Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
one place a block on top of another block
English answer:
I observed SOMEone place a block on top of another block
English term
DELVING into DETAIL
Native in: Russian 
Works in: English to Russian, Russian, Russian to English, and 2 more.
one place a block on top of another block
I can't really understand the fragment - please advise!
It's from Minecraft, where the whole world consists of blocks.
Yet it's not clear to me what this guy (a very intelligent builder and researcher) means.
Nov 1, 2015 22:10: acetran Created KOG entry
Non-PRO (1): Edith Kelly
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Responses
I observed SOMEone place a block on top of another block
| Aha... This kind of makes sense... I guess he is talking about a group of creatures, one of them moving those blocks... Thank you! |
| agree |
Eleanor Bridgwood (X)
: I agree, "one" refers to "one of them".
1 hr
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Thanks
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| agree |
Arabic & More
: Someone, one of the creatures, one of the boys/men, one of the girls/women, one of the (who/whatever is being referred to).
4 hrs
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Thanks
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| agree |
Armorel Young
5 hrs
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Thanks
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| agree |
B D Finch
7 hrs
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| agree |
Jean-Claude Gouin
8 hrs
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Thanks
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Brazil
Technical - Fast - good price - accurate
Native in: English (Variant: US) , Portuguese (Variant: Brazilian)
Works in: English to Portuguese, Portuguese to English, English, and 1 more.
one placeS a block on top of another block
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Note added at 4 hrs (2015-10-29 17:55:17 GMT)
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This time, I observed, one placeS a block on top of another block. Rudimentary, yes. But a sign of undeniable intelligence!
Discussion
"observe" is a verb of perception; using an infinitive will make clear that the entire action - from start to finish - was being watched by the observer.
As for the context... Well, there is a group of characters who are looking for this guy (the builder). They get to his place and hear music. And then they hear his voice. But it turns out that this is a record: he recorded his voice while he was doing his researches or something.