A form of the verb that is complete in itself and can be used alone as the verb phrase in a sentence. In the sentences that follow there is one finite verb.
Then I examined the three main rooms.
The finite form of the verb is either the simple past tense or the simple present tense.
If the verb phrase in a sentence consists of more than one verb word, then one of the verbs should be finite.
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Archive for April, 2010
Grammar & Punctuation – Finite verb – English editing.
Friday, April 30th, 2010Grammar & Punctuation – Fewer or Less – English editing.
Thursday, April 29th, 2010In formal writing and speech, fewer should be used with Countable nouns and less with uncountable nouns. Examples:
Fewer shades of green.
Parliament would have less power.
It is not standard English to use less with a plural or a number higher than one, as in the following example:
Less people vote in Euro elections than vote in local elections.
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Grammar & Punctuation – Exclamation mark – English editing.
Wednesday, April 28th, 2010The main use of the exclamation mark is to end sentences that express:
An exclamation:
‘With a fixed bayonet! A fixed bayonet!’ he repeated incredulously.
Direct speech spoken loudly or shouted:
‘The first one … the first!’ everybody yelled.
Something that the writer or speaker finds amusing:
Her son was the biggest poacher – he was a devil: he’d rob your house in the middle of the day and let you see him!
It can also be used in brackets after a statement that the writer finds amusing or ironic:
I look ruddy, muscly, well covered (!), and just, shall we say, solid.
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Grammar & Punctuation – Exclamation – English editing.
Tuesday, April 27th, 2010A remark expressing surprise, delight, pain, anger, or other strong emotion, often spoken with extra force of emphasis: How wonderful!
In writing, exclamations are often shown by the use of an exclamation mark. Exclamation sentences can have a special grammatical construction, which involves changing the normal sentence order and starting the sentence in one of two ways:
The sentence begins with how+Adjective:
How strange it looked from below!
The sentence begins with what+Noun Phrase:
What an incredible confidence trick the election polls have turned out to be.
In speech particularly, exclamations frequently contain no verb:
How stupid of me!
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Grammar & Punctuation – Etymology – English editing.
Monday, April 26th, 2010The study of the history of words, or the history of a particular word. Dictionaries often provide information about the etymology of words. For example:
Ramekin
> Noun a small dish for baking and serving an individual portion of food.
– Origin mid 17th cent. : from French ramequin, of Low German or Dutch origin; compare with obsolete Flemish ramekin ‘toasted bread’.
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