Maybe or may not be

1 2 3

Share on Facebook

Rotter

#512407 Sun, 11 May 08 12:46 PM

Kan du svenska också?

Rotter

Joined on Sun, Jul 24 2005

Japan

Full Member (655)

Я люблю российских девочек.

Cool Breeze

#512476 Sun, 11 May 08 04:07 PM

Rotter
Kan du svenska också?

Bara om jag måste! Smile

Cool Breeze

Joined on Fri, Apr 7 2006

Helsinki, Finland

Advanced Member (2,440)

The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.- Mark Twain

Huevos

#512485 Sun, 11 May 08 04:21 PM

Cool Breeze
Both are fine. I'm not familiar with computer jargon but I would add an article: ... to install the Microsoft Windows 2008 server.

I'm not sure of the rule here but seat-of-the-pants says you are wrong. Microsoft Windows 2008 server is a name so doesn't have an article. Here's an example: The directorship of the company was vacant so the shareholders tried in vain to install Mr Smith. Maybe it's apples for oranges, seams pretty similar to me though, but putting an article in that sentence is is clearly wrong.

Huevos

Joined on Tue, Mar 25 2008

Spain

Regular Member (143)

British Native

Articles

Anonymous

#512572 Sun, 11 May 08 10:15 PM

Rotter again here.

Cool Breeze

Jag pratar svenska bra men jag skriver dåligt. Jag skriver engelska hela tiden.

Huevos made some interesting comments.

I hope Cool Breeze will read what he has written sooner or later.

Anonymous

Rotter

#512746 Mon, 12 May 08 12:33 PM

To say 'seat of the pants' sounds bit strange. Is it in AmE?

I hope Cool Breeze will read Huevos comments.

Rotter

Cool Breeze

#512794 Mon, 12 May 08 02:03 PM

Hi Rotter

I don't care too much whether an article is used or not. Clearly, though, Huevos is a layman as far as grammar is concerned. Microsoft Windows 2008 Server would indeed be a proper noun if server were capitalized. In the original sentence lower case is used. Names and proper nouns are normally capitalized. If Microsoft Windows 2008 Server is the name of a program, zero article is normal. If it is a physical object, I would use an article but as I said I am not a computer expert and I'm not familiar with computer jargon.

So, I'm not arguing with anyone, just putting a stream of consciousness ~~on paper~~... Headbang in this post.

Cheers

Cool Breeze

Articles, Grammar, Nouns

Grammar Geek

#512868 Mon, 12 May 08 05:41 PM

I don't believe that "seat of the pants" is American. It means doing things based on how it feels and not be following a specific set of rules or a list of actions. It refers back to the early days of aviation, when the pilot could literally feel how the airplane was responding and make corrections accordingly.

Grammar Geek

Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006

Pennsylvania, USA

Forum Guru (14,497)

Barbara, who answers in American English.

Kooyeen

#512894 Mon, 12 May 08 06:56 PM

Don't put an adverb between a verb and its object, or it'll sound odd. I don't see infinitives as objects in this case, so it's ok to put something else between the infinitive and the main verb in sentences like "I tried (...) to install blah blah".
I think objects are nouns and gerunds:
I eat apples.
I like your car.
I like swimming.
Examples: I like apples so much. I really like swimming. I eat apples every day - NOT: I eat always apples. I like very much your car. etc.

As for Winzzoz, I'd say I tried in vain to install Microsoft Windows Server 2008 - "in vain" is ok there, "server" is capitalized, and I put 2008 at the end. Smile