492 Matching Annotations
  1. Nov 2021
    1. In one particularly ingenious entry, she explains the demise of the full stop (or, in American English, the “period”). If you have ever wondered why putting such once-crucial punctation in emails, phone messages or tweets now feels so awkward, here is the answer: “The period can feel so emphatic as to sound sarcastic, the internet’s version of ‘puh-leeze’ and ‘no, thank you’ and ‘srsly’ rolled into one tiny dot.” It can easily come across as passive-aggressive. Exclamation marks, moreover, “now convey warmth and sincerity”; failing to use them runs the risk of making the person you are messaging feel uncertain and anxious.
  2. Oct 2021
  3. Sep 2021
    1. In 2014, the Usage Panel overwhelmingly preferred the traditional pronunciation for asterisk, although 24 percent found the asterix pronunciation acceptable and 19 percent found asterick acceptable. A mere 7 percent personally preferred the asterix pronunciation, and only 6 percent preferred the asterick one.
    1. Let's look at a concrete example before going deeper. Consider someone who calls himself Cookie Monster. Saying that he is a cookie monster conveys the idea that there is a group of entities that are each called cookie monster, and he is one of them. Saying that he is the cookie monster conveys either that the 'group' of entities really has only one member (him), or that he is the most outstanding member of the group. In each case, the focus is on some kind of classification scheme. Saying that he is cookie monster says something about him personally - he really enjoys cookies, eat them messily, etc.
    2. In the first example, Doctor is being used as the name of the person; the doctor is more of a descriptive phrase. It's short for Doctor <his name>. tend bar is a set phrase, it's a synonym for being a bartender. It's also similar to the way other people describe their work: a mailman could say I deliver mail, a programmer would say I write code, a garbageman would say I collect garbage, and a composer would say I write music. These are all using the noun to refer to the general concept, rather than any specific item, so no article is needed. You would add an article when you need to be specific, e.g. I write the music in TV commercials. ShareShare a link to this answer (Includes your user id)Copy linkCC BY-SA 3.0 Edit Follow Follow this answer to receive notifications answered Apr 15 '15 at 21:18 BarmarBarmar 15.2k11 gold badge2525 silver badges4242 bronze badges 13 3 Your examples suggest bar is a mass noun, but I don't believe it functions as such— the entire phrase refers to an activity. It's more like saying I play ball than I write music. – choster Apr 15 '15 at 21:25 @choster There are varying degrees of cohesiveness in these verb + noun strings. They're very hard to categorise accurately. – Edwin Ashworth Jan 20 '18 at 0:40 @EdwinAshworth True. My last example would be perfectly fine if it were I write music in TV commercials and a mailman could say I deliver the mail. – Barmar Jan 20 '18 at 0:42 And we've had the 'He's in hospital / *'He's in infirmary' / 'He's in theatre' / *'He's in ward' kerfuffle. – Edwin Ashworth Jan 20 '18 at 0:57 @EdwinAshworth Those are also AmEn vs BrEn differences. We don't say "in hospital" here in America. – Barmar Jan 20 '18 at 1:00
  4. Aug 2021
  5. Jul 2021
    1. En dashes, which are about the width of an upper-case N, are often mistaken for hyphens. But, traditionally, en dashes function as a kind of super hyphen. They’re meant to give you a little extra glue when you have a compound modifier that includes a multi-word element that can’t easily be hyphenated. For example, the phrase Elvis Presley–style dance moves uses an en dash because Elvis-Presley-style dance moves is awkward; “Elvis Presley” isn’t a compound modifier, so hyphenating it looks odd. But, keep in mind, not all readers will notice en dashes or understand what they mean. Sometimes, it’s better to simply reword the phrase. Elvis Presley–style dance moves or: dance moves like Elvis Presley’s pre–World War II buildings or: buildings constructed before World War II En dashes are also used to show ranges of numbers, such as times, page numbers, or scores (I’ll schedule you from 4:30–5:00). But, outside of formal printed publications, this type of en dash is commonly replaced with a simple hyphen.
  6. Apr 2021
  7. Mar 2021
    1. BASIC GRAMMAR

      Xále (boy) bi (the) Wolof (wolof). The boy is Wolof.

