Search results for 'tag:Constructions tag:Literature' matching tags 'Constructions' and 'Literature'

Re: Him killed I!

Huevos — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 19:32:13 GMT

Anonymous
Is that correct? it seems wrong

It's not wrong. Normally in English sentences are ordered "Subject (S), Verb (V), Indirect Object (IO), Direct Object (DO)" but can run OSV, and, where pronouns are used in substitution of either the subject or object (e.g. your sentence) there are no word order constraints so OVS is possible. That said, such a construction is pretty unusual and almost certainly would be limited to use in literature for effect.

Could someone check this letter please.

poet — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 20:18:25 GMT

Hi all,

Can someone check and correct this letter please. In order to get a more usual construction in English.

Thanks in advance,

poet.

I would like to use this letter as an opportunity to share with you my music tastes as well as my readings. Perhaps you are not very familiar with the French music scene. You may or may not have already heard about our French icon Serge Gainsbourg. Best known for his most legendary provocative erotic-pop song â Je t'aime... moi non plusâ (I love you... nor do I) that would achieve great international success in 1969. Certain people say that he was a poet to French song as Bob Dylan is to American song, even though both are quite different artistically, then again...â Histoire de Melody Nelsonâ, originally released in 1971, is now considered by many of his British and Francophone admirers to be his finest work. Certainly with the combination of its sublime orchestral arrangements and musical richness. This concept album is a warm tribute to Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita that relates a passionate and tragic affair between a middle-aged man and a 15 years old red-headed young girl. Serge Gainsbourg also has well explored later another musical genre. The Mellow reggae mood would actually be for him at that moment the perfect harmony for his talking voice and the subtle but sophisticated sensuality of his poetry. Thus, he traveled to Jamaica in 1979 and recorded in Kingston, with Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare â the greatest reggae rhythm section â, one of his most mesmerizing and memorable work. He offers us there a fresh but controversial interpretation of the French national anthem âLa Marseillaiseâ, renamed for the occasion âAux Armes et CÃ¦teraâ, which inspired the eponymous title of this album.

To finish off with French music, let me tell you more about Noir DÃ©sir. It is to them that i owe my fervent and sincere passion for The Gun Club for years. Jeffrey clearly has had a massive influence on them, especially on the lead singer Bertrand, who greatly admires him. I am referring of course, to the man that Jeffrey was and not only the musician. They met a couple of times in the South of France and they hit it off. When Bertrand learnt the sudden passing of Jeffrey, he composed straightaway a memorial song â just him playing his acoustic guitar and singing â simply called âSong for JLPâ. This powerful song is the sound of an intense rolling wave of emotion deeply felt after the loss of a significant soul. This probably remains one of the most profoundly moving eulogies dedicated to Jeffrey to date.

Your brother also was an avid reader, and I'm sure that you have great interest in literature too. Therefore, I'm so glad to introduce you to Antonin Artaud. At a starting point, you should know that others authors, except for a very few audacious writers, are quite insipid, and they easily fall short in comparison with Antonin Artaud's outstanding writing talents. He was a french poet, essayist, actor, playwright, visionary and even so, a marginal figure in his lifetime. His name is closely connected with a major revolt against lack of authenticity in language and in the act of writing itself. He suffered, among others, from neuralgia due to meningitis after-effects which gave him a nervous temperament. Artaud then experienced lifelong addiction to opiates to relieve that pain and the increasing additional symptoms caused by that illness. That disease is originally behind the duality of his relentless inner struggle between the physical pain he endured his whole life through and his creativity that he compared to a fundamental alienation from his emotions. His obsessive goal was to change the traditional Western theater from an entertaining and commercial orientation performance to a true communion between actors and audience. He also made a journey to Mexico in search of forgotten civilizations to study primitive societies and their occult practices from which he cultivated a serious interest in, for the purpose of exploring the mystical side to his personality. From that time, and since his return voyage, Artaud became increasingly odd and his extreme behaviour inevitably led him to captivity in various mental hospitals for nine years. Psychiatrists would try in vain to remove his poetic nature by subjecting him electroshock treatments causing many states of coma. Yet, his work would be, at that time, even greater than ever before. Antonin Artaud died shortly after his release of cancer, due to acts of ill-treatment against him throughout his confinement. Well, i tried here to share a lot of my deepest feelings with you in such a way so as to being open and showing my inner self to you verbally, just as these presents i give you which are heartfelt ways to invite you to come into my world. I hope you will enjoy them with a great pleasure.

