Search results for 'tag:Expressions tag:Sentence structures' matching tags 'Expressions' and 'Sentence structures'

Re: Sentence structure is back bone in business writing, how much effective it is?

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 12:00:38 GMT

Its very true and I totally agree with you. Think for a while that why resumes and cover letter writing is considered very effective for getting a job. What do you think why in all institutions all over the world teach their business level students subject of âBusiness communicationâ? The reason is that even to get a business deal you must known how to impress the other party through your expression and that usually includes both writing and speaking skills. Now suppose if you write an application letter to a multinational company and you do not take care of the exclamatory marks or the grammar rules or any lingual rule, do you think that you will be able to give string impression? No not at all. Thatâs why it is very true sentence structure is the backbone of business writing.

Re: "I remember mentioning at least..."

MarvinTheMartian — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 20:06:21 GMT

Thank you all for your advice. I understand that Google is a search engine and that, as such, it has limitations. I was just a bit frustrated, probably because I'm sometimes told by English Forums users to use Google to verify my sentence structures... So far, my experience with Google has been exasperating at best.

Just to clarify, English IS my native language... HOWEVER, I suffer from a condition which makes it impossible for me to filter information. In other words, my brain absorbs every bit of information it's exposed to, including, alas, grammatical mistakes and unidiomatic expressions ... And since I live in a cosmopolitan area, I often have to interact with people whith a poor command of English. When that happens, I literally have to "relearn" how to speak, much as an Internet user would debug their computer after visiting seedy websites... It can take me weeks and sometimes even months to be able to speak and write properly again. Does this make sense to any of you?

P.S.: Does my post contain any mistakes? I can't help but second-guess myself because of my condition...

what verb or phrasal verb?

Raen — Mon, 05 May 2008 17:18:05 GMT

Twice this week I was asked if I had used any medication for my cold, I wanted to say more than just a "No" because I chose not to take any and that I rather have my natural immune system fight the virus.

So in order to convey that I forge forward with the cold and let it run its course, in a sentence structure like this:

No, I don't take any medicine, I usually just __ for/with my cold.

what verb, phrasal verb, phrase, expression would you suggest me?

I'm hope I'm making sense.

Thanks a lot

Raen

Re: Need help on my poor english

Avangi — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 16:52:48 GMT

I have a question: Why did you change the sentence " - - - - - - " to " - - - - - - - "? I don't understand the meaning of "designated" here. Can you please explain it to me? - And would you please make any necessary corrections to my question?

Hi Kamaya,

There's quite a lot of information here for a single sentence. I tried to arrange it so it would flow and still be clear.

"The goods of ABC123" is not an expression we would use. Perhaps "your order of ABC123" would be better. (I didn't really like "designated" but couldn't think of anything better at the time.) "The goods named ABC123" would mean the same as designated, but we wouldn't say that either.

The other change you asked about has to do with parallel sentence structure. The last phrase in the original, "and will be delivered tomorrow," is in passive voice. The preceding phrase, "they are unable to deliver the goods . . . ." is active voice with a subject "they" (they being the factory.) "They" sounded a little childish to me so I killed two birds with one stone by using passive voice for both phrases. (If we made them both active voice, we would have needed to repeat they in the second phrase - "and they will deliver them tomorrow.")

Best wishes, - A.

(Unknown 22884)OHHH I FINALLY CAN POST!!!

Jen001 — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 01:51:40 GMT

"The Change of the Characteristics in the passage from The Hours"

The passage from the novel The Hours by Michael Cunningham is intriguing. The passage illustrates the difference between the character's characteristics in different time settings: past and present. This difference is clearly shown through the contrasting structure, imagery and language.

