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Komountain Posted 22 years ago
Grammar
Interesting question
Hi.
The first U.S. president was George Washington; the 38th Gerald Ford; and the 42nd Bill Clinton. Now, let's suppose you do not know the ordinal number in the presidential sequence and want to find it out, how would you ask? Let's take Ronald Reagan, for example. You know the president's name, but you don't know where he stands in the sequence. How would you ask to get his sequential number?
Please let me try first.
a. What is the sequential number of President R. Reagan?
b. Where does President R. Reagan stand in the presidential sequence?
c. How many presidents were there before President R. Reagan?
None of these satisfy me. So, I took the liberty of creating my own sentence as follows.
d. How manieth president is R. Reagan?
I know this is total nonsense. I hear people saying, "You're crazy."
The first U.S. president was George Washington; the 38th Gerald Ford; and the 42nd Bill Clinton. Now, let's suppose you do not know the ordinal number in the presidential sequence and want to find it out, how would you ask? Let's take Ronald Reagan, for example. You know the president's name, but you don't know where he stands in the sequence. How would you ask to get his sequential number?
Please let me try first.
a. What is the sequential number of President R. Reagan?
b. Where does President R. Reagan stand in the presidential sequence?
c. How many presidents were there before President R. Reagan?
None of these satisfy me. So, I took the liberty of creating my own sentence as follows.
d. How manieth president is R. Reagan?
I know this is total nonsense. I hear people saying, "You're crazy."
Top answer
Cute idea though, Komountain. When you can jest in a language, it means that you are becoming adept in it. ' should get you the correct answer from a knowledgeable historian.
- Cute idea though, Komountain.
- When you can jest in a language, it means that you are becoming adept in it.
- ' should get you the correct answer from a knowledgeable historian.
- '
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3 Answers
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Cute idea though, Komountain. When you can jest in a language, it means that you are becoming adept in it.
'Which President was Ronnie Reagan?' should get you the correct answer from a knowledgeable historian. An informal-- and probably common-- alternative would be 'What number president was Ronnie Reagan?'
'Which President was Ronnie Reagan?' should get you the correct answer from a knowledgeable historian. An informal-- and probably common-- alternative would be 'What number president was Ronnie Reagan?'
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To get the kind of answer you are looking for when English has no word for the concept you are trying to express you will usually have to resort to "priming the pump" or using a "query by example" technique, thus:
If Gerald Ford was the 38th president of the United States, which one was Ronald Reagan?
OR
Was Ronald Reagan the 38th president of the U.S., or wha
If Gerald Ford was the 38th president of the United States, which one was Ronald Reagan?
OR
Was Ronald Reagan the 38th president of the U.S., or wha
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