Search results for 'tag:Question marks tag:Plurals' matching tags 'Question marks' and 'Plurals'

Re: offshore drilling

Avangi — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 18:00:49 GMT

Comma after 20 yrs

Even so - incorrect use logically

while the rates of growth might be different, we would probably say "rate" singular, applying to the collective rate - but yours is okay.

"Who knows?" is a fixed expression, and doesn't refer to China & India (plural) but an unknown person who might know. Probably a question mark at the end.

20 years from now

- A.

Re: Please explain this!

Avangi — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 07:19:11 GMT

Creativeguru
Does the nobel prize provide the kiss of death for writers This needs a question mark.
In the above sentence instead of provide if I write provides then is it wrong kindly explain why to use provide here When you invert this to declarative, you have, "The nobel prize does provide the kiss . . . ." The singular subject The nobel prize takes the singular verb form of the auxilliary, to do, which is "it does." The main verb "to provide" appears as the infinitive, which resembles the plural in this case.

To keep the rate of tax low, it would be useful to do away with small-scale industry exemption (or exemptions) You can use either "exemptions" or "the small-scale industry exemption." (The second option would not be good if you're talking about several different types of exemptions.)

Please tell either of words are right or which one is appropraite at the end of the sentence

Re: 1)How can we call the package that helicopters throw on the land when t

Belly — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 08:57:20 GMT

Mister Micawber wrote:

1) What can we call the package that helicopters throw on the land when there is a catastrophe happens? -- (Emergency) Aid packages? Air drops?

2) About punctuation, should we punctuate before or after the : She told me," I want to go out. " or She told me," I want to go out".) -- Most American punctuation guides place the full stop (or period) invariably inside the quotation mark, while British guides place it inside or out depending on the part to which it is applicable. I think. Or is it the other way around? Anyway, there is contention, sometimes heated

" = quotation mark

, = comma

' = apostrophe

/ = slash or backslash

) = parenthesis (AmE) or bracket (BrE)

# = number sign, pound sign, octothorpe

? = question mark, interrogation point

! = exclamation mark/point

There are probably other names as well.

Do I need two )) here or just one? -- Two, but it would be better to rearrange the sentence to avoid the duplication; it is unattractive.

Hi,

Actually, in sentence one, the thing I want to ask is:

If you can imagine, when inundations come to one province, people of other provinces donates food, drink, money etc (I'm still confused when can we use plural or singular for food and drink here).... and they pack them all in packages which is then sent to the poor province... What can we call that?

Re: differences ? thank you

Yankee — Wed, 16 May 2007 13:46:37 GMT

Peaceblinkfriend wrote:
Hi all agian

I would like to know the differences between these pairs of sentences. Which is correct and why ?

1. a) What are the differences between these two ? OK. This suggests that there is (or may be) more than one difference.
    b) What is the difference between these two ? OK. This indicates that there is only or exactly one difference.

2. a) How many people are there? OK
    b) How many people is there? Wrong. You need 'are' because people is plural.

3. a) I don't know if she know who Jim is ? Wrong. You need simple present tense and third person singular with 'she'.
    b) I don't know if she knows who Jim is. OK (but without the question mark because it is not a question).

Re: Survey_sentences

Feebs11 — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 16:19:00 GMT

In 1. I would put "new medicine" and "old medicine" in quotation marks to indicate their differences. In 2 it would probably be better to ask for comments in the plural. In 3, remove the question mark which is unnecessary. In 4. Do you mean to say "Doctors will need" or that the person conducting the survey needs to have doctors to fill in the questionnaires; put a comma after "sales visit" to clarify the statement.

Re: Usage of Water vs Waters

Inchoateknowledge — Thu, 04 May 2006 06:41:02 GMT

I do not want to muddy the waters but you can definitely say : Come rain or shine, I go out fishing in all weathers.
There are uncountable nouns which are used as countable plurals: I feel I am on shifting sands, what are your strengths and weaknesses?,
The powers that be decided to cut public spending.
is my punctuation correct in this letter - I do not think so?
do you agree with my use of question marks?
If not, what is the correct usage?

inchoate knowledge

Re: Singular or plural with 'or'?

Clive — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 16:19:29 GMT

Hi,

"Would you you like two large or one small cake?" or

"Would you you like two large or one small cakes?" ?

I'd say either "Would you you like two large or one small cake?" or "Would you like one small or two large cakes?"

[And by the way, how many question marks should I enter at the end of my query?] One, inside the quotes.

Best wishes, Clive

Singular or plural with 'or'?

Greyowl — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 10:55:57 GMT

Which is correct:

"Would you you like two large or one small cake?" or

"Would you you like two large or one small cakes?" ?

Viktor

[And by the way, how many question marks should I enter at the end of my query?]

Re: Grammar tests

Guest — Mon, 23 Aug 2004 12:56:23 GMT

1. Jane and May are in class right now
Names of people always have a capital letter
There is more than one person in class - Jane and May, therefore it is plural.