The structure reflects the division of the time setting and helps to contrast the different characteristics. The passage has two paragraphs, each describing the character's thoughts and perception about a same place, of the past and present. The length of each paragraph is different; the one from the past is much longer than the other one from the present. This can be related to each of the paragraph's sentence construction. In the first paragraph, about the past, the lengths of the sentences are very long. The first sentence takes eight lines, lengthened continuously within commas, semi-colons and colons. In fact, in one sentence, there are five commas, five semi-colons and a colon. This overly-continued sentence gives a sense of unfiltered, informal, and unrestricted flowing of thoughts. Moreover, the use of brackets, âsome sort of wood(cedar? Camphor?),â seems to be less sophisticated, compared to using dashes or other punctuations of the same function. However, in the second paragraph of the present, the sentence construction is shown contrastingly. The paragraph starts with a short simple sentence: âShe turns down Bleecker, goes up Thomson.â Also, in this paragraph, there are four sentences in six lines, and three of the four sentences are written in simple sentence, including the example above. Although there are a few commas in some of the sentences, there is no semi-colon, but only a colon in the last sentence. The colon is used in a very appropriate way, functioning to introduce the list of âthingsâ, such as âjewelryâ and âjackets.â Thus, within the brief and concise sentence construction, the character in the present appears to be more mature, filtered and sophisticated than in the past. However, as a result of that, the sense of youthful, unfiltered freedom cannot be found anymore in the present.

In addition to the structure, the contrasting imagery of each paragraph demonstrates further differences of the characteristic in the past and present. As both paragraphs are of the same setting, the image of the same place is described at each time. So, the consistent place makes the comparison between the two more distinctive and reliable. The imagery of the place is very vivid in the past, not only within the visual sense, but also within the auditory and olfactory senses, whereas that of the past only relies on the sense of sight. For example, in the past, âthe neighborhoodâ is depicted as âthe center of something new and wildâ in âthe city where the sound of guitars drifted all nightâ and âwhere the stores â¦ smelled the way â¦ Arab bazaars must smell.â This is detail, imaginative and lively, even the âArab bazaarsâ creates a somewhat mystical and adventurous atmosphere. This interesting and passionate depiction is being minimized in the present into three words: an âimitation of itself.â It is now âa watered-down carnival for tourists,â which gives a sense of inactivity and boredom. Also, the stores now âall sell essentially the same things,â such as âsouvenir T-shirts.â This seems to be dull, with no excitement or creativity or passion. This changed imagery, depicted by the character, rather shows the change in the character's perception. The change in perception is demonstrated more clearly within the notion of the âdoorâ and âalley.â In the past, she says, âif you passed through the wrong door or down the wrong alley you would meet a fate,â however, in the present, she âknows that behind these doors, and down these alleys lies nothing more or less than people living their lives.â In the past, she seems to be more concerned with the 'inner' world of thought or imagination. Whereas in the present, she seems to be more grounded in the external world of physical reality. As like the previously discussed change in the sentence structure, she is now more sophisticated, knowledgeable and realistic than the past. Also, as like the image of the place, her perception changed from the creative, interesting and adventurous to the boring, predictable and filtered way. Thus, the contrasting imagery of the past and present reflects the similar change in the character's perception.

While the structure and the imagery convey the distinctive change in the characteristics of the character, the contrasting use of language supports those differences. More specifically, the diction [dash]shown in the past and the present[dash] is comparable. Reflecting the imagery of the varied senses, the words and expressions used in the past are also varied and animated, such as âincense and richâ and âdung-y dustâ describing the smell of the stores. These two expressions, âincense and richâ and âdung-y dustâ are contrasting; they express the diversity of the object. Moreover, the speaker creates a non-existing adjective, âdung-y.â The extra adding of â-yâ grants a more animated image, and it gives a sense of freedom and even somewhat childishness. The âsmellâ is then described as âsomething fruitily, fertilely rotting.â Again, she creates a non-existing adverb, âfruitily,â expressing the scent rather vividly, which would be sour as it ârots.â The other adverb âfertilelyâ contributes to create a sense of abundance and richness of the imagery. However, the use of those two positive adverbs, modifying the negative verb ârottingâ seems to be oxymoron in âfruit[full]â or âfertile,â as well as the use of adjective âdisreputable,â following ânew and wild.â The oxymoron adds an unpredictable sense to the imagery and hence to the depicter's thoughts. On the other hand, in the present, the adjectives used to describe the âcityâ and the âstores,â are ânothing,â âless,â âsame,â and âstill.â All of them are negative and reflect the boredom, dullness and hopelessness. More significantly, the speaker uses the adverb, âGrotesquelyâ before describing how âthe same bars and coffeehouses are still [th]ereâ, showing the character's cynical characteristic. So does the use of the adjective âcheapâ for the goods at the stores. Thus, in the past, the character uses language interestingly [dash] it is diverse, lively and creative [dash] whereas that of the past is inactive, hopeless and cynical. These differences are directly reflecting the character's contrasting, changed characteristic.

