Search results for 'tag:Quotation marks tag:Hyphens' matching tags 'Quotation marks' and 'Hyphens'

Re: "all-hyphenated" noun

Clive — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 04:58:17 GMT

Hi,

How would you justify the use of hyphens to denote what seems to be a noun? I wouldn't try to justify it. At best, it's extremely casual, and at worst it's just lazy and unstructured English.

I think this string of words can be thought as a big noun made of little parts.

Could it be in quotations without hyphens and would it make a difference or no difference? It would make it more acceptable and common.

I think a problem might result if put quotation marks around it is that "way" is a noun.Why do you think that? What problem?

Then again, putting quotation marks makes it kind of an uncountable noun and I think we don't need to think about articles unless we are thinking of making it a type or an instance of it.

I think certain words like "am" or "so" are not hyphenated when used as part of a hyphenated noun or a hyphenated adjective. Why is that? I'm not sure what you mean. Can you give some sentences that include the kind of thing you are talking about?

... can dodge the big issue by settling into the cocoon of just-living-my-life-and-doing-what-I-can-in-my-own-little-way.

Could this be this? Yes >>>>>... can dodge the big issue by settling into the cocoon of "just living my life and doing what I can in my own little way."

Is there some reason that you can't just omit the quotation marks altogether?

Best wishes, Clive

"all-hyphenated" noun

Anonymous — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 00:01:11 GMT

Hi,
How would you justify the use of hyphens to denote what seems to be a noun? I think this string of words can be thought as a big noun made of little parts.

Could it be in quotations without hyphens and would it make a difference or no difference? I think a problem might result if put quotation marks around it is that "way" is a noun.

Then again, putting quotation marks makes it kind of an uncountable noun and I think we don't need to think about articles unless we are thinking of making it a type or an instance of it.

I think certain words like "am" or "so" are not hyphenated when used as part of a hyphenated noun or a hyphenated adjective. Why is that?

... can dodge the big issue by settling into the cocoon of just-living-my-life-and-doing-what-I-can-in-my-own-little-way.

Could this be this?

... can dodge the big issue by settling into the cocoon of "just living my life and doing what I can in my own little way."

quoted content as noun - long question

Anonymous — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 05:20:11 GMT

Hi,
Please take a look at this.

... involved with modern, western "come every two hours and sit in the room."

I am pretty sure you can treat "come every two hours and sit in the room" like an uncountable noun.

Can I make it a countable noun like this?
Everyday, a "come every two hours and sit in the toom" of this 'no-worry', carefree dude is making a lot of people feel uneasy. -- countable by an instance?
A highly idiosyncratic "come every two hours and sit in the room" of this carefree dude is taking a heavey toll on my freetime. -- countable by a type?
If the above sentence doesn't look correct, can you give me a correct one where a quoted content is countable?

Can I make it plural?
This 'no-worry', carefree dude's 'come-every-two-hours-and-sit-in-the-room's' are making a lot of people feel uneasy.
If the above sentence doesn't look correct, can you give me a correct one where a quoted content is countable? Normally, I think either a hyphen or quotation marks are needed but to make it plural, can I use both?

If I added the word 'hours', is there any consideration to be given as to whether to put that word outside the quote or inside?

These 'come every two hours and sit in the room hours' are taking a toll on my freetime.

These 'come every two hours and sit in the room' hours are taking a toll on my freetime.

Re: A sequel to an article before a gerund question

Anonymous — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 22:25:48 GMT

Hi,

I think I have seen more than enough cases where what people call a verbal noun has the indefinite article 'a' in front of it and at the very least, the sheer number (should it be - sheer numbrs??) of it warrants some good explanations from experts in this forum. I think I can laid out a similar framework of argument for a quoted content too.

These days, students from where I use to live don't study hard. A lot of people seem to feel "sit in your chair and do nothing for eight hours" should be replaced with a quality "sit-in-your-chair-and-do-some-work hours." -- I think I made into a type. I was trying to make it an instance of it though. Do you think all the hyphens in quote in allowed? I think Mr. M said we should use either a hyphen or quotation marks, but usually not both.

I must say, the indefinite article "a" doesn't seem to go well with "hours" in the quotes but see nothing wrong with it, IMO.

Re: how to make it a plural

Anonymous — Sun, 04 May 2008 22:13:54 GMT

Thank you, Mr.M.

