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

Usage of hyphen

MaverickK — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:02:33 GMT

Hi,

Here a sentence has been broken into 4 parts.We need to identify which parts are incorrect grammatically or usage wise.

1. So once an economy is actually in recession,
2. the authorities can, in principle, move the economy
3. out of slump - assuming hypothetically
4. that they know how to - by a temporary stimuli.

I feel the first and the second part is correct.In the third and the fourth part,I feel there is an incorrect usage of the hyphen.
I just went through a discussion on this site regarding hyphen usage.Dave had put up an article from the Economist Style guide
regarding the usage of hyphen.But in that,I did not see hyphens being used as pauses in a sentence(thisis done by a comma or a semicolon).Please correct me if I am wrong.Also tell me if there is someting else wrong in any part of the sentence.

Re: Can someone check the gammar, please?

Pjlusk83 — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 23:57:43 GMT

Hello,
I am going to put my suggestions and corrections next to your words, but they will be in bold, in paraenthese, and on the right side of the word(s) so you know which word and what my suggestion is. Is that ok with you? Tell me what you think. Also, in case you did not notice, you seem to writing an article, so this needs to be kept in second or third person. I will not correct but a few tenses of first to second or third because I feel you would understand better if you studied that better yourself, and I am not an English major and am afraid of leading the wrong path, but I will do what I know without hesitation. I hope this helps you out with whatever you are doing.
Penny

sebayanpendam

Health is indisputably(eminently) important to all of us (most individual instead of "all of us" using "all of us" is considered wordy). Good health enables us(people) to carry out our(their) daily routine with a positive view of life. There are many ways we can do to keep good health(a number of ways to keep in good health).

First, we should practise(practice) good eating habits and do not overeat.(take out and do not over eat, instead write something like: First, we should practice good eating habits, such as eating in moderation/ or watching our food intake) We must drink lots of water so that we will not get exhaustion easily(here is an idea:Second, drink plenty of water to prevent dehydration and early exhaustion) Drinking water does not mean we need to drink eight glasses a day.(remove the period, add a semicolon ;) It depends on how much we need to spend our energy on things that we do. Besides, it is advisable to drink fruit and vegetable juices.(remove the period, add a semicolon ;) These juices provide essential nutrients such as vitamins and minerals. As a result, our immune systems will strengthen too(remove too) and our bodies can resist many diseases.

Another way to (suggestion: remove "Another way to" and replace with: Third,)maintain our healthy bodies is exercise regularly. Exercise is very important to keep us fit. Aside from burning off fat, exercise helps make(remove make) our blood circulation (circulate)better. (This small paragraph is completely out of place, you are jumping from eating and drinking, to exercise then back to eating and drinking. Move this paragraph under your paragraph about smoking because it fits nicely with your last sentences.)

There are things that we must avoid when it comes to food. Do not take food that have(suggestion: ...when it comes to food. Try not to ingest a lot of food that is high in...) high fat, sugar and salt content such as fried chicken, junk food, carbonated (adding the word beverages will make more sense here). Taking too (Ingesting too)much of unhealthy food can lead to diseases like(such as) heart disease and diabetes. (add this paragraph just after the final sentence of your second paragraph: As a result, our immune systems will become stronger and our bodies can resist many diseases)

(suggestion: Finally, avoid...)Avoid smoking because it contains nothing but harmful nicotine.(remove nothing but harmul nicotine, in this place put something like: because it contains over a hundred harmful chemicals) This property(habit) can destroy our lungs and even worse causes(remove the 's') cancer. Not only, smoking produces bad effects to smokers, but also harms non-smokers who are near them. (suggestion: ...cancer; smoking is also nearly as harmful to non-smokers through second hand smoke because the non-smokers catch half of the chemicals and also produce negative results to the non-smoker's body)

Healthy people can have longer lives and are more energetic (suggestion: Healthy people can live longer, more energetic lives). If we(you) really love ourselves(yourself), we should start change our eating habits and take exercise right now before it is too late. (then watch your habits for any need of change and begin living health today!) (suggestion, a quote about living healthy by anyone famous, try this google search http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUS288&q=famous+health+quotes

Thanks

Memos show Clinton turmoil

Jackson6612 — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 15:05:10 GMT

Memos show Clinton turmoil

Question: I would have written ''Clinton's turmoil''. Why didn't the author use apostrophe?

BY CRAIG GORDON AND TOM BRUNE | <email addresses removed by mod.>
August 13, 2008

Question: Why is semicolon used instead of comma to separate the email addresses above?

