Articles

Share on Facebook

Hela

#71594 Tue, 01 Feb 05 10:59 PM

Dear teachers,

Would you please tell me which of the following sentences are wrong ?

1) The / That book contained very little useful information.
2) People think I live in luxury but I don’t think a BMW is a luxury.
3) Call a porter, it’s too much luggage for you to carry.

4) a) The news that the local newspaper contains is shocking.
b) This news that a local newspaper contains is shocking.
c) This piece of news that a / the (?) local newspaper contains is shocking.

5) She bought a Picasso the last week of her stay in London.
6) The equipment in this laboratory is rather old.
7) Cocker Spaniel / A Cocker Spaniel (?) is one of the most popular pet dogs.
8) English is an appealing language but I don’t feel the same about the English.
9) There is a wonderful scenery in the eastern part of Turkey.

Thank you very much for your help.
Kind regards,
Hela

Hela

Joined on Mon, Nov 15 2004

Tunisia

Regular Member (831)

Regards

Mister Micawber

#71596 Tue, 01 Feb 05 11:03 PM

Only 7-9 need work and I have repaired them:

7) Cocker Spaniels are one of the most popular pet dogs.
8) English is an appealing language but I don’t feel the same about Spanish.
9) There is wonderful scenery in the eastern part of Turkey.

Mister Micawber

Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004

Yokohama

Veteran Member (21,271)

'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.'

MrPedantic

#71597 Tue, 01 Feb 05 11:05 PM

Hello Hela

Very good! Just a couple of comments:

5) She bought a Picasso the last week of her stay in London.] I would insert 'during' before 'the last week'; other people would be happy with it as it is, though.

7) The cocker spaniel is one of the most popular pet dogs.

8) English is an appealing language but I don’t feel the same about the English. ] This is fine but I just wanted to say I thought it was quite funny.

9) There is a wonderful scenery in the eastern part of Turkey. ] No 'a'.

I think that last 'Babelfish exercise' I gave you must have been a bit too difficult. So let me know if you want another one of the Trollope 'missing word' exercises!

See you later,
MrP

MrPedantic

Joined on Wed, Oct 13 2004

Veteran Member (12,053)

...opella forensis / adducit febris...

Hela

#71606 Tue, 01 Feb 05 11:30 PM

Dear Me Pedantic,

Thank you for your answers on the articles. Just one point do we need to capitalize "Cocker Spaniel" or not?

As far as the Babelfish exercise you sent me it needs a lot of concentration and for the time being I have a lot of work to do. So I may answer it at a later date if you don't mind. But please do send me more passages with blanks to fill in. I like this kind of exercises because it's all about logic, especially with tense agreements.

All the best,
Hela

Hela

Articles, Dates, Tenses

MrPedantic

#71607 Tue, 01 Feb 05 11:41 PM

Hello Hela

In BrE now, it's more usual to use lower-case for the vernacular names of plants and animals, unless part of the name is a proper name:

1. lesser celandine (flower)
2. greater spotted woodpecker (bird)
3. icterine warbler (bird)
4. African elephant (note capital A)
5. olive willow (tree)
6. golden collie (dog)
7. King Charles spaniel (dog - note capital K and C)

etc.

(You don't need to look these up – they're just examples!)

But it may be different in AmE – I've just noticed that Mister M. has also answered your question, so he may have something to say about this too.

Will knock up some Trollope for next time I'm online.

See you,
MrP

Cheery greetings, Mister M., I hope all is well.

MrPedantic

Mister Micawber

#71610 Wed, 02 Feb 05 12:07 AM

Good morning,

Nothing of significance to add. Webster's treats dog breeds as common nouns, and in general AmE, animals and plants are treated generically. We have garter snakes (of which there are dozens of species, known only to herpetologists) and robins and wrens and raccoons and black bears.

I would guess, however, that dog breeders and other specialists may capitalize. I know that it is de rigeur in birdwatching circles to capitalize the species: Great Spotted Woodpecker, in contradistinction to mere woodpeckers or even spotted woodpeckers (which include, as you know, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and Middle Spotted Woodpecker as well). Here, the Great Spotted is a fairly common resident in montane forests of northern Japan, while the Lesser Spotted is restricted to Hokkaido, and very uncommon there.

But I digress.

PS: Love the new signature, MrP.

Mister Micawber

Nouns

MrPedantic

#71613 Wed, 02 Feb 05 12:47 AM

Specialists may do the same here, now you mention it, Mister M. Newspapers often get into a terrible muddle, with lower-case this, and upper-case That.

Very few LSWs in these parts too, though well wooded; but GSWs are quite common. I don't know whether you've heard about the decline in what were once the commonest suburban birds over here: house sparrows, starlings, song thrushes. You rarely see a flock of house sparrows in a Home Counties garden now. Instead, there are increasing numbers of woodland birds: woodpeckers green and g.s., jays, magpies, etc. Theories abound. But a house sparrow sighting these days is an event in itself.

Sorry, Hela. I'm babbling.

MrP

MrPedantic

Numbers

Hela

#71618 Wed, 02 Feb 05 01:14 AM

Dear Mr Micawber,

Earlier on you wrote :"7) Cocker Spaniels are one of the most popular pet dogs."

Can we use a plural noun then add "are ONE of"?

To Mr Micawber and Mr Pedantic,

Regarding your comments about the different species of animals --and particularly birds--, at this time of the day --or should I say "night" since it's 1:30 am-- I find it a bit difficult to understand. Huh? [:^)]