Well proper English/American would be "untill she has a dime" but 'till is okay in conversaions and such
Help me with English, please!
- Thread starter callorhinus
- Start date
no. "Til she has a dime" or "Until she has a dime" mean that she currently does not have a dime. "For as long as she has a dime" means she currently has the dimes and can keep using them to fuel the jukebox - when she runs out the music will stop.
If you were using "Til" or "Until" in the sentence, it would have to say "Til she has no dimes, the music will never stop." (or in the opposite direction, "Til she has a dime, the music will never start"
)
"until" is not spelled "untill".....
However the contraction can be spelled either till or 'til (technically til - without the apostrophe - is not correct but it is commonly used)
callorhinus
Well-Known Member
In Russian we have the word which can be used in my example, i.e. "till/while/not later than she has a dime". This word could be also combined with "not", and the meaning is reversed: "till/while/not later than she has not a dime". Many Russians (including me) use to think this word could be translated as "till" in the first case, and as "until" in the second. So it it our mistake?
callorhinus
Well-Known Member
no. "Til she has a dime" or "Until she has a dime" mean that she currently does not have a dime. "For as long as she has a dime" means she currently has the dimes and can keep using them to fuel the jukebox - when she runs out the music will stop.
If you were using "Til" or "Until" in the sentence, it would have to say "Til she has no dimes, the music will never stop." (or in the opposite direction, "Til she has a dime, the music will never start"
Quite clear
Thanks again.
callorhinus
Well-Known Member
I think it is not correct to say that certain English word is stolen from French, because (as for me) English is combination of old French and German languages. So you have not stolen this word, but just borrowed this word!
callorhinus
Well-Known Member
I ask for your help again. Please correct errors in this text translated by me.
The brown greater galago, or large-eared greater galago
Class Mammals Mamalia
Order Primates Primates
Family Galago Galagidae
The brown greater galago is specialized jumper, its hind limbs are much longer than the front ones. Animal can make jumps of up to 3 m length. The bushy tail, which is 1.5 times longer than the body, works as balancer. "Washing with urine" is typical for all galagos: animal urinates on their palms and soles, and its individual smell stays where animal walked. It is considered that animals do it for thermoregulation or for the marking of territory, but it is also likely that this procedure allows them to better cling to the branches. Galagos have very well developed sense of smell. Big eyes help galago to see in the dark, but galago not possess color vision. Eyes of these animals have a special reflective layer that allows galagos to see even with night illumination/lighting. Big ears can move independently, and animals can aim each ear - like a radar - to the source of the sound.When needed, ears could be rolled into a tubes.
Animals are nocturnal, they live on the trees and prefer the top layer of the forest. They sleep in tree hollows or in the forks of branches at days, sometimes they make nests of leaves. The brown greater galago communities are polygamous. Newborn younglings stay firstly in the hollow, where they were born. If necessary, female carries them to another place with/in the mouth. After 7-10 days, they can move a little bit ourselves or sitting on the back of the mother. Male does not participate the care of younglings.
Dimensions: 26-47 cm body length, tail is from 29 to 55 cm, ear is 6 cm.
Weight: females are 1.2 kg, males are 1.5 kg average
Lifespan: up to 20-22 years in captivity
Offspring: 2-3 (sometimes 1)
Diet: fruits, berries, seeds, insects, small reptiles and birds
Habitat: dry and gallery forests
Limiting factors: habitat destruction, illegal trade poaching, hunting for food
The brown greater galago, or large-eared greater galago
Class Mammals Mamalia
Order Primates Primates
Family Galago Galagidae
The brown greater galago is specialized jumper, its hind limbs are much longer than the front ones. Animal can make jumps of up to 3 m length. The bushy tail, which is 1.5 times longer than the body, works as balancer. "Washing with urine" is typical for all galagos: animal urinates on their palms and soles, and its individual smell stays where animal walked. It is considered that animals do it for thermoregulation or for the marking of territory, but it is also likely that this procedure allows them to better cling to the branches. Galagos have very well developed sense of smell. Big eyes help galago to see in the dark, but galago not possess color vision. Eyes of these animals have a special reflective layer that allows galagos to see even with night illumination/lighting. Big ears can move independently, and animals can aim each ear - like a radar - to the source of the sound.When needed, ears could be rolled into a tubes.
Animals are nocturnal, they live on the trees and prefer the top layer of the forest. They sleep in tree hollows or in the forks of branches at days, sometimes they make nests of leaves. The brown greater galago communities are polygamous. Newborn younglings stay firstly in the hollow, where they were born. If necessary, female carries them to another place with/in the mouth. After 7-10 days, they can move a little bit ourselves or sitting on the back of the mother. Male does not participate the care of younglings.
Dimensions: 26-47 cm body length, tail is from 29 to 55 cm, ear is 6 cm.
Weight: females are 1.2 kg, males are 1.5 kg average
Lifespan: up to 20-22 years in captivity
Offspring: 2-3 (sometimes 1)
Diet: fruits, berries, seeds, insects, small reptiles and birds
Habitat: dry and gallery forests
Limiting factors: habitat destruction, illegal trade poaching, hunting for food
zooboy28
Well-Known Member
I have fixed up a few small grammatical errors (in bold and underlined), but it all makes sense and flows well even without those. The only question I have is how does the urine washing help thermoregulation? I guess by evaporative cooling, but you haven;t said how in the text at all.
yes it is all pretty good, just minor errors. I have done the same thing as zooboy28 and made some changes in bold, and I have broken it into sections to discuss a few points in italics. You can compare our posts.
The brown greater galago, or large-eared greater galago
Class Mammals Mamalia
Order Primates Primates
Family Galago Galagidae
[Here I would put some punctuation, and change the order of the words, so:
Class Mammalia: Mammals
Order Primates: Primates
Family Galagidae: Galagos
Some people would also capitalise the animal's common names, e.g. Brown Greater Galago, but that is a personal choice.]
The brown greater galago is a specialized jumper, its hind limbs are much longer than the front ones.
[You could also put "is a specialized jumper, with hind limbs much longer than the front ones" or "is a specialized jumper, and its hind limbs are much longer than the front ones" - any of those are good]
The animal can make jumps of up to 3m. The bushy tail, which is 1.5 times longer than the body, works as balance.
[Alternatively, "works as a balance" or "works as a balancer" or "is used for balance" - any of those options are good.]
"Washing with urine" is typical for all galagos: the animal urinates on its palms and soles, and its individual smell stays where the animal walks. It is theorised that galagos do this for thermoregulation or for the marking of territory, but it is also likely that this procedure allows them to better cling to the branches. Galagos have a very well developed sense of smell. Big eyes help galagos to see in the dark, but they do not possess color vision. Eyes of these animals have a special reflective layer that allows galagos to see even with night illumination/lighting.
[This last sentence doesn't really work, although I know what you mean by it. I think the best way to write it would be "The eyes of galagos have a special reflective layer which allows them to see well in low light levels at night"]
Their big ears can move independently, and animals can aim each ear - like a radar - to the source of the sound. When needed, the ears can be rolled into tubes.
Galagos are nocturnal. They live in the trees and prefer the top layer of the forest. During the day they sleep in tree hollows or in the forks of branches. Sometimes they make nests of leaves. The brown greater galago communities are polygamous. Newborn babies stay at first in the hollow where they were born. If necessary, the female carries them to another place with/in the mouth.
[This could say either "If necessary, the female carries them to another place with the mouth" or "If necessary, the female carries them to another place in the mouth" - either is good. I would use the second option myself, but zooboy28 uses the first.]
After 7-10 days, they can move around a little by themselves or are carried on the back of the mother. The male does not participate in the care of the babies.
Dimensions: 26-47 cm body length, tail is from 29 to 55 cm, ear is 6 cm.
