Language Overflow

CowperKettle

06:19

Which is more appropriate for a headline: could or may, and why?

> United Chemical Company could/may build a new hydrogen peroxide plant in Uzbekistan

Sawasdee khrap

V.V.

07:01

UCC planning to build new plant in Uzbekistan.

CowperKettle

07:26

@V.V. No, V.V., I'd avoid using a gerund/participle in a news headline

Javed Ahmed

08:10

hi

anybody online?

V.V.

@CowperKettle say "UCC plans" then.

Or use "plans" as a noun.

@JavedAhmed what's the problem?

Javed Ahmed

08:36

Hi

I need help

Can you check the following message for grammar mistakes and rephrase it to look good and professional?

"Greetings! We are having issues with the Odoo system. Some of the Managers in the system are able to see all the employee’s exception request and some of the managers are not able to see any of the employees who are under him. After editing and saving the exception requests, we also see that it has been notified to users that we are not following or are not our manager. I think you had solved the issue once but the issue is persisting again. What is the reason for this?

Could you please solve all these issues and we don’t any more issues to arise in the system. So please connect with us ASAP and try to fix all the issues. I am readily available to grant you Teamviewer access."

Javed Ahmed

Could you check for mistakes and provide corrections accordingly

Damkerng T.

08:58

I'm afraid this chat room is not really for proofreading.

Javed Ahmed

ok

is there any chat room for proofreading?

Damkerng T.

Not that I know of.

Perhaps try Lang-8.

Javed Ahmed

ok

so what is the use of this chat room?

Damkerng T.

It's the main chat room for ELL.SE.

So it's for people learning English. :-)

Javed Ahmed

where is lang-8 room

Damkerng T.

09:01

Sometimes we can do things similar to proofreading, though. But the aim would be more about learning from it, rather than getting the proofreading done.

Javed Ahmed

ok

Damkerng T.

@JavedAhmed No, it's not a room. It's a site.

lang-8.com

Javed Ahmed

thanks

Damkerng T.

You're welcome!

CowperKettle

Пісня про гриби | Дитячі пісні українською мовою | ukrainian children's songs

►

A song about a family of mushrooms

Damkerng T.

09:18

Does something that sounds like "rep" mean mushroom in Ukrainian?

V.V.

!!Translate/репа

Ellbot

sr: репа
en: beet

Damkerng T.

Ah, maybe beet and mushroom in Ukrainian are the same word!

CowperKettle

10:13

grib

Mushroom in Ukrainian (and in Russian) is grib

it does sound like rep, to think of it!

hrep rather (0:

Damkerng T.

10:43

@CowperKettle Ah, I see!

The vowel is probably more like [ɪ] than [e].

CowperKettle

yes

I've been jogging.

Man, it's cold

Had to wear 4 pairs of trousers

So my legs were quite warm in the end, but my head got cold

I reckon it was about minus 22 in the park

No warm buildings there

In several hours' time it will hit minus 30

At 9 am tomorrow it will start getting warmer, and will not hit minus 30 again until next winter

On the upside, I had no trouble with overcoming those who goes Nordic-walking there

Today there were only a couple of Nordic walkers

I usually cry "piste!"

well in advance

and then cry "thanks!" as I pass them

Segev

11:17

Hey
Please help:
"Libraries type" or "Library types"?
Thanks

CowperKettle

Library types

@Segev In my project, I use 10 different library types.

Anonymous

@Segev Can you give an example sentence?

CowperKettle

11:50

> The creation of the cell line producing the DRUG took place in several stages. In the first stage, the parental cell line was transfected...

Is this okay, or is it better to write at the first stage?

M.A.R.

I like ''in'' better

\o all

userr2684291

@CowperKettle That's the least probable context for such an expression, by my lights; "libraries" > "library types".

CowperKettle

@M.A.R. \o

@userr2684291 That may well be so. I haven't programmed since 2003

Abcd

I need help with the introductory paragraph in a letter : You are suffering from chicken pox. Write a letter to the Principal requesting to grant you leave for two weeks. This is what I have written but I think many grammatical errors have crept in and it's not able to convey the message clearly :

userr2684291

@Abcd Pastebin it, then don't paste the link here.

Abcd

11:59

Sir, This is to acquaint you with my infliction from chicken pox since two days. The doctor has advised a two- week bed-rest.

how to move to a new line in chats ?

userr2684291

Never mind; that's quite short.

Abcd

Like I want : "This is..." from a new line after sir.

