Re: which ones are articles modifying?

CalifJim — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 07:54:56 GMT

Yes. My answer is pretty oblique. I don't think the function of determiners is to modify at all.

Underlined words show the correct use of apostrophes.

<<I thought the "new mother's room" was for nursing mothers.>>

I don't think so. The room is new, not the mothers.

"We are excited to announce that the new mother's room is now available for moms to use. It is located ..."

I think the room has just been finished. Hence the excitement. It has just become available. So it's new.

Re: Why are they capitalized and hyphenated?

Nick147 — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 02:56:04 GMT

Hi there,

The noun here appears to be Popular Names listing so âtheâ is the determiner for the whole thing. No apostrophe is required in this case. Although why Popular Names is capitalised is anybodyâs guess. As the helpful Nona advises, I wouldnât get too hung up on anything you read on a company product. These are often very badly worded, or unintelligible- even to native speakers!

Re: Could you have a look at my corrections?

Clive — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 22:36:45 GMT

Hi Mara,

My comments and corrections are in blue.

This is an assignement I corrected and I'd appreciate it if some of you could have a look at it and tell me what you think of my corrections. It concerns a Memo sent to the CEO of a company. My comments and corrections will be in red, as well as some questions I posed:

Student's homework:

Regarding the problems you asked me about, I have identified three main issues:

a) Quality Control: Many subsidiaries make clothes with poor materials.

b) Responding to customer needs: Subsidiaries cannot respond to some special customers' needs, such as short-term orders or last minute changes to clothing.

c) Design: Lack of new designs, ideas are not shared (omit 'by') between different subsidiaries' (apostrophe) designers.

I propose the following course of action with its corresponding rationale: I propose the following solutions, each with its corresponding rationale: (Say it the second way)

1) Ensure the use of high quality materials, even though costs may/will increase. It's better to slightly increase the prices and keep the clients.

2) Make a further analysis of the production processes. It's surely possible to delete/omit some steps and _reduce/eliminate____ bureaucracy.

3) Hire new designers and increase the level of communication between them. Also, move some designers to other countries, so they will be motivated by new customs.

If you need further details, we can schedule a meeting at your convenience.

My version:

OK, I made my corrctions, now let's look at yours.

Regarding the problems you asked me about / to solve / to sort out, I find out (I would croos "out" out) three main issues to deal with / to be dealt with (which is best? why?): 'To deal with' suggests that 'I' will be the one to deal with them. That may or may not be true.

a) Quality Control (control): Many subsidiaries make clothes with poor materials.

b) Responding to customer needs (this is OK, but why don't we need an 's as in "customer's needs" here? Is it because customer is a noun modifying another noun and, therefore, functioning as an adjective? Yes Or is it just a fixed expression? Or both? In any case, would it be wrong to put it as "customer's needs"? No, not wrong. But put the apostophe after the ess.: Subsidiaries cannot respond to some special customers' needs (I think this is OK, but what would be the difference with the previous "customer needs"? Are the needs special, or are these customers special? Are we referring to two different things? Besides, in the book the two expressions appear), such as short-term orders or last minute changes (short term and last minute are adjectives, right? Yes ) to clothing.

c) Design: Lack of new designs, (.) Ideas ideas are not shared between different subsidiaries (I would include the ' here, thus, different subsidiaries', or would it be better to write designers of / from different subsidiaries?)designers. I think 'designers' is implicit here. You can mention the word explicitly, if you want to.

I propose the following course of action with its corresponding rationale: / I propose the following solutions, each with its corresponding rationale: (Is this correction OK Yes, it's better or unnecessary? Does it add up to clarity? yes

1) Ensure the use of high quality materials, even against the costs increase (What about this case? Would even against "the increase in costs" be better? Or "the increase of costs"? What's the difference between the former sentence and the latter? Can "the costs increase" be taken as a noun (with adjectival function) + another noun? Or should we say the costs' increase? No). It's better to slightly increase the prices (would you explain further which prices we are speaking about or is it clear enough the way it is? It's clear I'd say "It's better to increase the budget for materials"Yes, this is good) and keep the clients.

2) Make a further analisys (analysis) of the production processes. It's surely possible to tune if you mean 'to keep the step but to improve it', we often say 'to fine-tune it' (tune out = ignore?) some steps and ___________ ("avoid"? I'm not sure what word he is looking for) bureaucracy.

3) Hire new designers and increase (would "encourage" be better? They have different meanings ) the (I would avoid the use of the determiner here, I'm just not sure about the reason for doing so. Any ideas?) communication between (I'd write "among", since we're speaking of maore than two people Yes) them. Also, move some designers to other countries, so they will be motivated with (by?) the new customs (I'm not sure about the word "customs" here. Is it OK?Perhaps talk about 'various aspects of a new culture'?).

If you need further detail (details) we can schedule a meeting. Be polite, he (or she!) is the big boss

Can you spot any other mistakes?

Best wishes, Clive

Re: Plural surname

wumanfu — Thu, 02 Oct 2003 11:20:20 GMT

Hi, Bewsâ, Jamesâ Smithsââ¦
The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar
possessive (n. & adj.) (A word or case) indicating possession or ownership.
The possessive case of nouns is also called the
GENITIVE
case, e.g. boy's, boys', Mary's, the Smiths'.

Pronouns in the possessive case are the series mine, yours, etc.; the corresponding determiners are my, your, etc. Some grammars include these determiners
under the label possessive pronouns; more traditional ones classify them as possessive adjectives.

The basic meaning of the verb have is sometimes described as possessive (e.g. We have a house) in contrast to its other meanings, especially the dynamic
ones such as have a bath, have dinner, have an operation, have a holiday, have fun.

Compare
APOSTROPHE.

Search results for 'tag:Determiners tag:Apostrophes' matching tags 'Determiners' and 'Apostrophes'

Re: which ones are articles modifying?

Re: Why are they capitalized and hyphenated?

Re: Could you have a look at my corrections?

Re: Plural surname