Search results for 'tag:Nouns tag:Essays' matching tags 'Nouns' and 'Essays'

Re: Object-subject-verb

CalifJim — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 22:12:53 GMT

Fronting the direct object is much more common in conversation than most people realize. It's definitely not restricted to writing.

I think people just start a sentence thinking the first noun phrase is going to be the subject, and then suddenly a different verb comes to mind than they expected, so they end up throwing in a subject for that verb and the first noun phrase that came out ends up being the object. (This is the thinking-on-the-fly theory.)

Or they may deliberately put the object first because it has more importance for them -- they're going to contrast it with something else, for example. X, but not Y. X now, Y later. That sort of thing. (All of your examples contain this feature.) (This is the contrast theory.)

The dirty dishes I'll do now, but [I'll do the laundry later. / the laundry I'll do later / the laundry can wait].

Thanksgiving I can just about handle, but Christmas drives me nuts.

I've got to get the main points of this essay down on paper; the introduction I can write later.

Re: Please,would you proofread my text, Part one

nona the brit — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 10:10:01 GMT

Hi Bassim - this is a really evocative piece of writing, well done. I've underlined the parts you need to take another look at. One thing that makes your writing a little unclear in parts is where you are using pronouns and it isn't obvious who/what it refers to. In the sentence about 'instead of gazing yearingly at them (women) I'm not sure whether the men watch women to see where women put their shoes, or if the men are careful about where they put their own shoes, and whether the 'his' is correct (if it is the men being careful) or incorrect (if it is the women who should be careful). Again there is a bit of confusion caused initially by using 'it' for both winter and nature in the same sentence. You also have a few punctuation problems in your longer or more complex sentences.

...but I really liked this essay.

WINTER
Winter is here again. Like a powerful predator it has dug its claws in nature and it will not let it loose until the end of March and the first sunny days. True, it will give it a few days of brief respite when sun appears on a horizon for some minutes, but winter is merciless in this part of the world.
In the summer women walk in short skirts and tight dresses leaving men drooling over their bodies, but now they are wrapped up warmly in thick jackets and long shawls. Instead of gazing yearningly at them, men usually watch over where they put their shoes and boots; nobody wants to slip over on the ice and break his leg.

When I was younger I could never have imagined that I would end up in Sweden one day and experience this coldness on my own skin. But now I am here and feel that I have arrived to a godforsaken place which does not belong to Europe. The longer I am here the more I feel I do not belong here. I came here as a refugee but now I am a prisoner unable to leave the "prison", although there are no walls around me which would prevent me to escape.

When I feel bored or cannot read any more I leave my warm, cosy flat and take a stroll out in nature. There is a little river not far away and a path which goes all the way close to it which I have slowly paced all these years back and forth like a sentry on an everlasting duty. In the summer the riverbanks are overcrowded with young people: pupils, students, lovers and anglers but now the only living creatures who defy the winter is the flock of ducks which never leave their place even when the temperature drops below -10 degrees Celsius. They stand like statues, not giving a sign of life, one could believe they are frozen. First when a person approaches them they wake up from their torpor and waddle to the ice-covered river.

It is a special feeling to walk in this coldness when everything is white and grey while dark branches of the old and tall trees bending under the thick snow remind the stroller that in the spring the landscape will be more friendlier and beautiful. It is almost an absolute silence. The town is about 3.5 km away from here and the noise from the factories and streets cannot reach this place. The only sound makes my boots trampling and crushing the frozen snow. At times a black crow flies over and shrieks ominously leaving me alone in the cold, dark desert.

To be continued...

Re: Why The English Language Is So Hard To Learn

AlpheccaStars — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 00:09:13 GMT

Guest
And why, when I wind up my watch, I start it, but when I wind up this essay, I end it?

Maybe tha't why Microsoft has the "start" button to turn the computer off!

The Craziest Language

We'll begin with a box and the plural is boxes,
But the plural of ox should be oxen not oxes.

Then one fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.

You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses not hice.

If the plural of man is always called men,
Why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?

If I spoke of my foot and show you my feet,
And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?

If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why is the plural of booth booths and not beeth?

Then, one may be that and three would be those,
Yet hat in the plural would never be hose.
And the plural of cat is cats, and not cose.

We speak of brother and also of brethren,
But, though we say mother, we never say methren.

Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the femine; she, shis and shim.

So English, I fancy, you will agree;
Is the craziest language you ever did see.

