Search results for 'tag:Punctuation tag:Idioms' matching tags 'Punctuation' and 'Idioms'

Re: english idioms website

Tanit — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 21:26:14 GMT

Hi Ablat and welcome to the forums!

As for the website, I'm afraid they've got a few mistakes on their homepage ( ".this is your best place to learn english without the teachers.just trust yourself,you will be succeed. ! ...... you can do everything" [sic]). Their use of punctuation, capitalisation, "succeed" doesn't create a good impression.

Re: Please correct me with the essay

Mister Micawber — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 08:51:15 GMT

1) What should I replace my work with?-- No title is required for TOEFL essays; if you need a title, it should announce to the reader the topic of your essay.

2)
the parentless children-- these are not previously mentioned or specific children
make their lives better -- what English word means 'make...better'?
people (why did you underline here?). -- What word is more specific?
measure I will(why did you underline here?). -- Only one measure? And verb form is not consistent.

3)
normally(why did you underline here?).-- Orphanhood is normal??
lead miserable lives due to(why did you underline here?).-- Strictly, 'due to' is an adjective; use a synonym.
the lack of education and materials (why did you underline here?). -- wrong word
However, before we did all the (why did you underline here?).-- wrong verb form
A charity fund might well be operated(why did you underline here? Can I replace it with "opened?") -- Yes, wrong word; use 'opened' or a synonym.
make them pay at all costs(why did you underline here?).-- Idiom is wrong here, and redundant: taxes are mandatory by nature
The tax can be fluctuating(why did you underline here?).-- wrong verb form
It's time the government... emphasize the essay, why would you say it was extraneous?-- That is not emphasis; it is beside the point; the essay is about what you would do, not what the government should do

4)To sum up, I-the governor(why did you underline here?).-- Wrong punctuation, new title, unnecessary appositive
Everyone bears in their minds(why did you underline here?) - the idiom is incorrectly formed
that even orphans have the(why did you underline here?).--no previous mention, no specificity

NOTE: If you want to continue this revision, please post a clean, revised copy for my review, Belly.

Re: Punctuation: Suspension points ...

Grammar Geek — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 20:12:29 GMT

... is an ellipsis, used to show that text has been omitted. Despite popular usage in which is it used as a subsitute for every known type of punctuation except the apostrophe, use it only to show that words are missing.

I have never heard "He likes shadows and fresh water" before -- it's not an English idiom that I'm aware of, and I wouldn't be able to figure it out.

You have the skills TO DO the job, or you have the skills FOR the job, but not the skills TO the job.

Re: How can you tell whether someone is a non-native speaker?

simplyblessedwithlove — Sat, 23 Sep 2006 18:37:11 GMT

MrPedantic wrote:

5. Rhythm. Non-native speakers often bring a little of their native rhythm into English. The clauses may be not quite the right length; the pauses may sound mannered.

6. Grammatical regularity combined with inappropriate idioms. Grammar is the weakness of native speakers; idiom is the weakness of non-native speakers.

Maybe other members will have other ideas.

MrP

Totally agree. And I think the punctuation also counts. Even the advanced non-native English speakers sometimes punctuate their sentences wrong.

Re: help me with this sentence

Mister Micawber — Sat, 18 Feb 2006 00:47:55 GMT

Well first, punctuation is not usually included in grammar, and the former can be even slipperier than the latter. In this case (as in many), it is more a matter of what communicates most clearly. I think all of yours are OK; I do have opinions (see below), but they are not important:

a "by the number," legally defined process -- comma should be outside the quotation mark.

a "by the number" process -- no complaint from me

a by-the-mumber process -- no complaint except spelling: number

a "by-the-number" process-- I'd say that this is slight overkill.

One point that should be made is that quotation marks are used for (among other things) indicating an unusual, new or unexpected use of a word or phrase; for that reason, I would probably reject the quotation-mark forms you have listed, since the idiom seems to have its usual connotation here.

Re: untranslatable idioms

Lionheart — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 22:17:20 GMT

Wielebny wrote:
So could you please produce something Czech, which would fit into the thread?

Okay, I suppose I should stop drifting off-topic and post some foreign idioms. Czech idioms can be hilarious when translated literally into English. I suppose all foreign idioms sound strange to non-natives, but eastern european idioms carry a certain coarseness with them that can be funny, and the Czech people do not break that trend.

BÃ½t v rejÅ¾i.
DÃ¡t/snÃ©st nÄkomu modrÃ© z nebe.
DrÅ¾et (nÄkomu) palce
Chodit kolem horkÃ© kaÅ¡e.

Apparently there are many Czech idioms that involve birds. I think the first one is funny.:

LepÅ¡Ã vrabec v hrsti neÅ¾li holub na stÅeÅ¡e
VrÃ¡na k vrÃ¡nÄ sedÃ¡, rovnÃ½ rovnÃ©ho si hledÃ¡

Go to http://www.radio.cz/en/article/42543 for more interesting notes on Czech idioms. Also, www.bohemica.com has some good resources for the Czech language, although it should be noted that my Czech descent is from the Moravians, not the Bohemians.

The remainder of my post is directed to Francesca:

Francesca wrote:

Don't apologize, it's only my fault, I don't know english very well and I hope I improve it as soon as possible.

What you don't understand is that you write better English than most native Americans do. You use capitalization and punctuation better than most American college students. That's not flattery, that's the truth.

Francesca wrote:

I want to ask my sister if she ever heard "make a movie" in any film, because she loves movies and she knows english very well;

Just to make sure you understand me, I didn't hear the term "Make a movie" in a movie. I just heard a person say this: "In Italy, they have a phrase: "Make a movie!" It means to live life large! Live life like a movie was being made out of it!" The person that told me this was not Italian, so I probably shouldn't have believed him.

Francesca wrote:

Don't trust in translator, I have one too and it translates italian sentences in a terrible english...I can even correct it!

Yeah, I found out the hard way! Here, let's have a little bit of fun: I typed in "I would like to take a tour of your country." and this is what came out: "Vorrei prendere un giro del vostro paese."
"Waiter, their is a hair in my soup!" becomes: "Cameriere, loro sono i capelli in mia minestra!"
What did you just say about my sister?" becomes: "Che cosa giusto avete detto circa la mia sorella?"
And finally, "I smell something funny, I think it's my laundry," becomes: "Sento l'odore di qualche cosa di divertente, Penso che sia la mia lavanderia"

That should keep you laughing for awhile.

--Lionheart