Or this way :

userr2684291

Hold the shift key and then press enter.

Abcd

Sir,
This is to acquaint you with the fact that I, the student of class 10 - A in the school, has been afflicted with chicken pox.

The doctor has advised me to abstain from leaving my home for two weeks.

Is this part correct?

M.A.R.

-10

Q: Should I join English Language Learners or should I not?

I was scrolling through Stack Exchange sites, and I came across English Language Learners. Now, I am proficient in several languages, but English is my first. I realized I could answer a lot of the questions presented, so... should I join? I could answer questions, but I'm also not learning Engl...

O.O

Damkerng T.

12:16

@CowperKettle Nice!

Abcd

ok. I wrote the entire thing.

userr2684291

@Abcd It should be "I ... have been diagnosed with chickenpox", I think.

Damkerng T.

@M.A.R. I wonder why -10, though. Wrong site?

M.A.R.

@DamkerngT. In meta.SE, ''why the heck did you even ask this question?'' translates to a downvote

Damkerng T.

Ahh

userr2684291

12:18

@Abcd I would say "I, a student of class 10-A, have ...", I would nix "in the school" entirely.

@Abcd Also, "advised that I stay home for two weeks".

Abcd

Sir,
This is to inform you that I, Abcd, the student of class 10, have been diagnosed with chickepox. The doctor has advised me a two week bed rest for the improvement of my health and the prevention of the spread of this contagious disease.

I entreat you to grant me a leave from Thursday, 7th February, 2017 to Tuesday 21st February, 2017. I assure you that I will complete the assignments given during this period and submit them at the earliest.

Yours faithfully,
ABCD

userr2684291

Abcd, what a lovely name.

Abcd

Yes! :)

M.A.R.

Abraham Barbados Cillian Daedalus

userr2684291

I would remove "for the improvement..." and the rest of the sentence.

Abcd

12:26

Why?

userr2684291

Because they should ask the doctor if they wanna know why you shouldn't go to school.

You're not a doctor.

Abcd

Please tell me something that can be added too.

I removed that.

userr2684291

I think it's okay overall.

Abcd

thanks for the help

userr2684291

"Two-week" should be hyphenated, if you wanna keep your phrasing.

Abcd

12:33

okay. Done.

userr2684291

You're "a" student, not "the" student.

@Abcd Also, s/Thursday/Tuesday/.

:>

Abcd

I didn't get you

userr2684291

Today is Tuesday.

Abcd

yes

userr2684291

Taco Tuesday, if you will.

Taco Tuesday

Taco Tuesday is a custom in many US cities of going out to eat tacos on Tuesday nights. Restaurants will often offer special prices, for example, "$1 fish tacos every Tuesday night". It is popular in many big cities across the nation and especially popular in the beach cities of Southern California. Taco Tuesday is similar to Happy Hour in that restaurants vary in their participation, hours, and specials offered. Legally, "Taco Tuesday" is a trademark of Taco John’s and other restaurants are prohibited from using that term. == References... ==

It's an actual thing, haha.

Abcd

12:38

ok

userr2684291

You wrote "Thursday".

Abcd

OH Right. I will change that .

Segev

@snailplane I use it as title

userr2684291

@Segev Are you talking about types of library, generally? For instance, there's a national library, a public library, etc.?

Anonymous

Yes, it would help if we knew exactly what you wanted to express.

Damkerng T.

12:49

@Abcd Grant me leave would be better than grant me a leave.

I don't like the tone, which is probably too formal IMO, much, but I understand that it might be more common over there.

Segev

@userr2684291 yes

@userr2684291 More specific: It's development term, there are Dynamic libraries and Static libraries

Damkerng T.

Oh! Dynamic-link library!

userr2684291

@Segev "Library types" works.

@DamkerngT. Thanks. So "leave" is uncountable.

Damkerng T.

@userr2684291 I think it's more idiomatic that way.

userr2684291

@DamkerngT. Yeah, a common phrase is "be on sick leave".

Damkerng T.

12:56

nods

M.A.R.

13:08

dons

Segev

@userr2684291 Thanks!

YOU

13:23

Miracles does really happens at nashville
OR
Miracles do really happen at nashville

Which is correct?

M.A.R.

-45

Q: Add `color` attribute

Colours add another dimension to text. We use them to educate children. Some use them in different note taking frameworks. Colours are awesome. Imagine how easier it would be to explain how this regex: ^.*?[a-zA-Z]*M\d+$ Matches this string: awesome_ColoursM888888 If you could start like...

feature-request status-declined

Hehe

@YOU Why would you think the former or the latter might be correct options?

