What is the guideline?

Question

Hi,I received a piece of paper that asks me to subscribe to The Wall Street Journal Online and in it, I saw this writing. Would you say '90-day article archive' with the countable noun 'archive' fits nicely with what seem to be other uncountable and plural nouns?Do you also give a thumbs-up for the use of a N-dash following the word 'analysis'? I happen to think The Wall Street Journal is an excellent publication  As a subscriber, you'll get:Journal-quallity news and analysis - updated 24/7Insightful, in-depth coverage of the biggest stories of the day, as they unfoldExclusive online stories and columnsPowerful research tools90-day article archivePersonalized news tracking

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

Your questioning is unclear; is this what you mean?--

90-day article archive

' news, analysis, stories, columns, tools, archive, tracking'-- these are all properly parallel nouns in the listing.

an N-dash following the word 'analysis'

I suppose it should be an m-dash, but depending on the printing process, they can be hard to distinguish from n-dashes and hyphens.

Somehow, I don't think your flyer was produced under WSJ supervision. The WSJ usually spells better.

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you, Mr. M.

1. How would you say that 'archive' form parallel form with others? Isn't the word 'archive' countable?

2. Also why did you drop the article 'the' in front of 'WSJ' when you used in front of the word 'supervision'? In a normal sentential situation, we would use 'the Wall Street Journal' with 'the' intact. When a person uses it as an adjective, is it normally 'the' is dropped? Is that how it is done?

3. I think I saw this in an online Target ad. in its merchandise description section:

River Valley Twin Mates Bed

Traditional design with soft curves and rounded curves

Sturdy and durable construction of wood with paper veneer

Assembly required

Here, the word 'design' seems to be uncountable but 'construction' seems to be countable; but this is done in a list form, so dropping of articles isn't something that is closely scrutinized. Don't you think so? The dropping of articles is OK?

Mister Micawber · Answer

1. How would you say that 'archive' form parallel form with others? Isn't the word 'archive' countable? -- Yes, 'archive' is countable, and so are 'stories', ''columns, and 'tools' in the listing, while 'tracking', 'news' and 'analysis' are uncountable. To be considered parallel, they need only be nouns; countability and number are irrelevant.

2. Also why did you drop the article 'the' in front of 'WSJ' when you used in front of the word 'supervision'? In a normal sentential situation, we would use 'the Wall Street Journal' with 'the' intact. When a person uses it as an adjective, is it normally 'the' is dropped? Is that how it is done?-- Yes, because WSJ-- which are just initials anyway, not the proper name of the newspaper-- is an adjective. I am not aware of a written rule, but you cannot retain the article because it then refers to the noun which the adjective modifies: the Eiffel Tower vs the Eiffel Tower souvenir.

Here, the word 'design' seems to be uncountable but 'construction' seems to be countable; but this is done in a list form, so dropping of articles isn't something that is closely scrutinized. Don't you think so? The dropping of articles is OK? -- I agree that in lists, as in headlines, unimportant words are often omitted. (However, I read design as countable and construction as uncountable.)

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you for taking time to answer, Mr.M.

For no. 2, would you write like this? under Wall Street Journal supervision with the name of the journal spelt out.

For no. 3, would anyone these support your claim that the word 'design' is uncountable?

1. the process of planning and making drawings

2. refers to the way in which it is planned

3. a general plan for doing something

Also, would any of these support your claim for the word 'construction'?

1. the building (as a process) of things

2. the making of something

3. the creation of something

4. an object built

Mister Micawber · Answer

2-- Yes
3-- Yes-- [it has a] traditional design with... -- and probably no-- [its] construction [is] sturdy and durable....

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