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Discussion Groups / English Usage / July 2009some questions. Please help.
Dear all, I have some questions regarding grammar. Please help me. Thank you very much! 1. These same states were the only parts of the U.S. ______ murder rates were considerably below the national average. The answer is "whose". I wonder if "where" is ok here. I guess if "where" is not ok here, the reason might be that there is no "the" in front of "murder rates" so that it is not specific and clear enough. What do you think? 2. Many students have poor time-management skills and often try to do too much ____ too little time. The answer is " within". I am wondering if "in" is ok here. I cannot find any reason why it doesn't fit here. 3. Pepe's restaurant where we often eat has an excellent buffet. This is a correction question. The word " where" here is not correct. But I cannot find why. 4. Make a sentence that starts with "Not once". The words "Nor once" have to be the first two words in the sentence. I really couldn't come up with any sentence. Do you have any idea? Thank you very much! >Dear all, > I have some questions regarding grammar. Please help me. Thank [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >"the" in front of "murder rates" so that it is not specific and clear >enough. What do you think? "where" is fine. >2. Many students have poor time-management skills and often try to do >too much ____ too little time. > > The answer is " within". I am wondering if "in" is ok here. I >cannot find any reason why it doesn't fit here. "in" is the better choice. >3. Pepe's restaurant where we often eat has an excellent buffet. > > This is a correction question. The word " where" here is not >correct. But I cannot find why. "where" is alright, as long as "where we often eat" is set off with commas. You could use "in which" in place of "where" (still with commas), but it would sound clumsy. >4. Make a sentence that starts with "Not once". The words "Nor >once" have to be the first two words in the sentence. I really >couldn't come up with any sentence. > Do you have any idea? I assume the second version, "nor once", is a typo. Not once have I seen an easier set of questions. (meaning "never") Not once did she even acknowledge my presence. Not once, but twice, has the building been struck by lightning.  SignatureJohn > >3. Pepe's restaurant where we often eat has an excellent buffet. > > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > commas. You could use "in which" in place of "where" (still with > commas), but it would sound clumsy. "at which" would be OK, again with commas. SignatureJohn Varela Trade NEWlamps for OLDlamps for email > >Dear all, > > I have some questions regarding grammar. Please help me. Thank [quoted text clipped - 41 lines] > -- > John (number 4) I wondered about the typo too. Nevertheless: Johnny had trouble setting off this morning. He just couldn't get the car into action. At first he couldn't even get into it. Then the ignition wouldn't co-operate; Nor, once he got the engine going, could he get the gears to respond. So he took the bus. In article <668c8c9a-89ac-4515-a918-a1bf249feca1@r33g2000yqn.googlegroups.com>, aquachimp <aquachimp@aquachimp.freeserve.co.uk> responded to > On Jul 1, 3:14 pm, John O'Flaherty <quias...@yeeha.com> John, i agree with everything AquaChimp posted. Quoth lcy <lcyiu3226@yahoo.com>, and I quote: >Dear all, > I have some questions regarding grammar. Please help me. Thank [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] >couldn't come up with any sentence. > Do you have any idea? You've already been given good answers by John. Here's another answer to question 4 that is perfectly correct English, although your teacher may not like it: Q: How many times have you been late for work? A: Not once. SignatureJames On 01 Jul 2009, James Hogg wrote > Quoth lcy <lcyiu3226@yahoo.com>, and I quote: >> Dear all, >> I have some questions regarding grammar. Please help me. >> Thank you very much! -snip- >> 4. Make a sentence that starts with "Not once". The words >> "Nor once" have to be the first two words in the sentence. I [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > Q: How many times have you been late for work? > A: Not once. Ah; at least twice, then? SignatureCheers, Harvey CanEng and BrEng, indiscriminately mixed > On 01 Jul 2009, James Hogg wrote > [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > Ah; at least twice, then? What - never? Well, hardly ever. (What IS that from - HMS Pinafore?) On 01 Jul 2009, Kalmia wrote >> On 01 Jul 2009, James Hogg wrote >>> Q: How many times have you been late for work? >>> A: Not once. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > What - never? > Well, hardly ever. (What IS that from - HMS Pinafore?) Yup. SignatureCheers, Harvey CanEng and BrEng, indiscriminately mixed > On 01 Jul 2009, Kalmia wrote > >> On 01 Jul 2009, James Hogg wrote [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Yup. And reprised in Utopia Limited. SignatureJohn Varela Trade NEWlamps for OLDlamps for email > Dear all, > I have some questions regarding grammar. Please help me. Thank [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > "the" in front of "murder rates" so that it is not specific and clear > enough. What do you think? Another option: "in which". The sentence without "the" is just fine, whether you say "where, whose, or in which". > 2. Many students have poor time-management skills and often try to do > too much ____ too little time. > > The answer is " within". I am wondering if "in" is ok here. I > cannot find any reason why it doesn't fit here. Either is fine, but I would be more likely to use "in", saving "within" for occasions in which the limits of time are stated (within 2 hours, within 2 hours' time). But in my examples, "in" is still OK , > 3. Pepe's restaurant where we often eat has an excellent buffet. > > This is a correction question. The word " where" here is not > correct. But I cannot find why. I agree with John in this. Commas would set off the clause "where we often eat". If the sentence had