Search results for 'tag:Modals tag:Commas' matching tags 'Modals' and 'Commas'

Re: please help

richard_s — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:13:58 GMT

Due to is a preposition, so the first clause should be a prepositional phrase (remember that you can't use modals in prepositional phrases, so you will have to change cannotÂ to not be able to. Â The verb in the clause needs to be in gerund form. You need a comma after the prepositional phrase, not a semicolon. Â

There are only 50% good included 500pcsÂ doesn't make sense. Â Probably included should be including, but I am not sure what this sentence means.

Re: grammar exercise

Feebs11 — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:33:21 GMT

Hela wrote:
Dear teachers,

Would you please correct this exercise for me?

Fill in with the right preposition (simple or multiword) and put the verbs in the right tense or form:

In the morning I arrived I went to call for [on] Hislop. [is this structure correct with no commas at all? yes] He (modal + not + pretend) could not pretend he (not know) did not know me, but he behaved as though he knew nothing about what I (do) would do. When I asked for permission to stay, he said it was out of his hands. He said the merchants (not want) would not want me (land) to land [meaning?Difficult to tell - usually in this form it means to arrive on shore from a boat, or to land a plane on the ground]. They had made a petition to him. They said that for six months they had been cut off from trade with the Main because of me, and [now] they (ruin) were ruined for nothing at all. The petition (debate) was debated that very morning in the Council. Hislop thought I (modal + attend) should not attend the meeting. I suppose that was friendly advice. If I (not go) did not got, perhaps Bernard (not speak up) would not speak up, the vote (go) would NOT (?) go against me [This sentence is obscure. Who is Bernard and why is he speaking for or against you?]. Hislop (be) was full of regrets, of course, but I (modal + leave) would not leave. Heaven (know) knows where I would have been now.

Best regards,

Hela

grammar exercise

Hela — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 12:31:57 GMT

Dear teachers,

Would you please correct this exercise for me?

Fill in with the right preposition (simple or multiword) and put the verbs in the right tense or form:

In the morning I arrived I went to call for Hislop. [is this structure correct with no commas at all?] He (modal + not + pretend) could not pretend he (not know) did not know me, but he behaved as though he knew nothing about what I (do) would do. When I asked for permission to stay, he said it was out of his hands. He said the merchants (not want) would not want me (land) to land [meaning?]. They had made a petition to him. They said that for six months they had been cut off from trade with the Main because of me, and [now] they (ruin) were ruined for nothing at all. The petition (debate) was debated that very morning in the Council. Hislop thought I (modal + attend) should not attend the meeting. I suppose that was friendly advice. If I (not go) did not got, perhaps Bernard (not speak up) would not speak up, the vote (go) would NOT (?) go against me. Hislop (be) was full of regrets, of course, but I (modal + leave) would not leave. Heaven (know) knows where I would have been now.

Best regards,

Hela

Part of speech identification

Eagerlearner — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 20:22:31 GMT

Hello, this is my first post here, I like to know these words
kilometer
centimeter

Are those words noun if they are standing alone ? if it's, what kind of noun it's, proper noun or abstract noun or etc ?

After that, I want to indentify the part of speech of the following sentence by using the stanford parser at http://nlp.stanford.edu:8080/parser/index.jsp
if you input,
convert kilometer to centimeter
it gives convert/VB kilometer/NN to/TO centimeter/VB

if you input,
convert 2 kilometers to centimeter
it gives convert/VB 2/CD kilometers/NNS to/TO centimeter/NN

You can refer to the tagset below, my question is, is the first input grammatically correct ? if it's correct the part of speech given by the program seems to be incorrect because
the centimeter should be noun instead of Verb, or am I wrong ? If you add the "2" as the second input the program gives the correct part of speech tagging,
is it because my first input grammar is incorrect ? Thank you.

