This tag is for questions specifically related to written English.
2
votes
2answers
1k views
Usage of “Hi” and “hi” in a letter/mail
In the beginning of a letter (or mail) , which is the correct method to address a person/friend..say for example which would be more perfect "Hi XYZ" or "hi XYZ" ?
__Kanu
14
votes
2answers
2k views
Why is English written and read left to right?
Why is English written and read from left-to-right as opposed to right-to-left, top-to-bottom, or (not even sure any language does this) bottom-to-top?
3
votes
3answers
1k views
'Heavy Traffic' or 'Lot of Traffic'?
Is it appropriate to say 'Heavy Traffic'? I am referring to traffic as in roads and vehicles in this context.
Is using 'lot of traffic' more appropriate?
5
votes
3answers
1k views
When should you use “Title Case”?
Are there any guidelines for when you should capitalize titles/headings or not? Should you always do this in English?
I am referring to
A Capitalized Heading
vs
A capitalized heading
1
vote
1answer
85 views
“Original design by”
I have a question.
I downloaded a template from Internet. "James" created it (author: James).
I edited this template and do fundamental change.
Now I want add my name to the info box.
What should I ...
17
votes
5answers
728 views
How to handle a name that includes an exclamation point (or other punctuation)?
Certain brands, such as Yahoo!, insist that the exclamation is part of their name. In writing about such a brand or company, is the inclusion of the vanity punctuation right, wrong, or optional?
I ...
1
vote
0answers
609 views
Do I need to place a comma before an address? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Where should the comma be placed in the salutation of a letter?
I am not sure if the way I have formulated the title of my question is correct, so if you know better, ...
4
votes
7answers
7k views
Is there any rule for the placement of space after and before parenthesis?
I often get stuck when forming or formatting a sentence with one or more parenthesis. For example, I wrote an answer on another stackexchange site, in which I wrote:
...whereas, my phone(xperia ...
4
votes
2answers
607 views
Which punctuation for definition
I have the following sentence:
To this end, I first devised a novel
algorithm to enumerate all possible
partitions; ways of dividing a network
into meaningful parts.
I was told that the ...
2
votes
2answers
1k views
What are the rules on when to use commas, colons, semicolons and dashes?
What are the rules on when to use commas, colons, semicolons and dashes?
5
votes
1answer
5k views
When do we use “rarely, hardly, seldom”?
I'd like to know when should we use "rarely" and "hardly" and "seldom". Can we use these adverbs in the same situation? Or do we need to follow some criteria for using those different adverbs?
1
vote
2answers
144 views
Easy interrogative garden path prevention
How do writers of American English inform the reader that the current sentence is a question (with all the assumptions and prosody that go with it) without sacrificing the content, format, impact, ...
2
votes
3answers
977 views
Should I place a question mark after “Can you (just) imagine”?
I mean should I always split the sentence into two ("And can you imagine? He escaped through the window!") or I can just get away with one long sentence without a question mark at all (something like ...
41
votes
13answers
1k views
If an insertion in parentheses ends with a smiley, how do I distinguish between the two?
I know smileys are not part of written language (yet), and any questions about them are irrelevant to linguistics and are kind of not serious. So take my question with a smiley then.
It bugs me ...
7
votes
2answers
731 views
How does a signature develop?
In English, unlike in many other languages, signatures are typically very different from ordinary handwriting. A signature will often display all kinds of wild flourishes and elision of forms and what ...
8
votes
5answers
1k views
Does “see you this weekend” in email express “will write another email this weekend”?
Perhaps people will think that I'll physically visit them?
10
votes
2answers
3k views
What are sentences like “the longer X, the more Y” called and can they be used in formal written English?
What is the type of sentence exemplified below called? Is it appropriate to use it in a scientific paper and formal written English in general?
1.
The more pronounced the variation, the
more ...
3
votes
2answers
868 views
Is “could've” or “should've” standard English?
As the title says — is "could've" or "should've" standard English or is it slang and should correctly be spelled "could have" and "should have"?
105
votes
14answers
10k views
Do most languages need more space than English?
I saw the following statement on User Experience:
Supporting multiple languages can break the user interface, because most languages need more space than english
This seems to be a gross ...
5
votes
2answers
1k views
What are the uses of ellipses in essays? [closed]
I’m wondering about how ellipses are used in essays. Are there any examples that I could see?
8
votes
0answers
404 views
When to use passive and active voice [closed]
When is it better to use passive voice in writing and speech?
When is it better to use active voice in writing and speech?
4
votes
4answers
294 views
Requested ship date
A company has the words This order will ship on 9/14/2010 from our Virginia location on their website. The user could request a ship date in the future.
The internal, recommended replacement is This ...
4
votes
3answers
930 views
Usage of italics in writing
In which cases is a word, or a group of words written in italics?
Is italics used in specific contexts, or it is quite normal to write words in italics?
3
votes
2answers
254 views
Is there a general thesaurus for conceptual fields?
My question is about ways to find out about, or remind oneself of, related concepts. Say I'm writing an article and I'm stuck finding the right expression.
I want to say that the author is confused ...
4
votes
5answers
117 views
What will “this country” refer to after mentioning a foreign state?
AFAIK it is typical to refer to the country where the speaker lives as this country. For example, if a person lives in Great Britain and he wants to mention weather in Great Britain, he might say ...
9
votes
3answers
366 views
Is it acceptable to use “google” as a verb?
With the popularity and ubiquity of Google, it has become a verb to describe "searching for something online" and it appears in conversations and informal writing.
How can I know if it is acceptable ...
2
votes
2answers
5k views
Are both “in regards to” and “regarding to” correct?
Do in regards to and regarding to imply different meanings or is it okay to use them interchangeably?
Example:
This mail is in regards to your inquiry.
This mail is regarding to your inquiry.
11
votes
2answers
3k views
Should I refer to “Section 2.3” or “Subsection 2.3”?
When writing a document that is divided into numbered sections and subsections, sometimes I would like to refer a certain subsection that has been numbered 2.3, for example. Here the 2 represents the ...
21
votes
5answers
10k views
What is the best format to use when writing out dates?
What format of date is appropriate for different contexts (business, personal) in written English, nowadays?
1st of April, 2010
April the 1st, 2010
April 1, 2010
April 01, 2010
another one
10
votes
4answers
812 views
Recommendations for non-native English speaking bloggers
What if someone who is not a native English speaker wants to write for a blog in English, but is not sure about the correctness of his writings? How could one ensure that the article won't annoy ...
11
votes
2answers
18k views
Should I write “that being said” (vs. “that's been said” or “Having said that”)?
I often write what "sounds" right (being not a native English speaker/writer), and I believe the expression "that being said" to be fairly common, as opposed to a more complete form like "that's been ...
20
votes
4answers
745 views
Should you always use the accent in foreign words like “résumé”?
You can see in the aboutCV page of Stackoverflow Careers site that the word resumes is mentioned -- Not résumés or résumés.
What should be the common practice here?
What about other words like café?
20
votes
5answers
3k views
Is it alright to use lowercase “i” or should you always use “I” (uppercase)?
I frequently edit questions on StackOverflow, and I always fix the "i" into "I".
See this edit revision for instance.
When i I start my tomcat, i I am getting this problem.
How could i I resolve ...