begun "The* Pepe's restaurant where we often eat...", no comma would be required. Unlike John, I would find no problem with "in which", but I agree that commas would be needed. *The implication is that "Pepe's" is a chain of restaurants, like our "Pedro's". > 4. Make a sentence that starts with "Not once". The words "Nor > once" have to be the first two words in the sentence. I really > couldn't come up with any sentence. > Do you have any idea? John's suggestions are very good. L.C. Yiu: > 1. These same states were the only parts of the U.S. ______ murder > rates were considerably below the national average. > > The answer is "whose". I wonder if "where" is ok here. Yes, but the meaning is different. With "whose", it is talking about the murder rate for each state, because "whose" is a possessive referring to the state. With "where", the plural "murder rates" is being associated with each state. This could be correct if we were talking about murder rates for smaller areas within the states, like cities or counties. With the first meaning, as you suggest, "where the murder rate" would be more likely than "where murder rates". > 2. Many students have poor time-management skills and often try to do > too much ____ too little time. > > The answer is " within". I am wondering if "in" is ok here. Yes. I'd use "in". > 3. Pepe's restaurant where we often eat has an excellent buffet. > > This is a correction question. The word " where" here is not > correct. But I cannot find why. "Where" is correct, but something else is wrong. If "Pepe's" is meant to refer to a specific restaurant, the clause "where we often eat" is non-restrictive and should have a comma before and after. If Pepe's is a chain and the clause "where we often eat" is intended to specify which one of the chain we're talking about, then "The" is required before "Pepe's". > 4. Make a sentence that starts with "Not once". The words "Nor > once" have to be the first two words in the sentence. I really > couldn't come up with any sentence. > Do you have any idea? Well, I certainly cannot construct a sentence starting with "Not" whose first word is "Nor". SignatureMark Brader, Toronto "Remember that computers are very, msb@vex.net very fast..." -- Steve Summit My text in this article is in the public domain. >L.C. Yiu: >> 1. These same states were the only parts of the U.S. ______ murder [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] >cities or counties. With the first meaning, as you suggest, "where >the murder rate" would be more likely than "where murder rates". I think I agree with this analysis, as much as I can follow it. What helps confuse me, I believe, is the choice of "parts of the U.S." as a reference to the states. In fact, for "parts", I expect an author to be talking about regions, or else about specific cities. If these states where "the only ones..." , then "whose" follows pretty naturally. And saying "where ... rates" without saying "the ... rate" seems to raise a big ambiguity about smaller areas. SignatureRich Ulrich > referring to the state. With "where", the plural "murder rates" is > being associated with each state. This could be correct if we were > talking about murder rates for smaller areas within the states, --or at several different times in each state. > > 3. Pepe's restaurant where we often eat has an excellent buffet. > "Where" is correct, but something else is wrong. If "Pepe's" is meant [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > which one of the chain we're talking about, then "The" is required > before "Pepe's". If Pepe is a man who owns several restaurants (and they're not named Pepe's), the sentence may be correct as it is. Well, nearly correct. In all three cases, the word order suggests that we might often go to other restaurants to do something besides eat. I'd move "often" to the end of the clause to give it the proper emphasis. ¬R > Dear all, > I have some questions regarding grammar. Please help me. Thank > you very much! Others have given perfectly satisfactory answers to your questions, so I won't repeat them, but ... > 1. These same states were the only parts of the U.S. ______ murder > rates were considerably below the national average. > > The answer is "whose". "whose" is quite acceptable to me, but not to everyone. Some will say that it can only refer to people. > I wonder if "where" is ok here. I > guess if "where" is not ok here, the reason might be that there is no > "the" in front of "murder rates" so that it is not specific and clear > enough. What do you think? If I were writing the sentence, I wouldn't use either "where", "whose" or "in which", but "with", which allows shortening and simplification: "These same states were the only parts of the U.S. with murderconsiderably below the national average. > 2. Many students have poor time-management skills and often try to do > too much ____ too little time. > > The answer is " within". That is a bad answer. It's acceptable, but "in" is much better. > I am wondering if "in" is ok here. I > cannot find any reason why it doesn't fit here. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > This is a correction question. The word " where" here is not > correct. But I cannot find why. I agree with other answers:you need some commas. > 4. Make a sentence that starts with "Not once". The words "Nor > once" have to be the first two words in the sentence. I really > couldn't come up with any sentence. > Do you have any idea? Where do get these answers from? I have the feeling that you have a better sense of English than you authority. Signatureathel >> Dear all, >> I have some questions regarding grammar. Please help me. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > Others have given perfectly satisfactory answers to your > questions, so I won't repeat them, but ... .....<snip>......... > Where do get these answers from? I've been wondering about that too. > I have the feeling that you have a better sense of English than > you authority. Same here. Though, as a non-native user, I couldn't have said it with complete confidence. |
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