ESL General English Grammar Questions

Re: With which

J Lewis — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 08:50:39 GMT

As Sextus says, it's specialised language. Also in Italian the word problematica exists, but Italians have the bad habit of using it to mean problem (problema) simply because it's longer and sounds more impressive.

Re: With which

Grammarian-bot — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 07:58:47 GMT

Marius Hancu wrote:

Buy a better dictionary

Well, I was reffering to sextus' idea of googling problematic and I said that that's what my search results are. The top search results were adjectives.

Re: With which

Sextus — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 04:24:44 GMT

That's another proof that "problematic" may be used as a noun. I must admit that it is not very common and that most natives don't know that it may be used that way. However, it is thus employed in papers on epistemology and skepticism that are published in international journals of philosophy.

Cheers

P.S.: it seems to be the same as what happens in Spanish. The term "problemática" is the feminin form of the adjective, but may be used as a noun.

Re: With which

Marius Hancu — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 03:51:28 GMT

Grammarian-bot wrote:
Well guys, according to my search results, problematic is an adjective.

1. Wiktionary http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/problematic

2. World Web Online http://www.wordwebonline.com/en/PROBLEMATIC

Buy a better dictionary

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prob·lem·at·ic

Function:noun
Inflected Form(s):-s

Etymology:problematic, adjective

: something that is problematic : a problematic aspect or concern <problematics of womanhood, of men and women together -- Stephen Koch>

http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com
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Re: With which

Grammarian-bot — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 03:44:38 GMT

Well guys, according to my search results, problematic is an adjective.

1. Wiktionary http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/problematic

2. World Web Online http://www.wordwebonline.com/en/PROBLEMATIC

Re: With which

Anonymous — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 03:36:16 GMT

Sextus wrote:

Regarding the "missing noun", "problematic" has been used as a noun, as I said. If you google it, you'll find the expressions "Pyrrhonian problematic" and "skeptical problematic".

Well, when I found problematic as an adjective in Wiktionary.

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/problematic

GB.

Re: With which

Marius Hancu — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 01:46:27 GMT

Grammar Geek wrote:
I think that the "never end a sentence with a preposition" has been pretty well killed off. In my own opinion, "with which they deal" sounds artificial. I would use your first example. missing a noun remains.)

Same here.

Re: With which

Sextus — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 23:12:37 GMT

Thanks, GG. Yes, it sounded artificial to me, too. That's why I asked.

Regarding the "missing noun", "problematic" has been used as a noun, as I said. If you google it, you'll find the expressions "Pyrrhonian problematic" and "skeptical problematic".

Cheers

Re: With which

Grammar Geek — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 23:06:57 GMT

I think that the "never end a sentence with a preposition" has been pretty well killed off. In my own opinion, "with which they deal" sounds artificial. I would use your first example.

(Although the point about missing a noun remains.)

Re: With which

Tanit — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 22:32:42 GMT

Interesting, thank you.

Re: With which

Sextus — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 22:23:57 GMT

I've seen it used as a noun in, e.g., the expression "the Pyrrhonian problematic".

Re: With which

Tanit — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 22:08:55 GMT

Isn't problematic an adjective? Did you mean problem?

With which

Sextus — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 22:02:57 GMT

"They are not aware of the skeptical origin of the problematic they deal with."

"They are not aware of the skeptical origin of the problematic with which they deal."

In formal writing, is it better to use the second phrasing?

Thanks