English Language Answers

Punctuation: Brackets (Parentheses)

2009-11-29T04:54:00.000-08:00

Question 5.2 has arrived:

Thank you very much for your explanation about appositive.

Re the 2 sentences in the question, are they grammatically correct? (For the 2nd question, the punctuation after the word 'piety' should be a dash rather than a question mark.) Can I call this kind of explanatory notes between commas or dashes 'paraphrasing'?

For convenience, let's re-paste the second sentence:

Among some nationalities, one virtue that is highly regarded is filial piety?obedience to and respect for parents.

There are two things wrong with this sentence:

The first relates to question structure: 'one virtue that is highly regarded is filial piety?' is not a question. It is a sentence, with a question mark added to the end. To make this a question, you would have to rephrase differently, for example:

Is one virtue that is highly regarded filial piety?

- or (to make to make it a little easy to read) -

Is filial piety a highly regarded virtue?

The second thing wrong is, as you suspected, the punctuation. I think you have confused yourself by trying to be sophisticated with your English. The easiest way to punctuate the sentence is by using brackets:

Is filial piety (obedience to and respect for parents) a highly regarded virtue?

Brackets (or parentheses) are the easiest way to add additional or clarifying information in sentences. The only potential problem with brackets is when they appear at the end of sentences or questions:

Is one virtue that is highly regarded filial piety (obedience to and respect for parents)?

You'll notice that the '?' comes after the second bracket. This is because the bracketed information is part of the sentence, not separate from it. This 'double punctuation construction' can cause problems of clarity; particularly in the case of a question. This is another reason why I would suggest the alternative question structure:

Is filial piety (obedience to and respect for parents) a highly regarded virtue?

I hope that helps. Any further questions, feel free to ask!

Punctuation: Appositives

2009-11-27T08:09:00.000-08:00

Question 5.1 has arrived:

Sorry I didn't make myself clear in my last email. By paraphrasing myself, I mean explaining concepts in the same sentence using different words. (Is this a form of paraphrasing?) For example:

The nuclear family, a family unit consisting of two parents and their children living under one roof, is the most common form of family arrangement in many western countries.

Among some nationalities, one virtue that is highly regarded is filial piety?obedience to and respect for parents.

Are the sentences grammatical. I believe that this kind of paragraphing is also called appositives in grammar. Am I correct?

- Ooops! A small miss-communication problem there, let's take a look at punctuating appositives:

Let's start by defining an appositive:

An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that helps to identify or clarify another noun. For example:

Michael Schumacher, the F1 racing driver, won the F1 championship more than once.

In this sentence 'the F1 racing driver' is the appositive.

There are two ways to punctuate an appositive, and it depends on the appositive's relationship to & position in the sentence:

1. The Non-Essential Appositive:

Michael Schumacher, the F1 racing driver, won the F1 championship more than once.

In this sentence the appositive 'the F1 racing driver' is a non-essential element. This means that you can remove it from the sentence, and the logic of the sentence still makes sense:

Michael Schumacher won the F1 championship more than once.

When the appositive is non-essential, you place it between two commas:

Michael Schumacher, the F1 racing driver, won the F1 championship seven times.

The two commas tell the reader, that the appositive is NOT required to understand the sentence. It gives the appositive a lower priority in the sentence. It tells the reader that this information is optional, additional.

2. The Essential Appositive:

The F1 racing driver Michael Schumacher won the F1 championship more than once.

In this sentence the appositive 'Michael Schumacher' is an essential element. This means you NEED it in the sentence for the logic of the sentence to make sense. Let's try removing the appositive from the sentence to see what happens:

The F1 racing driver won the F1 championship more than once.

The sentence is no longer as clear: which F1 driver? There are several F1 drivers who have won the championship more than once. We NEED the appositive 'Michael Schumacher' to understand the logic of the sentence clearly.

When the appositive is an essential element, we do NOT punctuate the appositive at all. There is NO punctuation.

I hope that helps!

Punctuation: Quoting & Paraphrasing

2009-11-26T04:52:00.000-08:00

The fifth question has arrived:

When I paraphrase my own ideas within the same sentence, can I put the paraphrase within two commas or after a colon? Would be grateful for your advice.

I think first we need to make a distinction between 'to quote' and 'to paraphrase':

'To quote' is to take the exact words of another and place them in your own text. For example:

"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

'To paraphrase' is to take the sense / meaning of another and express it in your own words. For example:

Shakespeare's Macbeth referred to life as a shadow that walked.