To help you, I need to know how you think about them.

YOU

It's about i want to tell that we do Miracles at nashville by helping people.

M.A.R.

@YOU Is ''miracles'' plural, or singular?

YOU

plural of course as many people getting help

M.A.R.

So which would you use with a plural noun like ''apples'', or ''miracles''? ''do'', or ''does''?

YOU

13:30

does i think?

We does happen(s) at nashville?

Miracles does happen at nashville

Correct?

M.A.R.

Nope, do.

Miracles do happen

YOU

Mircles do really happen at nashville?

Miracles *

M.A.R.

The ''do'' is just for emphasis there. You can think of it like ''miracles definitely happen''

@YOU Yup

YOU

Miracles Does Really Happen at Nashville!

This is cotrect caps?

correct*

M.A.R.

Do, I said miracles do.

And yes, you applied the title case well.

YOU

13:34

Ahhh.. yes do

Thank you sir!

You really helped :)

M.A.R.

No problem

YOU

:)

M.A.R.

!!flip of happiness and success

Ellbot

(╯°□°)╯︵ ʞɹoʍ

M.A.R.

@Ellbot Well, true that.

Anonymous

13:35

@YOU People usually say really do, not do really.

Anonymous

Miracles really do happen!

M.A.R.

Well, true that

YOU

Miracles Do Really Happen at Nashville!

Miracles Really Do Happen at Nashville!

M.A.R.

@YOU This one flows better

YOU

Yep

userr2684291

13:39

> Very often it comes immediately before the adjective or adverb it modifies: 'some really good news', 'a really old car'. Otherwise, it is usually placed immediately in front of the main verb: 'You really fooled me.' 'We're really enjoying ourselves.'

YOU

Correct!

userr2684291

"Happen" is the main verb, but this rule isn't applied here, is it?

M.A.R.

@userr2684291 I'm more inclined to think it modifies ''do happen'', not ''happen''

Anonymous

This sentence has a stressed auxiliary, do. It's added to this sentence specifically so that it can be stressed, because we use stressed auxiliaries to express something called "emphatic polarity".

Anonymous

Polarity is whether the sentence is affirmative or negative.

Anonymous

13:44

So "emphatic polarity" is just emphasizing that the sentence is affirmative, or emphasizing that the sentence is negative.

Anonymous

Do is a dummy verb (it doesn't add any meaning to the sentence on its own), so if there isn't already an auxiliary to stress, we add that one to the sentence.

Anonymous

And in this sentence, really is adding emphasis to do.

M.A.R.

Ahh

dons

Damkerng T.

The Leftovers - Miracle Anthem

►

Miracles really did happen in Miracle!

Or I've watched too much of The Leftovers. (^_^)

Anonymous

So really do adds even more emphasis on the affirmative polarity of the sentence than stressed do alone would.

Anonymous

13:49

@DamkerngT. What is The Leftovers?

Damkerng T.

@snailplane It's a TV series. :-)

userr2684291

@snailplane Right, because "do" was applied first, innit?

Anonymous

Also, not relevant to this discussion, but possibly amusing to English language learners:

Anonymous

Ylvis - The Fox (What Does The Fox Say?) [Official music video HD]

►

Damkerng T.

The plot started with 2% of the population all over the earth suddenly vanished!

userr2684291

13:51

Haha.

"Weird Al" Yankovic - Word Crimes

►

3

Damkerng T.

@snailplane Nice!

Wow! That song sounds quite like K-Pop!

@userr2684291 Nice beat!

CowperKettle

The TOP 5 cell minipools were transformed into the flask format. (I wonder if that's okay. I would simply say "The TOP 5 minipools were transferred into flasks." But the Russian original text has this word "format").

userr2684291

@DamkerngT. youtube.com/watch?v=yyDUC1LUXSU This is the original.

Damkerng T.

@userr2684291 Somehow I think Word Crimes is better than the original!

CowperKettle

Such a pleasant video sequence.

I mean the graphics

Damkerng T.

13:57

@CowperKettle It's indeed weird to me with format.

CowperKettle

@DamkerngT. What the Russian authors mean, is that the cell pools were not simply carried from the 96-well plates and into the flasks. Some complex procedure was performed to prepare the cells.

Maybe they were centrifuged, washed, rinsed, etc.

At each step in the general procedure, we select the most higly producing cell pools and transform them into a new format.

