This tag is for questions specifically related to written English.
14
votes
7answers
10k views
What do all capital letters typically refer to in writing?
In many error messages and conversations, I come across words in all capital letters, as demonstrated in the examples below.
ERROR: Please type your e-mail address.
or
ME: I can't make it
...
11
votes
2answers
2k views
Is there a proper name for the 3 asterisks that are used to suggest temporal discontinuity?
For example, when some long prose passage ends, this appears:
* * *
Then some new prose passage begins. The three asterisks dividing the two prose sections are understood to divide the two ...
0
votes
1answer
60 views
How do I express the plural of a letter in writing?
My last name has two occurrences of the letter "s" in it, so in speech I tell people all the time that it's spelled "with two esses". However I don't know how to express such a thing in writing. I can ...
1
vote
1answer
74 views
How to write in English for international readers? [closed]
How to write in English for international readers?
I'm not a native English speaker but I've been learning the language for many years in many fields (Mathematics, Physics, Mechanical Engineering and ...
1
vote
3answers
302 views
Must OK only be written in capital letters? [duplicate]
Whenever I write ok the spell checkers underline it with a red line and suggest that I should OK. Not even Ok works. Why is this so?
3
votes
2answers
904 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"?
6
votes
3answers
536 views
Is it incorrect to use a sentence fragment to answer a question?
In an English essay, I wrote:
What am I looking at? People enjoying themselves?
I lost points for using a sentence fragment. Is it truly incorrect to use a sentence fragment this way?
-1
votes
1answer
48 views
Conjunction vs comma for creative writing [closed]
Mark is crying, sitting in the middle of the hall.
Mark is sitting in the middle of the hall and crying.
I know both sentences are grammatically correct. But which is good for creative writing?
...
-1
votes
1answer
46 views
They give very less attention to the him [closed]
Ron gets inside room filled with people. They give very less attention to the him.
Here what I mean by "give very less attention" is - out of all the people in the room only few people looks at ...
0
votes
2answers
117 views
A water circle of few radius is around the park
Look at the below image. Do you see the water in few feet radius around a land? How do you describe this? Let's assume that the land is a park and there is no fountain. Can I express it as "A water ...
0
votes
0answers
117 views
Reform of English writing?
As is commonly known, English is quite notorious for having a writing system that is far removed from the actual way it is most commonly pronounced. I understand that there are important historical ...
0
votes
1answer
133 views
Avoiding repetition — “hallway” [closed]
In many forums, I have seen people keep saying to avoid repetition of the same word in a paragraph. But in the sentence like below, how do you avoid the repetition?
Suddenly, the dog stands up and ...
0
votes
0answers
48 views
How long would it take for me to get comfortable at “English speaking”? [closed]
I know how to read and write in English. I am familiar to English for more than twenty years, but i do not communicate in English. How long would it take for me to get comfortable at "fluent English ...
0
votes
2answers
65 views
Introducing a character [closed]
JOHN MICHAELSON, in his late 40s, is sitting in a couch, reading a
book. He is lean and hard. His eyes look tired and depressed, and
there is a vacuum in his life; we see that in his face.
I ...
0
votes
0answers
45 views
Which form of address in motivation letter? [duplicate]
I am writing a motivation letter for a university in London, and I wanted to know which form of address is common?
Dear Sir or Madam
To whom it may concern
Thanks in advance.
-2
votes
1answer
91 views
Numeric abbreviations in business quotes [closed]
When writing a quote for an order for products, would you write
25K or 25M to refer to 25,000 parts or pounds or units?
8
votes
2answers
2k views
Origin of the word “duh”
What is the origin of the word "duh" as in the interjection:
— It's hot in the desert.
— Well, duh!
If it is of onomatopoeic origin and only appears in modern English as some sites suggest, I ...
4
votes
2answers
78 views
Why is the pronoun “I” written with an uppercase letter, even when it's not at the beginning of a sentence? [duplicate]
In the following sentence, the pronoun I is written capitalized, even if it is not at the beginning of a sentence. Why?
What kind of questions can I ask here?
should I capitalize all the ...
6
votes
2answers
13k views
How should I write a whip sound?
Is it crack? Snap? Wh-tch? Whop-eesh?
Alternatively, if I don't use the actual noise. Do I write: The whip rang out? Cracked?
3
votes
5answers
7k views
How to add contextualizing text to a quotation?
How do you add text which provides context to a quote?
For example, consider if I were to quote someone as having said:
This is unacceptable!
Were that the whole quote, can I add any text to ...
2
votes
2answers
107 views
Is there a correct grammatical way to state computer model number in plural form?
For example if I said -
"I shipped ten Dell 360s this morning".
where Dell 360 is the model number and I don't want people to get confused by the "s", how should I write this?
Is it more ...
-1
votes
1answer
130 views
“At step” or “in step”
When I searched I found many usages of both "in step" and "at step". For example, Google returns:
"at each step" — about 55,000,000 results
"in each step" — about 45,000,000 results
But which one ...
0
votes
3answers
136 views
Is “setup” an acceptable noun in formal writing?
I'm editing a draft of a scientific paper which repeatedly uses the word "setup" to refer to the, well, experimental setup.
Example:
The dimensions of the setup are 250 mm × 250 mm × 50 mm.
...