2 Why do you live in this cold place?
A question always ends with a question mark and has the verb to do in it ( You need to get a good grammar book and revise questions

3. My name is Takeshi, I come from Japan. Wait for me I am coming with you.
Again capital letter as it is a name.
present simple is used here as you are already here, not in Japan and there is no action
Use of present continuous. Again read up on the difference between Present simple and present continuous

4 I went to the zoo on Saturday
Capital letter for Saturaday
Past action - not happening now - use of past simple tense

The Punctuation FAQ

rommie — Tue, 17 Feb 2004 20:56:49 GMT

The (incomplete) Punctuation FAQ

Hopefully this will grow in time, as other questions are asked and answered, and other people add to this.
Hopefully (!) some kind moderator or adminstrator will mark this thread as sticky.

INTRODUCTION
In grammar, the rules are forged in a delicate balance between history and culture. History defines the formal rules, culture defines the usage rules, and most of the English-speaking world resides somewhere between the two. You can make a new usage rule merely by inventing it and using it, but the only way to make a new formal rule is wait for a very long time - these rules do change, but they change slowly.

Punctuation rules, on the other hand, change much, much faster. These rules are set by publishers, newspapers, and so on, and so can vary from publisher to publisher, let alone from country to country. For example, the Sunday Times prints "the home secretary", wheras the Times prints "the Home Secretary". Who is right? Well, there are the people who effectively set the rules, so perhaps the question is moot.

I am personally inclined to the view that punctuation doesn't matter much, largely because of the reasons stated above, but also because punctuation is an artifact of writing. Our language had beauty, structure, and the logic of real grammar, long before anyone ever dreamed of writing it down. However, punctuation rules do exist in practice, and people keep asking for them (so these really ARE frequently asked questions), so, here goes with what I've been able to look up.

The sources for this information are the Oxford Language Reference (British) and the Harbrace College Handbook, Ninth Edition (American). Both are accepted reference standards.

Rommie

TRUE GRAY AREAS

These can't really be called "rules", because disagreement exists among the rulemakers. These are the areas in which you must make up your own mind.

CAPITALIZATION
The fixed rules are that sentences and proper nouns are must be capitalized. Beyond that, you pretty much have to decide for yourself. Some people think that words derived from proper nouns should be captialized (like "Boolean" or "Pasteurized" / "boolean" or "pasteurized"), others disagree, arguing that there is no such thing as a "proper adjective". Some people think that abbreviations which are pronouncable should be treated as ordinary vocabulary words and therefore lowercased, others disagree ("ufo", "Nato", etc. versus "UFO", "NATO", etc.). The capitalization of book and film titles is a total free-for-all. You can capitalize pretty much any word you want.

RULES COMMON TO BOTH BRITAIN AND AMERICA

APOSTROPHE-S
In general, plurals are formed with an -s (no apostrophe), and possessive case is formed with an -'s (apostrophe-s). However, there are exceptions to this rule, as follows:
1. The pronoun "its" (possessive case of it) requires no apostrophe. The entirely separate word "it's" is short for "it is".
2. It is CORRECT to write: "My name contains two m's" (with an apostrophe) - basically because, without it, the sentence wouldn't read correctly.

BRACKETS
Round brackets () enclose a relatively unimportant piece of information.
Square brackets [] enclose an explanation by someone other than the author/speaker of the surrounding text.
Punctuation marks that refer only to the parenthetical material go inside the parentheses.
Punctuation marks that refer to non-parenthetical material go outside.

HOW TO SEPARATE CLAUSES
A comma is used to separate the main clauses of a compound sentence, and to separate words and phrases which do not belong together. A comma is not "powerful" enough to completely separate clauses on its own, however - you need a conjunction as well.
A semicolon unites clauses which are of similar importance and closely related.
A colon separates clauses when there is a step forward, for instance from introduction to main point. It is also used to introduce a list. Sentences, and even paragraphs, may end in colon.

QUOTES
If a quotation contains the end of a sentence (and would normally require a period), but is not itself the end of a sentence, use a comma instead of a full stop.

Question marks and exclamation marks go within quotes if they refer to the quoted material only; place them outside when they apply to the whole sentence.

You are supposed to use a comma before quotes, like this:
He said, 'hello.'
In practice, this is often dropped if the quoted material is not at least one whole clause.

RULES UNIQUE TO BRITAIN

QUOTED MATERIAL
Quoted material is enclosed in single quote marks: 'like this'
Alternate quote marks when nesting, as in: he said 'she said "they said 'I said "hello"'"'.

In Britain, the following is correct. Observe the placement of the first comma. This would be incorrect in America;
'That', he said, 'is nonsense.'
The comma goes outside the closing quote - IF the contatenated quote wouldn't contain it. (In other words, he said 'That is nonsense', not 'That, is nonsense'.)

In Britain, actual quotations (extracts from literary works, etc.,) should be quoted exactly, including punctionation, so, if there was no comma in the original, there should also be no comma in the copy. If the sentence demands one, it must go outside the quotes.

RULES UNIQUE TO AMERICA

QUOTED MATERIAL
Quoted material is enclosed in double quote marks: "like this"
Alternate quote marks when nesting, as in: he said "she said 'they said "I said 'hello'"'".

Periods and commas go inside the quotation marks. Colons and semicolons go outside the quotation marks.