Search results for 'tag:Articles tag:Adverbs' matching tags 'Articles' and 'Adverbs'

Re: gerund or verbal noun with an article?

Crokey — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 08:30:03 GMT

hi cb, its me again!
how do you feel about possessives before a gerund? "John's singing bothered me". You are constantly told that the possessive should be used before a gerund(unless you are saying something weird and you wish to emphasise the subject of the gerund). However, "John's loud singing bothered me", well "loud" is an adjectival attribute modifying singing, and you will never get an adverb to fit in there. "the correct speaking of the english language is important", "correctly speaking english is important". So, is it fair to say that if you can modify the -ing form with an adjecitval attribute, then it is a verbal noun and not a gerund? "john's singing the national anthem bothered me" "john's loud singing OF the national anthem bothered me", I could hardly have changed the nature of the word "singing" from a gerund in the first instance, to a verbal noun in the second, merely by adding an adjective. Furthermore, if in the first case, "singing" is indeed a verbal noun, should it written as "john's singing of the national anthem" , otherwise, without the preposition "of", singing would be taking the object "the national anthem".

have a nice day!

Basic ESL Grammar

angel_tristan0409 — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 09:58:19 GMT

A word is a âpart of speechâ only when it is used in a sentence. The function the word serves in a sentence is what makes it whatever part of speech it is.

For example, the word ârunâ can be used as more than one part of speech:â¨
Sammy hit a home run. (run is a noun, direct object of hit)â¨
You mustnât run near the swimming pool. (run is a verb, part of the verb phrase must (not) run)

Here is a simple overview of the English parts of speech and what they do. Each part of speech is linked to an DWT article that tells more about it.

NOUN - Nouns are naming words. We canât talk about anything until we have given it a name.

PRONOUN - A pronoun is a word that stands for a noun.

VERBS - The verb is the motor that runs the sentence. A verb enables us to say something about a noun.

ADJECTIVE - An adjective is a word that describes a noun.

ADVERB - An adverb adds meaning to a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

PREPOSITION - a preposition is a word that comes in front of a noun or a pronoun and shows a connection be

Re: What does "essentially" modify?

Avangi — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:11:36 GMT

Infinik
I'm still puzzled by essentially in (a). (a) is quoted from TRIPS Article 27, Paragraph 3(b). If "essentially" were to modify "biological", I still need to figure out what "essentially biological processes" means, both legally and scientifically.

I have another view on (a). The word "essentially" is used because it emphasizes what is not included as non-biological processes. As you've said, it can be dropped without harm. But, just wondering, it could have lawful meaning attached, just like "substantially", which is a legalese in patent specs interpretation.

I understand what you want, but the legal meaning would be moot, because it's not grammatical. Essentially, substantially, extremely etc. are adverbs and would modify the adjective, biological. What kind of processes may be exempted?? Biological processes! How biological are they?? They're extremely biological; they're substantially biological; they're essentially biological.

Okay. I concede you have a point. It could mean these processes are mostly biological. I guess I agree with you. (I couldn't see it that way last night.) In other words the exempted processes must be mainly biological, and the non-biological aspects/components must be non-essential.

"Essential biological processes" would have an entirely different meaning. That is, only those biological processes which are essential, vs. only those processes which are essentially biological.

I'm glad you pressed me on this. I guess I owe MM an apology. - A.

Re: Poet's license?

Cool Breeze — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 17:19:16 GMT

Ant_222
In these sentences:
1. From the East to the West I love you the best.
2. You're the girl that I love best.
What' the reason for (not) modifying "girl" be the definite article?

I'm not sure I understand your question. The is needed before girl because of the restrictive relative clause, which implies that there is only one such girl. The could be omitted before best in the first sentence because the best is an adverb, not an adjective. Nor is the needed before East and West because they are opposites.

Re: Please correct my essay thanks my friends!!

26TMNTJG2PG — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:28:04 GMT

Dipsik
Could you please explain to me why you didnÂ´t correct the indefinite article before the word kids (second paragraph, first line)?

You are right the 'a' before 'kids' should not be there. I missed out. Thank you. The original poster, please note.

