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

Re: Would you mind proofreading this? (It's short)

Clive — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 04:09:22 GMT

Hi again,

In my view / In my opinion / From my point of view, Buenos Aires is less expensive than many cities in Europe. This may be Â´[*I'm not sure about the use of may be here, it could also be: This is (perhaps) ]... because our currency is cheaper than the euro or the British pound. As a South American capital, Buenos Aires looks far more Eurpean [I don't think either Europeanish or Europeanist are suitable here, I don't even know if they exist. They don't, they are terrible To convey a similar idea, I'd rather say "Europeanized". OK I'd like to know more about the uses of the suffixes -ish, -ist] than Sao Paulo or the Mexican DF. In addition, Buenos Aires is still smashednot a good word at all. Find another. Crushed? by the economic [If not, it gives the idea of "being cheap" rather than relating to Economy] crisis, but remains you need to omit 'being' being as captivating as it used to be. Taxi [not "Taxis", for it is a noun modifying another noun] drivers are as crazy as Mexican ones [otherwise, we would be referring to the entire population of Mexico. Anyway, "ones" doesn't seem a far better option, any suggestions?].their Mexican counterparts In the end, it is [or Buenos Aires is... (if not, we have a subjectless construction), but does "it" have a clear referent?] I'd say Buenos Aires a nice place to spend a holiday (in) [I think we need the preposition here, if not, the construction dangles]No, you don't need 'in' , but you must be awake / alert alert is good, awake is not to avoid [I don't know what he meant by "slalom", do you use the word in this sense? it means to avoid in the sense of moving forward while going around obstacles. The metaphor is from skiing, where slalom racers swerve around flags I think "avoid is the meaning he's trying to convey] the negative points. [I somewhat restructured the sentence for I think it sounds more natural, but I don'k know if the correction is necessary].

Once again, you've done an excellent job.

Clive

Would you mind proofreading this? (It's short)

Riglos — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 02:06:21 GMT

Hi people!

Correcting is giving me a really hard time and I'd appreciate it if you could take some minutes to read this since you've been so helpful!!

Here's the original version:

In my point of view, Buenos Aires is less expensive than many cities in Europe. This is may be because our currency is cheaper than the euro or the British pound. As a South American capital, Buenos Aires looks far more Eurpeanist / Europeanish than Sao Paulo or the Mexican DF. In addition, Buenos Aires is still smashed by the economical crisis, but remains being as captivating as it used to be. Taxis drivers are as crazy as Mexicans. In the end, is a nice place to spend a holiday, but you must slalom the negative points. So be awake.

Below, my version:

In my view / In my opinion / From my point of view, Buenos Aires is less expensive than many cities in Europe. This may be Â´[*I'm not sure about the use of may be here, it could also be: This is (perhaps) ]... because our currency is cheaper than the euro or the British pound. As a South American capital, Buenos Aires looks far more Eurpean [I don't think either Europeanish or Europeanist are suitable here, I don't even know if they exist. To convey a similar idea, I'd rather say "Europeanized". I'd like to know more about the uses of the suffixes -ish, -ist] than Sao Paulo or the Mexican DF. In addition, Buenos Aires is still smashed by the economic [If not, it gives the idea of "being cheap" rather than relating to Economy] crisis, but remains being as captivating as it used to be. Taxi [not "Taxis", for it is a noun modifying another noun] drivers are as crazy as Mexican ones [otherwise, we would be referring to the entire population of Mexico. Anyway, "ones" doesn't seem a far better option, any suggestions?]. In the end, it is [or Buenos Aires is... (if not, we have a subjectless construction), but does "it" have a clear referent?]a nice place to spend a holiday (in) [I think we need the preposition here, if not, the construction dangles], but you must be awake / alert to avoid [I don't know what he meant by "slalom", do you use the word in this sense? I think "avoid is the meaning he's trying to convey] the negative points. [I somewhat restructured the sentence for I think it sounds more natural, but I don'k know if the correction is necessary].

Thanks a lot for any comments or suggestions you can make!!

Regards,

Mara.

Re: English is a crazy language

pemmican — Thu, 26 Feb 2004 22:12:56 GMT

>>I've never fully appreciated the noun gender rules. Is it a case of when you are young you have to study the gender of each noun (das haus = neutral noun) or are there patterns that you follow?

No, unfortunately there are no rules - at least not for the "simple" words.
There are some memory hooks for words ending in special suffixes (which also have exceptions though) eg.
- words ending in -ung, -ion, - are usually feminine
die Achtung (caution), die Warnung (warning), die Nation (nation), die Konstruktion (construction)
- words ending in -chen, -nis are usually neuter
das BrÃ¶tchen (bread roll), das Ereignis (happening)/ exception: die Finsternis (darkness)
etc.
but you can never take them for granted! You have to learn most of the nouns' genders by heart... sorry.

>>Question Pemmican!
>Is there a rule in German when it comes to a double 's' a different symbol is used? I've been told that this 'symbol' is optional and up to the user? (The symbol looks something like an overstretched letter B!)

Are you learning German?!

Yes, here there are rules - those depend on what spelling you're learning or have learned:

If you're going to follow the New spelling rules from 1996, then it is quite easy to explain:
Is this -sound following a long pronounced vowel or a diphthong, then you write it as "Ã", in all the other cases you use "ss":

-der FuÃ (foot), grÃ¼Ãen (to greet), die StraÃe (street), groÃ (big, tall, large), der SpaÃ (fun)...
-der Kuss (kiss), das KÃ¼sschen (little kiss), mÃ¼ssen (to have to), ich muss (I must), ich habe gemusst (I've had to), das Wasser (water)...

