http://www.englishforums.com/search/pro.htm?q=tag%3aExpressions+tag%3aArticles+tag%3aClausesSearch results for 'tag:Expressions tag:Articles tag:Clauses' matching tags 'Expressions', 'Articles', and 'Clauses'en-USCSMOD (Build: 3273.32735)http://www.englishforums.com/English/SentenceConstruction/hwmzv/post.htm#627508Wed, 31 Dec 2008 09:28:32 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:627508cool breeze quote user sebayanpendam Asked if she would contest the by election if someone paid the deposit she said it was too late now and that she would try her luck at the next general election age permitting quote Using the present participle of permit in expressions like yours is idiomatic English The most common example is probably to link it with weather Weather permitting we ll go for a walk in the morning If the weather permits we ll go for a walk in the morning Weather permitting serves as a clause equivalent but the inexplicable niceties of English grammar require weather to be used without an article here In your sentence the woman considers trying her luck in the next general election if she isn t too old by then CBhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/AFewQuestions/gpwgw/post.htm#577243Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:23:43 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:577243grammar geekHi Ditch Welcome to the forums Yes in the future it would be better to ask only one type of question in a thread If they are related then of course they can be in the same post quote user Ditch 1 I understand that there is no rule against starting a sentence with a conjunction but I am a little unclear on when it is best to do so This isn t exactly true Informal writing accepts this but formal writing does not Which is of the following is correct and why A I wanted to see the movie but I didn t have any money but it was okay because my friend paid for my ticket No you can t string two But clauses together B I wanted to see the movie but I didn t have any money But it was okay because my friend paid for my ticket Okay in the most informal writing 2 I sometimes see people use a comma and speech marks to express their own thoughts but I have never seen any rule that suggests you should do so This is a matter of style Some people use the quotes Some people use italics Some make it more like reported speech Which of the following is correct A I thought We should buy one of these OK B I thought we should buy one of these Would be better with a that to indicated the reported speech nature of the thought C I though we should buy one of these 3 I have only ever heard the expression show one s true colors used in a negative sense For example He showed his true colors when he stole my wallet But can it also be used in a positive sense For example His acts of kindness revealed his true colors Already answered but in my opinion if you say his true colors it means that you have developed an opinion of someone and this opinion turns out to be false as demonstrated by later acts Usually it s negative but in the right context I suppose it could work 4 Is it fair to say that if you use the idiom after all at the start of a sentence it can only mean because ultimately and not despite what happened Yes or when you consider the thing in total It does not draw a contrast to what came before as you would expect if using despite 5 If support with love is written as a title do you capitalize the preposition with Another style question Usually prepositions and articles are not capitalized It s an odd title And of course the S and L would be If I have made any grammar mistakes when writing my questions please highlight those for me as well quote http://www.englishforums.com/English/MemosShowClintonTurmoil/gkxvp/post.htmWed, 13 Aug 2008 15:05:10 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:554385jackson6612Memos show Clinton turmoilQuestion I would have written Clinton s turmoil Why didn t the author use apostrophe BY CRAIG GORDON AND TOM BRUNE lt email addresses removed by mod gt August 13 2008Question 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 http://www.englishforums.com/English/ThereofFirstAmendment/zmpmh/post.htm#481107Sun, 24 Feb 2008 17:50:15 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:481107anonymous I think there are a couple way to look at this One is the use of the word thereof and what it means It is defined as such thereof adverb of or concerning this that or itWhen the word thereof is used it gets its meaning entirely from the word to which it refers So in a sense you must ask Of what in order to understand what it means free exercise of what of religionWhat kind of establishment one of religionThe indefinite articles a and an are defined as such weakened variation of one one lone single So my use of one should be correct there Another thing you must do is put it into context The Bill of Rights is a document which defines the rights and liberties of the people individuals and Congress limitations on abridging or limiting them If you read the phrase as such B Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise of an establishment of religion What are the rights of the people with regard to religion This defines rights and liberties as they apply only to establishments and not individuals If you also use it that way then there would be no need for the Free Exercise clause If in the Establishment Clause Congress cannot make law which even respects concerns regards deals with relates to an establishment of religion then why would they need to tell us that Congress cannot make law prohibiting free exercise of an establishment of religion We already know they cannot prohibit free exercise of an establishment because they can t even make law with respect to it I hope that makes sense Also you could look at The Constitution for other examples of the word thereof and see how it is used For example Article I The Legislative Branch Section 2 The House When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State the Executive Authority thereof Executive Authority of what any State Section 3 The Senate The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State chosen by the Legislature thereof Legislature of what each State if Vacancies happen by Resignation or otherwise during the Recess of the Legislature of any State the Executive thereof The Executive of what any State Section 4 Elections Meetings The Times Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof Legislature of what each State Section 8 Powers of Congress To coin Money regulate the Value thereof Value of what Money To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States or in any Department or Officer thereof Department or Officer of what the Government of the United States Article II The Executive Branch Section 1 The President Each State shall appoint in such Manner as the Legislature thereof Legislature of what Each State So on and so forth until Amendment 1 Freedom of Religion Press Expression Ratified 12 15 1791 Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof Free exercise of what religion I hope this all makes sense http://www.englishforums.com/English/PercentWithoutNationMysteryGoogle/zhldx/post.htm#455240Thu, 20 Dec 2007 08:44:52 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:455240cool breezeHi TeleostomiI suggest you forget all about