1
vote
3answers
1k views
“lie on the basis of” versus “lie at the basis of”
I often read in scientific papers a sentence of the form "X lies on the basis of Y." or "X lies at the basis of Y." to indicate that Y is caused by X in some fundamental way. Are both forms valid and ...
4
votes
3answers
76 views
Can we say “front of spring” or merely “beginning of spring”?
In an answer to a Writers SE question, I used the phrase “a bright morning at the front of spring”. John M. Landsberg commented:
Nice revision, but note we wouldn't say "the front" of a season. ...
14
votes
4answers
6k views
How do I emphasize a word using the standard punctuation system?
I've seen people on the Internet stressing a certain word using "*":
I do not *like* it, I *love* it!
I think there is no such punctuation as "*". So I'm wondering if I can use some other way to ...
-1
votes
1answer
213 views
What's the correct way to format a date range, time range, and days of week in a single line?
I'd like to write the date and time for an event that runs for one week. Currently I have:
June 3-7, 2013, 8:30am-5:30pm; Monday-Friday
Is this stylistically acceptable? Is there a better way?
...
2
votes
1answer
545 views
“TV”: is it formal or informal?
I would definitely say that the term TV is informal (while television is formal), however I have found "TV" in some formal compositions.
7
votes
3answers
1k views
Name and origin of writing with period after each word
It may be limited to the web ecosystem, but I've read a lot of those sentences lately, where each word is followed by a period.
Examples:
Oh. My. God.
Best. Job. Ever.
No. F***ing. Way.
...
4
votes
1answer
224 views
Is it necessary to begin a new paragraph after a person speaks?
When I was in school, I was taught to always begin a new paragraph after a quotation or after a speaker concludes a segment of dialogue. However, in recent years, I have seen authors abandon this ...
-1
votes
2answers
81 views
Defective Passage [closed]
Could this small passage be defective in some way:
book
KENT SAW Helen at each evening meal, but otherwise only the spotless kitchen remained as a clue that another person shared the house.
...
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.
2
votes
3answers
447 views
Which Is Correct: “Do More Faster” or “Do More, Faster”?
I have been stumbling with this phrase for a few days now. I read a book the other day called "Do More Faster". The title comes from a slogan about startups getting more work done than their ...
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?
0
votes
2answers
133 views
Must the verb tense following “prior to” always be in the past? [closed]
I’m writing a paper in present tense. However, I am wondering whether using prior to requires me to change my sentence to be in the past tense instead. For example:
Thus, prior to their visit, ...
0
votes
1answer
81 views
How to quote a list from a paper? [closed]
I'm writing a paper and I need to quote the following list:
Step1: Compute the center of each triangle and the correspondences between the center and three vertexes of the
triangle;
Step2: Set up ...
39
votes
9answers
3k views
Why, in old books, are dates often given with the years redacted?
silly question, and I'm not sure this is even necessarily the right forum, but it's the most appropriate on StackExchange, so here we are.
Why is it, in older books, that years are sometimes redacted ...
7
votes
2answers
421 views
10
votes
2answers
4k 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 ...
4
votes
3answers
247 views
Do I use “argued” or “argues”? Past or Present? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What (grammatical) tense to use when doing reference in a paper?
Should I use present or past tense when referring to a (scientific) paper?
“has been raised” or “was ...
2
votes
5answers
579 views
Use of ! to convey sarcasm vs. emphasis
One, two or even three exclamation marks are often added, especially in e-mail, to convey emphasis to phrases such as Thanks!, or No problem!. My problem is that in British English, you could also ...
10
votes
4answers
301 views
Is there a name for the practice of dropping pronouns in written speech?
I’m specifically thinking about emails I receive all day where someone will write:
Haven’t seen it yet. Will respond when received.
If it were spoken, we would certainly hear:
I haven’t ...
2
votes
3answers
750 views
Meaning of various valedictions or closing expressions
Related to, but I believe distinct from, the following questions:
What does the "yours" in "yours sincerely" mean?
What are some expressions that can be used to end an email?
...
6
votes
7answers
5k views
When and how should I use multiple exclamation marks?
Now, I never do this, but in some few cases I have seen people use multiple exclamation (or question) marks like this:
Hey!!!
Is that grammatically correct? (Or just okay). In case it is, how ...
0
votes
2answers
342 views
Repeating “to” in a list of verbs connected by “and”
"This group’s main duties are to carry out information systems audits in Colombian banks and to make research and develop new regulations on information technologies and systems in the banking ...
5
votes
3answers
846 views
Is it correct to write “a 5-mm-thick layer”?
Do I need hyphens? Should I use the indefinite article or zero article?
2
votes
4answers
133 views
Is “the changes you intend to make will not do us any good” polite?
I would like a polite (formal) way to say:
The changes you intend to make will not do us any good.
or should I say "intend on making"?
-1
votes
1answer
115 views
Examples of written stereotypical Italian English? [closed]
I am doing a project on different European languages stereotyped in English writing. For Italian, I remember reading some work of fiction that had a character that would talk really fast in a "It's a ...
-1
votes
5answers
2k views
Official e-mail
How should I begin an official e-mail if I don't know who I am writing to? I mean, normally I would write "Dear x", but when I have to send an e-mail to an institution, what should I write?
1
vote
2answers
88 views
Is it suitable to use “trump card” in scientific papers?
Suppose you improved an old method with a novel technique. Is it OK to say that it (your technique) is your trump card in paper? If not, what is your suggestion?
