Search results for 'tag:Negatives tag:Grammar' matching tags 'Negatives' and 'Grammar'

Re: civil liberties vs civil rights

Avangi — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 19:14:31 GMT

New2grammar
Are laws structured in negative sentences ...?

Anyone can write a law and any legislative body can pass it. Hopefully someone will come along with lots of bucks and get accused of breaking the stupid ones and the poorly written ones. Then they eventually get appealed to the high courts, where all the brains are.

There's nothing wrong with negative laws. Look at the Ten Commandments. (Thou shalt not . . . .).

You reminded me to check my bank account: "almost next to nothing."

Clive
In English, very, very roughly speaking, "You can't be punished for doing something that is not prohibited by law".

Thanks, Clive, I was hoping for confirmation on that. (I love it when you speak very, very roughly!)

Best wishes, - A.

Re: slimming down.

Mr Wordy — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:56:50 GMT

New2grammar
Mr Wordy
if you're happy that's the case.

Thank you, Mr. Wordy. I don't quite understand your above comment. Are you saying your suggestion "tightly controlled society" doesn't carry a negative connotation to readers? If so, it's quite the opposite of what I want. I actually think that society should be given more freedom.

Sorry, I think that this idiomatic phrase may have caused confusion. It doesn't mean that you agree a tightly controlled society is a good thing and you're pleased that Japan is that way. It means "If you're satisfied that the statement is true, or at least acceptable for your purposes". In other words, I didn't want my suggestion to be taken as a personal endorsement or recommendation of the sentiments expressed.

In this context, "tightly controlled society" is consistent with the author having a negative or mildly negative view (to put a positive spin on it, you would say something like "well regulated society"). But it's not as strongly negative as your original "disrespecting". If you want to preserve that much negativity then you could say "Japan has long been known for disrespecting personal choice", or, even stronger, "... disrespecting individual freedoms". But my guess is that my first suggestion fits your objective.

Re: Whitesmoke.com review?

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 18:04:06 GMT

Anonymous
Like others, I wish I had searched for a review before buying this piece of junk program. I purchased the program with a backup CD and such for $149 and cannot get it to work. On top of this, Whitesmoke software has horrible to non-existant customer service and makes it nearly impossible to contact real help. I have even warned them that I would be posting negative reviews and sharing information about their software at a writer's conference, and they still haven't responded. Look up the word "refund" on their forums and see people with unresolved complaints.

Yes, I saw your comments in the forum, thanks for that, that made me check some of the reviews on the internet and they are pretty mixed. Think I'll save the money or wait until it has improved so much that it's worth buying (hey, even Windows became decent eventually...).

One might suggest Whitesmoke to use the following paragraph in their website demo, but I doubt they will. Quote from another review:

--
"I bought the product and guess how many grammar errors it found in the paragraph below? Zero.

'I me think once good was Whitesmoke. But grammar found problems no can find. Whitesmoke said artificial intelligence it uses. Me think it intelligence most artificial. No can do it. Whitesmoke full of all smoke. How they say grammar, they check me confused very.'

Iâve been trying to get a refund for nearly a week now. They donât respond. Iâve filed a dispute against them with my credit card company."
--

Re: Please clear my doubt

Mister Micawber — Fri, 09 May 2008 06:40:44 GMT

.
No there is an error in grammar and an infelicity in structure-- it should read:

..the negative impact on the young of movie scenes where heroes drink alcohol.

nor

Anonymous — Tue, 06 May 2008 07:30:16 GMT

Hi,

At The American Heritage Book of English Usage at Bartleby.com in the section named "1. Grammar: Traditional Rules, Word Order, Agreement, and Case", I saw this line in its note:

However, when a verb is negated by not or never, and is followed by a negative verb phrase (but not an entire clasue), you can use either or or nor: He will not permit the change or (or nor) even consider it.

Can you tell me what is it saying???

Before that, it had this example sentence:

He cannot find anyone now, nor does he expect to find anyone in the future. Jane will never compromise with Bill, nor will Bill compromise wth Jane.

And it seemed to have noted that these constructions nor causes an inversion of the "does' and 'will' and subject (whatever that is).

Re: gotten

CalifJim — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 03:54:47 GMT

New2grammar
can I generalize your answer to all passive constructions

You can certainly generalize to the negative actions that can be inflicted upon a person, as shown in your examples. But you can't apply all three patterns to all past participles. For example, you may say,

He could have been driven to the station.

But I would consider it awkward to use got or gotten with driven:

???He could have got/gotten driven to the station.

Likewise:

He could have been heard in the next room. ???He could have got/gotten heard in the next room.

Not all past participles work with got/gotten.

