For questions specifically related to written English.
Questions tagged [writing]
325 questions
13
votes
3 answers
so called or so-called
so called or so-called?
Which one is the more appropriate way to indicate that you are going to refer to something using a description that you doubt the validity of?
user 1
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7
votes
3 answers
Salutation of business letter when recipient is unknown
In writing business letters, when we don't know the name of whom we are writing to which words are better to use?
Can we use "To whom it may concern"?
Hanieh
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6
votes
1 answer
How do you link "o" and "s" in cursive font?
I'm learning English cursive font recently. And I'm confused about how I can link the "o" and "s" together in words such as "those", "goes", and so on. Because the end of "o" is much higher than that of "s". By the way, I use the attachment as the…
Chris Kuo
- 501
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5
votes
2 answers
How to avoid using I's so frequently
When I write in English I use "I" a lot. Especially when I talk about something I have done or an experiment or any thing. My English is upper intermediate. What is the reason behind this? Which skill should I improve to solve this issue?
Have you…
Macit
- 175
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4
votes
2 answers
"A, B or C" or "A, B, or C" or "A or B or C"
"A, B or C"
"A, B, or C"
"A or B or C"
When there are three options: 1, 2, 3, where A, B, C are nouns or noun phrases,
I'm wondering which is the best writing style.
Makoto Kato
- 2,006
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4
votes
2 answers
May I use not to have here?
I like to use not to have but it sounds strange here:
Comming from Brazil, a country lucky enough not to have hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tsunamis, perhaps necessity for such a center was not clear.
Is it correct?
KcFnMi
- 185
- 5
4
votes
1 answer
Why using firstly, secondly... in a writing is bad writing?
I was asked to finsih a short piece of writing
(200 words about my best friends).
Jan and I have some things in common, so I used Firstly, Secondly, Thirdly, Finally in the writing.
Then, my English teacher (she is Korean) was not happy with that…
kitty
- 5,585
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4
votes
1 answer
Chapter, sections, etc. in capital letters?
Should I write "headers" like chapter, section, etc. with capital letters?
I think I have seen both; therefore I am not sure.
As an example, if I write something and want to refer to a specific chapter/section (they are numbered):
"As we have seen…
mr.gaussian
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3
votes
5 answers
What counts as one word and what is two words
I need advice how to do a word count in English. I am supposed to write 400 words and I do not know if contractions count as one word or two words. How does this work with hyphenated words, like big-hearted. Additionally, what about the word…
user7610
- 477
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3
votes
1 answer
How to reduce the number of "I"s in my writing?
Every time I write a passage, I find I inevitably use "I" again and again! I want to know how I can reduce the number of occurrences of this word in my writing? How can I avoid using many "I" pronouns and use just one instance for more than one…
TheGoodUser
- 351
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3
votes
2 answers
How to start talking about a different topic
When you are discussing something with someone especially over chat
and have written say around 10 sentences there. And now suddenly you want to mention
or talk about something else. I feel it's not a good idea to simply ping a piece of
next 10…
bittu
- 31
- 1
3
votes
1 answer
When to use in writing the characters "=" and ":"?
In written English, I always have used them interchangeably, but I guess there must be a difference in use for both.
What are the differences between those 2 characters? When to use one or another?
Adrián Jaramillo
- 235
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3
votes
2 answers
How to make phrase sentence about availability for a meeting
I am writing a formal email to inform my availability for a meeting. I want to write that I am available all week except on Monday morning and Friday morning. Which of the following is correct?
I am available all week except on Monday and Friday…
NAASI
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2
votes
3 answers
I had a girlfriend, whom I didn't want to leave
I am trying to translate Osamu Dazai's essay 如是我聞(Thus I heard from the Buddha) into English.
The original text belongs to the public domain: http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000035/files/1084_15078.html
You can read about the author here:…
Makoto Kato
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- 31
2
votes
1 answer
How can I improve academic English?
I'm a PhD student in Mathematics. I love learning and studying mathematical things. Everytime I read interesting article about my PhD topic. Usually I write academic papers to send an indexed journal. But, I got so many regretful responses from the…
drxy
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