Course of conversation - plural: courses of conversation?

Question

Hi,

I am writing a scientific text and the expression "course of conversation" stands for a specific construct, so I cannot paraphrase it too much. Now, if I need to use the plural of "course of conversation" I have a hard time, because no dictionary offers me the plural. I just used "courses of conversation", because google offered it. Is this right?

And can I just speak of "positive courses" and "negative courses", if I want to relate to the construct "course of conversation" in a positive or negative way? Or are there any better expressions?

Thanks!

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

I am writing a scientific text and the expression "course of conversation" stands for a specific construct, so I cannot paraphrase it too much. Now, if I need to use the plural of "course of conversation" I have a hard time, because no dictionary offers me the plural. I just used "courses of conversation", because google offered it. Is this right? Yes.

And can I just speak of "positive courses" and "negative courses", if I want to relate to the construct "course of conversation" in a positive or negative way? Yes, as long as you expaln what these terms mean.

Or are there any better expressions?

Your ideas on this all sound fine.

Perhaps you would like to post a paragraph of your text, so that we can see these terms in context, just to be sure.

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

Hi Clive

Thank you for your answer. This is a paragraph from the text:

After a beginning, in which the caller describes a problem, a need for information or a request without any indication of a test call (B1) and after the counselor has applied the strategy combination “S1.1 without addressing inappropriate behavior”, 83 positive and only 24 negative courses of conversation result, which is a percentage of 77.6% of positive courses. This proportion makes up the highest extent of positive courses in table 8. Even after a beginning B2 and the aforementioned combination of strategies, 83 positive and only 24 negative courses of conversation result, which equals 57.5% of positive courses.

Thus, responding constructively and conveying information without addressing inappropriate behavior leads more frequently to positive courses of conversation after the beginning B1 than after the beginning B2. However, if used after both types of beginning, this combination results in the highest proportions of positive courses compared to other combinations (see table 8).

Moana

Clive · Answer

Hi,

What's the difference between 'a course of conversation' and simply 'a conversation'?

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

Hi

The text is about calls to a helpline, so if the expression 'conversation' is used, it refers to the interaction of caller and counselor (Not specific). A course of conversation is the whole construct from the beginning to the end of a conversation (specific). A course of conversation is of special interest in this text, as the question is, whether certain strategies, applied by counselors, result in positive or negative "courses of conversation". A conversation can start positively, but if the end of the conversation is negative, then the course of conversation is understood as overall negative.

Moana

Clive · Answer

Hi,

Well, OK, as long as you are sure that your reader understands that.

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

Yes, I am. Theres a long introduction.

Thanks for your help!

Anonymous · Answer

Course of conversation means the flow of conversation.   If there are different flows in the same conversation, the plural: courses of conversation will apply.  If it means the flow in different conversations entirely as is implied by the context, course of conversations will be more appropriate.

Course of conversation - plural: courses of conversation?

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions