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Anonymous Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
"a same"
Hi, I'm writing a technical paper and I have a question concerning the usage of the expression "a same". A very precise statement of what I want to say, but which I prefer to avoid due to the fact that it sounds too formal for an introduction is the following.
(0) "blabla happens if there exists a term u such that both t1 and t2 can be transformed into u."
So I want to substitute this sentence with something more fluid such as:
(1) "blabla happens if both terms t1 and t2 can be transformed into a same term u."
QUESTION: I feel that (1) has the precise meaning I want, but it sounds weird to my ears. I don't know if this is because I'm not a native English speaker or if the expression "a same" is nonsense in English. So my question is whether the use of the expression "a same" would be correct in this context.
Remarks: I also considered the following possibilities:
(2) "blabla happens if both terms t1 and t2 can be transformed into the same term u."
I feel that this sentence does not have the meaning I want because it seems to imply that the term u is known in advance, while in the context of my paper we have no idea of which term u should be.
(3) "blabla happens if both terms t1 and t2 can be transformed into a common term u."
I feel that this sentence does not have the meaning I want because it seems to imply that the term u is common to both t1 and t2, which in the context of the paper could be interpreted as that the term u appears as a sub-term of both t1 and t2.
(4) "blabla happens if both terms t1 and t2 can be transformed into a term u."
I feel that this sentence does not have the meaning that I want because of two reasons. First, the sentence sounds like it is unfinished, as if there would be something characterizing u. Second, it doesn't seem to imply that the terms into which t1 and t2 are being transformed are the same. In other words it seems that if t1 is transformed into u1 and t2 transformed into u2, then (3) would still be correct, because we are using a term u for each term t.
(0) "blabla happens if there exists a term u such that both t1 and t2 can be transformed into u."
So I want to substitute this sentence with something more fluid such as:
(1) "blabla happens if both terms t1 and t2 can be transformed into a same term u."
QUESTION: I feel that (1) has the precise meaning I want, but it sounds weird to my ears. I don't know if this is because I'm not a native English speaker or if the expression "a same" is nonsense in English. So my question is whether the use of the expression "a same" would be correct in this context.
Remarks: I also considered the following possibilities:
(2) "blabla happens if both terms t1 and t2 can be transformed into the same term u."
I feel that this sentence does not have the meaning I want because it seems to imply that the term u is known in advance, while in the context of my paper we have no idea of which term u should be.
(3) "blabla happens if both terms t1 and t2 can be transformed into a common term u."
I feel that this sentence does not have the meaning I want because it seems to imply that the term u is common to both t1 and t2, which in the context of the paper could be interpreted as that the term u appears as a sub-term of both t1 and t2.
(4) "blabla happens if both terms t1 and t2 can be transformed into a term u."
I feel that this sentence does not have the meaning that I want because of two reasons. First, the sentence sounds like it is unfinished, as if there would be something characterizing u. Second, it doesn't seem to imply that the terms into which t1 and t2 are being transformed are the same. In other words it seems that if t1 is transformed into u1 and t2 transformed into u2, then (3) would still be correct, because we are using a term u for each term t.
Top answer
This is going to be difficult to answer because we don't know what "blabla" is. The phrase "a same term" isn't correct, although "the same term" or "a similar term" are. However, once you transform something, it's isn't the same, although it may be equivalent.
- This is going to be difficult to answer because we don't know what "blabla" is.
- The phrase "a same term" isn't correct, although "the same term" or "a similar term" are.
- However, once you transform something, it's isn't the same, although it may be equivalent.
- You say this is a technical paper, and this leads me to believe that t1 and t2 somehow parameterize a dependent variable u.
- ), where r = sqrt(x 2 +y 2) and ?
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2 Answers
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This is going to be difficult to answer because we don't know what "blabla" is. The phrase "a same term" isn't correct, although "the same term" or "a similar term" are. However, once you transform something, it's isn't the same, although it may be equivalent. You say this is a technical paper, and this leads me to believe that t1 and t2 somehow parameterize a dependent variable u. If so, you
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AnonymousHi, I'm writing a technical paper and I have a question concerning the usage of the expression "a same". A very precise statement of what I want to say, but which I prefer to avoid due to the fact that it sounds too formal for an introduction is the following.(0) "blabla happens if there exists a term u such that both t1 and t2 can be transformed into u."
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