Reference
1. CC Coordinating conjunction 25.TO to
2. CD Cardinal number           26.UH Interjection
3. DT Determiner                27.VB Verb, base form
4. EX Existential there     28.VBD Verb, past tense
5. FW Foreign word              29.VBG Verb, gerund/present participle
6. IN Preposition/subord.     30.VBN Verb, past participle
218z     conjunction
7. JJ Adjective                 31.VBP Verb, non-3rd ps. sing. present
8. JJR Adjective, comparative    32.VBZ Verb, 3rd ps. sing. present
9. JJS Adjective, superlative    33.WDT wh-determiner
10.LS List item marker          34.WP wh-pronoun
11.MD Modal                     35.WP Possessive wh-pronoun
12.NN Noun, singular or mass    36.WRB wh-adverb
13.NNS Noun, plural              37. # Pound sign
14.NNP Proper noun, singular     38. $ Dollar sign
15.NNPS Proper noun, plural      39. . Sentence-final punctuation
16.PDT Predeterminer             40. , Comma
17.POS Possessive ending         41. : Colon, semi-colon
18.PRP Personal pronoun          42. ( Left bracket character
19.PP Possessive pronoun        43. ) Right bracket character
20.RB Adverb                    44. " Straight double quote
21.RBR Adverb, comparative       45. ` Left open single quote
22.RBS Adverb, superlative       46. " Left open double quote
23.RP Particle                  47. ' Right close single quote
24.SYM Symbol             48. " Right close double quote

Part of Speech identification

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 20:16:08 GMT

if you input,
convert 2 kilometers to centimeter
it gives convert/VB 2/CD kilometers/NNS to/TO centimeter/NN

You can refer to the tagset below, my question is, is the first input setence correct ? if it's correct the part of speech given by the program seems to be incorrect because
the centimeter should be noun instead of Verb, or am I wrong ? If you add the "2" as the second input the program gives the correct part of speech tagging,
it it because my first input grammar is incorrect ? Thank you.

Reference

1. CC  Coordinating conjunction  25.TO  to 
2. CD  Cardinal number           26.UH  Interjection 
3. DT  Determiner                27.VB  Verb, base form 
4. EX  Existential there   28.VBD Verb, past tense 
5. FW  Foreign word              29.VBG Verb, gerund/present participle 
6. IN  Preposition/subord.   30.VBN Verb, past participle 
218z     conjunction 
7. JJ  Adjective                 31.VBP Verb, non-3rd ps. sing. present 
8. JJR Adjective, comparative    32.VBZ Verb, 3rd ps. sing. present 
9. JJS Adjective, superlative    33.WDT wh-determiner 
10.LS  List item marker          34.WP  wh-pronoun 
11.MD  Modal                     35.WP  Possessive wh-pronoun 
12.NN  Noun, singular or mass    36.WRB wh-adverb 
13.NNS Noun, plural              37. #  Pound sign 
14.NNP Proper noun, singular     38. $  Dollar sign 
15.NNPS Proper noun, plural      39. .  Sentence-final punctuation 
16.PDT Predeterminer             40. ,  Comma 
17.POS Possessive ending         41. :  Colon, semi-colon 
18.PRP Personal pronoun          42. (  Left bracket character 
19.PP  Possessive pronoun        43. )  Right bracket character 
20.RB  Adverb                    44. "  Straight double quote 
21.RBR Adverb, comparative       45. `  Left open single quote 
22.RBS Adverb, superlative       46. "  Left open double quote 
23.RP  Particle                  47. '  Right close single quote 
24.SYM Symbol  48. "  Right close double quote

translation into English: "Excuse me Miss"

Hela — Sat, 12 May 2007 11:20:37 GMT

Dear teachers,

Would you please have a look at my work when you have time?

Â« Excusez-moi mademoiselle, puis-je vous poser une question, s'il vous plaÃ®t ? Pourriez-vous me dire oÃ¹ se trouve la gare ?
- Bien sÃ»r monsieur; d'ailleurs je dois y aller moi-mÃªme, voyez-vous. Je devrais mÃªme y Ãªtre dÃ©jÃ car je prends un train dans un quart d'heure.
- Eh bien je vous accompagne si vous le permettez.
- Volontiers, vous partez aussi ? Vous ne devez pas aller trÃ¨s loin, je suppose; vous n'avez aucun bagage !
- Non, non, je ne pars pas, je vais seulement chercher une vieille amie qui doit arriver ce soir des Ãtats Unis.
- Vous avez dit ce soir ? Mais il n'est que dix heures du matin ! Vous n'avez certainement pas besoin de vous presser !

