Search results for 'tag:Conversations' matching tag 'Conversations'

comma usage

Anonymous — Fri, 16 May 2008 11:05:17 GMT

Are the commas and emdashes used correctly in the below sentences? Please correct them if needed.

It has to do with the fact that, due to immigration, travel, Internet, diaspora of all religions around the world, we are now in each other's faces, we are now each other's neighbors.

The Muslim Brotherhood, for example, which was founded in Egypt ~~one of its earliest leaders was Sayyid Qutb, one of the intellectual founders of Muslim renewal~~opposed, at the time, most of the movements of the modern world ~~communism, capitalism, nationalism~~in the interest of establishing what they wanted to call an original Islamic ummah, informed by Quranic justice and equality.

This pattern of tactical avoidance, though it may preserve a certain atmosphere, eventually leads to evading hard questions. It leads to obscuring the involvement, the inconvenient factor, that throughout history, conflicts within and between religious traditions have been suffused with political element, and such detextualized conversations ~~and I repeat, not all of the meetings are like this~~can therefore lead to a false sense of optimism about the interfaith relationships and the inevitable disillusionment that sets in when they don't seem to work out as we had hoped.

Re: funner / more fun

Anonymous — Fri, 16 May 2008 08:25:10 GMT

When you walk down the street, people don't give you money, so you should take it from them instead. Just because one is eliminated (and only according to some dictionaries) does not mean that another one is justified.

As for comparatives and syllable counts, two syllable words ending in y take the -er form. The vast majority of the rest take more or most. Just saying vast majority is a bit of a misnomer, there really aren't enough two syllable adjectives that can be scaled that don't end in y for anything about them to be considered vast. The most common adjectives are either one syllable or end in y, and the uncommon ones tend to originate in Latin and often hit the four or five syllable mark.

My advice is, if you want to sound smart in conversation, say what you want to say in such a way that it is absolutely clear, inoffensive, and succinct. "Fun" as an adjective is a tool that can allow for a very clear evaluation of an activity and most people would pick up on it immediately. I personally don't see how "The restaurant to which we went yesterday" sounds any more clear than "The restaurant we went to yesterday," and those that would evaluate a person's level of intelligence with that criteria would be of questionable brilliance themselves.

My two cents, anyway.

Re: "I would be surprised..."

New2grammar — Thu, 15 May 2008 16:19:42 GMT

CJ, I'm not quite sure I get your explanation.

MH has a very good point but I remember you said a long time ago (probably a year) that in cases like this, native
speakers tend to use the past tense throughout. I've been trying to apply that but
I have to say, MH's view makes more sense and more natural to me.
Could you please 'defend' native speakers' tendency?

An example that I always keep in mind as reference is

handler: If Kate knew we WERE having this conversation, she would have us killed.

Thanks!

Re: Help please

Mister Micawber — Thu, 15 May 2008 06:14:02 GMT

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Further to our conversation this morning, we notice you will finish (?) production on May 22-26. We will arrange customer inspection on May 27 and catch the vessel loading (?) on May 29. Please note that if you fail to ------- ??

Re: Help please

Anonymous — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:12:30 GMT

Further to our conversation this morning. We notice you will keep the production on May 22-26, and we will arrange customer inspection on May 27 and catch vessel closing on May 29. Please note that if you fail for

Re: nouns

CalifJim — Tue, 13 May 2008 07:13:33 GMT

Anonymous
A group discussion we had last night was fruitful and informative.

This can be used as a conversation starter. It both introduces the fact that we had a group discussion and also tells how it was.

We had a group discussion last night. It (the group discussion) was fruitful and informative.

Similarly,

A fire that broke out in the warehouse district yesterday has finally been extinguished.

= A fire broke out in the warehouse district yesterday. It (the fire) has finally been extinguished.

As a way of continuing a conversation in which the fact of the discussion (or fire) has already been established, however, we would have:

The group discussion we had ...

The fire that broke out ...

Re: How to pronounce d+s sounds

Mister Micawber — Tue, 13 May 2008 05:55:54 GMT

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When enunciating clearly, I pronounce both (/dz/). I suppose that in casual conversation there can be some slurring of these sounds.

Re: nouns

Mister Micawber — Tue, 13 May 2008 05:54:05 GMT

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A group discussion we had last night was fruitful and informative.

This is certainly possible if there is more than one group discussion associated with this conversation, either last night or elsewhen.

Re: Has or Have

Anonymous — Sat, 10 May 2008 06:30:43 GMT

Ok, say the subject is a sandwhich and say I want to know what's in it. This conversation actually happened to me a while ago, and I usually never struggle with this as well. So, would you say: "What does yours has/have in it?" I know that 'sandwhich' goes with 'has' because it's single, but it sounds weird to me all of a sudden. Or is it just me forgetting my English?

Re: taking out the windows of the car

Goodman — Fri, 09 May 2008 21:46:40 GMT

Hi Ant222,

My English skill is not in the âgrammarianâ class but I will give it my best attempt to explain it. It may not may not be agreeable with the experts.

In many instances during casual conversations, we can bet by with simple past tense and no one will flag you for errors. However, to be grammatically correct, the right tense should be followed and observed consistently. Besides using present perfect to connect events from the past to present, sometimes, we will see past reference combined into a present perfect structure. i.e.

John seems to have forgotten who helped him 2 years ago when his lost his job. This is perfectly legal.

General simple present statement with timeless reference.

I have never seen movies as bad as this one!

I have tried many times to quit smoking but failed.

With time reference, past to present:

Jane has changed 3 jobs since the beginning of this year.

She hasnât made any car payment for the past 6 months.

If you already understood the above, just disregard my post.