Re: Am I right?

CalifJim — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 06:16:20 GMT

wholegrain
from what reference book you learned that "but" has no meaning in the given context

Personally, I learned it from observation, not from a reference book. I am a native speaker, and I have read quite a few books over the years, and so I don't need to consult a reference book to understand the meaning or usage of this formulation any more than I need a reference book to understand hundreds of others.

I'm sorry, but I don't have a reference book to recommend that might contain information about this construction. It would have to be something of a historical nature, because this pattern so rarely occurs in modern English that the most of the more recent books probably don't even discuss it.

Later edit:

Take a look at Curme's English Grammar of 1925. There you will find a little discussion of but, but that, and but what as less common and older substitutes for that in contexts such as those we have been discussing. Note that nearly a hundred years ago (1925) a grammarian was already saying that these substitutes for that were falling into disuse. Here is one of his examples:

"It could not be doubted that (or now less commonly but, but that, or but what) his life would be aimed at."

And another: "I do not doubt, or Who doubts that, or now less commonly but, or but that, or but what, he will win."

_____

It appears to me that some of the typical historical uses of but that are those which occur after the negation or interrogation of the verbs doubt or deny or wonder.

Note also that neither Curme, nor any others I know of, say that but means only or merely or except or anything else in these patterns. but that is treated as a single unit -- a compound conjunction. You certainly don't find patterns like the following in the literature: I don't doubt [only / merely] that he will win. If you did, it would support the claim that but means only or merely. But I think it will be hard to find examples like that.

Not one but ...

wholegrain — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:00:14 GMT

Herman Melville - The Confidence Man

http://www.online-literature.com/melville/confidence-man/10

"You would not hint that the colored cravats would be so bungling as to lose, and the dark cravats so dextrous as to cheat? Sour imaginations, my dear sir. Dismiss them. To little purpose have you read the Ode you have there. Years and experience, I trust, have not sophisticated you. A fresh and liberal construction would teach us to regard those four playersindeed, this whole cabin-full of players--as playing at games in which every player plays fair, and not a player but shall win."

Does it mean

Not only one person but all but...

Is it a negation when he says "not a player" instead of all players?

What are you dragging him in...

wholegrain — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 04:51:31 GMT

HERMAN MELVILLE - THE CONFIDENCE MAN

http://www.online-literature.com/melville/confidence-man/9

"Let the unfortunate man be his own brother. What are you dragging him in for all the time? One would think you didn't care to register any transfers, or dispose of any stock--mind running on something else. I say I will invest."

What does he mean by "What are you dragging him in"?

If you look upon google such construction, we notice that it is a very rare construction. I personally have no idea.

Very difficult question (QUOTATION)

wholegrain — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 00:56:52 GMT

FULL EXTRACT:

Meditation over kindness received seemed to have softened him something, too, it may be, beyond what might, perhaps, have been looked for from one whose unwonted self-respect in the hour of need, and in the act of being aided, might have appeared to some not wholly unlike pride out of place; and pride, in any place, is seldom very feeling. But the truth, perhaps, is, that those who are least touched with that vice, besides being not unsusceptible to goodness, are sometimes the ones whom a ruling sense of propriety makes appear cold, if not thankless, under a favor. For, at such a time, to be full of warm, earnest words, and heart-felt protestations, is to create a scene; and well-bred people dislike few things more than that; which would seem to look as if the world did not relish earnestness; but, not so; because the world, being earnest itself, likes an earnest scene, and an earnest man, very well, but only in their place--the stage. See what sad work they make of it, who, ignorant of this, flame out in Irish enthusiasm and with Irish sincerity, to a benefactor, who, if a man of sense and respectability, as well as kindliness, can but be more or less annoyed by it; and, if of a nervously fastidious nature, as some are, may be led to think almost as much less favorably of the beneficiary paining him by his gratitude, as if he had been guilty of its contrary, instead only of an indiscretion. But, beneficiaries who know better, though they may feel as much, if not more, neither inflict such pain, nor are inclined to run any risk of so doing. And these, being wise, are the majority. By which one sees how inconsiderate those persons are, who, from the absence of its officious manifestations in the world, complain that there is not much gratitude extant; when the truth is, that there is as much of it as there is of modesty; but, both being for the most part votarists of the shade, for the most part keep out of sight.

