Questions tagged [writing]
This tag is for questions specifically related to written English. PROOFREADING essays, emails, abstracts, etc. is strictly OFF-TOPIC.
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0answers
17 views
How do I say I don't mind how much I get paid in a proper way in a cover letter? [on hold]
Alright. So I am writing a cover letter, semi-volunteering for a part-time position. I wanna express that I don't mind how much I get paid, to increase the chance to get the job. I just can't think of ...
1
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1answer
49 views
What is the correct way of writing a reference to file types / extensions?
I am a data scientist and regularly refer to various file types when writing to others.
My question is this: what is the correct and/or proper way to refer to a file type and which of the following ...
0
votes
1answer
42 views
Colloquial sentence endings like “is all” and “is how”
I'm writing dialogue for a short story and I want to 'transcribe' the characters' colloquialisms in a way that best adheres to the rules of written English (I'm an ESL speaker). My protag ends some of ...
0
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1answer
52 views
Should I use passive voice in academic writing? [duplicate]
Yesterday I learned that it is better to use active voice instead of passive voice in writing.
Well today I had an academic essay test and I used active verbs throughout the whole essay.
She told ...
1
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0answers
33 views
Can I use it is time to go back to in a formal academic essay?
First, The Islamic revolution occurred in 1979, bringing a whole set of radical conservative changes to a once liberal westernized Iran. Second, One of these changes was the enforcement of veils and ...
0
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1answer
34 views
Should I capitalize “the” if it has a comma preceding it in a title?
If I am citing a resource and "the" comes before the main title, should I put the "the" at the end with a comma preceding it?
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2answers
25 views
Comma before and
Is it wrong?
I 've read this at the Journal New York Times. We should be using a comma before and just when we have two independent clauses. That growth is connected to "expanded" of the first ...
2
votes
1answer
35 views
Should I use the plural form when i refer to a feature in different things?
I confront the following situation so often in many different cases:
Assume that I want to write about the cars of two persons, then which of the followings is correct?
I asked them about the model ...
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1answer
32 views
“This chapter describes” or “This chapter WILL describe?”
My question is about the use of the present or future tense when describing what the current project being written does/will do:
Should it be "This thesis will investigate whether...," or "This ...
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2answers
63 views
What is recasting in a sentence?? how do you recast a sentence cannot move forward in access course until I get past this?
I have failed this section of my course three times and just cant get it into my head, I thought it was rearranging a sentence, or adding context always wrong!!
Please could a kind person write me a ...
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2answers
48 views
Are there any references that the English language is written and read from left to right and from top to bottom? [duplicate]
What is the basis this?
I have practically done hours of research and I couldn't find any source or reference about this.
I AM NOT ASKING WHY. I AM ASKING FOR A REFERENCE.
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1answer
51 views
What is a regular font? [closed]
Here is the context: "Write your essay in a regular font".
What does it mean by "regular font"? What classifies as a regular font?
Thanks!
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1answer
45 views
What is the definition of dig? If someone begins to cut into a surface is it considered that they have dug something? if not, why not?
According to the following extract:
Mrs. Baker wanted to go ice fishing. She read several books on the subject, and finally, after purchasing all the necessary equipment, she went onto the ice. ...
4
votes
2answers
1k views
Can we use “id est” in lieu of “i.e.” in academic writing?
In an academic, format context, can we write id est instead of its abbreviated form (i.e.)?
Compare:
‘a walking boot which is synthetic, id est not leather’
with:
‘a walking boot which is ...
1
vote
2answers
217 views
Is “commerical” a valid and different word from “commercial”? [closed]
Googling, I see many places using the spelling commerical, but I don't see that spelling in any dictionaries at all. Is it a mistake for commercial, or are these two different words?
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1answer
23 views
Italics in Formal Essays
I want to say this quote in my essay:
"Jefferson is in every view less dangerous than Burr". I want to emphasize the word "every", so can I italicize it?