Why did you choose to attach an 's' to both of them? I think the logic is that an apostrophe is used when there is a danger of confusion,as in '4's'. I think quotation marks are not necessary since normally you use either a pair of quotation marks or a hyphen when highlighting (Is this a right word for this context?) words that are not lifted (quoted??) out of someone's writing.

hyphenate or quote

Believer — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 20:23:08 GMT

Hi,

I think Mr. M once told me (or us) something to the effect that when you have to put a hyphenated word in the quotation marks, one mark is enough. I think what he meant is you can either choose the hyphen or quotation marks.

Can we use both or should we always use just one?

Adverbs as a "catch-all" category

You can give an "yes", "no" or "so-so" answer.

Sorry, this just came up, "did I place the article correctly? should it be 'an' before 'yes' although it is in quotes?"

an 'yes' answer not a 'yes' answer??

Re: What grammar parts are they?

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 10:55:05 GMT

Yes, Mr. M. It helps a lot.

It kind of engendered some inquiries, though.

1. In your interview in the English-test.net website, you said:

From there, it didn't take much thought to realize that I could eliminate the middle man and start my own school, lucrative enough to make Japan a good place to stay.

What is this part grammatically?

2. In the nonfinite clause portion of the sentence "heart racing and gasping for air as your body's automatic nervous system tries to figure out why it isn't getting enough oxygen," would you say 'heart' is a noun and it can be replaced with any other contextually appropriate noun? Usually, I think a nonfinite clause should exihibit the pattern of "racing and gasping for air as your body's automatic nervous system tries to figure out why it isn't getting enough oxygen." (without what seems to be the noun part -- 'heart'.)

3. In the same interview, you wrote:

We were presented wtih an inside view of the workings of ETS TOEIC preparation and presentation, and offered an opportunity to try our hand at question-writing.

The word 'question-writing' is linked with a hyphen. What is the reason or rationale for this? I do feel that it is the construction is correct but hoping to get some ideas as to what is required for a noun to be formed like that. Maybe something like this?

an action star-wannabe

4. Sorry to ask so many questions but if you are willing, can you tell me what are some criteria (if there are any) for an adjective in quotation marks? How unusal the usage or use of a word or phrase or clause has to be in order to adorn itself with a pair of quotation marks?

Are these good?

I think Mr. M is an online celebrity.

I don't think Mr. M is an "off-line" celebrity.

Re: How to use it properly

Grammar Geek — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 16:20:37 GMT

Generally, you don't put it in quotation marks at all. Use the hyphens as you have in your second example. Only use quotes if you are using it in an unexpected way.

Re: Examining phrases

Clive — Sat, 19 May 2007 05:02:19 GMT

Hi,

I have two phrases below and wish you would answer some questions.

1. uses as a "getting to know each other" game/activity

How do we know when do hypenate the phrase in quotation marks or just write them out as a person has done obviously above?

The purpose of hyphens would be to show that these words are all related. The quotation marks already do that, so there is no further need to add hyphens.

Wrriting it without quotes as uses as a getting-to-know-each-other" game/activity seems like a very awkward and clumsy approach. I'd suggest rewording to something like uses as a game/activity for getting to know each other.

How do we decide when to capitalize the first word or letter of the phrase in quotation marks? A general guideline would be to capitalize if the words being quoted themselves originally had a capital letter. eg If it is the start of a quoted sentence. Or a proper name, of course.

2. a question accompanied by a follow up "why?" for reasons

Is it OK to use a pronoun in quotation marks as a noun? It's OK by me. It would get a bit irritating if you did it a lot. It would make the reader's job a bit more difficult. Can you give me some simple instances where this kind of thing is used? eg We often refer to a ship as 'she'. eg hat part of speech is 'it'.

Can a noun in quotation marks be preceded by some adjectives and an article? Yes. eg Mary called Tom a selfish, stupid 'moron'. The quotes suggest that only the word 'moron' is a direct quote from Mary's mouth. The adjectives may be the reporter's parphrase.

Best wishes, Clive

two questions on these sentences

Believer — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 11:28:28 GMT

Hi,

I was looking at the grammar book named "Painless Grammar" by Rebecca Elliot, PhD," and in it, it had these sentences. I wish for your answers to my questions.

1. My mom loves to use the saying "every dog has its day."

2. It is a common "goof goof" to overuse quotation marks in an attempt to be "qute" and clever, drawing attention to certain words in a "ha-ha" or sarcastic ("gimme a break") way.

My questions:

1) Why the quote is not capitalized in the first sentence like "Every dog has its day"?

2) What is the rules regarding the use of hyphens for phrases or clauses in quotes?

eg,

in a "ha-ha" or sarcastic ("gimme a break") way

in a "forever-young" way

Sorry if my questions are too borad.