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Usenet Posted 22 years ago
Usage
Test for English Users
According to John Sutherland in today's Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,1159035,00.html
>
I have to say that I don't think question two contains its own answer as there is no sign of a semi-colon (I have copied & pasted direct from the Guardian website - the article appears as it does in print)
And Q3 seems silly. 'In terms of sense' the two statements are pretty much indistinguishable unless more context is given. Imagine a news conference :
Policeman - The butler stole the necklace
Reporter - It was the butler who stole the necklace? Policeman - No, the butler stole the necklace
Reporter Why can't you say it was the butler who stole the necklace? Policeman - Apparently, it doesn't mean the same thing. Reporter - But the butler did it?
Policeman - Oh yes. No doubt there.
And the analogy 'Reading literature without knowing the parts of speech is like practising brain surgery with your fingers' sounds like the product of a fevered mind. Analysing* literature might be difficult if you don't know the difference between a noun and a verb, but *reading* (and understanding) 'Animal Farm', 'Pride and Prejudice' or 'Howl' *can be done perfectly well without knowing the first thing about parts of speech. Difficult tending to impossible if English is learned as a foreign language, but hardly when you learn it as native speech. Shirley?
John Dean
Oxford
http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,1159035,00.html
>
I have to say that I don't think question two contains its own answer as there is no sign of a semi-colon (I have copied & pasted direct from the Guardian website - the article appears as it does in print)
And Q3 seems silly. 'In terms of sense' the two statements are pretty much indistinguishable unless more context is given. Imagine a news conference :
Policeman - The butler stole the necklace
Reporter - It was the butler who stole the necklace? Policeman - No, the butler stole the necklace
Reporter Why can't you say it was the butler who stole the necklace? Policeman - Apparently, it doesn't mean the same thing. Reporter - But the butler did it?
Policeman - Oh yes. No doubt there.
And the analogy 'Reading literature without knowing the parts of speech is like practising brain surgery with your fingers' sounds like the product of a fevered mind. Analysing* literature might be difficult if you don't know the difference between a noun and a verb, but *reading* (and understanding) 'Animal Farm', 'Pride and Prejudice' or 'Howl' *can be done perfectly well without knowing the first thing about parts of speech. Difficult tending to impossible if English is learned as a foreign language, but hardly when you learn it as native speech. Shirley?
John Dean
Oxford
Top answer
[nq:1]1. [/nq] Presumably "quickly" is the adv. phrase.
- [nq:1]1.
- [/nq] Presumably "quickly" is the adv.
- phrase.
- Can a single adverb be an adverbial phrase, or do we need two or more?
- [nq:1]2.
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32 Answers
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[nq:1]1. Give me, quickly if you please, an example of an adverbial phrase.[/nq]
Presumably "quickly" is the adv. phrase. Can a single adverb be an adverbial phrase, or do we need two or more?
[nq:1]2. When would you use a colon: when would you use a semi-colon?[/nq]
Is there something wrong with (2)?
Q. When would you use a colon?
A. Not at the end of a question.
[nq:1]3.
Presumably "quickly" is the adv. phrase. Can a single adverb be an adverbial phrase, or do we need two or more?
[nq:1]2. When would you use a colon: when would you use a semi-colon?[/nq]
Is there something wrong with (2)?
Q. When would you use a colon?
A. Not at the end of a question.
[nq:1]3.
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[nq:2]1. Give me, quickly if you please, an example of an adverbial phrase.[/nq]
[nq:1]Presumably "quickly" is the adv. phrase. Can a single adverb be an adverbial phrase, or do we need two or more?[/nq]
Forget that! "quickly if you please" is probably the adv. phrase.
R.
[nq:1]Presumably "quickly" is the adv. phrase. Can a single adverb be an adverbial phrase, or do we need two or more?[/nq]
Forget that! "quickly if you please" is probably the adv. phrase.
R.
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[nq:1]According to John Sutherland in today's Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,1159035,00.html . . . 3. What is the difference (in terms of sense) ... And Q3 seems silly. 'In terms of sense' the two statements are pretty much indistinguishable unless more context is given.[/nq]
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-sni
[nq:1]3. What is the difference (in terms of sense) between the following: (a) "The butler stole the necklace" (b) "It ... the first sentence describes something happening, the second sentence records something that has happened. One is descriptive, the other presuppositional.[/nq]
snip
[nq:1]Reading literature without knowing the parts of speech is like practising bra
[nq:1]3. What is the difference (in terms of sense) between the following: (a) "The butler stole the necklace" (b) "It ... the first sentence describes something happening, the second sentence records something that has happened. One is descriptive, the other presuppositional.[/nq]
[nq:1]Reading literature without knowing the parts of speech is like practising bra
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[nq:1]According to John Sutherland in today's Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,1159035,00.html[/nq]
If these students are going to write for the dear old Graun, a test of spelling and basic subbing techniques would be a lot more appropriate.
[nq:1]2. When would you use
If these students are going to write for the dear old Graun, a test of spelling and basic subbing techniques would be a lot more appropriate.
[nq:1]2. When would you use
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[nq:2]According to John Sutherland in today's Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,1159035,00.html[/nq]
[nq:1]If these students are going to write for the dear old Graun, a test of spelling and basic subbing techniques would be a lot more appropriate.[/nq]
He's talking abou
[nq:1]If these students are going to write for the dear old Graun, a test of spelling and basic subbing techniques would be a lot more appropriate.[/nq]
He's talking abou
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Or a question mark. I agree. I bet there will be a letter or two to the editor in tomorrow's paper.
I think Sutherland would blame it on typesetter error except there aren't any typesetters any more.
The answers he gives about the butler/necklace question are worse.
Best Donna Richoux
I think Sutherland would blame it on typesetter error except there aren't any typesetters any more.
The answers he gives about the butler/necklace question are worse.
Best Donna Richoux
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[nq:1]On 01 Mar 2004, John Dean wrote[/nq]
[nq:2]Reading literature without knowing the parts of speech is like ... your fingers' sounds like the product of a fevered mind.[/nq]
[nq:1]I agree that Q3 seems silly,but as for his comment about "reading literature", wasn't he using that in the UK sense of "studying literature at university" rather than "reading a book"?[/nq]
That's possibl
[nq:2]Reading literature without knowing the parts of speech is like ... your fingers' sounds like the product of a fevered mind.[/nq]
[nq:1]I agree that Q3 seems silly,but as for his comment about "reading literature", wasn't he using that in the UK sense of "studying literature at university" rather than "reading a book"?[/nq]
That's possibl
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Surely not!
That would give this:
2. When would you use a colon; when would you use a semi-colon?
To me even worse than the hideous original.
R.
That would give this:
2. When would you use a colon; when would you use a semi-colon?
To me even worse than the hideous original.
R.
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[nq:1]According to John Sutherland in today's Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,1159035,00.html
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