The system is explained here

Damkerng T.

Whoa!

CowperKettle

I'll go with format, because the Russian original text says so.

Let the reader guess.

Damkerng T.

nods -- It sounds like a technical term now.

Anonymous

@userr2684291 languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=13455

CowperKettle

14:05

The cell pools were transformed into the flask format? or "into flask format"? (Like "in pog form", without an article)?

Damkerng T.

I think it's safer with the.

Sometimes I wish I could read Japanese texts. It could be very handy. (Just stumbled upon a book titled わかりやすいパターン認識. :)

userr2684291

14:21

@snailplane In this sentence fragment: "to help you distinguish what is proper English", why wasn't "what proper English is" used?

CowperKettle

@DamkerngT. Thank you!

@DamkerngT. "Easy pattern recognition", Google says

Damkerng T.

@CowperKettle Yep! An interesting book. :-)

CowperKettle

Улица Труда превратилась в бурную реку из за коммунальной аварии

►

A trunk water pipe blew up in minus 27 C

Tomorrow there will be a large skating rink

The parked cars will just freeze into the water.

Damkerng T.

I've never seen anything like this!

CowperKettle

THere are surely trunk pipes in Bangkok for transferring water to houses (for municipal water supply)

Maybe they do not spring leaks often

Damkerng T.

14:32

Oh, we sure have them.

But not this kind of little pool!

CowperKettle

(0:

Damkerng T.

Suddenly, snow is not as nice as I thought it would've been.

CowperKettle

Near my house there was a huge geyser when a trunk pipe blew up

in the summer, luckily

Damkerng T.

nods

CowperKettle

Infrastructure is heavily dilapidated here

Damkerng T.

14:34

When it happens over here, it just makes the road wet.

CowperKettle

I should chat less and plumb more.

Damkerng T.

LOL

CowperKettle

(0:

Anonymous

@userr2684291 Rhyme and meter, probably.

CowperKettle

> The plated cells were incubated in the standard conditions. -- why it's so rare on Google?

I see nothing wrong in "in the standard conditions". Hm.

Anonymous

14:50

It doesn't seem wrong, but how about under standard conditions?

userr2684291

@CowperKettle Why not "under standard conditions"?

CowperKettle

ah!

Thank you!

Himawari 8

Himawari 8 (ひまわり8号) is a Japanese weather satellite, the 8th of the Himawari geostationary weather satellites operated by the Japan Meteorological Agency. The spacecraft was constructed by Mitsubishi Electric with assistance from Boeing, and is the first of two similar satellites to be based on the DS-2000 satellite bus. Himawari 8 entered operational service on 7 July 2015 and is the successor to MTSAT-2 (Himawari 7) which was launched in 2006. Himawari 8 was launched atop a H-IIA rocket flying from the Yoshinobu Launch Complex Pad 1 at the Tanegashima Space Center. The launch occurred at 05:16...

"Sunflower no. 8"

Nice

an animated gif by Himawari 8

Damkerng T.

Donald Trump doesn't read books — Here are other successful people who don't read very much

Oh, maybe that's the secret of success!

Anonymous

15:07

@DamkerngT. Or maybe success is the secret to not reading.

3

Damkerng T.

A nice response!

> Trump’s approach to understanding complex issues and reaching decisions is not unique in the annals of the presidency. Historians who have studied presidential styles depict a divide between men such as President Obama or presidents Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon, who were given to reading extensively ahead of important decisions, and presidents Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, who preferred to have issues presented to them in short memos or orally.

> washingtonpost.com/politics/…

Interesting

userr2684291

> But for the moment, Mr. Bannon remains the president's dominant adviser, despite Mr. Trump's anger that he was not fully briefed on details of the executive order he signed giving his chief strategist a seat on the National Security Council, a greater source of frustration to the president than the fallout from the travel ban. (nytimes.com/2017/02/05/us/politics/…)

Damkerng T.

Hmm... I think Read carefully before signing is common knowledge.

CowperKettle

I rarely read books... I chat too much and translate too much.

Damkerng T.

:D

CowperKettle

15:14

I read half of The Sandcastle by Murdoch a month ago

userr2684291

@DamkerngT. He's very busy, though.

Damkerng T.

@userr2684291 nods

userr2684291

> He has no time to read, he said: “I never have. I’m always busy doing a lot. Now I’m more busy, I guess, than ever before.”

Cardinal

15:29

@DamkerngT. That is related to the definition of the success.