Re: Please check for me this discursive essay !

redneon — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:55:52 GMT

Thank you Grammar Geek, for your help ! "blue" words are the words that I correct again.However, I still don't know how to correct the the "red" mistakes ? Sorry for my slow understanding, my English isnt very good,so please correct for me one more time, Thank you so much !

Numerous people around the world study English as their foreign language. Many of them attribute a fluent English learner to living in an English-speaking country, whereas others believe that there are many obstacles when they 're studying overseas. Therefore, this essay will discuss about the benefits and negatives of studying English in an English-speaking country.

The first argument in favor of studying English in an English-speaking country is that students can enhance all their English skills with the support of good facilities. Firstly, the surrounding environment speaking English full-time wherever students go may help them improve speaking and listening dramatically. Furthermore, they have enormous oppotunities to approach a new culture and the modern living style in most English speaking countries. Those lead to the deeper understanding in (may be not necessary ?) English and indirectly make students' reading and writing skills better. In brief, English skills will rise up when students live in an English-speaking country.

Although there are some advantages, studying English in an English-speaking country still has some disadvantages.

The primary negative for studying English in an English-speaking country is that there are various obstacles when living alone in the new country. Many students who have not left their home before feel shocked with the new culture and they usually find difficult to live independently because of the lack of family support. --That was a very well-written sentence! (thank you) In addition, most English speaking countries are developed. As a consequence, there are many exotic things for students to discover and some of them may lose their seft-control and plunge themselves into playing without studying This needs a bit of development. Are you saying that will fall into the hedonistic lifestyle of the decadent Americans? What are the real dangers you're talking about? ( I re-writethat sentence already,is that clearer ? )

Another disadvantage of studying English in an English speaking country is the financial problems. Living overseas for many years in order to studying may cost a large amount of money. For example, the aggregate of living cost and tuition fees for one year study in Australia may cost around 30,000 dollars. Moreover, the cost can increase each year as a result of inflation all over the world and that can be a burden for students' family finance.

In conclusion, this essay has identified both positive and negative aspects of studying English in an English speaking country. Despite the advantages to improve all English skills, it still have a pressure for students and their family. Consequently, students should think carefully about studying overseas to make sure that their family can afford the financial aspect and they can adapt easily to new environment . You list only "adapt" but you mention the financial aspect too. I think you should add something about that to your final sentence.

Re: What did he say? What was it he said?

Philip — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:59:03 GMT

Why is it that we say, "What did he/she say?" or "What did I say?" even when it is past tense?
We use 'did' in making a past tense sentence interrogative or negative, using the base form of the verb.

As a follow-up question to those kind enough to answer, is there a difference between 'do' and 'have' that allows the different conjugation of the verb 'to say' in the different examples, or is this just simply a case of the strange way grammar works?
What did you say ~ What have you said.

questions about logical sequence of the meanings of verb tenses

eagleflych — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 19:46:30 GMT

Hi, everybody:

I have an idea about "the logical sequence of the meanings of all verb tenses" and I am not sure that I am right. Please help me.

I think:

In the negative forms of all verb tenses, the objects modified by the negative meanings are the original meanings of main verbs and the meanings of following words.

Afterward, the objects modified by the affirmative meanings of the verb tenses are the negative meanings, the original meanings of main verbs and the meanings of following words.

We can use the sequence formula to explain the negative forms of all verb tenses:

"the affirmative meanings of the verb tenses"---"the negative meanings" ---"the original meanings of main verbs and the meanings of following words"

For example, please watch the two sentences below:

I have bought a book for a year.

(In the sentence, the logical sequence is "the affirmative meaning of the verb tense"---"the original meanings of main verbs and the meanings of following words", namely, "the continuing"---"buying a book for a year". The sentence is wrong, because the action of "buying a book" can't continue for a year.)

I have not bought any books for a year.

(In the sentence, the logical sequence is "the affirmative meaning of the verb tenses"---"the negative meanings" ---"the original meanings of main verbs and the meanings of following words", namely, "the continuing"---"the negative meaning of 'not' "---"buying any books for a year". The sentence is right, because the state of "not buying any books" can continue for a year.)

Are my thoughts above right?

If the grammar rules that I said above are right, are the rules applicable to other verb tenses?

For example in the sentence of "She is not reading the book right now.", does the negative form of The Present Continuous tense have the same logical sequence as The Present Perfect Tense?

Thanks a lot in advance.

Re: so / as

Anonymous — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 17:41:47 GMT

Hi, Grammar Geek,

To begin with, I'm in no calibre to teach you something. The rule says that "so ... as" is used only in negatives, but "so ... as" can be used with both negatives and positives.

http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:EzrKFJjlI6IJ:www.bartleby.com/68/35/535.html+so+...+as&hl=tr&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=tr