Google Since there are millions of German people Australian people etc you don t need the article when you refer to them all in a general sense German people are said to be hard working I would prefer Germans are said If the reference is to a specific group the is usually needed In the following sentence the relative clause is the grammatical reason for the The German people who were interviewed hadn t seen the accident Again also The Germans who were You do need the article if you use an adjective as a plural noun The Chinese eat a lot of rice The British like watching cricket Cf The rich like money It has become acceptable to use an adjective like Chinese without an article and the word people in expressions such as We saw a lot of Chinese people there CBhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/GerundOrVerbalNoun/zrdmk/post.htm#418686Fri, 14 Sep 2007 20:25:23 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:418686califjimAll 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 amp 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 be 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 http://www.englishforums.com/English/GerundOrVerbalNoun/zrdwm/post.htm#418620Fri, 14 Sep 2007 17:15:28 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:418620philip Clive wrote Hi I haven t heard the expression a verbal noun How would you define it Yes gerunds can have an article Clive When I was studying Turkish we used the term verbal noun to identify a verb form made into a noun by adding suffixes to denote person possession time ability etc These one word items are used to replace what we would use a relative clause to express in English Turkish is an agglutinative language of the Ural Altaic branch and Korean is considered by some to be Altaic Perhaps there is a relatonship here http://www.englishforums.com/English/IsAre/vjwkv/post.htm#380787Sun, 17 Jun 2007 20:27:21 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:380787bokeh Yoong Liat wrote 1 It doesn t always behave like you think it should 2 It doesn t always behave as you think it should I remember reading that 1 is AmE while 2 is BrE I was just teasing really but seeing as you ve introduced the British American argument here s what The Elements of Style an American work has to say Like Not to be used for the conjunction as Like governs nouns and pronouns before phrases and clauses the equivalent word is as The use of like for as has its defenders they argue that any usage that achieves currency becomes valid automatically This they say is the way the language is formed It is and it isn t An expression sometimes merely enjoys a vogue much as an article of apparel does Like has long been widely misused by the illiterate lately it has been taken up by the knowing and the well informed who find it catchy or liberating and who use it as though they were slumming If every word or device that achieved currency were immediately authenticated simply on the ground of popularity the language would be as chaotic as a ball game with no foul lines For the student perhaps the most useful thing to know about like is that most carefully edited publications regard its use before phrases and clauses as simple error http://www.englishforums.com/English/AntoniaHypotenuse/cgcxq/post.htm#197352Thu, 16 Feb 2006 05:28:56 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:197352youngcalifornianAlthough you do not brag with tall tales you are actually more competent than adulterer Brag with does sound weird as does the usage of tall tales which are similar to myths The comparison of a good lover to an adulterer is rather coarse and definitely not a compliment Also adulterer should be preceded by an article It is all about inverse proportionality less words more action less feathers more fire The use of inverse proportionality makes sense although I find mathematical comparisons to love making unromantic I don t understand the less feathers more fire metaphor It sounds like a reference to some idiomatic expression If it is then I must admit I am unfamiliar with that idiom If it isn t then perhaps it s a reference to bird hunting The author could be comparing a good lover to a hunter who expends a lot of energy shooting but doesn t bother to hit many birds In other words the act of hunting itself would be more important than the results just as the act of making love is more important than well use your imagination And from better lover to the best the path is unmeasurably short The syntax of this sentence is poor in my opinion I would reverse the clauses and get rid of the and The phrase from better lover to the best sounds awkward and requires an article for the word lover Lastly while unmeasurably is not incorrect I think that immeasurably sounds better I again place you in lover s bed although a little bit in a forced manner because in reality you are away from that for a hypotenuse of a love triangle Sorry but the hypotenuse metaphor makes no sense to me The author seems to be referencing the fact that the hypotenuse of a right triangle is opposite the right angle However I can t imagine how that relates to lovers getting into bed The entire final clause is poorly worded as you are away from that for just makes no sense It should also be noted that in English a love triangle is almost always a reference to a romantic relationship involving three people with one person ultimately being excluded from the romantic pair For instance if two friends fell in love with the same girl and she was forced to choose between them that would be a typical love triangle As if I hypnotize you into something arbitrary imaginary undesirable Anyway don t you want that yourself The first clause of this sentence is too abstract for me to make any sense out of it The second clause is just asking the reader if they want for themself whatever was expressed in the first clause http://www.englishforums.com/English/ToInfinitiveOrGerund/bzhzg/post.htm#110200Sat, 18 Jun 2005 03:59:34 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:110200califjimThere s not really a rule no But sometimes not always there s an expression without either infinitive or gerund which parallels the troublesome situation If the parallel expression has the preposition to then you ll need the gerund form when you use the verb Example used to where to is a preposition not the infinitive particle Paul is used to hard work He s used to working hard Example aversion to Jerry has an aversion to snakes He has an aversion to working in close quarters Example reference to The speaker made no reference to the laws which govern this situation He made no reference to breaking the law Example get around to Sally will eventually get around to the dishes She ll get around to washing the dirty dishes Example attention to The artist paid no attention to mundane details like money He paid no attention to making a living ___________ Nevertheless the keys to the safe the keys to succeeding AND a list of keys for you to succeed clause of purpose result ___________ a way to the city a way to finding a job AND a way for you to find a job clause of purpose result The distinction in shades of meaning is probably clearest in this last example You can express it more literally as a path way leading into the finding of a job or you can express it as a method to be used so that you can find a job CJ