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I’m now taking an English subject in Truman. I just want to ask how can I register here in your website. Thanks.
Crisanto,
I think you are asking me how to register for our eslhelpdesk and “Library” so you can have access to our online resources, grammar lessons, and podcasts.
From the blog’s home page, go to the first tab on the top, “Home” and it will say “Visit our HOME PAGE at http://www.eslhelpdesk.com.” There is a hyperlink there and just click on http://www.eslhelpdesk.com.
That is the main site.
From there, you can scroll down on the left sidebar to “Register for Our Library” and click there. It will take you to “Library Registration“. Your other alternative is to click on “Library” on the orange horizontal bar on the top of the page, and when you find the orange horizontal bar that says “New User Registration: If You’re Not Currently Registered”, click and enter your information there.
Registration is free.
Thank you,
Jane
p.s. You can also just follow the hyperlinks in this reply, in particular the hyperlink for “New User Registration: If You’re Not Currently Registered.“
Dear ESL Help! Desk,
Could you help check and revise, if neccessary, the following three sentences? I appreciater your help.
1. Talking full of air does not account for anything.
2. Those post-war soldiers are afflicted by the guilty of cruelty of the war.
3. The bank has imposed strict regulations on the house loan repayment.
Thank for your time agian, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours,
Peter
Peter,
To answer your question, yes, we could! But tell us first why you want us to do this!
Yours,
The ESL Help! Desk
Dear ESL Help! Desk,
I happened to read your webpage, and found the resources on it very helpful and useful. I am from South Korea learning English in order to study aborad. Those three sentences are what I wrote in one of my writing exams of this month. I’d be apprciated if you could correct any mistakes for me, if you have a spare minute.
Thank you~
Peter
Peter,
Good luck with your goal to study abroad.
Then the most important thing is not these three sentences but that you use this as a vehicle for improving your English, and having a better command of English grammar and sentence structure. I’ll help you to improve these sentences, and here they are:
1. Talking full of air does not account for anything.
Although the sentence is structurally correct, I’m not sure what point you are trying to make. Can you try to reword this to make a stronger point? What is “talking full of air”?
2. Those post-war soldiers are afflicted by the guilty of cruelty of the war.
Do you know the word “veterans”? See if you can use the word “veterans” in that sentence. Also, “guilty” is an adjective. You are writing “the ____” so what form of speech would you want to be using there? Also, you should probably use an article “the” also before “cruelty” which is also a noun since in the sentence you seem to be referring to something specific.
3. The bank has imposed strict regulations on the house loan repayment.
This one is pretty good though it needs a bit of polishing up. First, we would not use “house”. Some people make their house their home, and others make their condominium their home. So we use the word “home” to replace to the principal residence of a person, rather than the word “house” which refers to a physical structure. Secondly, the object of the preposition at the end could be improved. I think you are not referring to the repayment, but to the repayment schedule. Look that up in a dictionary, and see how you can incorporate that word into the sentence to improve it.
Get back to me! I’d like to see your next version!
Thanks,
The ESL Help! Desk
I need help too. Is it acceptible to say “interior illustration” when I mean more than one picture? Is this an error that needs to be corrected, or may I leave it as it is? I mentioned this in the copyright page of my book, and I wonder if it is okay to let it go. Please help. Thank you.
Dee,
You would need to provide more context in order for this question to be answered appropriately. You would need to provide a complete sentence, and explain who you are writing to, etc.
The Help! Desk
Hello. I have read through this and realised that there are some mistakes that I make during writing, especially on the tenses.
I am currently studying and I need some help on this.
1. Is there any difference between ‘also can’ and ‘can also’? Which one is correct? It was said that we can only use ‘can also’ but in certain books, they wrote ‘also can’. While some mentioned that ‘also can is more informal while can also is more formal’.
2. Still the same thing similar to the previous one, with verb to be, is ‘is also’ or ‘also is’ correct? For example: I am seventeen. I am also studying Form 5. or I am seventeen. I also am studying Form 5.
Thanks!
Dixon,
Your English is quite good. Where do you live? Do you live in the U.K.? How long have you spoken English?
Back to your question, which is quite good: In both cases, the more common is to place “also” after the first auxiliary. In the first case, the first auxiliary is the modal “can”. In the second case, the first auxiliary is the be verb, “is” – in this case, “am”.
Sorry for taking so long to respond.
Hello.
