Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
Next, saute it
English answer:
then ... finally
Added to glossary by
Rosario Liberto
May 27, 2023 09:20
1 yr ago
41 viewers *
English term
Next, saute it
Non-PRO
English
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General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
correct usage of three sequence adverbs
Hi All
I would like to know which range of sequence adverbs in general you use between ' first, next and now ' and ' first, then and now '. I've used the two examples below to make it clear what I mean :
1) First, boil rice in water until well cooked and drain it. Next, saute it and stir in with a good amount of crumbled tuna in oil for 50 seconds. Now, plate it up, add a bit of soy sauce and very thinly sliced onion and enjoy !
2) First, boil rice in water until well cooked and drain it. Then, saute it and stir in with a good amount of crumbled tuna in oil for 50 seconds. Now, plate it up, add a bit of soy sauce and very thinly sliced onion and enjoy !
I would like to know which range of sequence adverbs in general you use between ' first, next and now ' and ' first, then and now '. I've used the two examples below to make it clear what I mean :
1) First, boil rice in water until well cooked and drain it. Next, saute it and stir in with a good amount of crumbled tuna in oil for 50 seconds. Now, plate it up, add a bit of soy sauce and very thinly sliced onion and enjoy !
2) First, boil rice in water until well cooked and drain it. Then, saute it and stir in with a good amount of crumbled tuna in oil for 50 seconds. Now, plate it up, add a bit of soy sauce and very thinly sliced onion and enjoy !
Responses
4 +4 | then ... finally | Domini Lucas |
Change log
May 27, 2023 10:55: Rosario Liberto changed "Restriction (Native Lang)" from "eng" to "none" , "Restriction Fields" from "interest" to "specialty"
Responses
+4
1 hr
Selected
then ... finally
I would most likely use then as in 2) in this instance, but next can fit as well.
Not now though, but finally. See link.
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Note added at 1 hr (2023-05-27 10:45:35 GMT)
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In this instance I don't see any sense of immediacy in English. It's a set of instructions that have to be followed in sequence. As the link says, the adverbs are used to describe the order in which two or more actions happen.
See also:
https://eslspace.wordpress.com/2016/12/27/sequence-words-fir...
https://langster.org/en/grammar/english/a2/sequence-adverbs/
I'm not an Italian speaker though I understand a bit, so perhaps others will comment on the comparison with Italian usage. You might need to repost that with Italian to English though.
Not now though, but finally. See link.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2023-05-27 10:45:35 GMT)
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In this instance I don't see any sense of immediacy in English. It's a set of instructions that have to be followed in sequence. As the link says, the adverbs are used to describe the order in which two or more actions happen.
See also:
https://eslspace.wordpress.com/2016/12/27/sequence-words-fir...
https://langster.org/en/grammar/english/a2/sequence-adverbs/
I'm not an Italian speaker though I understand a bit, so perhaps others will comment on the comparison with Italian usage. You might need to repost that with Italian to English though.
Note from asker:
Thanks a lot. It seems that you don't usually use ' Now ' in the last part. So, as you suggested ' Finally ' to end the text, would you also use ' Finally ' to convey the immediacy as we Italians do with ' adesso ' or what ? |
Sorry but the link isn't working. |
Ok. Thanks again. Yes, I'll try to re-edit the question. |
Thanks a lot Tony M. So, you usually convey the immediacy I meant with ' Finally ' as well, right? |
Thanks again but on second thoughts, I have made a mistake by choosing the topic. I'm waiting for their reply. |
Why ' now ' and not ' Finally ' is used at the end here instead ? https://www.proz.com/kudoz/english/linguistics/7134517-may-will-be-ready.html?pwd=aSTh |
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Tony M
: Yes, I agree: either 'then' or 'next' works here, but 'now' would sound awkward in most cases, as it is very much 'now, as you read this' — I think that's the "immediacy" you mention, perhaps good in IT, but not so in EN.
42 mins
|
agree |
Yvonne Gallagher
: First, then/next, finally (as it's a sequence). This is basic English grammar
1 hr
|
agree |
Cauê Eduardo
3 hrs
|
agree |
AllegroTrans
1 day 3 hrs
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks a lot all of you again !"
Discussion
Your recipe link is imperative, giving instructions. And it hasn't happened yet. It equates to:
First=step 1; next/then = step 2; finally = the last/final step.
The ungrammatical bitesize link (which is for the very young so in simplified language) is referring to something that has happened between the past and present:
a) What happened first - 6 owls on the branch (meaning originally, in the past)
b) Then what happened - 2 flew away (in the past)
c) How many are there now (at this moment in the present after a) and b) have happened).
That's a rough synopsis.
Also no urgency, as I read it. Just fact.
'Now there were...' is definitely odd, and I don't think this is a good example of satisfactory style; it is also made slightly artificial by the format of the text overall. I wouldn't use this as an example of proper usage. Plus, it is not really a good example even of a sequence of events, quite different from your recipe example.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zwv39j6/articles/zxkbs...
There is no sense of 'finality' to now; in the way you are trying to use it, it effectively means the same as 'next'. I think you have got the wrong idea as to what you think it really means.
in your list of instructions, it would tend to suddenly 'fix' the sequence in a specific present time — as I said, as if it meant 'now, as you are reading this...' I don't believe this is the same sense you are trying to achieve to render 'adesso'
However, without the imperatives, one might understand a 'softer' sense of 'now', as part of a sequence, as in for example "now is the moment to adjust the seasoning if necessary to taste" — referring to a specific moment in time, but within the sequence of actions.
I think there is a confusion here re what you're trying to achieve with this sentence.
In this instance in English there is no immediacy. It is a sequence and that is how we use it. It may be that there is no direct translation equivalent between the immediacy you use in Italian in this context and the sequence we use in English.
If you are wanting to know whether you can use now for adesso when it has a sense of immediacy in other Italian contexts, I think you will need to look at that separately.
We don't use now in English in a sequence of this kind and/or written recipes.