WASHINGTON - In a fresh postmortem (=an examination of a plan or event that failed, done to discover why it failed, =autopsy) on Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential bid (=attempt to obtain or do something), newly published staff memos (=a short official note to another person in the same company or organization) and e-mails reveal a campaign hobbled (=to hobble something or someone means to make it more difficult for them to be successful or to achieve what they want) by internal rivalries (=a situation in which two or more people, teams, or companies are competing for something), faulty planning, bloated (=more than needed, =excessive) spending - and perhaps most important, Clinton's own failure to make the hard decisions.

Clinton offered herself to voters as a hyper-competent (=extra competent) executive ready to be president from day one. But atop (=on top of something) her own campaign, she was a hesitant leader, who allowed bitter infighting (=when members of the same group or organization argue, or compete with each other in an unfriendly way) to fester (=If an argument or bad feeling festers, it continues so that feelings of hate or dissatisfaction increase) among staffers over whether to go negative against Barack Obama, according to the Atlantic magazine.

The most bare-knuckled (=characterized by disorderly action and disregard for rules) lines of attack came from Clinton's chief strategist, Mark Penn, who urged Clinton to highlight Obama's "lack of American roots" due to his upbringing in Indonesia and Hawaii - saying he could only win if he faced Attila the Hun ((?406-453 AD) a king of the Huns (=an ancient people from Asia) who attacked and took control of large parts of the Roman Empire. He is famous for being violent and cruel).

But Clinton didn't embrace Penn's flag-waving (=the expression of strong national feelings, especially when these feelings seem too extreme) approach (=way of doing something), which campaign aides (=someone whose job is to help someone who has an important job, especially a politician) insist was never seriously considered.

Question: Clinton didn't embrace Penn's approach because she did not consider it seriously. Therefore, what campaign aides were saying is redundant.

The article also says that Clinton at times grew frustrated and short-tempered - including on the morning after her stunning third-place finish in Iowa in January, when aides on a call were silent. Clinton's camp dismissed the story as "inside-the-Beltway gossip" and "old news." And former campaign aides sharply disputed the notion of Clinton as an indecisive leader, with one campaign veteran saying, "Nobody seems to want to remember the fact that we had so many successes and come-from-behind victories in this campaign ... and they are due in large part to Senator Clinton's leadership."

Question: What does the line including on the morning...when aides on a call were silent mean? If she finished third place, then why would the author describe it as stunning? What does call mean in when aides on a call were silent?

Question: What does the phrase inside-the-Beltway gossip mean?

Question: What does the line Nobody seems to want to remember...to Senator Clinton's leadership'' mean?

But the e-mails and memos offer vivid (=very clear and detailed) new details about what had long been reported - that Clinton's headquarters was beset (=to make someone experience serious problems or dangers) by caustic (=bitter) internal battles involving Penn and former President Bill Clinton, who wanted to forcefully attack Obama, and others who wanted the New York senator to take a more positive tack (=method, =way of doing something). At one point, it was Bill Clinton - and not Hillary - who approved the famed 3 a.m. phone call ad.

Question: what had long been reported is passive past perfect tense. Am I right?

Question: I think headquarters should take plural verb. What do you say?

Question: Why are the hyphens used in -and not Hillary-? I believe commas would do instead?

Adding to the turmoil was the fact that the campaign had little strategy and no money left to seriously compete in the post-Super Tuesday contests - having (=the form having with a past participle can be used to introduce a clause in which you mention an action which had already happened before another action began) burned through $106 million before Iowa. That allowed Obama to win 12 straight contests and effectively wrap up (=to finish a job, meeting etc) the nomination.

Question: What does burned through mean?

In the end, the campaign's strategy came to reflect some of the internal turmoil, as Clinton veered (=changed course) from attacking Obama to emphasizing her personal side.

Question: What does her personal side mean?

Penn did offer some advice in March 2007 that proved on the mark - Clinton's path to victory lay with women and lower- and working-class voters.

Question: What does proved on the mark mean? I couldn't find it in the dictionary.

But by the time Clinton finally settled on that strategy to win the later primaries, it was too late.

Excerpts from the memos

"All of these articles about his boyhood in Indonesia and his life in Hawaii are geared towards showing his background is diverse, multicultural and putting that in a new light ... It also exposes a very strong weakness for him - his roots to basic American values and culture are at best (=even when considered in the most positive way) limited. I cannot imagine America electing a president during a time of war who is not at his center fundamentally American in his thinking and in his values." Strategist Mark Penn, from a March 19, 2007, memo to Hillary Rodham Clinton advising her to attack Barack Obama for his "lack of American roots."