http://www.online-literature.com/melville/confidence-man/5/

THE CONFIDENCE MAN - HERMAN MELVILLE
==

I don't understand the construction of this extract:

See what sad work they make of it, who, ignorant of this, flame out in Irish enthusiasm and with Irish sincerity, to a benefactor, who, if a man of sense and respectability, as well as kindliness, can but be more or less annoyed by it; and, if of a nervously fastidious nature, as some are, may be led to think almost as much less favorably of the beneficiary paining him by his gratitude, as if he had been guilty of its contrary, instead only of an indiscretion.

Does the author mean "If they see what sad work(...)"

Also can you say "(...) to a benefactor, who, if a man(...)

instead of "(...) to a benefactor, the benefactor if he was a man(...)

Are these two constructions are equivalents, "who" standing for benefactor, even if it sounds awkward?

but all horses aint virtuous, no more than all men kind

wholegrain — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 20:12:22 GMT

"Never you mind how it is"--with a sneer; "but all horses aint virtuous, no more than all men kind; and come close to, and much dealt with, some things are catching. When you find me a virtuous jockey, I will find you a benevolent wise man."

http://www.online-literature.com/melville/confidence-man/3/

I don't understand the construction: "but all horses aint virtuous, no more than all men kind" I think it means "all horses aren't virtuous, neither are all men.", but it is as if he was saying "all horses aren't virtuous as much as aren't all men" which I never came across before; although it kinda makes sense, but I am not sure whether my impression of it is right. Can you rephrase it or something?

unusual formulation...

wholegrain — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 03:19:42 GMT

"No doubt" ~~with a grin~~"some such pitiless man as has lost his piety in much the same way that the jockey loses his honesty."

http://www.online-literature.com/melville/confidence-man/3/

I don't understand this passage or should I say this construction, especially what "as" is doing here... I am not a native speaker can you help me understand?

Re: gerund or verbal noun

CalifJim — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 20:25:23 GMT

All of your examples are gerunds if we stick to modern terminology.

Forget about the terminology verbal noun. It's total garbage!

It has many different definitions, depending on the author and when the grammar book was written.
_____________

The modern definition is given at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verbal_noun

A verbal noun is a noun formed directly as an inflexion of a verb or a verb stem, sharing at least in part its constructions. This term is applied especially to gerunds, and sometimes also to [bare] infinitives and supines [i.e., full infinitives].

That is, there are three types of verbal noun: gerunds, bare infinitives, and full infinitives.

So anything that is a gerund is also a verbal noun, because a gerund is one of the types of verbal nouns.
____________

The modern definition is echoed at

http://www.ielanguages.com/english.html

Gerunds: [Like participles,] Gerunds are also formed by adding -ing to the verb, but they function as a verbal noun [as opposed to the participle, which is a verbal adjective] and are normally preceded by articles or demonstratives. The singing was excellent.
___________

A completely different definition is found here:

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-VERBALNOUN.html

VERBAL NOUN. A category of noncountable abstract noun derived from a verb, in English by adding the suffix -ing. Like the verb from which it derives, it refers to an action or state: writing in The writing has taken too long; hearing in His hearing is defective. Verbal nouns are frequently combined with the preposition of and a noun phrase that corresponds to the subject or object in a clause: The grumbling of his neighbours met with no response (compare His neighbours grumbled); His acting of Hamlet won our admiration (compare He acted Hamlet). Verbal nouns contrast with deverbal nouns, that is, other kinds of nouns derived from verbs, such as attempt, destruction, and including nouns ending in -ing that do not have verbal force: building in The building was empty. They also contrast with the gerund, which also ends in -ing, but is syntactically a verb.

