CSS Forums - View Single Post

Sureshlasi · #5 Saturday, October 06, 2007

31. What is redundancy in writing?

Samuel Johnson wrote that writers should "avoid ponderous ponderosity." Redundancy refers to the use of language that can be eliminated without incurring a loss of meaning. Redundancy (or tautology) is the adding of words or phrases that add nothing to the overall meaning because their senses have already been expressed. Redundancy in writing usually comes from these sources: 1) Wordy phrases, for example: "in view of the fact that" instead of "since" or "because"; 2) Employing obvious qualifiers when a word is implicit in the word it is modifying, such as "completely finish," e.g., If you have incompletely finished something, you haven't finished it at all; and 3) Using two or more synonyms together, as in "thoughts and ideas." We hear many phrases spoken each day that are redundant: same exact, advance planning, mix together, actual fact. We all could use more diligence in weeding out redundancies in our writing - and speech.

32. What is ambiguity in writing?

Ambiguity is any writing whose meaning cannot be determined by its context. A word, phrase, sentence, or other communication is called ambiguous if it can be (reasonably) interpreted in more than one way, i.e., when at least two specific meanings can make sense in the chosen context. Ambiguity should not be confused with vagueness, in which a word or phrase has one meaning whose boundaries are not sharply defined, i.e., the meaning is not clear in the context. Ambiguity may be introduced accidentally, confusing the readers and disrupting the flow of reading. If a sentence or paragraph jars upon reading, there is lurking ambiguity. It is particularly difficult to spot your own ambiguities, since authors tend to see what they mean rather than what they say. It is strongly recommended that you let another person read what you have written before submission or publication.

33. What should be the spacing between sentences?

Traditionally, students in typing classes have been taught to put two spaces between sentences. In typewritten texts, one space between words was fine, but two spaces seemed necessary to make the break apparent. To be strictly accurate, only one standard word space should be inserted between the end of one sentence and the start of the next. However, strict application of this rule in the world of automated composing systems can cause readability problems, because several factors affect how the spaces appear in the composed text. The issue of spacing between sentences should be decided for individual typing jobs, not applied across all projects as a standard. If readability won't suffer, only one space should appear between sentences; if readability is an issue, two spaces can be used. Whichever choice you make, ensure that it is implemented uniformly throughout the text.

34. Do adverbs always end in -ly?

No. Though many adverbs are formed by the addition of -ly to an adjective (sad/sadly), there are many other formations: 1) those beginning with a (apart); 2) compound adverbs (downstairs, underfoot); 3) adverbial phrases or adverbials (for a time); 4) conjunctive adverbs or conjuncts (the word so in "She has a lot of energy, so she puts everyone to shame"; 5) derivational adverbs formed with -fashion, -style, -ward, -way, -wise; and 6) adverbs of time ending in -s, such as: always, backwards, ever, now, often, once, soon, etc.

35. What is syntax?

Syntax is the way words are put together in a language to form phrases, clauses, or sentences. The syntax of a language can be divided into two parts: 1) syntactic classes such as: noun, verb, and adjective; and 2) syntactic functions, such as: subject and object. Syntax is the set of natural rules or patterns that govern how units conveying messages (i.e., words and word parts such as prefixes) are combined in a language to form meaningful sentences. The syntax of a sentence is actually a hierarchy and the analysis of a sentence's syntax is concerned with: 1) the ordering of the grammatical sequences within phrases; 2) agreement between concomitant entities (i.e., agreement of number and gender between subject and verb, noun and pronoun), and 3) case as mandated by the position and function of words within the sentence. English is a syntactic language, i.e., it uses word order to indicate word relationships. Inflected languages, such as Greek and Latin, use word endings and other inflections to indicate relationships.

