Some sentences in English to check

[charlie102]

Hello

English is not my native language. I'd like to ask someone whose native language is English. Please tell me if these three sentences are correct. I am not sure if I am using the structure result in correctly.

1. Tossing your laptop onto your bed could/may/might result in the laptop hang up.
2. A virus on your computer may result in your hard drive failure.
3. Going there is dangerous, it may result in your leg break.


Thx

[coldraven]

1. Tossing your laptop onto your bed could damage it.
2. A virus on your computer may result in losing your data.
3. Going there is dangerous, you might break your leg.
You are welcome! :)

[Bucky Ball]

I am not sure if I am using the structure result in correctly.

"... in correctly," is incorrect. ;) Incorrectly.


2. A virus on your computer may result in your hard drive failure.

2. A virus on your computer may result in your hard drive failure.

Or ...

2. A virus on your computer may result in your hard drive failing.

[charlie102]

@coldraven - your have changed the first sentence entirely. Taking your suggestions (result in works best with a noun at the end) into consideration I would keep the structure of the fist sentence using result in and say:

1. Tossing your laptop onto your bed could/may/might result in hang up of the laptop.
2. A virus on your computer might result in data loss.

Correct?
Thx

[halogen2]

1. Tossing your laptop onto your bed could/may/might result in hang up of the laptop.
2. A virus on your computer might result in data loss.

Correct?
(2) is correct English. (1) is close but not quite, try this -

Tossing your laptop onto your bed could/may/might result in the laptop hanging up.

That said, I don't know what it means "hang up of the laptop", so I'd suggest changing that wording.
"OS freeze" or "system lockup" maybe? Or do you mean something to do with the hardware?

[qyot27]

If you already know that the thing which is going to hang up is the laptop, you can also just refer to it the second time as 'it':

Tossing your laptop onto your bed could/may/might result in it hanging up.

(Although I would omit the 'up', since 'hanging up' is usually used for ending a telephone call, not an OS system hang).

[QIII]

Hello!

The words "can" and "may" have become interchangeable in modern spoken English and informal writing. Those are what apply on the Forums. More technically, "can" denotes possibility while "may" denotes permission.

For most uses, the two sentences below are interchangeable:

"You can break your laptop by throwing it."
"You may break your laptop by throwing it."

"Could" and "might" are past tense forms of "can" and "may", respectively.

In the usages you have described, they indicate subjunctive mood. That is, they are conditional. In that case, the following sentences would be interchangeable:


"You could break your laptop by throwing it if ..."
"You might break your laptop by throwing it i ...."

I wouldn't worry about it. In conversation and non-technical writing, all four will work and carry the same meaning.


As an interesting linguistic note: English has what must be the most convoluted and ridiculous verb form of any language: the future perfect progressive. That means that by 2018 I will have been answering questions on the Ubuntu Forums for ten years.

[lisati]

Your English is good. The important thing is that you are able to make yourself understood.

My Dad's first language was Dutch, and my mother-in-law's first language is Samoan. That can sometimes provide opportunities for interesting (confusing?) ways of communicating.



Although I would omit the 'up', since 'hanging up' is usually used for ending a telephone call, not an OS system hang.
I agree that for a computer "hang" would be better.

For me, "hanging up" refers to ending a telephone call as well. I believe that the phrase has its origin with the sort of telephone where the "receiver" (the part of the phone with the microphone) hangs from a hook on the phone when the phone is not in use.

[grahammechanical]

Going there is dangerous, it may result in your leg break.

"Going there is dangerous. It may result in you breaking your leg."

Also, note the full stop. There are two complete thoughts and so they should be separated by a full stop and not by a comma. As a form of communication spoken English is more tolerant of inaccuracies than written English. And social networking is doing a lot to make broken English an international written standard. :)

Regards.