good! On Tue, Sep 16, 2008 at 11:42 PM, Xiang Liu <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > Some Finer Points of English Grammar > > 1. "While" and "since" and "as" are temporal, that is, they are > used in ONLY a time context. Use "because" for causation, never > "since" or "as." > > 2. Abbreviations "i.e." and "e.g." and "etc." may be used ONLY > inside parentheses, and the first two are ALWAYS followed by a comma. > > 3. "Very" is not used in scientific writing. > > 4. A compound adjective is hyphenated when it precedes the noun it > qualifies. For example, "open-source object-oriented software > engineering" but "this technique is for open source" or "this > technique is object oriented." > > 5. A comma or period precedes close quotes, a semicolon or colon > follows close quotes. For example: > > He shouted, "Stop"; and added softly, "Right now." > > 6. "Which" is nonrestrictive (unessential); "that" is restrictive > (essential). Example: > > "The book, which is on the chair, is well written" > (Incidentally, the book happens to be on the chair) > > The book that is on the chair is well written. > (As opposed to the book on the table) > > Remark: "Which" is ALWAYS preceded by a comma > > 7. The adverb "only" modifies the next word. If "only" is the last > word, it modifies the previous word. > > Consider the following examples: > "Only today the birds are heard in the trees" > (We did not hear them yesterday) > > "Today only the birds are heard in the trees" > (We cannot hear the cicadas) > > "Today the only birds are heard in the trees" > (Those birds that are around today are all heard in the trees) > > "Today the birds are only heard in the trees" > (We cannot see them today) > > "Today the birds are heard only in the trees" > (We cannot hear the birds on the trees or under the trees) > > "Today the birds are heard in the trees only" > (We cannot hear them in the bushes) > > 8. "Thus" means "in this way" and NOT "consequently." > > 9. If a complete sentence follows a colon, capitalize the first > word after the colon. > > 10. The possessive of a proper name is formed by adding 's, even > when the name in question ends in "s." Example: "Brooks's Law." > > Exceptions include: Jesus, Moses, and names of more than one > syllable with an unaccented ending pronouned "eez." Example: > Euripides', not Euripides's. > > 11. "Less" is used with an uncountable number (e.g., "less milk") > and "fewer" with a countable number (e.g., "fewer bottles of milk"). > Grammarians boycott supermarkets with checkouts marked "10 items or > less" and buy their food at Publix instead. > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "English Learner's Cafe" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/english_learners?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