Thanks for the reply. As for your questions, I live in Malaysia at the moment, and well… I think I had only speak English for a few years, even though I was taught in the school for around 10 years, still what I had learnt are confusing theories though. Like the term ‘auxiliary’, ‘determiner’, etc, it is hard for me to memorize them though.
Thanks for the compliment too, as I am still quite poor in terms of using the tenses, especially advanced tenses like perfect or participles.
Well, keep it up! You’ll do well with English.
Oh, terms like “auxiliary” and “determiner” can drive anybody crazy. They only began to make sense to me when I was studying linguistics, in particular what we call “transformational grammar”. We would take sentences and chart them out to understand the structure of English, and the structure of that particular sentence.
If you understand the logic behind terms like “auxiliary” and “determiner” then you don’t have to memorize anything because you understand the logic of the language. For example, words like “a” and “the” always precede nouns. So if you see a word like “a” and “the”, you know that a noun will follow. This is what we mean by “noun determiner”. The words “a” and “the” determine the presence of a noun.
“Participles” are not tenses. They are verb forms. Please go to my introductory lessons on VERBS to help clarify the difference between a verb FORM (present participle, past participle, etc.) and a verb tense (present progressive, present perfect, etc.)
Yours,
Jane
The ESL Help! Desk
Dear client,
I am a student at Swinburne University in Melbourne, Australia and I am currently studying a subject called “Digital Media Design”.
The first stage of our project this semester is to choose a podcast we’re interested in and to redesign the podcast identity artwork in consultation with the podcast’s author.
The second stage of the project is to design a number of web banners to animate the new identity and to promote the podcast.
I’m writing to you to ask if you’re willing to allow me to redevelop your podcast identity for the purposes of this project. After completing the subject I’m more than happy for you to use the new artwork and banner for free on your podcast and/or website, and of course all rights to the work will remain yours – although I would like to have permission to use the artwork in my folio to promote my work.
There are some limitations to the artwork style – it must be done in Adobe Illustrator and be vector graphics.
Please let me know if you’re interested. Part of this project is to learn about and to practice client communication and I would be really happy to work with you on the designs.
Thank you very much for your time,
SIQI ZHAO
Dear Sirs:
My query has to do with the use of “but although”. In one of your pages I read that to use those two words in a same sentence is always a serious mistake, but in the site Ludwig I found a number of examples of “but although” written in prestigious newspapers: https://ludwig.guru/s/But+although
What I am missing here? Or were you who missed an important exception to a general rule?
Best regards,
Levy Farias
Levy,
Thank you for looking this up and sending the link that shows examples in journalism of writers using “But although.” I see a few of the examples ludwig.guru provides are from the New York Times! Most of the others are from UK publications (I include “The Economist” here) but not all. The general rule is to not use but and although together. It’s more likely these are permitted in special literary contexts. Even in these contexts the writer would certainly not use this more than once.. Perhaps it has some special emphasis.
If you really want to dig deeper into this question, the article https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/2011/09/18/but-vs-though-a-distinction-that-matters/#comments-anchor uses another example of “But although,” this time from E.B.White, another author of stature. That said, I’ll quote from Alan Metcalf:
And you can always use “But although” when you write and see if somebody raises an eyebrow!
Jane
Thanks a lot for your kind and thorough reply. I guess my problem is that in Spanish it is valid and relatively common to use constructions like “pero aunque”, “pero si bien”, or “si bien es cierto que … no es menos cierto que”. It is to say, sort of two “buts” chained together, using slightly different words aimed to contrast two arguments or the meaning of two facts.
For instance, following the examples of Ludwig in a translation I wrote this: “Certainly, at international forums, there is consensus about […]. But although few politicians or public figures would dare to openly oppose this type of educational efforts, at the national or local levels the agreements are not so easy and”…
Would you say this is clearly incorrect, or only rare? What other expressions could I have used here instead?
I’ve looked into this a little more – you’re challenging me! – and I think what’s going on is that the sentences where you see both together have a different structure. Although I’d like to take the example “But although they won the A.F.C.,” which refers to the New England Patriots, our football team, the Boston Globe isn’t letting me in right now, so I’ll have to use my second choice:
Remember you cannot have a comma after “but”. Eliminate “but.” You have: The nature of her murder was horrific: the body was clinically bisected and arranged in a naked pose in a vacant lot. Although the city was outraged, the murder went unsolved.