If you're going to follow the old spelling rules (mainly from 1901), then it's a bit more complex:
A word can only end in -s or -Ã, not in -ss.
Is the -sound within the word following a long pronounced vowel or a diphthong, then you write "Ã", is it followed by a short pronounced vowel, then you spell it "ss", except the s-sound is the last sound of the word, the last sound of the stem part of the word or is (mainly in inflections) immediately followed by a t:

-FuÃ, grÃ¼Ãen, StraÃe, groÃ, SpaÃ...
-KuÃ, KÃ¼Ãchen, mÃ¼ssen, ich muÃ, ich habe gemuÃt, Wasser...

In Switzerland, however, you actually always spell it "ss". "Ã" hardly occurs.

Even if you're using the new spelling, you should keep the old rules in mind, too. You don't have to use them but most of the Germans dislike the new spelling rules as they are very confusing and go on writing with old spelling rules. Even lots of newspapers, after discovering their readers don't want to accept the new rules, changed back to old spelling.

Soon after the New rules (which btw don't just affect "Ã" and "ss", but also a lot of other grammatical and spelling stuff) came out, lots of people were disappointed by the chaos the linguists produced by their changings and now just avoid the new spelling.

"Ã" is called either "sharp s", because it is always pronounced as the strong -sound, never like , or also (this one is more popular) "Eszet" - which occupy the origin of the actual letter "Ã": It has been formed by putting together the ancient German handwriting "s" and "z".

Here you can have a look at the old handwriting:

The ancient "long s" (2nd letter in 3rd line) and the ancient "z" (2nd letter in 4th line) form the letter "Ã" (4th letter in 3rd line).

Hope I could help you out.
Greetings from Germany
Pemmican

Re: Do I use a capital letter if I am writing a list?

wumanfu — Thu, 25 Sep 2003 10:33:46 GMT

Hi, If my child was marked down because she used a capital letter for words in a spelling test, Iâd be angry with the teacher. When I went to school, my spelling exercises tested for spelling not style. However, if your child is a high school student and if the teacher was marking hard, then maybeâ¦ In any case, there is information about how to write words in a list on the internet. It comes from a component of Merriam-Websterâs Unabridged resource called Style Guide. The relevant section is called Lists and Outlines. Iâve dumped more information than you need. I hope the information helps explain issues related to stylistic conventions in the United States.
If you get bored before you reach the end, then maybe the following section is best:
Items that are syntactically dependent on the words that introduce them often begin with a lowercase letter and end with a comma or semicolon just as in
a run-in series in an ordinary sentence.
However, you could argue that a spelling test could be considered to be like an outline. In the case of an outline, then capital letters are appropriate:
Outlines standardly use Roman numerals, capitalized letters, Arabic numerals, and lowercase letters, in that order. Each numeral or letter is followed
by a period, and each item is capitalized.
My own opinion is that the teacherâs style is unhelpful and discouraging.
Sincerely, Wu

Here is a dump from the Merriam-Webster Style Guide
21. Both run-in and vertical lists are often numbered. In run-in numbered listsâthat is, numbered lists that form part of a normal-looking sentenceâeach
item is preceded by a number (or, less often, an italicized letter) enclosed in parentheses. The items are separated by commas if they are brief and unpunctuated;
if they are complex or punctuated, they are separated by semicolons. The entire list is introduced by a colon if it is preceded by a full clause, and often
when it is not.
Among the fastest animals with measured maximum speeds are (1) the cheetah, clocked at 70 mph; (2) the pronghorn antelope, at 61 mph; (3) the lion, at 50
mph; (4) the quarter horse, at 47 mph; and (5) the elk, at 45 mph.

The new medical dictionary has several special features: (a) common variant spellings; (b) examples of words used in context; (c) abbreviations, combining
forms, prefixes, and suffixes; and (d) brand names for drugs and their generic equivalents.
22. In vertical lists, each number is followed by a period; the periods align vertically. Runover lines usually align under the item's first word. Each
item may be capitalized, especially if the items are syntactically independent of the words that introduce them.
The English peerage consists of five ranks, listed here in descending order:
Duke (duchess)
Marquess (marchioness)
Earl (countess)
Viscount (viscountess)
Baron (baroness)
The listed items end with periods (or question marks) when they are complete sentences, and also often when they are not.
We require answers to the following questions:
Does the club intend to engage bands to perform in the future?
Will any bands be permitted to play past midnight on weekends?
Are there plans to install proper acoustic insulation?
Items that are syntactically dependent on the words that introduce them often begin with a lowercase letter and end with a comma or semicolon just as in
a run-in series in an ordinary sentence.
Among the courts that are limited to special kinds of cases are
1. probate courts, for the estates of deceased persons;
2. commercial courts, for business cases;
3. juvenile courts, for cases involving children under 18; and
4. traffic courts, for minor cases involving highway and motor vehicle violations.
A vertical list may also be unnumbered, or may use bullets (â¢) in place of numerals, especially where the order of the items is not important.
Chief among the advances in communication were these 19th-century inventions:
Morse's telegraph
Daguerre's camera
Bell's telephone
Edison's phonograph
This book covers in detail:
â¢ Punctuation
â¢ Capitalization and italicization
â¢ Numbers
â¢ Abbreviations
â¢ Grammar and composition
â¢ Word usage
23. Outlines standardly use Roman numerals, capitalized letters, Arabic numerals, and lowercase letters, in that order. Each numeral or letter is followed
by a period, and each item is capitalized.
The United States from 1816 to 1850
Era of mixed feelings
Effects of the War of 1812
National disunity
The economy
Transportation revolution
Waterways
Railroads
Beginnings of industrialization
The Civil War and Reconstruction, 1850-77