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

Re: IS "w" A VOWEL

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:53:10 GMT

I DON'T KNOW WHO IN HEAVENS CAME UP WITH THE CONCEPT THAT "Y" AND NOW "W" ARE VOWELS/SEMI VOWELS. THE ONLY VOWELS ARE: A, E ,I, O, U AND SOMETIMES THE SILENT "H"!!
Y ENDS IN THREE VOWEL SOUNDS: A, E AND I

VOWELS HAVE TO BEGIN A WORD WITH A SPECIFIC VOWEL LETTER: A, E, I, O, U OR SILENT "H
THEY NEED THE ADJECTIVE AN IF THEY ARE USED AS ADJECTIVES OR NOUNS FOR EXAMPLE: AN "EXCITING" CAREER

OR "AN" UMBRELLA

I CAN'T STAND THESE NEO GRAMMARIANS WITH THEIR SOUPED UP KNOWLEDGE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

AGAIN: "Y" AND "W" ARE NOT NEVER EVER VOWELS. :(y

Re: id/t/d

Philip — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:27:10 GMT

CB's explanation is 100% right on. It is a linguistic question dealing with phonology.

By the way, the same principle is in play with the plural noun ending 's/es': 's' after a non-voiced consonant (lamps, desks); 'z' after a voiced consonant or a vowel (dogs, monkeys); and 'iz' after the sound of 's' or 'z' (classes, noises).

The same with the third person singular of the present tense of verbs: 's' (hits); 'z' (plays); and 'iz' (misses).

(Printing note: in my examples, and in CB's, the vowel indicated as 'i' should be the schwa (Ó) sound.

Re: trying to improve

Avangi — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 23:34:51 GMT

Anonymous
I am just trying to improve my english and dont have any mentor, Can someone please let me know if what i understand or do is right or wrong?

I have some sentences below and i just wanted to know if they are correct - Take care to capitalize the pronoun "I." All sentences need punctuation at the end, eg., a period.

I was abashed by the email sent by my manager   This is correct, but the word is uncommon in everyday speech. "Unabashed" is much more common. Google hits: "abashed" - 653,000   /   "unabashed" - 2,090,000

The aboriginal soundtrack was better than the remix Use "original." "aboriginal" is a very special word, meaning "native," as in the native population of a region. I've never heard it used in everyday speech, other than to refer to the native inhabitants of Australia. I think it may also refer to flora, but I'm not sure. How far back one goes, I have no idea, but I've only heard it used in referring to existing populations.

The class was abridged due to lack of time   Correct, but very uncommon. I'd use "cut short." "Abridged" is commonly used to describe shortened versions of books. Also, "due to" is ungrammatical. Use "because of." The difference is technical. Check Google, "because of vs. due to." If you don't get it, post back. ( "The shortness of the class was due to the lack of time," is correct.)

I abstained myself from participating in the cultural events   You must delete "myself." The verb "to abstain" is intransitive only. (There's no transitive usage.) It does not take an object, even reflexive. You may say "I recused myself," but that has a special meaning. You may say "I withdrew myself from the event," but then you can't use "participating." ("To withdraw" may be either transitive or intransitive.)

I abstained myself from bungee jumping since I am scared of heights  Same objection!

I recieved an acrimonious email from my manager. okay!

The client attacked acrimoniously to the lawyer after he lost the case The verb "to attack" does not take the preposition "to." In this case, the adverb should come either before the verb or after the object   -   I'm not sure why. "The client acrimoniously attacked the lawyer," or "The client attacked the lawyer acrimoniously."

Acids usually have an acrid odor okay!

The washroom had a acrid odor   okay!

Beacuse I understand technology very well I can make acute decisions based on my knowhow This is correct, "acute" meaning "sharp" decisions, but it's uncommon. "Accurate decisions" would be common. "I have an acute pain   -   acute angina" is common. "An acute angle" (less than ninety degrees   -    geometry) is common.   ~~Beacuse~~   Because

Engineers are adept at learning new theories. Okay, but I guess we don't know the same engineers.

Employees should Adhere to the companies policies No cap on "adhere."   Possessive "company's."

The office was adorned on christmas eve  Capitalize "Christmas."

Childrens seek adulation from parents No "s" on "children"

Affable people are good to be friends with okay

She is aloof okay

india is an agrarian country Capitalize "India."

I have a altruistic nature Use "an" form of article before a vowel. (an apple)

The policy of my company was amended after march Capitalize "March."

I was allured by her beauty okay

Mumbai has ample food to feed the people okay, but "its/her people" might be better.

My debts were annulled with my last salary Use "wiped out!" "Our marriage was annulled by the Church/court." -   something done by an official body.

A diamond ring would help me appease my wife  okay

I was apprised by my manager regarding the appraisal i recd (I received.)

I had an arduous project last month okay, but we don't usually use "had" with "project." "I had/performed an arduous task"   /   "I took on an arduous project."

When you get to the "B's," don't put them all in one post, or you'll crash the site! - A.