Weight: females are 1.2 kg, males are 1.5 kg average
Lifespan: up to 20-22 years in captivity
Offspring: 2-3 (sometimes 1)
Diet: fruits, berries, seeds, insects, small reptiles and birds
Habitat: dry and gallery forests
Limiting factors: habitat destruction, illegal trade, poaching, hunting for food
The brown greater galago, or large-eared greater galago
Class Mammals Mamalia
Order Primates Primates
Family Galago Galagidae
[Here I would put some punctuation, and change the order of the words, so:
Class Mammalia: Mammals
Order Primates: Primates
Family Galagidae: Galagos
Some people would also capitalise the animal's common names, e.g. Brown Greater Galago, but that is a personal choice.]
The brown greater galago is a specialized jumper, its hind limbs are much longer than the front ones.
[You could also put "is a specialized jumper, with hind limbs much longer than the front ones" or "is a specialized jumper, and its hind limbs are much longer than the front ones" - any of those are good]
The animal can make jumps of up to 3m. The bushy tail, which is 1.5 times longer than the body, works as balance.
[Alternatively, "works as a balance" or "works as a balancer" or "is used for balance" - any of those options are good.]
"Washing with urine" is typical for all galagos: the animal urinates on its palms and soles, and its individual smell stays where the animal walks. It is theorised that galagos do this for thermoregulation or for the marking of territory, but it is also likely that this procedure allows them to better cling to the branches. Galagos have a very well developed sense of smell. Big eyes help galagos to see in the dark, but they do not possess color vision. Eyes of these animals have a special reflective layer that allows galagos to see even with night illumination/lighting.
[This last sentence doesn't really work, although I know what you mean by it. I think the best way to write it would be "The eyes of galagos have a special reflective layer which allows them to see well in low light levels at night"]
Their big ears can move independently, and animals can aim each ear - like a radar - to the source of the sound. When needed, the ears can be rolled into tubes.
Galagos are nocturnal. They live in the trees and prefer the top layer of the forest. During the day they sleep in tree hollows or in the forks of branches. Sometimes they make nests of leaves. The brown greater galago communities are polygamous. Newborn babies stay at first in the hollow where they were born. If necessary, the female carries them to another place with/in the mouth.
[This could say either "If necessary, the female carries them to another place with the mouth" or "If necessary, the female carries them to another place in the mouth" - either is good. I would use the second option myself, but zooboy28 uses the first.]
After 7-10 days, they can move around a little by themselves or are carried on the back of the mother. The male does not participate in the care of the babies.
Dimensions: 26-47 cm body length, tail is from 29 to 55 cm, ear is 6 cm.
Weight: females are 1.2 kg, males are 1.5 kg average
Lifespan: up to 20-22 years in captivity
Offspring: 2-3 (sometimes 1)
Diet: fruits, berries, seeds, insects, small reptiles and birds
Habitat: dry and gallery forests
Limiting factors: habitat destruction, illegal trade, poaching, hunting for food
callorhinus
Well-Known Member
Thanks for help, guys!!!
Too many of errors are silly, I should sleep well before translating texts
I haven't noticed (many) corrections in commas using. I used (mostly) rules of Russian language. Looks like these rules more similar in Russian and English than I used to think about it before this thread was started.
Too many of errors are silly, I should sleep well before translating texts
I think that author of this text thought that it is obvious. I use texts for translation from websites of my zoo or other zoos etc. So I don't really care of reliability or clarity of the text in the case when text is not for our new animal's sign.
I haven't noticed (many) corrections in commas using. I used (mostly) rules of Russian language. Looks like these rules more similar in Russian and English than I used to think about it before this thread was started.
callorhinus
Well-Known Member
New attempt
Bos taurus indicus
Dwarf Zebu
Class Mammals (Mammalia)
Order Even-toed ungulate (Artiodactyla)
Family Bovidae (Bovidae)
A sub-species of wild ox, living in the tropics and subtropics of India and Africa. Unlike European cattle, zebu are descended from the Indian subspecies of the ancestor/wild species. While Zebu looks like most of oxen, it has its own characteristic features: humps on the shoulders, large dewlaps and droopy ears.