4
votes
1answer
65 views
How certain we are that runes were shaped as we present them
Specifically I am wondering about the A, F, H, J, L, and T. There are others I'm interested in but I don't want to ask too much at once, and these ones are straightforward.
The image I am looking at ...
1
vote
2answers
47 views
When to use mid-sentence commas when adding a formal name
Where is it appropriate to insert a comma when putting a persons name in the middle of a sentence, such as when writing an email or letter. Is it really before AND after?
Examples:
Thank you for ...
0
votes
1answer
42 views
How to write this properly?
"If you ask someone why they rewarded someone else, they will tell you
that they deserve it."
I think that the intended meaning is pretty clear, but how do you say that properly without falling ...
1
vote
1answer
52 views
Is there an inversion in the clause？ [closed]
The noise was like an English fox-hunt only better because every now and then with the music of the hounds was mixed the roar of the other lion and sometimes the far deeper and more awful roar of ...
0
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1answer
76 views
Is it possible to bleep out words which are NOT profane?
Is it possible to censor out non-profane words e.g. words about love, or something not to tell about?
e.g. you are in love with someone but not to tell about it
"I'm in **** with..."
But, the ...
0
votes
1answer
70 views
When should I use “Figure out the rest” vs “figure the rest out”? Does it matter?
I'm writing something where a character tells someone else vaguely something that that she did in the past and then tacks on "I'll let you figure out the rest" at the end.
Then some of the notes of ...
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2answers
41 views
Is there a word for writing and not looking at it (while writing)?
"Writing while looking at something else" -- your hand is still moving, your writing is still legible, but your eyes are elsewhere, such as reading from the source material being copied.
0
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2answers
131 views
AmE/Writing: AN _hors d'oeuvres_ tray, or A _hors d'oeuvres_ tray? [duplicate]
The general rule I was given as a youngster was that if the initial sound of the noun is that of a vowel, the correct indefinite article is “an”, while if it started with a consonantal ...
3
votes
1answer
62 views
Enumerate reasons after because [closed]
Is it correct to enumerate reasons of something after "because" in a sentence? For example:
This product is popular because: (1) It is inexpensive. (2) It has
two-year warranty. (3) It is made of ...
3
votes
1answer
135 views
What is the history of the cursive p?
A friend of mine (relevant detail, he grew up and learned cursive in India) recently remarked to me that he missed the way that cursive "p"s used to be written. An example of this can be seen in the ...
1
vote
1answer
42 views
A source for learning how to speak or write formaly? [closed]
and thanks for helping me. I would like to know if there is a source so I can learn how to speak and write formally, mostly for these topics:
-Sending a formal email to anyone or an organization or a ...
0
votes
2answers
81 views
When the title is in the form of a sentence - to capitalize the words or not?
I've heard for a "rule" that you should not capitalize the words in the title of an article, when the title is in the form of a sentence. For example:
Pneumonia is contagious. (As opposed to ...
6
votes
5answers
510 views
A word that combines the feeling of euphoria and intense, bone-deep fear
I'm trying to describe a god through the eyes of a devout follower. I've tried using awesome because I tend to use it for scenarios like this (ie. describing something beautiful and horrifying), but ...
-2
votes
1answer
43 views
Quoting articles of laws(ex. usage of “stipulate”, “specify”)
Article 15 of the Korean Constitution states that “all citizens shall
enjoy the freedom of choice of occupation.” Compared to Article 12 of
the Basic Law, which comprises of three clauses, Article ...
0
votes
1answer
234 views
When can I omit the subject?
Can I omit the subject if it has been mentioned in a preceding sentence?
For example, is the phrase inside the parentheses necessary in the below?:
The sculpture A exhibits degradation at a ...
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2answers
236 views
Does “His eyes fell shut” make sense? [closed]
This is something I've been writing for a while, but I know that I tend to keep writing things from my tween years that may not make sense.
Have you ever read a sentence like "his eyes fell shut" or ...