Please comment on and correct on my writing

Raen — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 00:47:41 GMT

I don't know what I'd call it. Not an essay, there's no arguement techinically, just an opinion. I wrote it as a practice in writing racticing rather than voicing an opinion, although every bit of it is genuin. I had trouble deciding on the name for the subject matter, but this name, "Collocation, the adjective-noun part", is the best I could do. There must be a name for it, because it exists. Please review it, and correct for grammars and comment on the wording, style, conciseness, clarity ect.....I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

Form over substance:

for the eager and unsuspecting

Callocation, the adjective-noun part..beware of it.

It stands next to a phony foreign accent, the #1 suspect, in the lineup of "phoniness". Callocation is a by-product of the end result of one's learning of the language and becomes part of their voice. Assuming it and use it as your own is like picking up somebody's spit from his dinner, putting it in your mouth and chewing it so deliberately as if to convince the spewer how tasteful and delicious it is. That's just embarrassing, if not downright nasty. So before you drill the list of callocation into your already overwhelmed head and use it the next chance your have, think twice, it will betray you and tip you off.

What makes the hair on the back of my neck shoots up from its root more than anything else is when I hear my country fellowmen and women mimic a native speaker's personal property: the tone, the voice, ..and you've got it, the callocation! Using the expression like "a stunning beauty" time after time is annoying as if there's no other degree of beauty. That's for John, the native speaker next door, who uses it to describe any woman that breathes and happens to walk by. I rather you just say beauty and let me decide on what adjective to use to modify the noun based on the merit of the girl's beauty in question. In fact, I'd be more impressed if you say "a cucumber-white beauty", because that expression of originality conjures up in the brain of any Chinese a vivid image of a beautiful girl with smooth, clear and translucent white skin that we Chinese, men or women, obssess over ever so perversely. Show Originality, speak in your own voice, then I'll take you seriously when you want to tell me about the Angelina Jolie, I'll take you at your words that are your own. If I want to listen to John, I'd go talk to him myself.

As a foreigner, mimicking the fixed verbiage without reserve will stifle the little creativity you have left from learning the strigent rules of grammar. Your speech should not only convey your thoughts, your opinions, your views but also reflect your personality. Resist the temptation to speak LIKE a native, rather speak like an original with an accent (if you can't shake it, most of us can't) in your own voice. No matter how well you think you handle callocation, you're still copycatting it. You know it, I know it, even the cat standing and meowing next to you knows it, cats themselvies can smell a copycat right off the bat. So be original, be yourself. If you're still at the stage of mastering the skill of combining dependent clauses into one sentence, please do not say "crystal clear" or "stark contrast", simply "clear" and "contrast" would be sufficient for you.

Learning a foreign language is not about showing it off by using certain flashy verbiage that you drap over the substance of your speech, and how much you can sound like a native speaker using a borrowed voice. It is ultimately about learning to communicate, to tell people what you think, see, feel and hopefully in the process they understand who you are. Don't overlearn fixed verbiage such as callocation (the adjective-noun part), know it's there and that's that. Native speakers use it and sound awsome becaus they own it, it's their birth right.

Unless you're already there when callocation flows freely and naturally from your mouth to your speech, your thoughts to your text, deliberate and pre-mature use of it can be as hard on the ears as Modonna's British accent. So skim thru the list of callocation somebody kindly compiled, just so you know it's out there. But don't drill it, if you have to drill it into your head, it doesn't belong to you. If it doesn't belong to you, don't use it. Callocation will come to you in its own term, so haste not and be real. Rene Descartes said this famous wisdom: "I think, therefore I am." And I'd say, using my first neologism:

You phonify, then you are not.

Re: variable noun

Mister Micawber — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 04:43:12 GMT

.
I think what you said here, "... but your expectation must prove true" is a very strong recommendation. Are you saying it is our obligation as a good writer to have our message/statement, which contains one or more variable nouns, ring true to them?-- Sure, unless your intention is to distract them.

What if not, does he/she has to bear consequences? -- Who else? You can't blame George Bush for everything.

What possible consequences? Called a bad writer?-- Maybe

Recognized as someone without a full grasp of the grammar knowledge involved?-- Maybe

What else?-- C+ on your essay, ostracism by the PlÃ©iade, and other unspeakable punishments.

Need a name for a subject matter

Raen — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 06:26:04 GMT

A while ago I wrote an essay mainly for practicing writing, but I didn't have a name for my subject matter, I thought I did. I used "collocation" first, when I reviewed more examples of it I realized the subject I intended to talk about was only part of collocation. So I'm asking to see if anyone could provide me with a name for my subject matter.

Examples of collocation I've read are in 2 different groups:

1. verb + noun, for instance: make a living, do homework, turn on the radio, play an instrument, etc..

2. This is the part I have no name for: crytal clear, stark contrast, stunning beauty....words that are used together for emphasis or add strength to the description and very commonly used.