Zebu originates from Indonesia, it was delivered to Africa a few centuries ago, for ritual purposes probably. Zebu came in handy/came in useful at Madagascar: the humped cattle breeding has become a matter of prestige, the key to prosperity and well-being for the islanders. Since the twentieth century, there were repeated attempts to breed zebu with/and taurine/European cattle to increase their productivity and to increase the organism's defenses against the (threat of) tropical diseases. As a result, there are many breeds of zebu now.
Bos taurus indicus
Dwarf Zebu
Class Mammals (Mammalia)
Order Even-toed ungulate (Artiodactyla)
Family Bovidae (Bovidae)
A sub-species of wild ox, living in the tropics and subtropics of India and Africa. Unlike European cattle, zebu are descended from the Indian subspecies of the ancestor/wild species. While Zebu looks like most of oxen, it has its own characteristic features: humps on the shoulders, large dewlaps and droopy ears.
Zebu originates from Indonesia, it was delivered to Africa a few centuries ago, for ritual purposes probably. Zebu came in handy/came in useful at Madagascar: the humped cattle breeding has become a matter of prestige, the key to prosperity and well-being for the islanders. Since the twentieth century, there were repeated attempts to breed zebu with/and taurine/European cattle to increase their productivity and to increase the organism's defenses against the (threat of) tropical diseases. As a result, there are many breeds of zebu now.
Bos taurus indicus
Dwarf Zebu
Class: Mammalia (Mammals)
Order: Artiodactyla (Even-toed ungulates)
Family: Bovidae (Bovids)
[The above is how I would do it: the name of the Class/Order/Family and then the common name, with a colon between the first two. Instead of "Bovids" you could put "Cattle and Antelope" or something similar.]
A subspecies of wild ox, living in the tropics and subtropics of India and Africa. Unlike European cattle, zebu are descended from the Indian subspecies of the ancestor/wild species. While Zebu look similar to other oxen, they have their own characteristic features: humps on the shoulders, large dewlaps and droopy ears.
[The first time you wrote subspecies you had a hyphen ("sub-species"), but the second time you got it correct. You have also capitalised Zebu in some places but not others. I changed "Zebu looks like most of oxen" to "Zebu look similar to other oxen" because it reads better. You also need to watch changes between singular and collective - for example at the start of the paragraph you wrote "zebu are descended..." (treating zebu as a collective group) but later you wrote "it has its own characteristic features" (treating zebu as a singular item). I changed the second one to "they have their own characteristic features" because otherwise the tenses in the paragraph become inconsistent with one another.]
Zebu originate from Indonesia but were transported to Africa a few centuries ago, probably for ritual purposes. Zebu are useful in Madagascar: breeding the humped cattle has become a matter of prestige, the key to prosperity and well-being for the islanders. Since the twentieth century there have been repeated attempts to breed zebu with European cattle to increase their productivity and to increase their resistance to tropical diseases. As a result, there are now many breeds of zebu.
Dwarf Zebu
Class: Mammalia (Mammals)
Order: Artiodactyla (Even-toed ungulates)
Family: Bovidae (Bovids)
[The above is how I would do it: the name of the Class/Order/Family and then the common name, with a colon between the first two. Instead of "Bovids" you could put "Cattle and Antelope" or something similar.]
A subspecies of wild ox, living in the tropics and subtropics of India and Africa. Unlike European cattle, zebu are descended from the Indian subspecies of the ancestor/wild species. While Zebu look similar to other oxen, they have their own characteristic features: humps on the shoulders, large dewlaps and droopy ears.
[The first time you wrote subspecies you had a hyphen ("sub-species"), but the second time you got it correct. You have also capitalised Zebu in some places but not others. I changed "Zebu looks like most of oxen" to "Zebu look similar to other oxen" because it reads better. You also need to watch changes between singular and collective - for example at the start of the paragraph you wrote "zebu are descended..." (treating zebu as a collective group) but later you wrote "it has its own characteristic features" (treating zebu as a singular item). I changed the second one to "they have their own characteristic features" because otherwise the tenses in the paragraph become inconsistent with one another.]
