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Christanford Posted 17 years ago
Vocabulary

Police; instigate; forces personnel

Hi,

However, Urumqi city prosecutor Udgar Abdulrahman said a Uygur man assaulted police with a syringe containing heroin.

1. Can I add "the" in front of "police"? Any difference?

National public security minister Meng Jianzhu, who rushed to Urumqi on Friday to oversee the huge security deployment, has said the syringe attacks were "instigated by ethnic separatist forces."

2. Does 'instigate' here mean 'persuade' or 'start'?

Thoughsands of security forces personnel, however, remained in place, with about 600 troops manning just one intersection on a road leading tinto Urumqi's Uygur district.

3. Why 'forces' but not 'force'?

4. Is it usual to count how many 'personnel' there are? I don't seem to have seen a number in front of 'personnel'.

Thanks in advance
  

Top answer

Christanford 1. Can I add "the" in front of "police"? Any difference?

— RayH

  • Christanford 1.
  • Can I add "the" in front of "police"?
  • Any difference?
  • In this context there isn't really any difference in meaning.
  • Christanford 2.
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2 Answers
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Christanford1. Can I add "the" in front of "police"? Any difference?
In this context there isn't really any difference in meaning.
Christanford2. Does 'instigate' here mean 'persuade' or 'start'?
Closer to "persuade" see this page:
http://www
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