You need but to connect and show the relationship between sentence 2 to sentence 1. The purpose of although is to show a contrast between the “the city was outraged” and “the murder went unsolved.” The dependent clause is “although the city was outraged” and the main clause is “the murder went unsolved.”
Let’s take another example:
Eliminate the but and we have: Michael Jackson was a controversial figure. Although his brand was sullied, his talent wasn’t.
Again: The but shows the logical relationship between sentence 1 and sentence 2. Although shows the relationship between the dependent clause “his brand was sullied” and the main clause, “his talent wasn’t.” So but functions as a conjunction and although functions as a conjunctive adverb.
I think you can do this with each sentence in Ludwig. Your sentence does not have that structure – it’s just a dependent clause followed by a main clause – so but although would not be correct so the better choice would be “Although few politicians or public figure would dare to openly oppose this type of effort, at the national level the agreements are not so easy to (?).
How are you with this??? It’s been very interesting for me!
Levy, let’s add to this something very simple. This is what they’re doing:
<-- THIS LAST SENTENCE IS A COMPLEX SENTENCE. It has a dependent clause and a main clause. The main clause is the more important clause.
Dear Jane (sorry for the delayed reply):
I am happy of having challenged you, haha. I think this last explanation you gave is a good summary of the issue. Perhaps I did not use properly the “but although” expression in my text, but I think sometimes, as in your example, this expression does makes sense or may be necessary. Usually, not inside a simple sentence, but for connecting two or more sentences about some more or less complex theme.
Thanks a lot for your help and patient analysis of this minutiae. Levy
Levy,
The writer’s task is to make a theme, or a point, digestible to the reader. That is perhaps the MOST important thing a writer can hold onto. Then the writer, or speaker, must support that idea with other minor ideas, and examples.
Whether it’s your grammar, or punctuation, or syntax, or supporting evidence, or organization of ideas, the writer’s task is to communicate to the reader, and to keep the reader, or audience, reading or listening – – not to turn the reader off.
Even the most complex of themes from physics on down must and can be simplified to be understood and in order to communicate something real to whoever is in the audience.
A person uses unwieldy and incorrect syntax at his/her own peril. It’s standard for writers to have their work edited, even seasoned writers. A writer, or a speaker, would want to know: “Does what I’m writing make sense to you? Is there anywhere where I’ve lost you?” Is there anywhere where I”m not being clear?” and more.
Often this process of review helps the writer, or speaker too, to clarify his logic and where his thinking or reasoning is incomplete.
I hope you move forward with your writing. Thanks for submitting your question to us.
I can suscribe all you said above. I will try to study more English grammar and composition, but I guess most of my difficulties are not related with some particular rules. I think they have to do mainly with the crosscultural challenge of learning to think with a very different logic, in this case, about what is good writing. Being –I like to think– a seasoned writer in Spanish, I feel trying to express myself in English sometimes is like trying to walk with two-size-smaller shoes, ha. I have read some comparisons between these two languages and it seems a generalized feeling among Spanish-speaking people. Thanks again for your kind attention to my doubts and mistakes. Finally, if I may recommend a book through your site I found this title extremely appealing: “Breaking the Rules: Liberating Writers Through Innovative Grammar Instruction” by Edgar H. Schuster. As well as a paper by the same author: “A Fresh Look at Sentence Fragments”, English Journal, Vol. 95, no. 5, 2006.
Levy,
It’s clear that you have a good skill with language, also a desire to write well, and awareness of what some of the issues are that challenge a person to writing well in a language that is not his native language. I really love your image of trying to walk – or write – in shoes that are two sizes too small! They’ll get you there but your feet will feel the pain and pay the price.
It’s good that you’re reading up on language, and grammar. But be careful! The best writers have mastered the language and only then are they able to know when it is okay to break rules and which rules are okay to be broken. (For example, I see another fragment in your comment above; are you aware of that?) So the most important thing is to not learn more rules, but to read, read, read, the best writers and a variety of writing styles. Be careful about books that are self-published because often the writers cut financial corners by not hiring an editor. This is one reason why self-published books in general do not have a great reputation.
Finally, I see one thing that I should point out: Even Schuster says “always put content first and second.” I’ve known great people to write great books with a lot to say, books that are self-published and not edited, and this ruins the reading experience.
Enjoy the ride!
Haha. Now I am afraid I may begin to have nightmares with “fragments”!
A nightmare such as getting caught in the middle between a dependent clause and an independent clause?