ESL General English Grammar Questions

Re: article sentence analyses

Clive — Thu, 15 May 2008 12:25:21 GMT

Hi,

From the article:

"We leave issues like spiritual discipline in the hands of the churches, so there's less of a need (or you could say 'less need') for us to handle these issues," Calvin spokesman Phil de Haan said.

I was more concerned whether or not I could use 'more a need' or 'less a need'? Are these possible?

Why do they have to be 'more need' or 'less need'? Here, need is being used as an uncountable noun.

Yes, I will accept these as set phrases: 'less of a need' and 'more of a need'; but how about these -- 'more a need' and 'less a need'? Are they good? Yes, but not in the above context. You'd need to say something like 'Sex is more a need than a choice'.

Best wishes again, Clive

Best wishes, Clive

Re: article sentence analyses

Anonymous — Thu, 15 May 2008 09:51:15 GMT

Thank you for your help.

As to no 4, I was more concerned whether or not I could use 'more a need' or 'less a need'? Are these possible? Why do they have to be 'more need' or 'less need'?

Yes, I will accept these as set phrases: 'less of a need' and 'more of a need'; but how about these -- 'more a need' and 'less a need'? Are they good?

Re: article sentence analyses

Clive — Thu, 15 May 2008 03:15:36 GMT

Hi,

I was reading the May 14, 2008 (May (Web-only) article of the ChristianityToday magazine titled "Double Divorce" by Sarah Pulliam and have the following questions.

A paragraph from the article:

Wheaton's Community Covenant requires the upholding of "the sanctity of marriage between a man and woman." The college employee handbook states that the college will consider retaining a divorcing employee "when there is reasonable evidence that the circumstances that led to the final dissolution of the marriage related to desertion or adultery on the part of the other partner."

Recopy of the above paragraph:

Wheaton's Community Covenant requires the upholding of 1)"the sanctity of marriage between a man and woman." The college employee handbook states that the college will consider retaining a divorcing employee 2)"when there is reasonable evidence that the circumstances that led to the final dissolution of the marriage related to desertion or adultery on the part of the other partner."

1. No 1 seems to be just a lifting of words for a highlighting purpose. I think I have asked in the past about this but didn't seem to have gotten clear answers. Does a lifting of words or phrases or clauses for a sole purpose of emphasis or an illustration allowed? No quoting of anybody's words but a writer's desire to hightlight the words or phrases or clauses.

I don't fully understand your question. If you are asking if it is OK to quote words from another source, the answer is that it usually is. Often, the source should be acknowledged. This particular phrase is very commonly used by people who support this aspect of marriage.

2. No. 2. seems to be a partial lifting or quoting from a source, in this case, it seems to be the college employee handbook. I think the writer could have quoted more but have decided to put quotation marks on that portion only for his purpose. Correct? Yes.

3. Do you need to italicize what looks to be names of an online magazine, student newspaper and blog in writing? No, you don't have to use italics. It's just a matter of choosing a suitable style and using it consistently. Various style guides offer different ways to do this. Colleges often give new students instructions on which style to use. I would say that, before the advent of personal computers, italics weremuch more uncommonly used for this purpose.

I think I have the name of a newpaper not italicized in writing. Partial sentences from the article:

..., Gramm told Christinity Today in an e-mail

Wheaton's student newspaper, The Record, found ...

..., Alan Jacobs, wrote in a First Things blog post that ...

4. I have trouble with the phrases like "less of something" or "more of something" or "less a thing" or "more a thing" -- when do we put "of" there and when not?? I' say the simplest approach is just to think of these as standard, set phrases. You can say 'less of a need' or 'less need', 'more of a need' or 'more need'.

From the article:

"We leave issues like spiritual discipline in the hands of the churches, so there's less of a need for us to handle these issues," Calvin spokesman Phil de Haan said.

Best wishes, Clive

article sentence analyses

Anonymous — Thu, 15 May 2008 02:46:50 GMT

Hi,

I was reading the May 14, 2008 (May (Web-only) article of the ChristianityToday magazine titled "Double Divorce" by Sarah Pulliam and have the following questions.

A paragraph from the article:

Recopy of the above paragraph:

3. Do you need to italicize what looks to be names of an online magazine, student newspaper and blog in writing? I think I have the name of a newpaper not italicized in writing. Partial sentences from the article:

..., Gramm told Christinity Today in an e-mail

Wheaton's student newspaper, The Record, found ...

..., Alan Jacobs, wrote in a First Things blog post that ...

4. I have trouble with the phrases like "less of something" or "more of something" or "less a thing" or "more a thing" -- when do we put "of" there and when not??

From the article:

"We leave issues like spiritual discipline in the hands of the churches, so there's less of a need for us to handle these issues," Calvin spokesman Phil de Haan said.