      Jigéen (woman) ji (the) déf (be) féébar (sick). The woman is sick.

      Xále (noun) bi (article) Wolof (noun). The boy is Wolof.

      Jigéen (noun) ji (article) déf (verb) féébar (adjective). The woman is sick.

      Xále bi (subject) Wolof (object). The boy is Wolof.

      Jigéen ji (subject) déf (verb) féébar (object). The woman is sick.

  8. Feb 2021
  9. Dec 2020
  10. Nov 2020
    1. Keep sentences small. They’re easier to work with that way.If something doesn’t feel right, there’s a problem with one or more of your sentences. Listen to that feeling. Try to pinpoint exactly which word or phrase is triggering it. Naming exactly what’s wrong, in grammatical terminology or otherwise, will come later.Understanding a word’s etymology will teach you how to use it. Words contain imprints of their histories.The subject of a sentence should appear as close to the beginning of a sentence as possible.You don’t have to “grab” anyone with the first line of your story. Just write a simple sentence that says what you want it to say. It’s harder than it sounds! And also very effective, if done well.“A writer’s real work is the endless winnowing of sentences, the relentless exploration of possibilities, the effort, over and over again, to see in what you started out to say the possibility of saying something you didn’t know you could.”Noun phrases (“the realization that…”) almost always sound clunky and dead. Try rewriting them as verb phrases (“realizing that…”).Prepositions are difficult to get right, even for native English speakers.A reader’s experience has nothing to do with a writer’s. A sentence that reads “naturally” or “conversationally” to a reader may have been painstakingly assembled by a stressed-out writer who wishes they could sound more natural or conversational.

      How to write more effectively:

      • Keep sentences small. They’re easier to work with that way.

      • If something doesn’t feel right, there’s a problem with one or more of your sentences. Listen to that feeling. Try to pinpoint exactly which word or phrase is triggering it. Naming exactly what’s wrong, in grammatical terminology or otherwise, will come later.

      • Understanding a word’s etymology will teach you how to use it. Words contain imprints of their histories.

      • The subject of a sentence should appear as close to the beginning of a sentence as possible.

      • You don’t have to “grab” anyone with the first line of your story. Just write a simple sentence that says what you want it to say. It’s harder than it sounds! And also very effective, if done well.

      • “A writer’s real work is the endless winnowing of sentences, the relentless exploration of possibilities, the effort, over and over again, to see in what you started out to say the possibility of saying something you didn’t know you could.”

      • Noun phrases (“the realization that…”) almost always sound clunky and dead. Try rewriting them as verb phrases (“realizing that…”).

      • Prepositions are difficult to get right, even for native English speakers.

      • A reader’s experience has nothing to do with a writer’s. A sentence that reads “naturally” or “conversationally” to a reader may have been painstakingly assembled by a stressed-out writer who wishes they could sound more natural or conversational.

  11. Oct 2020
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  19. Dec 2019
  20. Nov 2019
  21. May 2019
    1. I still firmly believe that copy editors need only enough grammar to get them through the demands of their particular manuscripts; being a grammarian is entirely beside the point. Or to put it another way, grammar is part of what you do as a copy editor, but only a part. That said, it’s fun to know about the subjunctive, so I’ll concede that particular pleasure.

      Copyediting vs grammar knowledge. Or, and grammar knowledge.

  22. Feb 2019
    1. Chinese, says Bacon, is written "in Character� Real, which express neither letters nor words ... but things or notions;

      This notion of Chinese language is one that carries into the 20th century and has pretty far influence; Ernest Fenollosa's notes on Chinese characters and translations of Chinese poetry hugely influenced Ezra Pound and (by extension) 20th C poetry at large.

      In terms of this class, Chinese characters pose an interesting alternative to the subject-object grammar of English.

  23. Jan 2019
    1. The name Vatican city was first used in the Lateran Treaty, signed on 11 February 1929, which established the modern city-state. The name is taken from Vatican Hill, the geographic location of the state. "Vatican" is derived from the name of an Etruscan settlement, Vatica or Vaticum meaning garden, located in the general area the Romans called vaticanus ager, "Vatican territory".

      Named after "the" hill...

