Tham khảo tài liệu 'writting good or well 2', ngoại ngữ, anh ngữ phổ thông phục vụ nhu cầu học tập, nghiên cứu và làm việc hiệu quả | 188 Part IV All You Need to Know about Descriptions and Comparisons Chapter 15 Going on Location Placing Descriptions Correctly Jn This Chapter Placing even only almost and similar words Avoiding misplaced dangling or confusing descriptions y out-of-town friends always tell me that I can buy a ten-room mansion for the price of a closet in New York City. My standard reply is that location is everything. That statement is as true for descriptive words as it is for home prices. Plop one in the wrong spot and your meaning may sink like a stone. First some definitions Descriptions in English may be composed of one word or if you like to pour it on twenty or more. Regardless of length or form descriptive elements fall into one of two huge categories. They belong in the adjective bin if they describe people places things or ideas in grammar terms nouns or pronouns . The adverb family claims them if they describe verbs action or being words or other descriptions. Flip to Chapter 14 for a host of practice exercises with basic adjectives and adverbs. The general principle guiding the placement of descriptions is simple Descriptive words should clearly relate to what they describe. Some sentences give you a bit more leeway than others. Move a descriptive word an inch and the meaning still comes across. But a few words require precision. In this chapter you can practice that precision and like a real estate agent concentrate on location location location. Little Words Mean a Lot Situating Even Only and Similar Words The other day I saw a tee shirt that made me want to turn my grammar book into a guided missile. The shirt declared that My Grandma went to NYC and only bought me this lousy tee shirt. Why as a founding member of Grammarians Anonymous was I upset Because the descriptive term only was misplaced. The sentence as written means that Grandma did nothing at all in NYC except buy one tee shirt no theater no walk in Central Park just tee-shirt buying. Little words only .