0
votes
1answer
37 views
Appropriate word order in a long sentence
I composed the below sentences to mean
The company should contribute to the sustainability by:
Proactive development of environmentally friendly products
Reducing environmental load
Which sentence ...
2
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0answers
93 views
What is the character set of the (written) English language? [closed]
More specifically:
What dictionaries or lexicons (considering all ever published) of the English language contain exhaustive lists of the characters or symbols used in the formation of the words ...
1
vote
1answer
42 views
Comma Separator - ACT
As I was preparing for the ACT, I came across this question:
Phrase: "Key and Peele is at its best when it deals with questions of
what is expected of mixed-race people, in a society reluctant
to let ...
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1answer
23 views
How to indicate that verification/correction is requested in the document
I’ve been tasked to write a document (like a wiki) about an application for work. I don't know much about the app, other than what I'm understanding by reading the source code and minimal business ...
2
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0answers
56 views
How to indicate your source of information is Amazon's “Alexa”? [closed]
Is there a proper or technical way, in writing, to indicate your source of information is Alexa or some other AI (artificial intelligence)?
By this I don't mean that I have asked Alexa a factual ...
1
vote
1answer
82 views
In written English, do you write fractional inequality with a percent-plus or a plus-percent? [closed]
In written English, which of the following is the correct way to convey I have a greater than or equal to ninety percent success rate according to all measures?
I have 90%+ success rate across ...
2
votes
2answers
73 views
Word for common knowledge in a scientific setting?
I remember there being a single word to represent currently accepted facts in a scientific discipline. Common knowledge, but in a scientific setting. It is a jargon-y sounding word.
You'd use it when ...
0
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0answers
54 views
Cohesion in English writing using antonyms
Can someone help me to understand how antonyms can be used effectively to achieve cohesion in English writing along with some simple examples? I have tried to search the relevant information a lot on ...
1
vote
1answer
672 views
Tenses to use when writing minutes
I understand that you must use past tense when writing minutes. However, there are some instances when I am not sure if past tense should be used as it would either change the meaning of the sentence ...
0
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0answers
12 views
Hale and Peter's or Hale's and Peter's [duplicate]
Quick questch.
What is grammatically correct:
I heard Hale and Peter's screeches.
or:
I heard Hale's and Peter's screeches.
2
votes
3answers
228 views
Is it correct to use a tilde (~) in a paper as punctuation meaning ''sort of identical to"?
In a paper I am writing (APA style), I have a sentence like this:
Another category of common sounds found across many languages are the palato-alveolar consonants (~siblants). These include...
The ...
90
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4answers
13k views
Is that an “r” in “worship” in a text from 1591?
I was trying to see how the Spanish word merced was translated into English in the 16th century, when I found this entry in a dictionary from 1591 by Richard Percyvall:
I understand that the second ...
1
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0answers
24 views
Is "the” necessary in this sentence [closed]
Heat, u represents the dependent variable, x is the spatial coordinate, Pe is the Peclet number, Re is the Reynolds number
0
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3answers
88 views
How does one cite a source that one knows only indirectly?
I used a quote in my essay that I got from the rubric for the assignment. How do I cite it? I know it's like citing a handout but who’s the author, the teacher or the person who said the quote (...
3
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2answers
1k views
How should the name of a series of books be formatted?
I know that you underline – or if you're typing, you put the words in italics – the titles of books, and that you put chapters or quotations from a book in "quotes," but do you do anything to the font ...
0
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1answer
285 views
How to avoid using “on” twice in the same sentence [closed]
How to avoid using "on" twice in the same sentence?
For example "my part concentrate on the impact on the industrial and transportation sectors."
0
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2answers
612 views
Better way to say “responsible for official public written communication”
I'd like to mention in my resume that I was responsible for official public written communication in my project, to show skills in communication, language and responsibility. What would be a good way ...
4
votes
3answers
2k views
Is the em dash used in formal writing?
Is it valid to use em dashes in formal writing? My teacher said it's informal to use em dashes under any circumstances, so I just wanted to make sure. I've gone through several related questions in ...