When quoting from another source, for long quotations you use a pair of double quotation marks. For example:

In the words of Macbeth, "Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

You'll also notice that I use a comma before I start the quotation. This reflects the way you would say the sentence. Typically, people pause before that use a quote in spoken English. The comma is simply reflecting that fact.

For single word or short quotations, for example:

Shakespeare's Macbeth referred to life as 'a walking shadow'.

This short quotation example is also an example of paraphrasing. You'll notice that I do NOT use quotation marks until the direct short quotation. In other words when paraphrasing another source, you do not need to use quotation marks. For example:

Shakespeare's Macbeth referred to life as a shadow that walked.

In your question, you ask about paraphrasing yourself. In my opinion, you do not need to use any form of special punctuation to make reference to your own statements. I would, instead, use words to indicate the nature of the self-reference. For example:

As I have already said earlier in this article....

As I said in the first paragraph / on the first page...

As I wrote in my previous article / letter....

As I indicated in my letter dated 10 / 11 / 09....

I hope that helps to answer your question.

For further reading, you might like to visit some of these sites:

The Free dictionary definitions of 'to quote' and 'to paraphrase'

For more information regarding the difference between quoting & paraphrasing, check out this useful article.

For more information regarding the use of quotations marks, check out this article and this one.

Relative Pronouns: 'Who Vs Which'

2009-11-19T04:53:00.000-08:00

The fourth question has arrived:

Your "ing vs infinitive" question answer says: eating monkeys = monkeys who eat. I've been taught that "who" only refers to person/people and now you are writing about animals, so you should use "which". According to that. Whats the most suitable way in using relatives?

That's a very good point!

The quick answer to your question is yes, you're correct: you should use 'who' for people and 'which' for objects & animals ('that' for everything*).

However you can use 'who' with animals in specific circumstances. For example, as a term of affection: you might say to a pet dog 'Who's a good boy?' or 'My dog, who's always getting into trouble'.

In the case of my '-ing Vs infinitive' answer, I was trying to emphasis the fact that it is the monkeys who eat, not a person who is eating monkeys. I felt using 'who' would help make the contrast clearer.

This is a good example of how English is a flexible language of presentation, not a language of categorical definitions & rules. Native speakers will very often use English in unusual ways to create an effect.

BUT as a learner of English, it's very difficult to do this. If you're not sure, you should always keep things simple.

SO to answer you question, it is probably best only to use 'who' for people.

*Relative pronouns are a little more complicated than just 'who' Vs 'which'. If you have any further questions, feel free to ask me: answers@ondemandenglishsupport.com

'Is Bob your brother?' Vs 'Bob is your brother?'

2009-11-10T06:29:00.000-08:00

The third question has arrived and it's about questions:

In some movies I hear sometimes e.g.: "Bob is your brother?"
But I've learnt the correct is: "Is Bob your brother?"
This is my question: Is "Bob is your brother?" correct? Or is "Is Bob your brother"? correct? Or they both are corrects?

The quick answer to your question is yes, they are both correct. You can say either 'Is Bob your brother?' or 'Bob is your brother?'.

However it is a little more complicated than that: You can SAY both types of questions, but it's really better to WRITE only 'Is Bob your brother?'.

Why?

'Is Bob your brother?' is the technically correct way of asking a question in English. The inverted sentence structure (Is Bob Vs Bob is) tells us that it's a question. That makes it perfect for WRITTEN ENGLISH, because we can see the difference when we read it.

'Bob is your brother?' is dependent on the way you SAY it: your voice has to 'go up' at the end of the question to indicate it's a question.

But!

What about the '?', doesn't that indicate it's a question anyway? Yes it does, but in English it's always best to be as clear as possible. This is particularly true in written English.

So to summarize: you can SAY both, if you want to. You should only WRITE one (Is Bob your brother?)

*This is a good example of the best and the worst thing about English: flexibility.

Monday Vs Mondays

2009-11-05T04:44:00.000-08:00

Ah, something easier to explain for the second question:

@EnglishAnswers Why is it sometimes monday in english and sometimes mondays (with s)?

This is an important difference in English, because the 's' makes a big difference to what you mean. Let's look at these two sentences:

1. On Mondays I go to my friend's house.

2. On Monday I am going to my friend's house.

The use of two different tenses should help to see the difference: In the first sentence, 'Mondays' refers to every Monday, all the Mondays. In the second sentence, 'Monday' refers to a specific, single Monday, just one Monday.