Re: Puzzle about the pronunciation of the word 'THE'

yizhivika — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 20:04:16 GMT

Hi Mathew,

Yes, as Mister Micawber says, native English-speakers instinctively know which pronunciation of 'the' to use before a noun (or an adjective + noun), but I can see that it may be a problem for some people learning the language.

As you have yourself noted, we generally use the 'thee' version before a vowel (as in 'the apple'), and the "theh' version before a consonant (as in 'the pen'), and the reason native English-speakers know which version to use, is because they read (or think of) the two words together, not separately!

From your name, I would guess that your mother-tongue is probably Mandarin Chinese (Ni shi zhong guo ren ma?), and if so, then you'll know that there's sometimes a similar situation in Chinese with tones (e.g. 'bu' meaning 'not' is normally pronounced as a fourth tone, but changes to a second tone when followed by another word that is pronounced with a fourth tone), and the only way you know which tone to use is by thinking of the two words together, not as individual characters.

By the way, there is an exception to the general rule of pronouncing 'the' as 'theh' before a consonant, but it's a special case, as the 'the' is being used less as a definite article, and more like an adjective. For example:

"Beijing is the (pronounced as 'thee') place to be this August!" (because of the Olympic Games!).

Re: Is

Cute572 — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 21:28:54 GMT

Yes I am little confuse now in between articles.

Mr. Wordy what if i used sheet and mattress for the 1st time. Article A won't look like repeating or odd ?

Its wooden frame supports a bouncy mattress and is completely covered with a silky sheet like a sponge cake layered with cream.

And some times we use "the" without repeating that noun or subject, like in previous sentence:

The daffodil patterns on the sheet are brightened by the sun's glowing rays, and natureâs color seems to blend with the printed colors.

I have mention sun's rays for the first time.

Any particular point i should remaind following articles. I know A used with singular noun An with vowels and The with specifics. But I don't know much about articles rules in paragraphs.

And Thanks for helping me out

Re: GG's 4-letter noun

Mister Micawber — Thu, 22 May 2008 12:52:17 GMT

.
Well duh. One of the two must be the vowel-- I, O or U... and sometimes Y.

Abstract noun....

good
mood
hush
lift
rift
ploy

Is it countable, and if so, is it plural?

Re: A 7-letter word

Tanit — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:45:07 GMT

Mister Micawber
.
Seven letters and common...

Tissues? >> No, but you can keep two vowels and a consonant.
Traffic? >> No, but in my word there's a double consonant in the same place as in "traffic" (not an "f," though).
Toenail? >> Mm ... somewhat (indirectly) related to my noun.
Trouble? >> No, but you can keep a vowel and two consonants.

Re: when should we use an

Mister Micawber — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:28:39 GMT

Welcome to English Forums, Mahesh.

Use an as an article before nouns or adjectives that begin with a vowel sound (not necessarily a vowel letter), such as an umbrella (cf, a union).

(You have posted your question in the wrong forum, so I shall move your thread to our Basic Grammar forum now.)

Re: ow/ou - easy way of teaching 6 yr old the difference

CalifJim — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 22:14:30 GMT

jonathen
use ow at the end of words other than those that end in n or d

What? How about "Use ou except when final or followed by final n or l".

Final: now, allow, low, below, window, ...; Exceptions: thou, you, caribou

Final n: brown, down, own, shown, known, ...; Exceptions: noun, pronoun

Final l: owl, howl, fowl, bowl, ...; Exceptions: foul, soul, ghoul*

None of the above: crouch, shout, mouth, ground, loud, bounce, rouse, shoulder, four, could, soup, youth, though, through, rough, cousin, trouble, ...; Exceptions: browse, drowse, drowsy, crowd

*Note the wel's and wer's: towel, dowel, vowel, ..., tower, power, ..., and owe. (Use w, not u, between vowels.)

_____

The same rule also applies quite well with au/aw: saw, fawn, shawl, laundry -- perhaps less well with eu/ew: few, sewn, mewl, neuron, because there are fewer common words with eu or ew.

______

I'm not sure a six-year-old is ready for all this.

Re: GUESS MY WORD

Tanit — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 22:13:33 GMT

Here's a quick recap.

8 letters
only one vowel (other than "e") repeated twice
mainly AmE
you can break it into two 4-letter words, which differ only in one letter (not sure about the grammar, sorry!)
it can be noun, adjective and adverb (which does not end in -ly)

For the noun:

it's not created by nature
it's not a device
it's not portable
it's bigger than a laundry basket and than a typical house
you don't find it in a factory
its location doesn't change easily. If it does, it usually takes a great deal of time, and/or a lot of planning and work
it's usually associated with working and business.
there are usually lots of recreational opportunities in it in Europe
there are sometimes (but it's not really typical) major sports facilities in it
there are a lot of doors and windows in it
there are many buildings in it, but also roads, squares, parks ...
electricity is required for many of the activities which take place in it
many things move in it
a lot of things in it are made of metal but other materials are important, too
some parts are much higher than 6 metres (20 feets) above the ground level; some are lower than that