The change of the characteristic seems to be abrupt. As a cause, something would have happened to her, that is not shown in the passage. However, an assumption can be drawn within the evidences from the passage. There is a shift in the first paragraph within âHere,â showing the shifted tense from the past to the past perfect. In the past perfect, there is a scene of Clarissa, the major character, and her boyfriend Richard. She seems to appreciate Richard a lot, for example, she does not use the pronoun 'he' for âRichard,â even though he is the only male character. So, in a sentence, Richard is successively repeated three times, âwith Richard, when Richard â¦ when Richard.â Moreover, she describes his appearance in detail; he âwas nineteen,â âa firm-featured, hard-eyed, not-quite-beautiful dark-haired boy with an impossibly long and graceful, very pale neck.â So, to describe Richard, she combines an adjective and a noun to create a single adjective, such as âhard-eyed.â This shows her seriousness about describing him precisely. His âimpossibly longâ and âvery paleâ neck would seem negative, if not for the complementary adjective âgraceful.â Also, the adverb âimpossiblyâ gives a sense of special and unusual feeling for the person. Besides the use of language, the use of punctuation should also be noted. There are many commas, causing the sentences to seem choppy. This would be imitating the feeling of uncertainty and the tension in the situation. The uncertainty of the situation is shown in the line, ââ¦about what? A kiss? Had Richard kissed her, or had she, Clarissaâ¦,â also the tension created as they âhad certainly argued.â Then, the reason for the âargu[ment]â is explained: âClarissa wanted her freedom and Richard wanted, well, too much.â It is notable that as Richard âwanted â¦ too muchâ relating to the âkiss,â the pronoun 'he' is used as âdidn't he always?â In this case, however, the pronoun 'he' seems to more likely indicate every 'man', rather than particularly âRichard.â Thereafter the paragraph ends, and the paragraph of the present starts. It is not sure whether the abrupt change in Clarissa's characteristic is due to âRichardâ or not. Although it is not, it is evident that Clarissa once considered and cared about him quite specially.

Despite of the uncertain reason, the change in the Clarissa's characteristic from the past to the present is shown clearly throughout the contrasting structure, imagery and language. The characteristic includes the thoughts and perception, which were unrestricted, unfiltered, creative and animated in the past; whereas in the present, they are shown restricted, filtered, dull and inactive. The change is extreme, but no particular evidence for the extremity is being suggested, except the short scene with Richard. Thus, this passage not only introduces the setting and the character, but also evokes the reader's curiosity: What has happened to Clarissa?

------------------------------------------------

I really really really appreciate for your help... Thank you..!

Re: sentence structures

Doll — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 20:40:52 GMT

5 Miss Kitty subject + was rude predicate + at the table adverbial +one day. adverbial

10 The earth subject+ revolves round predicate+ the sun. object

12 The sea subject + had predicate +many thousand sands.? object
Sentence Structure = Subject Verb Adverbial --This sentence is gramamtically wrong.