Note the last (underlined) sentence. By this definition only usages like The neighbors were acting like fools are considered gerunds -- not all the other examples that preceded -- examples that we would all agree are gerunds in current terminology.
_____________

The next definition is more than 100 years old, and I've seen it quoted on this site. Note that it is classified (see the URL) under "Classic Literature". It is useful only as a historic document -- not as a guide to modern English and modern syntactic analysis.

http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/wmbaskervill/bl-wmbaskervill-grammar-parts-nouns.htm

An English Grammar

1896

by W. M. Baskervill & J. W. Sewell

273. It [the gerund] differs from the participle in being always used as a noun: it never belongs to or limits a noun.

It differs from the verbal noun in having the property of governing a noun (which the verbal noun has not) and of expressing action (the verbal noun merely names an action, Sec. II).

[Sec. II. is actually Sec. 11, where nouns are discussed. The discussion of verbal nouns is within a category called Abstract Nouns, so in Section 11 verbal nouns are called by their more specific name: Verbal Abstract Nouns.]

II. The VERBAL ABSTRACT NOUNS Originate in verbs, as their name implies. They may beâ

(1) Of the same form as the simple verb. The verb, by altering its function, is used as a noun; as in the expressions, "a long run" "a bold move," "a brisk walk "
[These are called deverbal nouns in modern terminology -- or 'zero-related nominals' or just 'nouns'.]

(2) Derived from verbs by changing the ending or adding a suffix: motion from move, speech from speak, theft from thieve, action from act, service from serve.
[These,too, are called deverbal nouns nowadays -- or just 'nouns'.]

(3) Derived from verbs by adding -ing to the simple verb. It must be remembered that these words are free from any verbal function They cannot govern a word, and they cannot express action, but are merely names of actions. They are only the husks of verbs, and are to be rigidly distinguished from gerunds (Secs. 272, 273). [These are nouns that end in -ing. They have acquired fixed meanings as nouns, referring to something more concrete than the action of the underlying verb.]

To avoid difficulty, study carefully these examples:

The best thoughts and sayings of the Greeks; the moon caused fearful forebodings; in the beginning of his life; he spread his blessings over the land; the great Puritan awakening; our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting; a wedding or a festival; the rude drawings of the book; masterpieces of the Socratic reasoning; the teachings of the High Spirit; those opinions and feelings; there is time for such reasonings; the well-being of her subjects; her longing for their favor; feelings which their original meaning will by no means justify; the main bearings of this matter.
______________

It is debatable whether anything whatsoever is to be gained in the study of modern English by resurrecting these older definitions.

CJ

Help needed!!!

Pradi — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 11:33:39 GMT

Kindly Help me in modifying with the errors in the following sentences

Instructions:

Please complete the exercises given below.
Then rename the file by adding â_your full nameâ.

e.g., Editing Test_TeenaGunt

Use the âTrack changesâ option. This will indicate any insertion or deletion made within the document in a different color.
To put this option on:

Click on âToolsâ on the main toolbar.
Select âTrack Changesâ in the drop down menu.

Â§ Save the document with the âtrack changesâ on.

Please make a note of the time taken to complete each exercise.
The objective of this exercise should be to have an output that
reflects a high standard of English while retaining the original meaning.
You may use a dictionary and/or thesaurus.

Exercise 1:

Instructions

The following is a list of sentences from documents to be published in international academic journals. Edit each sentence by correcting all errors (grammatical, typographical, etc.) and awkward constructions and modifying all informal/colloquial expressions.

1. Another example is that, when Japanese prepositions are compared with other languages, it can help students deepen their knowledge of Japanese grammer.

2. The age-related labor-force rate of women in Philippines demonstrates an M-shaped curve. This is because many married women exit their jobs following marriage and re-enter the workforce when some years are passed.

3. In the end of Fiscal Year 2004, Canadian life insurers held 32 million dollars of domestic stock, while this figure stood at a mere 20 million dollars in the end of fiscal year 2003.

4. This paper comprises of three main parts: first, we provide the findings of our study; second we describe the proposed method and third; we list results achieved though this method.

