4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Final rendering: After arriving in England I will make use of the opportunity to improve my English Discussion: Please see http://homepage.mac.com/moogoonghwa/tsongkit/part2/II-10-g.html#8 for further discussion. Acknowledgement: I am giving credit to wherestip for his very useful examples. They make an excellent contribution to the Tsong Kit website, and will help learners the world over. With regard to the others: Zhuoqi: Although the expressions "brush up", "polish up", "shine up", etc. do have the meaning that you say, they can also imply that one has neglected what is being brushed, polished, or shined. This is not a connotation that should probably be included. chinesetrans: Looking for patterns and rules in language, although a Chomsky-like activity, is an activity shared by linguists the world over. It is what has made the second language industry and artificial intelligence what they are. I agree that it is an activity filled with many shortcoming, but unless you are brought up in a bilingual environment, it is nearly only the way to begin learning a second language, unless you have very patient friends who are very concerned about your acquiring their language. xuhuanyu: I am not sure whose is worse: my written Cantonese or your written English. One does not "get something well done" unless it is an overcooked piece of meat. One "gets things done well". Maybe we can learn from one another. My thanks to NKWong for his confirmatory support. My best wishes from the land of no mountains surrounded by sea on many sides. "