14 Borrowed garments subject+ never adverbial+ fit non-transitive+ well. predicate complement

17 Islamabad subject+ is predicate + the capital of Pakistan. subject complement

21 The beautiful rainbow subject+ soon adverbial + faded away. predicate.

24 The dewdrops subject+ glitter predicate + in the sunshine. adverbial

25 I subject+ shot predicate+ an arrow + direct object+ in the air. adverbial

26 A barking sound direct object+ the shepherd subject + hears. predicate
Sentence Structure = Ambiguity exists in the sentence. --You can see such expressions in the novels.

I am not a grammarian and it has been a long time since I didn't look over this subject. Well at least I tried myself.

Re: which expression is better?

Clive — Wed, 30 May 2007 05:13:34 GMT

Hi,

[3] According to recent survey, more than two times as many universities change tuition and fees of under $8000 a year as over $16000.
Thank you for your reply. But why you think [3] is wrong? The "charge" is used as the verb in "universities charge tuition and fees of". I think it is redundant to repeat "charge" after "as". Why I cannot remove it?

The really long form of the sentence would be More than twice as many universities charge tuition and fees of under $8000 a year as (implied subject: 'universities') charge (object: tuition and fees of) over $16000.
You are already omitting from the second part both the subject and the object. In my opinion, if you also omit the verb then you are omitting so much that the meaning starts to get difficult for the reader to see.

I think "under $8000" and "over $16000" are already parallel. Why I still need to keep the verb?

For example, in following sentence
This company pays at least twice as much to full-time employees as it pays to part-time employees .
It seems Ok to say:
This company pays at least twice as much to full-time employees as to part-time emplyees. Yes, this sounds fine. But it seems like a simpler sentence structure than your sentence #3 above. I find I have to think more to see the meaning in #3. Don't forget that the writer of the sentence knows his own meaning, but the reader always has to look for the meaning. Ease of understanding is an important factor.

Best wishes, Clive

Re: Is American English lazy English?

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 12:47:04 GMT

sorry to revive this discussion if it has already been past expiration, but i think not nearly enough has been discussed about this subject. I must warn anyone i usually have an indirect and evasive way of writing or speaking, so please forgive me if i lack coherence. Also my grammar is not very conventional, but in fact, i communicate strictly for effectiveness (if i had a choice, i'd rather be a philologist - a lover of words than a linguist - a scrutinizer of words). I am not an expert at language like i imagine many others in this board are, but i am a keen observor and i believe in what i am about to explain with enough conviction to give a go at it. I have noticed that Americans are indeed very lazy with their speech. I have been raised all my life in America, and as i am learning more and more literature, i am becoming more and more appalled at this laziness. Americans write their literature properly and effectively (at least to meet ends), but their speech is far shallower and the greatest tragedy is americans are unable to express deep feelings with the use of more sophisticated sentence structure and vocabulary (ill try to explain later). English has about 500,000 or so words in the dictionary, but Americans (at least here in California) unfairly neglect a huge portion of that library. In fact, its especially the most sophisticated and rich words (often latin) words that are unused. Sure, it is better to use the simpler words instead of the more complex in any given situation, but it is sad when the more intricate and sophisticated word is not used when appropriate and the speaker is unable to communicate effectively. Please, before my fellow Americans dismiss me, please understand that it is sad for me as someone Pakistani in nationality and an urdu (you must realize that urdu ultimately evolved from Sanskrit) speaker, to see how people of my nationality can convey emotion (especially love) with so much more affection because of proper use of language, wheras Americans are unable to compete in conveying emotion. How do they lack this? Americans, at least here in California, firstly, speak at a relatively sluggish speed and have difficulty forming coherent well structured sentences. WHen they do attempt to form a well structured sentence, their speech contains many breaks as the speaker tries his best to figure out the next word they will use in the sentence. During these breaks they will often say "um" or "ah". They will do this many many times when you speak to them. This is why they often prefer "small talk" and i know this is used in other languages, but its overuse has reduced it to banality in american speech. "Went to the store, checked it out, ran back, was like "dang", and then i never went back". THat previous sentence is how a person described a visit to the store to briefly check something (notice how much detail is emitted in this common speech). That previous sentence can be spoken with fast speech and is communicated effectively enough to describe the incredibly shallow details that the speaker cares (or rather, cares little) enough to express. However, if an American describes technical information in proper format they will stumble and experience many breaks and, again, take notice how slooowly they speak and how difficult it is for them to form proper sentences and how many times they say "um" or "ah" within sentences. And you wonder how we produce a President Bush! Actually, there are many people that speak like him. The problem with him - in spite of his many sentence breaks and difficulty in forming well-structed sentences - is that he speaks too much like ordinary Americans! And what need am i of evidence of ordinary Americans speaking in this manner - come here to California and speak to these otherwise normal, perfectly intelligent people! No, dont read what they write on the boards, or how they speak on televised speech, come and converse with everyday Americans.