5. These observations suggest that chemical shift of the atom incorporated into the phosphole skeleton is not due to an inductive effect but a conjugated effect of the phosphole moiety.

6. Doubtlessly, students were noticed to get higher scores after following the learning pattern recommended.

7. We are hard to define the complex relation between modernity in the capitalist society and Modernism in culture only from the view of English literature because of nature of popularization.

8. If Product X was first introduced in 1995, then Product Y is believed to have been manufactured before Product X.

9. The Chinese-Indian projectâthe first of itâs kindâmet moderate success. However, the possibility remains that the interaction between two neighboring countries will have favorable consequences.

10. It reminded me of Brianâs voice, who is my cousin, and also of my fathers voice.

11. The old system, which was developed during the years of high economic growth rate has been discontinued since 2003.

12. In this study we synthesized a wide variety of polymers and their photochemical behavior was investigated.

13. Bearing this theory and the fact that sherds are very rare in the Proto-Hassuna levels of Seker al-Aheimar in mind, such a situation as in the Khabur basin may not have been unlikely to be the case in southern Iran as well.

14. The main question that should be asked is when and why does the choice of creating a new division become advisable.

15. The functions of the new machine are same as the old machine, expect for slight improvement in speed.

16. Among factors that have influence to the strategic decision of companies, researchers have proposed that the two following factors are the most influential of all.

Exercise 2:

Instructions

The following is an excerpt from a book entitled âExotic Birds of Brazil.â Edit this passage by correcting all errors (grammatical, typographical, etc.) and awkward constructions and removing all informal/colloquial expressions. Do not hesitate to rewrite entire sentences or paragraphs.

3.1 Give-and-take relationships among mixed-species flocks of birds

Through the study, we observed the seven species of birds in the flock. For each of these seven species, half of the times that I observed they were in company of other species. Or else they folaged alone. It is different from the situation of birds living in temperate forests, such as Africa, where such behaviour is seen during non-breeding season only, and not during the breeding. The reason is because during this period the birds become busy with building nests. But in Brazil despite of this, seven species were spending half each day in mixed-species flock. I already knew from books and papers that in the tropical forests, mixed-species flocks are present through the year, but to see it at first hand I wondered just why this occurred.

Not only in appearance but also the foraging technique at which each bird was respectively most proficient, was unique to each. However, comparing the technique used when each species was or was not foraging in mixed-species flock revealed the technique used to be different in six of the seven species (Figs 3, 4). The species, which showed the greatest difference, was the Crested Parrot. When foraging together with conspecifics or solitarily, the Crested Parrot sat on branches at a height of >6 ms, and flew and nabbed small insects for example bees and flies. Well, after joining a mixed-species flock the Crested Parrot comes down to a height below 6 m and starts to forage for caterpillars, centipedes, and spiders. Paradise Kingfisher also changed its foraging method from principle method of flying into air to catch insects on the wing, to one where he hovered by fluttering to catch insects residing in the foliage.

I often witnessed the Crested Parrot observing and following Red Tailed Starlings which were picking insects from the ground surface. It seems the Crested Parrot was trying to cacth the food that the Red Tailed Starling failed to capture. But, I was unable to confirm if the Crested Parrot was successful in catching any food in that way. Perhaps because in this relationship the Red Tailed Starling is aggressively dominant, the Crested Parrot could approach the Red Tailed Starling only to within a certain distance, and to have done so any closer might trigger an attack.

Search results for 'tag:Constructions tag:Literature' matching tags 'Constructions' and 'Literature'

Re: Him killed I!

Could someone check this letter please.

Hi all, Can someone check and correct this letter please. In order to get a more usual construction in English. Thanks in advance, poet.

Re: Am I right?

Not one but ...

What are you dragging him in...

Very difficult question (QUOTATION)

but all horses aint virtuous, no more than all men kind

unusual formulation...

Re: gerund or verbal noun

Help needed!!!

Instructions:

Exercise 1:

Exercise 2:

Hi all,

Can someone check and correct this letter please. In order to get a more usual construction in English.

Thanks in advance,

poet.