CowperKettle

15:58

> From each of the 11 clonal lines, cells were collected into 7 cryovials, which were cryopreserved in liquid nitrogen.

can one use "cryopreserved" instead of "were put into cryogenic storage in"?

ColleenV

@CowperKettle why wouldn't cryovials just be preserved in liquid nitrogen? Is there a different type of liquid nitrogen preservation?

I'm not being snarky - I just wonder why it's important to say cryo when the rest of the context seems to imply it

CowperKettle

Yes. I probably should just say 'preserved'

But would "preserve" be okay?

Or is it a verb that denotes the condition of being preserved, and not the action of being put into preservation?

Lawrence

@M.A.R. Thanks! Hope you've had a great start to the year. Can you believe it's already the second week of February?!

Man_From_India

16:19

0

A: What is the difference of over and for in this sentence?

Sometimes speakers will use over in temporal contexts to mean "more than". You can't get a parking space in the company garage until you have worked there over six months. I'm no stranger to this place. I've lived here over twenty years. This is a colloquial use.

The use of over in those sentences seem really strange and alien to me. I would rather for there. But as it's coming from a native speaker, I am a bit confused. Can't completely reject his opinion.

Damkerng T.

Using over (or under) to mean more than (or less than) is quite common, I think.

Man_From_India

hmm just found it in american heritage dictionary usage note.

in here

thefreedictionary.com/over

CowperKettle

Word of the day: MAR

Man_From_India

hahaha

CowperKettle

I came across this in my translation today

Cardinal

16:30

@Man_From_India I prefer the "for".

Man_From_India

@Cardinal hmmm i was in the same trap. True in this sense for is more common, but here over is used in a different sense.

Cardinal

However, which of the following is good? "for more than X years" Vs "for more X years"

@Man_From_India Hmm, let me check it again.

Damkerng T.

For more X years could mean something else, or it could make not much sense, depending on your use.

Cardinal

@Man_From_India you mean the duration connotation that exists in the "over"?

Damkerng T.

BTW, note that over 3 years and over the last 3 years are two different things.

Cardinal

16:34

@DamkerngT. I see.

Man_From_India

@Cardinal more...than is a comparative correlative construction. in this case more...than is correct.

Cardinal

@DamkerngT. Yes, you are right.

Damkerng T.

In any case, if you want to say something like We need to spend 3 more years on this project, 3 more years would be more idiomatic than more 3 years.

Another 3 years is also possible, depending on context.

Cardinal

@DamkerngT. nods good point.

Abcd

How do I describe a situation when sofas are not in proper place but here and there in the hall?

I mean they are scattered in the room.

Damkerng T.

16:38

Not in their places?

Abcd

Nope. That's too vague

Damkerng T.

I don't know what you're trying to say.

Abcd

I want the reader to be able to visualize clearly

Just image a room when sofas are kept properly in their places

Cardinal

@Abcd with sofas haphazardly placed?

Abcd

But now suddenly due to some reason their alignment is disturbed so one sofa is at one corner and the others at other places

@Cardinal That might work.

Man_From_India

16:41

or the sofas are unorganized, placed randomly.

Cardinal

@Abcd I can only come up with adjectives and corresponding adverbs. like "chaotic"

Abcd

Hm

Damkerng T.

Clear words come after a clear mind.

Also note that there are several ways to write vividly.

Using big words is only one of them.

This could be useful: thewritepractice.com/paint-with-words

Man_From_India

> He acts like I'm a something moose or up here.

What is the meaning of or up here?

Damkerng T.

I don't know, but if I had to guess

I'd guess that the narrator meant some wild animal commonly found up here.

Cardinal

16:51

what does the moose part mean?

Damkerng T.

Like, up here in the north around this mountain.

Man_From_India

I think a something means roughly kind of.

Damkerng T.

nods

Man_From_India

@DamkerngT. but why or?

Damkerng T.

And moose would be a kind of animal.

@Man_From_India Because it could be a moose or something else.

But commonly found up here.

Make sense?

Man_From_India

16:53

hmmm i guessed "he acts like i'm kind of a moose or something of that animal".

Damkerng T.

BTW, I wouldn't use a something, though.

Something shouldn't need an article.

Man_From_India

i think this is too colloquial.

google.co.in/…

Cardinal

Maybe it means he acts like I'm a something which belongs to here.

Man_From_India

i found that sentence in here.

Damkerng T.

@Man_From_India Ah, but if you click to preview the book, you'll see the sentence is He acts like I'm a moose or something up here.