- En effet, mais vous ne pouvez pas vous imaginer Ã quel point je suis heureux de la revoir. Je n'habite pas ici et je suis parti de bonne heure afin d'Ãªtre ici Ã l'heure. AprÃ¨s quinze ans, vous vous rendez compte ?
- Vous deviez Ãªtre trÃ¨s jeune et elle doit avoir beaucoup changÃ© !
- Non, c'est impossible ! Elle a plus de soixante ans et elle a toujours Ã©tÃ© jeune. Je ne peux pas croire qu'elle ait changÃ©.
- Cela se pourrait, pourtant. Moi, j'ai une amie, comme Ã§a. Elle refuse de vous dire son Ã¢ge. Elle doit avoir Ã peu prÃ¨s le mÃªme Ã¢ge. Je pense qu'elle doit avoir peur de vieillir.
- Vous n'auriez pas peur, vous, Ã son Ã¢ge ? En tout cas, ce dont vous n'avez pas peur, c'est d'Ãªtre en retard ! Vous devriez vous presser un peu, non ?

âExcuse me Miss, may I ask you something please? Could / May / Might I ask you how to get / the way to the (railway) station?â

âCertainly sir [do you think that "Miss" should be capitalized but not "sir"? If yes, Why? Do I need a comma before "Miss" and "sir"?]. Actually, I have to go / Iâm going there myself [I must go is incorrect because itâs an external obligation â sheâs catching a train ?], you see. I should even (?) be there already because I'm catching a train / Iâve a train to catch in fifteen minutes.â

âWell, Iâll walk with you if I may.â

â âBy all means! Are you leaving too? You can't be going very far [on supprime le I suppose en dÃ©but de phrase ?]; you have no luggage at all!â

â¡ âBy all means! You donât have a bag. Not going far? [or should I suppress Are you leaving too? because it might be thought impolite]

âNo, no [do I need a comma here?] I'm not going anywhere, I'm only going to meet an old friend of mine who is to arrive / is arriving / flying in this evening / tonight from the United States.â

âDid you say this evening? But it's only ten in the morning! You

(a) certainly needn't hurry / needn't huryy at all

(b) certainly donât need to hurry

âYes, you're right, but you can't imagine how happy I am to see her again. I don't live here and I left / set off early this morning so that I could be [a modal is necessary after "so that", right?] here on time. After fifteen years, can you imagine / can you believe it / mind (you) / mark you ?"

âYou must have been very young and she must have changed a lot!â

âNo, it's impossible / No, she can't have! She is over sixty and she has always been young. I can't believe that she can have changed / has changed.â []

âShe might / may / could have, though. I (myself = wrong?) have a friend like that. She refuses to tell you / won't tell you her age. She must be about that age / must be approximately the same age. I believe she must be afraid of getting old.â

âWouldn't you be at her age?â

âAnyway,

(a) you're not afraid of being late, are you?

(b) what you're afraid of is being late = not English?

You should hurry up, shouldn't you?â

- Oui, je suppose que je le devrais, mais je dois vous avouer quelque chose : je ne vais pas Ã la gare et je ne sais mÃªme pas oÃ¹ elle se trouve.
- Mais alors, ces valises ? Vous n'Ãªtes pas obligÃ©e de tout me dire, remarquez.
- Euh ....Pourriez-vous parler plus fort ? Je n'entends pas trÃ¨s bien. Je vous offre un verre ?
- Ce sont normalement les hommes qui invitent les femmes : Je devrais refuser, mais ne le ferai pas. Il se peut que je sois impoli, mais j'accepte avec plaisir.
- Oh, dÃ©solÃ©e ! Je viens de voir quelqu'un que je connais. Je dois vous laisser. Contente de vous avoir rencontrÃ© ! Vous devez me croire. Je suis vraiment navrÃ©e !
- Oui, cela ne m'Ã©tonne pas de vous ! Â»

âYes, I suppose I should, but I ought to [must = wrong ?] tell you something: I'm not going to the station, and I don't even know where it is.â

âSo, what about those suitcases? You needn't tell me everything, mind you / you know.â

âErr... Could you speak a little louder / Could you speak up (a bit)? I can't / don't hear very well. Can / May [shall = wrong ?] I offer you a drink?â

âIt's normally (the?) men who invite (the?) women / It's usually the men who do the asking: I ought to refuse, but I won't. I may / might [pour accentuer le paradoxe] be rude / It may be rude of me, but I accept with pleasure (?).â

âOh, sorry, I've just seen someone I know. I must leave you. Nice to have met you / Nice meeting you! You must believe me. I'm ever so sorry!â

âI bet you are!â

Thanks a lot,
Hela

Re: doubt (1)http://www.englishforums.com/freetextbox3/images/bold.gif

Marius Hancu — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 04:31:00 GMT

1) Yes, only some investors.