Zebu originate from Indonesia but were transported to Africa a few centuries ago, probably for ritual purposes. Zebu are useful in Madagascar: breeding the humped cattle has become a matter of prestige, the key to prosperity and well-being for the islanders. Since the twentieth century there have been repeated attempts to breed zebu with European cattle to increase their productivity and to increase their resistance to tropical diseases. As a result, there are now many breeds of zebu.
New attempt
Bos taurus indicus
Dwarf Zebu
Class Mammals (Mammalia)
Order Even-toed ungulate (Artiodactyla)
Family Bovidae (Bovidae)
A sub-species (should this be hyphenated? I don't think so but I'm not sure) of wild ox, living (which lives) in the tropics and subtropics of India and Africa. (It flows better with a comma rather than a full stop) Unlike European cattle, zebu are descended from the Indian subspecies of the ancestor/wild species (cattle's ancestral species). While Zebu looks (look) like most of ('of' is not needed) oxen, it has its (they have their) own characteristic features: humps on the shoulders, large dewlaps and droopy ears.
(The) Zebu originates from Indonesia, it was delivered (doesn't sound like quite the right word but I'm not sure what you would use instead) to Africa a few centuries ago, (Probably) for ritual purposes probably. Zebu came in handy/came in (were) useful at (in) Madagascar: (breeding of) the humped cattle breeding has become a matter of prestige (and) the key to prosperity and well-being for the islanders. Since the twentieth century, there were (have been) repeated attempts to breed zebu with/and(with) taurine/European cattle (I'd use 'European cattle' because it is more likely to be understood) to increase their productivity (do you mean fertility?) and to increase the organism's defences against the (threat of) (not needed) tropical diseases. As a result, there are (now) many breeds of zebu now.
I have made some notes within the quote box. The bold things in brackets are the notes I am making and the underlined bit next to it is the part I am talking about.
It was really very good and all of the things I have noted are very minor.
Edit: cross-posted with Chlidonias
you really can't put a comma where you have because then the sentence makes no sense, and also the end of the sentence is just really clunky - with your changes it would read like this:LaughingDove said:
"A subspecies of wild ox, which lives in the tropics and subtropics of India and Africa, unlike European cattle, zebu are descended from the Indian subspecies of cattle's ancestral species."
I just realised I skipped over the "Indian subspecies of the ancestor/wild species" in my own re-write. It is actually tricky to re-write this and make it sound good. I think the following sounds best:
A breed of domestic cattle from the tropics and subtropics of India and Africa. Unlike European cattle, zebu are descended from the Indian subspecies of the ancestral wild cattle.
A breed of domestic cattle from the tropics and subtropics of India and Africa. Unlike European cattle, zebu are descended from the Indian subspecies of the ancestral wild cattle.
Looking at that, you are of course right about the comma, sorry.
I agree that the ending there isn't perfect, but neither "Zebu are descended from the Indian subspecies of the ancestor" nor "zebu are descended from the Indian subspecies of the wild species" sounds right.
Edit: again, cross-posted
yes the ending of the sentence is awkward, to say the least! I think that was the reason I neglected to correct it in my first re-write, because I was going to come back to it but then forgot.
callorhinus
Well-Known Member
Wow, that was fast! Thank you for help!
Are my mistakes usual for foreigner? What are the most common ones besides sequence of tenses?
Are my mistakes usual for foreigner? What are the most common ones besides sequence of tenses?
your mistakes tend to be minor ones, mainly to do with punctuation and the mixing of singular/collective tenses within the same paragraphs (and both of those examples are very common in English speakers as well). It means that whatever you write is usually still very easy to understand, even though it may not be correct. So for casual writing, such as on forums, it is fine; for professional writing it just needs some small edits.
I usually find that the most mistakes from people with English as a new/second language are to do pronouns and possessives (words like I, me, my, mine and so on). Also quite common is mixing up the order of the words in the sentence, because the person is basically trying to translate in their head what they want to say from their own language into English and the arrangement of the words is usually not the same.