In other words, to say 'Mondays' is the same as saying 'Every Monday'. To say 'Monday' is to indicate a specific Monday.

*A quick tense tip: When you say 'Mondays', you use the Present Simple Tense - I go - (General Truth). When you say 'Monday', you use the Present Continuous Tense - I am going - (Time is important).

**A quick capital letter tip: In your question you wrote, 'monday' and 'english'. The days of the week always have capital (big) letters to start: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday etc. When speaking about the English language, the 'E' in English is always capitalized (big).

-ing Vs The Infinitive

2009-10-29T02:12:00.000-07:00

Hello Hello,

My first question has been asked and I'm a little bit nervous, because it's a little bit complicated:

@EnglishAnswers Why in some sentences after to is wrotte a verb in ING form? Example: is basic to understanding how the component works

This is what I like to call '-ing Vs the infinitive'. It's a confusing area of English, so let's see if we can make it a bit clearer.

Let's start with this strange sentence:

I like eating monkeys.

This sentence has two possible meanings:

1. You are a person who likes to watch monkeys when they eat. (lovely eating monkeys)

2. You are a person who likes to eat monkeys!!!! (poor little monkeys!)

Why?

In English the '-ing' form of a verb can be two things: a present participle or a gerund. The present participle is used as an adjective. The gerund is used as a noun.

So in the first definition of the sentence 'I like eating monkeys', 'eating' is a present participle. It is an adjective that is describing the monkeys: eating monkeys = monkeys who eat.

In the second definition of the sentence 'I like eating monkeys', 'eating' is a gerund and forms what I call a 'gerund block' (a single unit) with monkeys: eating monkeys = to eat monkeys. In language terms, saying 'I like eating monkeys' is the same as saying 'I like Coca Cola'.

So what does that mean in practical terms?

It means that for clarity, you should not say 'I like eating monkeys' (because it has two possible definitions). You should say one of these two sentences:

1. I like monkeys who eat (lovely eating monkeys).

2. I like to eat monkeys (poor little monkeys!).

Ah! The Infinitive has arrived: 'eating' Vs 'to eat'.

What do you think the difference is between 'I like eating pizza' and 'I like to eat pizza'? The answer is not much. In this context they communicate the same thing.

Why?

Because typically, Pizzas do not eat other things. Linguistically, the sentence 'I like eating pizza' does have two definitions:

1. I like pizzas who eat (Ah! Attack of the Killer Eating Pizzas! Run for your lives!).

2. I like to eat pizzas (Mmmm.... lovely Pizza!).

But in practical terms it's not really possible for Pizzas to eat people, so we don't worry about the difference. You can say both 'I like eating Pizza' and 'I like to eat Pizza'.

*Linguistic purists will tell you to use the infinitive form 'to eat' only, and that to use the '-ing' form is wrong. But in reality, most native English speakers would say 'I like eating pizza'.

When does '-ing Vs The Infinitive' make a difference?

Let's look at these two sentences:

1. I remember locking the door.

2. Remember to lock the door.

Can you see the difference?

The first sentence is referring to something that happened in the past: I remember locking the door = I locked the door.

The second sentence is an instruction for the future: Remember to lock the door = You will have to lock the door.

Why?

In English we use the '-ing' form to talk about things in the past or things that are presently happening. We use the infinitive form to talk about the future.

Let's return to the original question:

@EnglishAnswers Why in some sentences after to is wrotte a verb in ING form? Example: is basic to understanding how the component works

This sentence can be written in two ways, each with a slightly different definition:

1. (This) is basic to understanding how the component works.

2. (This) is basic to understand how the component works.

Remember the rules: '-ing' for past and presently happening, the infinitive for the future.

In the first sentence, 'this' and 'understanding' take place at the same time (the understanding is presently happening): You need this as you understand how the component works.

In the second sentence, 'this' takes place before you understand (to understand is in the future): You need this first and then you will understand how the component works.

The good news is the two sentences communicate a very similar idea: this is important! You need this! So don't worry about the difference too much when you're speaking.

However if you want to develop fluent English, you do need to practice understanding the difference.

There are a few more aspects to '-ing Vs The Infinitive', but I think that will do for now.

Remember if you have any questions about this answer, feel free to post a comment below.

If you want to ask a new question, you can email me at answers@ondemandenglishsupport.com or you can Direct Message me or @ me on my twitter feed: EnglishAnswers.

Toodles!

Welcome to English Language Answers!

2009-10-23T05:15:00.000-07:00

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