Is it perhaps that americans are complacent and therefore avoid use of eloquent language (except in linguist circles and in literature) because they simply "dont feel like it". No, because there are times that admist this decay of language, when Americans like any other individuals must also convey strong emotions through expression. Perfect example: courtship. It is such a pity to watch "Jerry Maguire" and see Tom Cruise in his speech during the climax of the film, in which he displays the pinnacle of human empathy in Hollywood film. It was in his desperate attempt to bring back his wife that he must express to her how greatly he loves her. I dont remmeber the details, but you've all seen that movie. He stumbles upon words trying to express the love he has for his wife- sure he is certainly not nearly as eloquent or enchanting as romeo, but it is a pity that he is reduced to merely saying this: "you complete me" and that was the pinnacle of American romance film and far more than enough to win back the heart of his wife. Sure maybe the whole romantic aspect of that scene was the fact that he was unable to express himself. But i am focusing merely on that whole problem of stumbling and being unable to express oneself with langauge to begin with (and it also bothers me why that is considered the peak of romance films set in post modern times - you would expect some other romance to exceed this standard, but they rarely do), which has poisoned and pervaded everyday American speech. Americans within their families and among loved ones or most sadly, in courtship, are unable to express emotion effectively and stumble in this aspect. They are unable to use express the weight of their emotions through the right sophisticated vocabulary or proper sentence structure becaues that very same weight translates into sentences of length and complexity too much to bear for the everyday American. And so they begin stumbling and speaking very slow when they are poised to express themselves deeply. In similitude, it really is like an impotent and invirile man trying to mount a lady of most luscious beauty - no matter how bravely he climbes he is unable to surmount the mountain of his affliction and deficiency and reach his most lovable desire. The similitude is a case of pity, but in contrast, the case for americans is not only a pity, but it is a shame. Sure, comparing to my own sanskrit derived language is an unfair standard (as we all know, indian film is infatuated with its own adeptness in expressing love) for communicating emotion, but surely a lot of the luster of English language has been lost in the United States by oversimplification in everyday speech. Or do you not understand? Go ahead, ask a common American to describe how they feel about someone they love - be it kin or spouse, etc - and see if they can explain with nearly as much eloquence as common speakers of other languages (i already know Americans do not even compare to urdu and hindi speakers, and i am far more advanced in english than urdu).

Re: You will be glad to read it,and simultaneously you are helping me!!Please!!

Xatso — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 08:47:24 GMT

I find this piece is very difficult to read, and for most part are unable to follow your reasoning due to poor grammar, word choice and sentence structure.

I will only point out your mistakes since this is your thesis.

Yrmacita wrote:

Dear friend, this discussion needs your help, the topic is very interesting and easy to understand. I consider you will be glad to read it,and simultaneously you are helping me to submit my thesis, which deadline is soon. Please help me!

The Forced Decision Issue

Peruvians families will construct and continue their lives and new projects in the Japanese society context, which is ideal because family support system and unity can be maintained. The depending factors were identified as: financial (wage target) and emotional (childrenâs location). So far, parents would be driven toward the fact to stay in Japan, which is interpreted in my study as a forced decision. Because of the nature of the forced decision, their settlement is expected to depend not only on a comparison of life standards between the home and host country, but also would be strong affected by the strength of family relationships.

