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I've encountered a problem :)



 
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ESL Forum | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
The use of "Quote ... Unquote" | Did my use to present perfect in this part right?
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I've encountered a problem :) Thu Aug 31, 2006 21:16 pm  I've encountered a problem :)
 

Hi

This site is actually a nest of patterns… I observe with smile that after some time of using it the vast majority Smile of us, regular 'students', started to use quite similar language
and 'forum’s patterns'.

One of them is 'I came across ... ' – and you can see how often it occurs in 'introductions' for questions being asked by regular members.

But it doesn’t matter.Smile

My true question is: can I say "I came across (some) problems" ? Smile Smile
How does it sound?

(My usual way is "encountered problems", but 'come across' and 'encounter' are quite close in meaning, aren’t they? )
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Tamara
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I've encountered a problem :) Thu Aug 31, 2006 21:31 pm  I've encountered a problem :)
 

Hi Tamara

My personal feeling for "come across" tells me I wouldn't use it quite so directly with the word "problem". But, that same feeling tells me I might "come across something that presents a problem". Cool

Amy
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I've encountered a problem :) Thu Aug 31, 2006 22:00 pm  I've encountered a problem :)
 

So you feeling says that in this case they are not synonyms
(And [you feel that] come across requires a bit more 'material' things to encounter than encounter does Smile)

Thank you, Amy.
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Tamara
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I've encountered a problem :) Thu Aug 31, 2006 22:38 pm  I've encountered a problem :)
 

Hi Tamara Very Happy

"Encounter a problem" sounds far more typical to me and therefore my feeling whispered in my ear that it's a better word partnership. Laughing

"Encounter" and "come across" are synonymous. And if you google "come across a problem" you will get over 60,000 results. (bnc returned only one result) What I gave you was my personal reaction to that particular collocation.

Interestingly, the majority of results on the first two Google pages seem to have come from "Techies". I wonder if I should read anything into that. Laughing

Amy
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I've encountered a problem :) Fri Sep 01, 2006 8:11 am  I've encountered a problem :)
 

Hi Amy

Can I ask you one more question?

Do you normally use Perfect forms with to come across?
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Tamara
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Joined: 25 May 2006
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Location: UK

I've encountered a problem :) Fri Sep 01, 2006 8:35 am  I've encountered a problem :)
 

Hi Tamara

I'm not quite sure I understand what you're getting at. Question

I'd have no problem using a perfect form if the context calls for a perfect form. I don't think I can estimate how often I use "come across" in which tense, though.

Amy
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I've encountered a problem :) Fri Sep 01, 2006 8:38 am  I've encountered a problem :)
 

Thank you, Amy.

(I directly meant 'I had/have come across...' and 'I never had/have come across'.
No any hidden reefs in the question Smile Wink )
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Tamara
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Joined: 25 May 2006
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I've encountered a problem :) Fri Sep 01, 2006 8:44 am  I've encountered a problem :)
 

Hi Tamara

Word order: had/have never come across Wink

Obviously, present perfect would be more often used than past perfect by any native speaker.

Amy
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Joined: 16 Apr 2006
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