English Archive

Non-defining relative clause (NDR)

NDR are not essential for understanding the sentence, they just give some extra information. They are a useful way to combine two short sentences into one long sentence.

(e.g.) This model, which reguires five parameters, was adapted from the one published by Mitchell et al..

We use commas with NDR. We use pronouns whether they are subject or object. We can still omit the pronoun and ‘be’ if they come together (, which was used …). We always use ‘which’ for things and ‘who’ for people (occasinonally ‘whom’).

In DR, the pronoun always refers to the noun which comes immediately before.

BUT 

In a NDR, the pronoun can refer to the noun immediately before or the whole of the preceding sentence. Be careful!

(e.g.) Mitchell et al. have produced a model, which contains five parameters, that can …

(e.g.) Designing these models, which can take several months, is not an easy task.

(e.g.) Designing a model to accurately simulate network traffic, which can take severak months, is no wasy task. → What taskes severakl network? Designing the model or simulating? Network traffic?

• Give more information.
• Useful for writing long sentences. (Long Sentences is Need!! Too many short sentences are childish.)

Two kinds:

Definitive relative clauses

DR tell us ‘which thing’. We cannot easily take the DR clauses out of a sentences.

(e.g.) The model that was used by Mitchell et al. …

(e.g.) The inventor of this device was a person who had …

If the pronoun (that, who, where, etc.) is the object of the sentence, we can leave it out.

(e.g.) The model that was used by Mittchell et al. … → Mitchell et al. used the model [object] → The model that was used by Mitchell et al. …

Also, if ‘be’ follows the pronoun we can leave out both the pronoun and ‘be’.

(e.g.) We used the same model that produced the best results in the first experiment. → The model [subject] produced the best results … → We must use the pronoun.

DR do not use commas.

	thing	person
subject	that, which (formal)	who, that
object	-(, that, which)	-(, whom)

海に面した部屋というとき”rooms facing the sea”と英語で言いますが、この時のseaについてるtheがなんでつくんだろうと思って質問しました。「その海」と特定の海を指してる訳ではないのに。。。でも、この時の海は海全体を指すのではなく、部屋の前の海を特定して示しているんだと説明してもらい納得。

英語で未来の表現の表し方には3つあると学びました。

1. will
2. be going to V
3. be Ving

1は”decide now”、2は”personal plan”、3は”arrangement”と違いあるそうです。

99% of your paragraphs should fit one on these categories. However if you have a good reason for writting a different kind of paragraph, then that’s okay. If a paragraph doesn’t fit into one of these kinds then there’s probably a problem with the way it is written.

4. Compare and Contrast (C.C.)

Compare the similarities and differences of two or more things. Always discuss the different ‘things’ separately.

—– HTML —– CSS. —– HTML —– HTML —– CSS —– CSS —– CSS —– CSS —–.

NOT!!

—–HTML —– CSS. —– CSS —– HTML —– CSS —– HTML —– CSS —– HTML.

 5. Cause and Effect (C.E.)

A C.E. paragraph explains why things happen the way they do.

e.g.) “A > so > B” or “B > because > A”

The use of style sheet means that —–. —– a single file —– so —– resulting in —–.

6. Time Description (T.D.)

A T.D. paragraph simply discusses things in order of tim. They are usually used for discussing the history of a subject or an experimental procedure start in the past and work forword.

7. Conclusion 

Conclusion paragraphs have many different structures but you should always clarity most import points of your publication. You should also stake a clain on future work if possible.

1. General to Particular (G.R.)

[E.G.] The power of the Internet relies on finding information quickly through the use of search engines. Internet users — information request — search enngines — rely on a suit of algorithms.

2. Definitions

A definition paragraph explains the terms you will use.

[E.G.]A semantic-oriented search engine relies on the meaning of data rather than the rules of the data itself. In semantics data is not coded as numbers but rather by use of special tags —. The term ‘data’ is used for —.

3. Lists

A list paragraph simple gives a list. The list is refered to in the T.S. and the details are given in the body.

[E.G.] There is an almost infinite number of possible semantic tags but the most common ones are lasily recognisable. — music — rock, jazz, classical. — countries — America, Europe or Japan. —.

The most important writing skill is making good paragraphs.

There are rules:

• One paragraph, one topic
• Write a good topic statement (1st sentence, sometime two sentences)

• Explain ideas to many people
• Get comments from other people
• Mutual benefit through sharing information
• Institution (or professor) tells you to publish
• GET RECOGNITION (Get citation, get a better job)

For above purposes, people must read your publications.

To get your paper published, it must be passed by the referers. It must have good English.

To get people to read it, it must have a good structure.

英語論文をさらさらっと書けるようになりたくて、技術英語もできる英会話スクールに入学しました。昨日習ったことをメモ。（もしかしたら聞き間違ってるかも。。）

divide

divideと一緒に使う前置詞はintoかbetweenかbyが一般的。intoは、何かを分ける感じ。betweenは分けて別々にいれる感じ（多分？？）。byは割り算のとき。

especially

副詞だから「特になんとかする」の特に使うつもりでこんな文章を書いてました。The controller layer especially handles … でも、especiallyは形容詞にしかかからないそうです。例えば、it’s especially beautiful. な感じ。。なんで上の文章は、The controller layer is responsible for handling … が適切と教わりました。なるほど。especiallyの他にもunbelievably等があるそうです。

logic

logicsで使ってました。こいつはuncountableな名詞だと教えてもらいました。

relate

モデル層とビュー層を関連付けるを、relates the model layer with the view layer って書いてたんですが、前置詞がtoなのと、relateよりconnectの方がしっくりくるとのことで、connects the model layer to the view layer に書き直し。

do

do buisiness logic と使ってたんですが、文法的には正しい文だけど論文のようなフォーマルな文章では不適切ということで、perform buisiness logic に書き直し。

on the tip of my tongue

もう少しで思い出せそうだけど、思い出せない。。みたいなときに使う。