Messages

1

Use and Misuse / Re: Sounds awkward

« on: July 08, 2011, 10:27:37 AM »

Hi Joe,

Thank you so much for your response.  I am learning so much from your forum.

More power!

Jeanne

2

Use and Misuse / Sounds awkward

« on: July 07, 2011, 03:52:28 PM »

Hello Joe and everyone,

Is it just me or are these two sentences really awkward?

1.  "We can ship to almost any address in the world."

(*I feel like it should be ". . . any address around the world.")


2.  "We guarantee that we have, to the best of our abilities, determined the accuracy of the information presented in our listings. There is no money back guarantee for GAMSAT products."

*Wouldn't it be better to write instead, "We guarantee that we have determined, to the best of our abilities, that information presented in our listings are accurate"?

Is it really to the best of our abilities or our ability, since "our" here would pertain to the shipping company (collective).

I could be wrong, so I would really appreciate your comments.

Thank you in advance.

Jeanne     

3

Use and Misuse / Re: endorsement of / endorsement from

« on: June 23, 2011, 05:53:25 PM »

Hello Joe,

Thank you for your quick reply.  Your explanation is also very enlightening.  More power to your site!

Jeanne

4

Use and Misuse / endorsement of / endorsement from

« on: June 23, 2011, 02:55:07 PM »

Hi everyone!

I would like to ask if which of the following phrases is grammatically correct:

- endorsement of a medical society; or,
- endorsement from a medical society.

I thought that the first one is correct, but someone told me it should be the latter.   I wonder what makes the difference.

Looking forward to your helpful responses.

Jeanne

5

Use and Misuse / Re: quoting excerpts

« on: September 29, 2010, 02:20:18 PM »

Again,  thank you for your explanation and insight.  Your site is truly a big help.

6

Use and Misuse / quoting excerpts

« on: September 28, 2010, 06:57:32 AM »

Hello Mr. Carillo,

Thank you for generously sharing your expertise and knowledge, and for taking the time to answer my previous posts. 

For this topic, I am quite unsure as what would be most proper when you quote an excerpt of a published work, particularly involving cases in spelling.  For example:

In the original work or text, "I could starve and die before I could eat such things, yet they were sweet and savory to my taste."   The word savory follows the American spelling.  But say, you are writing for the British audience.  Would it be okay to change the word into "savoury" without violating any copyright rules or offending the writer?

Thank you in advance for your reply.

7

Use and Misuse / The choice between the bare infinitive and the full infinitive

« on: September 27, 2010, 04:43:20 PM »

Hello!

What would be the general rule in using (or not using) "to" in sentences like this one:

This section covers a breadth of important information that will help you tackle any analytical problem that is thrown at you on the exam.

or

This section covers a breadth of important information that will help you to tackle any analytical problem that is thrown at you on the exam.


Thank you.

Jeanne

8

Use and Misuse / adjective or adverb?

« on: September 27, 2010, 04:39:49 PM »

Hi!

I'd like to ask if the underlined words in this sentence should really be written as adjectives, or should they be "easily" and "quickly" (adverbs)?

In order to make solving algebraic equations as easy and quick as possible, you should simplify terms whenever possible.

Thank you.

Jeanne

9

Use and Misuse / commas and semicolons

« on: September 27, 2010, 04:35:32 PM »

Hello again!

Can I have your opinion regarding the use of commas and semicolons of the following?

Which ones are correct:
1.  Whatever you do to one child you must do to the other too.

or

Whatever you do to one child, you must do to the other too.

2.  Here we have subtracted three from one side but not the other, so the equality no longer holds.

or

Here, we have subtracted three from one side but not the other; so the equality no longer holds.

3.  In this case we will separate the sugar from the flour. First prepare the mixing bowl.  Next add the liquid.

or

In this case, we will separate the sugar from the flour. First, prepare the mixing bowl.  Next, add the liquid.

4.  If you don’t know the following information backwards and forwards you risk losing time on the test.

or

If you don’t know the following information backwards and forwards, you risk losing time on the test.


In general, how do I know when to use/not use commas and semicolons?  If it's okay, can you give me the general rules on their uses?

Thank you so much.  Your forum is truly a great help!

Jeanne

10

Use and Misuse / Re: plural or singular?

« on: September 27, 2010, 04:30:32 PM »

Hi!

Thank you so much for enlightening. This has been very helpful!

Jeanne

11

Use and Misuse / plural or singular?

« on: September 23, 2010, 04:21:42 PM »

Hi!

I'd like to ask if the following sentences are indeed grammatically correct in terms of subject-verb agreement:

Inches are the smallest measurement of length in the British System.

Miles are the largest unit of length in the British System.

Seconds are the smallest unit of time in the British System.
Seconds are the basic unit of time in the Metric System.

Years are the largest unit of time in the British System.

Ounces are the smallest unit of mass in the British System.

Tons are the largest unit of mass in the British System.

Also, in the sentence:  "There are 5,280 feet in every mile. 1 mi = 5280 ft."  Should the numeral 5280 be written as 5,280 or is it also acceptable NOT to put a comma between 5 and 2?

Thank you in advance for your response!

Jeanne