17:47:17 (S | E)
Hello!
No more to add.
The sentence is correct!
Bye bye!

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Réponse: Use / any more de gerondif, postée le 10-05-2016 à 11:34:48 (S | E)
Hello,
Any more has more punch when placed at the end of the sentence, as if the narrator somehow regretted it or admitted it.
She's not the beautiful girl she used to be any more.(The voice falling down at the end of the sentence helps the listener rest on those two final words)
She's not any more the beautiful girl she used to be would indeed be clumsy and fall flat somehow.

she's no more/no longer the beautiful girl she used to be. are of course correct but there is less emphasis on regret, it is more matter-of-fact.

"I don't love you any more" has much more punch that "I no longer love you" which sounds more like an intellectual analysis .
Any more at the end of a sentence acts both as a destructor of the verb and as a highlighted time limit.

Talking about common patterns, it seems to me that we say either "last night " or "yesterday evening" for "hier soir".

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Réponse: Use / any more de ccbern, postée le 19-05-2016 à 11:38:25 (S | E)
Hi Gerondif,
I was on travel travelling those last days, so I've just known read your answer.
As usual your indications are very clear and I learn a lot when reading them. Thank you very much for your contribution.
Best regards,
ccbern

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Modifié par lucile83 le 19-05-2016 13:49

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Réponse: Use / any more de gerondif, postée le 19-05-2016 à 12:36:18 (S | E)
Hello,
to know being a state verb sounds strange with "I've just"
I've just read / seen /become acquainted with / had a look at/ been informed of / your answer, action verbs, would sound better.

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Réponse: Use / any more de ccbern, postée le 19-05-2016 à 13:15:43 (S | E)
Thank you Gerondif for this good correction. I'll remember it when I will have to use this expression.
Yours truly,
ccbern

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Modifié par lucile83 le 19-05-2016 14:03
Read gerondif's post just below, please! ...

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Réponse: Use / any more de gerondif, postée le 19-05-2016 à 14:02:41 (S | E)
Hello,
"It's not your day",ccbern!
I'll remember it when I will have to use this expression.
No future after when when it is a time clause:
You will come and I will tell you the secret becomes: I will tell you the secret when you come. In English, they picture themselves in the future with the first sentence and so the time complement is seen as happening simultaneously.

"I will help you when I have finished" obeys the same rule.

Now, if when is a question in indirect speech, then you are free to use any tense you like:
When will you come ? Tell me when you will come, tell me what time your plane will land.
When did he come ? Tell me when he came. etc...

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Réponse: Use / any more de ccbern, postée le 19-05-2016 à 16:03:36 (S | E)
Thank you, Gerondif, for this last lesson about when and the time we have to use. It was a very silly mistake, because I knew it. But I see it's not sufficient to know, I have to practise it again and again to keep it in mind (let me know: in mind or in my mind? I'm not sure.).
Best regards,
ccbern

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Réponse: Use / any more de lucile83, postée le 19-05-2016 à 16:27:24 (S | E)
Hello,
Please...keep this in mind ...no future in a time clause except in reported speech.

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Réponse: Use / any more de ccbern, postée le 19-05-2016 à 17:28:31 (S | E)
Thank you Lucile83,
Sure, now I'll keep this in mind for when I have to use it again.
Yours truly,
ccbern

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Réponse: Use / any more de gerondif, postée le 19-05-2016 à 17:47:45 (S | E)
Hélas, ccbern, ce n'est vraiment pas votre jour car:
this annonce ce qui va suivre, donc chez Lucile:
keep this in mind:no future in a time clause except in reported speech.
That reprend ce qui précède, donc, chez vous:
Sure, now I'll keep that in mind for when I have to use it again.

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Réponse: Use / any more de lucile83, postée le 19-05-2016 à 18:44:03 (S | E)
Pauvre ccbern, je pense qu'il va bientôt nous réclamer de l'aspirine ! mais c'est comme ça aussi qu'on apprend bien

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