  24. Dec 2018
    1. The specter of upcoming departure influenced behavior in a way that removed one from reality — academics in Lyon mattered less at home, new friends would return to their countries of origin and communication would lapse, and why invest for comfort when somewhere so briefly?

      This sentence is 44 words!!!

  25. Oct 2018
  26. Sep 2018
    1. Him

      This use of the dative through me momentarily. With "Scyld gewat," it sounds like the archaic "Scyld betook himself," but it's not a direct object (because not an accusative) as a reflexive would be. I take it as a dative of interest: instead of saying a place where Scyld departed from or for, the construction indicates that Scyld departed himself—separated from life, or died.

    2. god

      Because Old English scribes did not distinguish between "God" and "good," this usage may give modern readers pause: we may look for a noun to go with "god" thinking that it is the adjective "good." But it really is the noun "God."

    3. Gardena

      The relationship of the two genitives is unclear: did "we learn of the might of the Spear-Danes, of the people-kings," as two separate things: the deeds of some people-kings (who may have been all Danes, or note) and the deeds of Danes? Or did "we learn of the might of the people-kings OF the Spear-Danes," which is narrower? The poem leaves the choice to the reader.

    4. gefrunon

      The grammar here is a little confusing: "gefrunon," "we learned," or "we heard," has two different kinds of objects. The first is a simple direct object: "we heard the might." The second is a clause "we heard how the nobles did courageous deeds."

    5. sceaþena þreatum, monegum mægþum

      The two consecutive datives make the sentence ambiguous. They could be in apposition: Scyld may be taking mead benches from "troops of enemies, many peoples." However, he could just as easily taking mead benches "by troops of enemes from many peoples." R.D. Fulk, Robert E. Bjork, and John D. Niles note both possibilities in their note to 4–5, Klaeber's Beowulf and the Fight at Finnsburh, 4th ed. (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2008), in their Commentary, page 111.

  27. Aug 2018
  28. edu522.networkedlearningcollaborative.com edu522.networkedlearningcollaborative.com
  29. Jul 2018
  30. Jun 2018
  31. Mar 2018
    1. For English, telling the difference between instantaneous and continuative verbs is easy, because we seldom, if ever, use “be +ing” form for the former. For Japanese, however, the situation is complicated, as ていますcan be used with both kinds of verb.

      There is no way to tell the continuity of a verb by simply looking at it. One must understand the concept before knowing the full meaning when paired with ています.

  32. Jan 2018
  33. Dec 2017
    1. according to which being watched by others while performing a task causes physiological arousal, which increases an organism’s tendency to make the dominant response.

      You could revise it to say: He then constructed his drive theory, "where being watched by others while performing a task causes a physiological arousal, thus increasing the organism's tendency to make the dominant response."

  34. Oct 2017
    1. The FORM-CLASS words (sometimes called open or lexical words) contribute content-meaningto the text and comprise the central subject matter in dictionaries.Whereas STRUCTURE-CLASS words (sometimes called closed, grammatical, or function words) contributegrammatical-structural meaning to the text. That is, they signal the relationships betweenwords in a sentence and function to make a text cohesive. They work rather like mortarto connect the bricks of the form-class words to each other.

      The Form-Class words and the Structure-Class words

    2. We certainly don't follow the Latin-based, old-fashioned advice that forbids splittingan infinitive verb 'to boldly go' or, ending a sentence with a preposition (‘I have nobodyto go with’). These rules were based on the fact that allLatin infinitives are expressed as one word. Also, that Latin prepositions are always placedbefore the noun, so can never appear at the end of a Latin sentenc

      Latin based rules that don't apply to English now. 1- Don't split infinitives 2- Don't end a sentence with a preposition

      There are more

    3. There are lots of other rules such as not starting a sentence with ‘and’, or ‘but’,or ‘because’ that you might remember from school, but these are what some grammarianscall ‘bogus’ or ‘zombie’ rules.

      Bogus/Zombie rules like:

      Don't start sentences with and, but or because

    1. presents a more specific model of scientific research in psychology. The researcher (who more often than not is really a small group of researchers) formulates a research question, conducts a study designed to answer the question, analyzes the resulting data, draws conclusions about the answer to the question, and publishes the results so that they become part of the research literature. Because the research literature is one of the primary sources of new research questions, this process can be thought of as a cycle. New research leads to new questions, which lead to new research, and so on. Figure 1.1 also indicates that research questions can originate outside of this cycle either with informal observations or with practical problems that need to be solved. But even in these cases, the researcher would start by checking the research literature to see if the question had already been answered and to refine it based on what previous research had already found.

