Search found 9 matches
- Tue Oct 03, 2006 7:13 pm
- Forum: Grammar
- Topic: Seeking advice
- Replies: 22
- Views: 52663
Gailr wrote: You have my sympathies, as we are apt to start throwing erasers, shooting spitwads, and passing notes with funny drawings with little or no provocation at any moment. I do enjoy reading witty comment with unexpected twist to lines and I don’t mind humor overflowing into excited merrimen...
- Mon Oct 02, 2006 9:01 pm
- Forum: Grammar
- Topic: Seeking advice
- Replies: 22
- Views: 52663
BTW, what is the it in question. Tell us all! Just wish to find a topic for a paper, that’s all. I thought I could rely on the concept of hypotaxis and of parataxis to explain the usage of (3), in lieu of the concept of “inoperative redundancy” (to use Sluggo's terminology). Judging from your reply...
- Sat Sep 30, 2006 3:32 pm
- Forum: Grammar
- Topic: Seeking advice
- Replies: 22
- Views: 52663
Seeking advice
Just wish to pick your brain again, if I may. A hypotaxis like (1) “There is a gentleman at the door who wants to speak to you” in which the two ideas (i.e., “there is a gentleman at the door” and “a gentleman wants to speak to you”) are linked together with a formal sign of subordination (i.e., “wh...
- Wed Aug 16, 2006 4:10 pm
- Forum: Grammar
- Topic: Compulsory or optional?
- Replies: 18
- Views: 48945
- Wed Aug 16, 2006 4:02 pm
- Forum: Grammar
- Topic: Compulsory or optional?
- Replies: 18
- Views: 48945
Re: Compulsory or optional?
[Not to get technical for its own sake, but this prevents its meaning from coming across. Is it a statement about what we do or is it about what they do? Is it about nodding or or is it about staring? What choice does "or" refer to? I can't tell. :( Hi, Sluggo, I will make another attempt...
- Tue Aug 15, 2006 10:07 am
- Forum: Grammar
- Topic: Compulsory or optional?
- Replies: 18
- Views: 48945
Re: Compulsory or optional?
[ quote="sluggo"]First part speaks of a nod; second part of a stare. How are they related? Two different statements are being made. With what choice is " or " presenting us? Sorry for the confusion. I suspect I didn’t express myself well in the first place. The “that in asterisk”...
- Sat Aug 12, 2006 9:31 pm
- Forum: Grammar
- Topic: Compulsory or optional?
- Replies: 18
- Views: 48945
That's not to say that #2 is awful, but the farther the distance between verbs, the less easy it is for readers to link clauses in their heads back to an earlier verb. I got a bit confused. Correct me if I am wrong. If the distance between verbs is a factor, then the omission of that in asterisk (a...
- Fri Aug 11, 2006 10:11 pm
- Forum: Grammar
- Topic: Compulsory or optional?
- Replies: 18
- Views: 48945
- Fri Aug 11, 2006 10:36 am
- Forum: Grammar
- Topic: Compulsory or optional?
- Replies: 18
- Views: 48945
Compulsory or optional?
In the following two sentences, is the use of that in asterisk compulsory as in 1) or optional as in 2)? It seems that the meaning of that in asterisk is implicit in the meaning of the second part of 2) and therefore its omission causes no concern for ambiguity. 1) We often interpret people’s nod as...