Dipsik
I would also write seriously, instead of the word "serious" you used (the latter is only used in informal English - at least as far as I know...)

The part in question is

"The streets practically were practically flooded but not serious enough to cause a total flooding or some any tragedy" and you have a point here as 'seriously' will be another adverb modifying the verb 'were flooded' but I used the adjective there to be illiptical for 'the floods were not serious enough' to be natural.

Re: Alternately vs. Alternatively

Mr Wordy — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:38:02 GMT

Cool Breeze
Then I checked Webster's and according to it "alternate" can mean the same as "alternative":

Different people have different opinions on this, so you pays your money and you takes your choice I guess. Here are a few (randomly Googled) definitions that agree with my position:

San Diego State University Style Guide (http://bfa.sdsu.edu/editorial/section2.htm):

"Alternately" means one after the other, in time or space. "Alternatively" means one instead of the other.

"250 Often Confused Words" (http://www.alphadictionary.com/articles/confused_words.html):

Alternately means "taking turns": We paddled alternately so neither of us would get too tired.
Alternatively means "as an option": Instead of going by train, we could have gone alternatively by car.

"Easily Confused or Misused Words" (http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0200807.html):

Alternately is an adverb that means in turn; one after the other: âWe alternately spun the wheel in the game.â Alternatively is an adverb that means on the other hand; one or the other: âYou can choose a large bookcase or, alternatively, you can buy two small ones.â

modifying an adjective

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 04:19:56 GMT

Hi,

It is known to me that only adverb can modify an adjective but I have been modifying weather words/terms/adjectives?? like "sunny" with words like "sizzling" and "boiling". Do you call them an adverb like "very"?? I have used the word/adjective "bright" to modify "sunny". Is that wrong? I think we can use it in a pre-adjective position like this, "the bright, sunny weather" but it seems wrong to write "The weather is bright sunny" in a predicate position. Only an adverb can modify an adjective? I htink an article can modify it too.

Re: SUPERATIVE?

Avangi — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:37:24 GMT

Anonymous
Thank you Why one has an article and one doesn't?

The most erroneous concepts

These/They are most/very erroneous concepts.

Is the word 'most' here is not a superlative? When is it an adjective and when is it a superlative?

He is the most handsome man I have ever met.

First, let me call your attention to CB's correction. "Very" is an adverb, not an adjective, and it probably always was. "Most" is an adjective when it modifies a noun (Most people can swim.), but in the two quite different usages we've been talking about here, it's an adverb.

1. This is a most beautiful rose. ("most beautiful" = "very beautiful", singular rose, indefinite article)
     These are most beautiful roses. ("most beautiful" = "very beautiful,"  plural roses, no article)
     These are some most beautiful roses. ("most beautiful" = "very beautiful," plural roses, optional indefinite article)

2. This is the most beautiful rose in the garden. ("most beautiful" = superlative, singular rose,  definite article)
     These are two of the most beautiful roses in the garden. ("most beautiful" = superlative, plural roses, definite article)

Please note that your examples, This is a most erroneous concept, and These are most erroneous concepts are of the first type, and are not superlatives. You could say, These are some most erroneous concepts. The "some" is optional.

Best wishes, - A.

Re: use of "in particular"

Avangi — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:06:38 GMT

I'd recommend repeating the "of" - and in particular, of children in the City..... Even better, in my opinion, would be to repeat "the safety of" - (and in particular, the safety of children in the city...)

To my ear, you could avoid repeating it by switching to the adverb - the safety of citizens, particularly the children in the City....

I like "children" with the article, but think "citizens" is fine without it.

Best wishes, - A.

CASE?

Anonymous — Fri, 23 May 2008 01:55:05 GMT

Hi,

In the book named "Longman English Grammar" by L. G. Alexander in the section 8 named "Prepositions, Adverb particles, and Phrasal verbs," I saw this sentence. What does 'case' mean to you?

English uses more prepositions than most other European languages, partly because 'case' [>1.1] is no longer expressed by noun endings.

Also, what does 'adverb particle' mean?