Not sure where here is, though.

userr2684291

17:26

@Abcd Moved around, changed around?

@Abcd "Displaced" means put out of the usual place.

Abcd

thanks.

Willow Rex

18:03

ell.stackexchange.com/questions/118563/… not sure how to link. Does there need to be a comma? If I have two or more daughters, does that mean I need a comma? I am so confused.

Cardinal

I have question regarding the punctuation in the following sentence.

> The findings suggest that: First A is correct. (period?) Second, B is not correct.

Is it correct to write two separate and complete sentence after the colon?

Is OK to put period at the end of each sentence?

M.A.R.

@Lawrence IKR . . . !!flip . . . the exact same conversation was going on school today and it's amazing how the start of this semester was kinda yesterday

Ellbot

(ﾉ｀Д)ﾉ:・’∵:.┻┻

userr2684291

@WillowRex I think you've detected wherein the problem lies. Commas are used to distinguish nouns non-essential to the meaning. In "My daughter, Mary, blah blah." commas indicate that Mary is their only daughter.

Willow Rex

18:18

@userr2684291 I am still confused. Sorry. They need a comma BECAUSE they have only one daughter? (Though in the sample the OP doesn't say that.)

userr2684291

The enquirer doesn't say anything about it so we can't know. I think that's a good question because the answer will have to take into account both versions.

@WillowRex data.grammarbook.com/blog/commas/commas-with-appositives

Willow Rex

@userr2684291 thank you I find grammar very confusing.

@userr2684291 ell.stackexchange.com/questions/118563/… hope I got it right, thanks again.

M.A.R.

20:31

@WillowRex I find 1, 2 and 4 acceptable.

3 is like a half-eaten apple. Disgusting

Willow Rex

20:42

@M.A.R. Okay then. One day I might understand it. Until then, there's you lot. ;)

M.A.R.

There's nothing to understand I think

It's not like a process thingy

Willow Rex

@M.A.R. Grammar doesn't always make sense to me. Commas, like in the above example, bug me. I just try not to use them, unless there are lists or or than one idea. See? I think I used too many in this post.

M.A.R.

@WillowRex BTW, you a native speaker?

!!translate/Ошибка

Ellbot

ru: Ошибка
en: Error

M.A.R.

!!translate/Пожалуйста, не бесчинствовать свои сообщения. После того, как Вы разместили вопрос, он принадлежит к сообществу переполнением стека в целом (по лицензии CC-BY-SA). Если вы хотите, чтобы разъединить этот пост с вашего счета, см Что такое правильный путь для запроса Disassociation?

Ellbot

20:52

ru: Пожалуйста, не бесчинствовать свои сообщения.
en: Please do not vandalize your posts.

M.A.R.

!!translate/После того, как Вы разместили вопрос, он принадлежит к сообществу переполнением стека в целом (по лицензии CC-BY-SA).

Ellbot

ru: После того, как Вы разместили вопрос, он принадлежит к сообществу переполнением стека в целом (по лицензии CC-BY-SA).
en: Once you have placed the issue, he belongs to the Stack Overflow community as a whole (for CC-BY-SA license).

Willow Rex

@M.A.R. Yes. Horrors, I know. I was educated in private schools. IMO, in Canada, a private school education is the worst possible. My French teacher spoke no French. My maths teacher told me the anything times zero is zero "Because it's a rule." If I was taught grammar, it was poorly done. Then I went on to teach Spec Ed and did not teach grammar.

M.A.R.

@WillowRex Nah, knowing the native speakers is important on ELL.

You have, at the very least, very useful intuition

Willow Rex

@M.A.R. Well I am Canadian and live in Texas, so anything goes. ;)

Cardinal

21:21

3 hours ago, by Cardinal

I have question regarding the punctuation in the following sentence.

Any help is appreciated :-)

Willow Rex

22:47

@Cardinal If you ask on the site and explain what sentence, maybe I could help.

userr2684291

23:35

@M.A.R. Actually, that could be correct as well.

userr2684291

23:50

It's far more complicated than I initially supposed. On the site I linked there are questions about this exact problem, and the person answering those enquiries says the second comma is best eschewed.

> 1 [the Prime Minister's, Mr Howard's,] tax package [multiple marking]
2 [the Prime Minister, Mr Howard's] tax package [single marking]

The multiple-marking version is preferred in writing, no doubt because it allows the supplement to be set off by paired commas. In speech, however, it is the single-marking version that is usually heard. (p.482 in CGEL)

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