2) The difference is the same between the present tense and present continuous tense (even if a "should" is included which is a modal showing obligation). Read your books or do some searches here on:
present continuous
(top right Search corner)
or click on the relevant buttons underneath your original posting.

In case of idioms, suggest searching at Yahoo with:
"flex one's muscle" dictionary
(commas are important to group up terms)
and you will find appropriate dictionary pages definining the idioms
including the page at "flex" of this dictionary:
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/flex

Re: Modal verbs

MrPedantic — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 23:36:57 GMT

Now this is an interesting comment:

Exhibit A

Milky wrote:

In the article, I believe that the journalist is either reporting Anne's words in a semi-direct fashion (i.e. objectivised deontic modality) or is expressing his her own conclusion of the interview.

The sentence you call reported is of course:

1. Many single mothers, like Annette Cowley, must go to work.

Now compare A with this comment:

Exhibit B

Milky wrote:

?Annette to journalist: " I must work, the government says so." (Poor use of the modal from a BE standpoint.)

Your comma makes the sentence sound a little odd. But we can soon fix that:

2. I must work; the government says so.

Which is equivalent to:

3. The government says (that) I must work.

Now explain why, when the journalist reports Anne's words in a "semi-direct fashion", you think it's acceptable; but when Anne in your example reports the government's words in an indirect fashion, you think it's "poor use of the modal from the BE standpoint".

Or do you think that #3 is also "poor use of the modal", in British English?

MrP

Re: "neither would be..." ?

taiwandave — Wed, 30 Jun 2004 18:59:39 GMT

Hello, Jessica.

You correctly flagged this sentence as being incorrect:

1. If the mother is not happy, neither would be the child.

The problem with [1] is tense agreement on either side of the comma. The "if" clause is using the present simple, but the "neither" clause uses the past tense of the modal verb "will". It should be:

2. If the mother is not happy, neither will be the child.

Compare:

3. If he goes, I will stay home.
4. If he goes, I would stay home.

[4] is correct only if the speaker is giving advice to someone else (in other words, "If I were you, I would stay home if he goes"). In [2] and [3] the speaker is simply stating that if A is true, B is also true. Hence the use of "will", not "would".

The simplest way of making this point is, as you suggested:

5. If the mother is not happy, the child will not be happy.

Other variants:

6. An unhappy mother means an unhappy child.
7. If the mother is unhappy, so will be the child.

The most concise is at only seven words.

Re: Beam me up suzi!

suzi — Sun, 06 Jun 2004 14:10:06 GMT

hi bubu - I've been away for a few days..

I guess you just want this proof-reading? I don't think it needs much alteration. I'm assuming it is meant to serve as a book-review? I've made suggested alterations and annotated them in brackets.

"This is one of those books intended to while away a monsoon or two, which, if thrown with a good over arm action, will bring down a water buffalo to its (delete apostrophe here) knees. Although (changed this) there is much skip-worthy, even I read parts (added an s) of it all the way through!

This book is for travelers who want to be able to talk to people they meet in India, even if such conversations are conducted on only a very basic level. It is designed to give you the basic expressions and questions you will need when out and about. Unlike other books, this book enables you to bypass any (?? wouldn't "much" be better there ? - there must be SOME grammar in it?) grammatical hoopla and still get by with easy to understand terms. Itâs designed to be as (added word)user friendly as possible, and sacrifices perfect grammar (deleted comma) and pronunciation in order to make the language easier to learn.

This is not an academic treatise and includes deliberate nonsense rubbing shoulders with unconscious absurdity with a miscellany of satirical observations on Indian societies to make you smile and chuckle during the learning process. In short, the entire book will (?? might? could be a better choice of modal verb here) evoke an experience of intense irritation and frustration, but you should find yourself enchanted and unable to put it down. (this bit seems a bit too paradoxical, are you sure you want to say exactly this?)

Without any doubt, you can be rest assured your attempts to speak the language will be much appreciated and will make your travels easier and hopefully more enjoyable. So if youâre looking for the most fun and easy way to learn about Hindi, this book will give you a helping hand. It makes a perfect travellerâs (usually double l n English - think one l is US version) companion."

:)
susan