Question: What does centre mean in the above context?

"The right knows Obama is unelectable except perhaps against Attila the Hun, and a third party would come in then anyway." Penn, from the same memo.

Question: Does right refer to right wing in the above context?

"This has been a very instructive call, talking to myself." Clinton, before angrily hanging up on a staff conference call the day after coming in third in Iowa in January. "She complained of being outmaneuvered (=to gain an advantage over someone by using cleverer or more skilful plans or methods) in Iowa and being painted as the establishment candidate," according to the Atlantic - but was met with near-silence.

Question: I would have written This has been..., talking to me. Why did she use myself?

Question: What is a conference call? Is it some kind of telephone call which address many poeple?

Question: Why is in used in coming in third?

"STOP IT!! I have help my tongue for weeks. After this morning's WP story, no longer. This makes me sick. This circular firing squad that is occurring is unattractive, unprofessional, unconscionable, and unacceptable ... It must stop." Robert Barnett, a Clinton lawyer and Washington insider, from a March 6, 2008, e-mail to campaign staff after a Washington Post story detailed the infighting.

Question: What does I have help my tongue for weeks mean?

Question: What does This circular firing squad mean?

Question: Were the comments in the last paragraph made by Robert Barnett?

Could you help me to proof this essay?

Cheese1987 — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 18:28:50 GMT

Analyse the formality of the article in SCMP

It is indispensable for us to use an appropriate style when writing. There is no doubt that formal style should be practiced for newspaper as objectivity and impersonality are important. South China Morning Post is one of the most prevalent newspapers in Hong Kong. It is believed that the language style of its article is formal. There is an analysis of the formality of a newspaper article in the SCMP.

High Formality can be revealed when looking at the articleâs choice of vocabulary. Instead of using âa lot ofâ or âlots ofâ, the writer used âthe number ofâ and âmanyâ. âjustâ is also replaced by âonlyâ. However, some informal words can also be found in the article. For instance, âjobâ and âgetâ are less formal words. In order to be formal, âpositionâ and âacquireâ should be used insteadâ. Somehow it is reasonable to use these less- formal words because these words are used in the conversation. In this article, two-word verbs and words from old English are not used. Therefore, It is clearly that SCMP has high formality.

Complete sentences, complex sentences and passive constructions should be used when writing in a formal English style. In this article, every sentence is written in complete sentences. Take the second paragraph as an example. â The study results, released by Oxfam yesterday, showed about one in eight workers made less than HK$5000 a month last year.â this sentence is completed. It is also a complicated sentence because it included complementary meaning. Passive construction is used in the paragraph. Hence, high formality of the article can be seen from its sentences and constructions.

The formality can also be shown by the use of transitional words, phrases and the use of punctuation. . Some of the words such as âmoreoverâ, âwhileâ, âdue toâ, âasâ are often used in a formal article. However, only âbutâ can be found in this article. Also, no semicolons are in it. Although there is only a few âformalâ words or punctuations used in the article, the âinformalâ punctuation such as dashes and parentheses are nowhere to be found too. From this point of view, it is believed that it is a semi-formal article.

Abbreviations and short forms are informal. To write a formal article, they should be avoided. Indeed, there are no abbreviations and short forms in this article. Hence, this article should not be treated as low formality. Instead, it should be seem as semi-formal or highly formal.

In conclusion, South China Morning Post is written in a formal style to a large extent. Its high formality can be shown when looking at its choice of vocabulary, sentence, construction, transitional words, phrases and the use of punctuation. Formal style should be used in the newspaper. SCMP does it well in this aspect it is a good newspaper and worth reading.

Re: The and the

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 10:58:43 GMT

Hi,

Did you correctly use the singular verb here? Is that allowed because one person assumes the both positions?

... the chairman and managing director gives the presentation.

In your opinion, why the sentce below is valid in that 'the' can be shared eventhough the positions 'president' and 'managing director' are assumed by different people; whereas the above situation doesn't allow for a shared article? (Is this question correctly written with a semicolon??)

The presentation was given by the president and managing director.

Re: 'Stratagem' 'A stratagem'

Maple — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 10:28:51 GMT

A comma-splice is:

The mistaken effort to link two complete sentences with a form of punctuation inadequate to the task. "He had no evidence to support his argument, therefore he lost the debate to his rival" is a comma splice. The comma should be replaced by a semicolon or a period.
www.educationplanner.com/education_planner/essay_article.asp

Re: Right use of semicolon?

Believer — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 11:17:07 GMT

Thank you.