      This paragraph can be written better. Some sections of it are run on sentences, and maybe needs some decluttering? For example, "who more often than not.." and changed into, who are a small group of researchers, most of the time.

    1. This led to the hypothesis that people high in hypochondriasis would recall negative health-related words more accurately than people low in hypochondriasis but recall non-health-related words about the same as people low in hypochondriasis.

      Run on sentence. Period or comma would help break it up and make it easier to understand, try "This led to the hypothesis that people high in hypochondriasis would recall negative health-related words more accurately than people low in hypochondriasis, but would recall non-health-related words about the same as people low in hypochondriasis.

    1. But, we all know that is an estimate that sometimes be off.

      You can either say "But, we all know that is an estimate that CAN sometimes be off" or you can say "But, we all know that is an estimate that IS sometimes off".

    2. As a general rule, studies are higher in external validity when the participants and the situation studied are similar to those that the researchers want to generalize to and participants encounter everyday, often described as mundane realism.

      Correction "everyday" should be changed to "every day". "Everyday" is only used when it's an adjective.

    3. But how? Some clues come from data gathered at the end of the study, which showed that students who expected their rats to learn quickly felt more positively about their animals and reported behaving toward them in a more friendly manner (e.g., handling them more).

      Correction "more friendly" could be better phrased as "friendlier"

    1. An university instructor measures the time it takes her students to finish an exam by looking through the stack of exams at the end.

      Correction "An university instructor" should be switched to "A University instructor".

  35. Aug 2017
    1. We applied these guidelines for the definition of RASH. We restricted HTML, which does not use the aforementioned patterns in a systematic way, allowing the creation of arbitrary and, sometimes, quite ambiguous structures by selecting a good subset of elements expressive enough to capture the typical components of a scholarly article while being also well-designed, easy to reuse and robust.

      --> HTML does not use the aforementioned patterns in a systematic way, as it allows the creation of arbitrary and, sometimes, quite ambiguous structures.

      To apply the structural pattern guidelines for RASH, we restricted HTML by selecting a good subset of elements expressive enough to capture the typical components of a scholarly article while being also well-designed, easy to reuse and robust.

  36. Jul 2017
    1. Unit 2. Por and Para Prepositions All Students of Spanish discover quickly that the prepositions por and para are a force with which to be reckoned. At first, we discover that the both mean "for"; however, under colser inspection, we find out that each has several other meanings; some are shared by both, and others are unique to each one.

      Important information about por/ para

  37. Jun 2017
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  40. Mar 2017
    1. But they don’t just share stories: They also share their specific, concrete strategies they used to build their businesses beyond even what they imagined

      Rephrase to say: But they don’t just share stories, they also share their specific, concrete strategies used to build their businesses beyond their imagination.

  41. Feb 2017
  42. Jan 2017
  43. Nov 2016
    1. Among other things above just using the RASH grammar only, this script adds relatively sophisticated checking of the datatype microsyntaxes of attribute values.

      Simplify setence: This script also checks datatype microsyntaxes.

    2. It is worth noticing that, excepting three properties from schema.org for defining author's metadata (see Section 2 of the RASH documentation for additional details), RASH does not constrain any particular vocabulary for introducing RDF statements

      Rephrase: It is worth noticing that RASH does not constrain any particular vocabulary for introducing RDF statements, except three properties from schema.org for defining author's metadata (see Section 2 of the RASH documentation for additional details),

    3. A different discourse can be done for the pattern popup, which is used for any structure that, while still not allowing text content inside itself, is nonetheless found in elements with a mixed content context [+t+s], and it is meant to represent complex substructures that interrupt but do not break the main flow of the text,

      I'm afraid I didn't understand these sentences well - could they be rephrased or shortened?

    4. Formulas have been taken in particular consideration, since different ways are possible so as to implement them

      Rephrase to avoid "possible so as" and use active language. "We have taken particular considerations to formulas, since there are different ways to implement them"

  44. Sep 2016