However, a further question remains, why and when does the decision-making turn into a forced decision to stay in Japan? When the time to the decision-making comes, parents will evaluate the situation of their children, and they will find that the young members are not able to adjust to a different environment for various reasons; such as some of the Peruvian children came at a very young stage of their lives, and the most time of their life they have stayed and grew surrounded by the context of the host society. Others were born in Japan hence the only environment they had seen is the Japanese. There are situations that within the same family, an elder brother or sister was born in Peru and the younger children born in Japan. In spite of these circumstances, the desires of returning to Peru are still held in the hearts of Peruvians parents although the situation is out of reality.

Additionally to this situation, we find children with low abilities of Spanish language, or if they are able to speak, they are not prepared to write or read in Spanish. Besides, most Peruvian children attend the Japanese school. Then, they do their every day activities in a context where the images and traditions that they embrace daily are mostly Japanese. The language in which many demonstrated superior proficiency is Japanese, and in fact, it has been adopted as their first language. In the best of cases children are bilingual; nonetheless in the majority of the cases they speak a fluently Japanese and only understand Spanish vocabulary, daily life conversation, typical phrases, and the linguistics codes used in their own family.

I consider that the state of Peruvian children is far to change in essence. The environment and circumstances will continue, and will be reinforced because of the changes in family membersâ role and the lack of communication. Therefore, this scene of the Peruvian family permits a closer view about what would be the election of children regarding to their future residence preferences. Only when the confronting time prepares the environment for the decision-making, at that very moment parents will realize and face the situation, giving up their dreams kept for long years, and just accept the decision of residing in Japan.

Due to the fact that parents are forced to select Japan as the country of their permanent residence, many would be the difficulties and frustrations confronting by them. In spite of that, I consider these outcomes important because of its future implications that would have an effect on the family. Then, a critical question has been raised: What are going to be the consequences of forced decision for Peruvian families? .The answers are not easy to find, but an analysis of the current situation and the way how do Peruvians perceive their future were required to approach the problem.

Subsequently, after parents and families set up their residence I suggest that Peruvian migrants may choose a different type of migration which move further than the standard of âstay or returnâ decision, that for the purpose of a better understanding will be called the âVa y Vieneâ[1] strategy. This new strategy implies that Peruvians would tend to commute and share their time between the host and the origin country. In few words, they would spend a period in the home country and then come back to the host country. This new strategy has been brought to light because of the framework in which parents will decide their residence the same that leads to a forced decision.

I consider that future analysis of Peruvian communities, especially those related to their residence and its consequences need to be highlighted. The importance of analyzing those themes will bring important insights to the description and evolution of the Peruvian family in Japan.

[1] The name was originally take from its the work of Zimmerman "The expression 'its comes and goes' was taken from the work of Ross, who used the French equivalent 'van et vient'"

Re: A cover letter for a job application..

Clive — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 05:17:46 GMT

Hi,

Below is the template of cover letter for job applications. Let me know if it sounds right to you. Correct any grammar errors and sentence structure.

I'm very interested in this position and please find attached resume for my working history. Also I am a very detail oriented individual with a passion for challenges. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions and I look forward to hearing from you.

If you'll permit me, I'd like to add a comment about politeness. Ways of expressing politeness in words vary between cultures. Perhaps what you wrote would be polite in your culture. However, it doesn't seem polite in mine.

In your first paragraph, it sounds like you are giving orders to us on the Forum. You need to say 'Please let me know . . . Please correct . . . '

In your second paragraph, the words 'Feel free to contact me if you have any questions . . .' make it sound like you are doing the reader a favour. It sounds rather arrogant, and I'm sure that is not your intention. You need to say 'Please feel free to . . .' or to use some other expression of politeness.

Best wishes, Clive