36. When do you use that and which?

In current usage, that refers to persons or things and which is used chiefly for things. The standard rule says that one uses that only to introduce a restrictive or defining relative clause - one that identifies the person or thing being talked about. An example is "The fort that Keir built has to be taken down" and the clause "that Keir built" describes which fort has to be taken down, i.e. it is restrictive. In contrast, which is used only with nonrestrictive or nondefining clauses. This type of clause gives additional information about something that has already been identified in the context. An example is "The students have been complaining about the assigned novel, which is hard to understand." The clause "which is hard to understand" is nonrestrictive as it does not indicate the specific novel being complained about. In a sentence including a nonrestrictive clause, the sentence would still be clear even if the clause were omitted. One will find that which sounds more natural than that in such a sentence, which is a great double-check of the grammar. Some people very strictly use that only in restrictive clauses and which in nonrestrictive clauses. However, even in good prose one will find the use of which in restrictive clauses is very common and considered grammatically acceptable. An example is "I would like to find a website which will tell me all about writing a research paper."

37. What is the rule for determining whether or not to write out a number as a word?

In general, write out the first nine cardinal (1-9) numbers; use figures for 10 and above. Write out the first nine cardinal (1-9) numbers (except for address numbers 2-9, dates, decimals, game scores, highways, latitude/longitude, mathematical expressions, measurement/weight, money/financial data, percentages, proportion, scientific expressions, statistics, technical expressions, temperature, time, unit modifiers, votes, and numbers not written out in a proper noun) and any number that begins a sentence; use figures for 10 and above. The first nine ordinal (1st-9th) numbers are usually written out, especially when describing order in time or location.

38. Is it ok to say off of?
It is certainly true that the compound preposition off of is used in English, but it is considered an idiomatic or dialectal usage, as is out of. The of is often criticized as redundant or superfluous, but that is not a concern when the writer or speaker is using the phrase idiomatically (i.e., informally). In more formal writing, you would say, "The actress stepped off the stage," but in informal speech or writing you could say, "The actress stepped off of the stage." However, the use of off of when intended to mean 'from' as in "I borrowed five dollars off of him," is considered non-standard. The construction off of is more common in American English than in British English. Other compound prepositions to which this information may be applied are: inside of, out of, outside of. In other words, you can say, "He waited outside the building" or "He waited outside of the building."

39. Should I avoid clichés?

Clichés are sometimes the most efficient way to express a complicated idea, but most of the time they are used because the writer has not thought out a better way to convey what he or she means. Certainly in anything but the most informal writing, clichés should be avoided. Originally, the word cliché was a French word for a 'stereotype block or cast' used in printing and, later, in photography. By the late 19th century, it came to mean 'a stereotyped or commonplace expression or phrase'. Examples of clichés are: forbidden fruit, have a nice day, sell like hot cakes. Though cliché is defined as a 'word or phase that has lost much of its force through overexposure', generally we find that clichés are very handy while at the same time are somewhat frowned upon. As Fowler said in Modern English Usage (Burchfield, R.W., ed., The new Fowler's modern English usage [3rd ed.], New York: Oxford University Press, 1996), "What is new is not necessarily better than what is old...The hardest worked cliché is better than the phrase that fails." Clichés are often spoken of in a pejorative manner, as expressions that have become annoying. You will find, though, that you sometimes need clichés when no other phrase fills the bill or when a phrase that others may say is cliché does not strike you as being stale.

40. What is an intransitive verb?

An intransitive verb is a verb or verb construction that does not require or cannot take a direct object, e.g., run, sleep. Here's an intransitive verb in action: She ran for the Olympic gold medal. The action ends rather than being transferred to some person or object, or is modified by an adverb or adverb phrase. Typically, an adverb or prepositional phrase modifies an intransitive verb or the intransitive verb ends the sentence. A transitive verb, however, takes a direct object, for example: She makes the best apple pie I've ever tasted. Note that certain verbs, such as "run," have transitive and intransitive senses. Thus you could say: He runs the local produce shop. To determine whether a verb is intransitive ask whether the action is done in some way, in some direction, or to some degree.