Thursday November 5, 2009
Pythagoras’ theorem
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED by FADZILAH AMIN
MAY I know the actual pronunciation for “Pythagoras’ theorem”? In OALD, the phonetic symbol shown is pai-’thae-ge-re-siz ‘thierem BUT the word has s apostrophe instead of ...s’s. So, shouldn’t it be pai-’thae-ge-res ‘thierem instead? What’s more, the pronunciation of this word on the OALD CD that I’ve heard is pai-’thae-ge-res ‘thierem.
Another pronunciation of a word I want to ask is “presentation”. Do Americans pronounce “presentation” as “ prezn’teishn”? Thanks. – Jenny
First of all I must explain that I’ve had to change some of your phonetic symbols to letters of the alphabet that The Star’s computer can print. So, “th” stands for the consonant in “thin”; “ae” stands for the vowel in “cat”; “e” stands for schwa, the vowel in the first syllable of “about”; “i” stands for a short “i” as in “bit” and “sh” stands for the consonant in “show”.
When a name ending in “s” is used in the possessive and this is indicated only by an apostrophe after the “s” as in “Pythagoras’ theorem”, there shouldn’t be an extra “iz” syllable between it and the next word. This extra syllable is only added when you write the plural form as “Pythagoras’s”.
However, according to Michael Swan in Practical English Usage, “...with singular classical (ancient Greek and Roman) names ending in s’, we often pronounce a possessive ’s even when it is not written.” (p.414) That may explain the pronunciation of “Pythagoras’s theorem” given in the OALD, since Pythagoras was an ancient Greek.
But the CD version of OALD seems to use the other alternative, which is much easier to pronounce in names like “Pythagoras” which has four syllables. It’s different when we have a shorter name like “Julius”, for example
I looked up a few American English dictionaries and two of them (Merriam-Webster and Cambridge Dictionary of American English) give two alternative pronunciations of the first syllable of “presentation” – one with a short “i” and the other with an “e”. The other two (Encarta and American Heritage) give only one pronunciation – the “e”.
Is or are?
When we talk about the quantity of something in both spoken and written English, do we use a singular verb or plural verb? For example: There are six of us OR There is six of us. –Abbas
In a sentence or clause beginning with “There are/is”, the plural verb is used in formal written English when the quantity that follows the verb is plural, as in your first sentence: “There are six of us.”
But in informal spoken English, you can use the singular verb, i.e. “There’s six of us.”
Base form
Regarding your answers about ‘Base form’ on July 30, is it correct to write:
4. She always helps her mother to cook the dinner every day.
5. Her father lets her to drive his new car. –Lee
The verb “help” can be followed by its object + infinitive (base form) of another verb, with or without to. So, “She always helps her mother to cook the dinner every day” is also correct.
However, when the verb “let” is followed by its object + another verb, the other verb cannot be in the form of to + infinitive (to + base form). Only the bare infinitive (base form) is used there. So, “Her father lets her to drive his new car.” is incorrect. It should read: “Her father lets her drive his new car.”
More polite
Reference is made to your answers. I need further explanation on: “The question is really a tentative suggestion. The more formal form is: “Would it be all right if we met at ...?”
What type of tense is used in the sentence above? Please explain why it has to be in the ‘past tense’ form. – Rosna Painudy
The sentence you refer to use the past tense verb “met” and the auxiliary verb “would”, which is the past form of “will”.
Some kinds of sentences and clauses in English use the past tense even if they do not refer to the past. The sentence “Would it be all right if we met at ...?” is a question containing a suggestion to meet somewhere.
Among the more direct and informal forms of the question are: “Shall we meet at ...?” and “Is it okay if we meet at ...?” These do not use the past tense or the word “would”.
Using “would” with a past tense in the if-clause can, according to Michael Swan “make suggestions sound less definite and so more polite” (Practical English Usage, p.253). I used the word “tentative”in my earlier answer, because a tentative suggestion sounds gentler than a direct one.
There is at least one other instance in English where the use of the past tense form is considered more polite than the use of the present tense form. For example, “Could you pass me the sugar, please.” is considered more polite than “Can you pass me the sugar, please.”
School test
This was taken from a test in a Chinese school.
1a] She gets up at 6:30am every morning and take breakfast fifteen minutes later.
1b] She gets up at 6:30am every morning and takes her breakfast fifteen minutes later.
2a] Then she goes to school. School is over at 12:55pm and she rests and shower before she has her lunch.
2b] Then she goes to school. School is over at 12:55pm and she rests and takes a shower before she has her lunch.
3a] After lunch, she spends a little while reading newspaper.
3b] After lunch, she spends a little while reading a newspaper. Which sentences are correct? – Henry Ho, Batu Pahat
The correct sentences are 1b, 2b and 3b.
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