Is there a word or phrases for the 2nd part of collocation? Thanks a lot. I'd appreciate any suggestions.

Raen

Re: Worth...

Mister Micawber — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 03:12:49 GMT

.
1-- I think probably the first one. Ms Google says:

179,000 for "worth your attention"
146,000 for "worthy of your attention"

2-- an MBA essay but GCSE coursework. The first noun is countable; the second is not.
.

Re: Tech Editing vs. Grammar?

Grammar Geek — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 19:02:49 GMT

Hi Nao, and welcome to the forum.

Is this a discussion for a class you're taking? Do you need to write an essay on this? You shoudl share your thoughts too.

I can tell you one thing: I took an editing class, and was bitterly disappointed to find out that it was 90% grammar - and not only that, prescriptivist grammar on things that are now no longer looked down on, like using "their" as a gender-neutral, third-person-singular pronoun.

That doesn't mean that a tech editor doesn't have to know grammar. Good grammar gives credibilty and shows attention to detail. Poor grammar (in a native English speaker) makes me wonder what else your education didn't cover and makes me less likely to trust your other areas of expertise and good grammar shows me you care about your work. If you don't care enough to correct bad grammar, did you care enough to correct coding errors?

Re: The highlighter is used to highlight the text

Avangi — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:31:07 GMT

Just my opinion. High is an adjective and light is a noun. That is, the brightness (noun) of the affected text is intensified, or heightened. The light (noun) is higher (adjective).

Women had their hair "highlighted" in the 50's and 60's, which lightened only certain spots, giving (I suppose) the impression of lights shining on the high spots.

The term has been used for as long as I can remember in connection with speeches, arguments, or essays. The noun would refer to the salient points (the highlights of the argument) and the verb would refer to the process of calling attention to certain points (be sure to highlight this fact).

Highlighter as a tool for calling visual attention to parts in the text, is more recent, I think. The tool is a noun and the process is a verb (highlighter, to highlight.) I don't often hear the resulting "highlight" referred to, but it would be a noun. You may say the text is (or has been) highlighted.

This probably didn't answer your question. Are you asking if both high and light may be taken as adjectives within the compound word *** ? That is, the highlighted portion is light, or lighter, when compared to the rest of the text. I think the answer to this is "No." Personally, I think of a highlighter as a device, or process, which imparts light to the selected text, therefore a noun

*** "portmanteau" is a new one on me. Is it French?

- A.

Re: Decision making

phamthephong100 — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:27:17 GMT

Hello ngngmaiphuong, I can not find and correct all the mistakes in your essay (maybe some of my corrections are not correct), however I hope this can help

The notion of making decision alone is untenable and the one that I definitely ~~don't~~ do not rely on. A good decision needs a broad knowledge ~~to make~~ to be made, while one person's ability is limited. In my opinion, a momentous decision, the one that could affect your life, deserves rigorous scrutiny of not just an individual but of many people.

The first and blatant advantage of not making decision alone is the more possibility that decision to succeed. This could be exemplified by my own experience. In Vietnam, students who attend to secondary schools need to decide whether science or art they will pursue. At first, I thought that science is tedious; my parents, however, realize the superior importance of science in contemporary society so they ~~help~~ helped me to change my perception. I finally ~~to choose~~ chose science as my major, and after a long process of study, I now could say that I will never regret because of that decision. I am, in fact, proud of it. Without ~~others~~' my parents' help ~~to make~~ in making decision, I might choose the wrong way.

After a lot of decision making processes in life, no need to say, a lot of people could feel the burden while trying to decide something. Just the idea ~~that~~ of wrong decisions would ruin the one's future can make anyone of us hesitate to decide anything, and the veritable failure really comes, that fault will linger over one's mind forever. With others' help, everything will be different. The more people help us to decide, the fewer burdens we have.

Many important opportunities need expeditious decision. How long does it take for an individual to make a decision? Of course ~~it's~~ it is longer than the time of some people's work. (What do you mean?)
If ~~one~~ a person wants to be successful in this competitive world, he or she (may) need(s) others' help to make not only a fast decision but also a good one. More people would accelerate the decision making process. I ~~don't~~ do not mean that individual's work is ineffective, but it's less expeditious in a prodigious number of cases.

The fact that we have been building this world together is a striking evident for the effectiveness of many people's work. With others' help, the decision making process become not only effective but also faster (as well).

Is this an academic essay? If yes:
You should avoid personal pronoun as much as possible and NO abbreviation and NO opinion. And I can "smell" some kind of Vietnamese English here ( Am i right? -I wonder), it means you translate some word from Vietnamese into English, the result is some of your sentences are not very natural.
Did you use a dictionary? I can see a wide variety of vocabulary here,he he he.