Let me rewrite my original question with proper articles:

Is this the right use of a (semi, sorry)colon or more simply, is this the right sentence?

OK, going back to the original tract, I am use to seeing semicolons being used with two independent but linked-in-content sentences, and the sentence stated in the origial post had three clauses (I think) with the second clause being connected with the conjunction "but." Do you think it is a good sentence that demonstrates a good use of a semicolon?

Generally speaking that might be fine, but I was stumped; it seemed so subjective.

Re: Some sentence questions on apostrophe use, capitalization, and quotes

Mister Micawber — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 13:49:01 GMT

1-- Capitalize; if the quotation is set off syntactically from the matrix text by a comma, semicolon, or colon, the first word is capitalized, irrespective of its status in the original text.
2-- Mormons; no apostrophe
3-- Capitalize as in #1
4-- She is saying it. BrE (I believe) would put the period outside the closing quotation marks. (And I would put a space between the single and double quotation marks, for clarity.)
5-- No capitalization. Both forms exist, but since you have prefaced the phrase with the indefinite article, it is not Paradise per se you are speaking of.
6-- You are correct. Reeses are the Reese family members as a group.
7-- It is not even remotely ambiguous with the were. Without were, the reader pauses to assess the syntax.
8-- Both her parents: parents'.
9-- He, and I would change was to were. If you don't, you might as well use him; they are equally informal
10-- Capitalize as mentioned above, and the same comment as above re the quotation marks.
11-- All three forms -- farmer's, farmers' and farmers-- seem to be popular. I would opt with you for farmers'.

Re: Punctuation within quotes?

rvw — Wed, 29 Jun 2005 00:14:57 GMT

To me, the rules regarding punctuation around quotation marks are not always logical. To 'remember' them, I extracted the following from Webster's Third New International Dictionary:

13.1 Direct quotations: "When I am dead," said one of the keenest minds, "lay a sword on my coffin."

13.2 In long quotations, left-hand marks are placed at the beginning of every paragraph, as well as at the end of the selection.

13.3 Quotation marks are usually not used when the quoted matter is set in smaller type or in paragraphs indented on both sides.

13.4 Single quotation marks enclose a quotation within a quotation. The witness said, "I heard him say, 'Don't be late'; then I heard the door close."

13.5 Quotation marks enclose titles of short poems, paintings, lectures, articles, and parts or chapters of books. (Titles of whole books, periodicals, and newspapers are usually italicized in context.)

13.5.1 In American usage printers usually place a period or comma inside closing quotation marks whether it belongs logically to the quoted matter or to the whole sentence or context.... But when a logical or exact distinction is desired in specialized work in which clarity is more important than usual (as in this dictionary), a period or comma can be placed outside quotation marks when it belongs not in the quoted matter but to a larger unit containing the quoted matter. The package is labeled "Handle with Care".

13.5.2 Only one other mark accompanies closing quotation marks, whether the quotation and the whole sentence or context call for the same mark or for different marks. We shouted, "Where do you think you're going?" Why did you bellow, "Get out of here!"

13.5.3 A colon or semicolon is usually placed outside of quotation marks. "Fame is proof that people are gullible"; with this quotation, he retired in silence.

13.5.4 A colon or semicolon is sometimes placed inside the quotation marks when it belongs inseparably to the quotation. However, a terminal colon or semicolon of quoted matter incorporated in a sentence usually gives place to appropriate end punctuation. "Sirs:" is a salutation....

13.5.5 A question mark or exclamation point is usually placed inside or outside the quotation marks according to whether it belongs to the quoted matter or to the whole sentence or clause that includes the quotation. Can you forget his angry exit after he shouted "Include me out"? "And what do you think of this new novel?" his friend asked.

13.6 Quotation marks, often single quotation marks, sometimes enclose technical terms unfamiliar to the reader; words used in an unusual sense; and coined word, trade or shop jargon, or slang for which the writer implies a slight apology. An "em" is a unit of measure used in printing. He is "goofy" according to their lingo. 'Strangeness' is a property of elementary particles.

Re: Subtelty

Mister Micawber — Sat, 04 Jun 2005 14:20:57 GMT

Why do you accept the period as a punctuation mark but ignore the comma, semicolon and colon?-- they have very important functions too, and this piece is in dire need of a few of them.

There is no reason to capitalize 'ever'. There is no reason to separate 'extinguish' and 'forever' into two lines-- it just wastes paper. 'Universal' does not begin with a vowel sound, so the article should be 'a'.

'These places' is unimaginably vague-- can't you give us ANY idea of what and where they are?