Transcript Collective Nouns

Basic Scientific Writing in
English
Lecture 8
Professor Ralph Kirby
Faculty of Life Sciences
Extension 7323
Room B322
Subject verb agreement
and collective nouns
The problem is that in English,
there needs to be agreement
between the noun count and the
verb
This is not complex for simple nouns
It is more complex for collective nouns
Is also more complex for lists
Collective Nouns
Most nouns in English take a singular or plural
form
– Man
– Hand
Men
Hands
However, collective nouns take only the singular
(Usually!)
– Data (This does have a singular – datum)
– However, the meaning and use of the word has changed
Datum and data. Singular and plural of information points
Data. Collective nouns for group of results.
Which is correct
– Which is correct
The data was collected
The data were corrected
Both are but I prefer the former because of the change in
meaning
If you want to avoid the problem, use the word results
Collective Nouns
Which is correct
– A herd of 35 animals was examined
– A herd of 35 animals were examined
Avoid problem
– Thirty five animals were examined
Correct contextual use
– A pair of animals was housed in a cage
– A pair of animals were studied
– The number of persons studied was 35
– A number of persons were studied
Multiple subjects
Neither the cats nor the dog was in the
cage
– Correct but reads poorly
Neither the dog nor the cats were in the
cage
– Correct and reads well
Neither the cats nor the dog were in the
cage
– Wrong because with neither/nor the verb
should take the number of the closest noun
Conventions in papers
When numbers should be given as
numerals
– All numbers above 10
35 animals
– All numbers preceding a unit of measure
10 cm
– Decimals, fractions including a whole number
7.38 mm, 4 ½ hours
– Statistical or mathematical functions
3.5 times, multiplied by 5, 2nd quartile
– Numbers that are exact quantities
IQ of 125, $25
– Numbers below ten group with numbers above ten
4 of 16 individuals
– Numbers that indicate part of a series
Figure 6, Chapter 3
Conventions in papers
When numbers should be written in full
– Numbers that are not precise measurements
– A three-way interaction, repeated four times
– Numbers below ten groups with other numbers below ten
– Four out of six experiments
– Any number that begins a sentence
– Five patients died
– Reword to avoid if possible
– If used a lot in a paragraph or section, write all out.
– Fractions without a whole number
– Reduced by half
– Zero and one in most places when not with another
number
– And one plate was positive
– The measurement remained close to zero
Abbreviations
Acronyms are not abbreviations
Acronyms are not abbreviations
They are pronounced as a word
– Enzyme Linked ImmunoadSorbant Assay
ELISA
– RAdio Detection And Ranging
RADAR
– National Space and Aeronautical
Administration
NASA
Abbreviations are only used in text
usually and if used in conversation,
they are spelt out or said in full
DNA
– Spelt out
RNA
– Spelt out
PhD or Ph.D
– Spelt out
– I prefer Ph.D
MSc or M.Sc or MS
– Spelt out
– I prefer M.Sc
Avg.
– Said in full
sp. gr.
– Said in Full
Abbreviations in the abstract
You should avoid the use of abbreviations or
acronyms in the abstract, if at all possible,
except for generally accepted ones like DNA or
ELISA
If you need to use an abbreviation in the
abstract, write it in full the first time with the
abbreviation in brackets afterwards. Then use
the abbreviation
– Department of Energy (DOE)
Only do this in the abstract if you use the term
more than twice and it is long
– The aim is to save words because there is a word
limit in the abstract
Abbreviations in the main text
Here the function is to increase readability and
to avoid repeating the same long phase again
and again.
Choose what you intend to abbreviate carefully
based on this
Place the abbreviation in brackets after the first
mention of the term to be shortened
After that, always use the abbreviation
Be careful of what the abbreviation sounds or
looks like
Functional User Capacity (FUC)
Sensor Navigation Orthogonal Tracer (SNOT)
Abbreviations and words in
“foreign” languages
Historically in English, it was considered
intellectual that you used Latin, Greek and
French words and phrases for specific
purposes.
Some of these words have been
assimilated directly into English
Some are still be assimilated
Some are not assimilated at all
Some are just obscure
Foreign words and abbreviations
assimilated into English
I prefer the first plural in all cases. All no italics except as below
Analysis
– Plural
Analyses
Formula
– Plural:
formulae or formulas
Memorandum
– Plural:
memoranda or memorandums
Serum
– Plural:
sera or serums
Index
– Plural:
indices or Indexes
Appendix
– Plural:
appendices or appendixes
eg
– No plural. From Latin. No italics in US journals
ie
– No plural. From Latin. No italics in US journals
a priori
– No plural. Latin. No italics in US journals
Foreign words and abbreviations
becoming assimilated into English
sine qua non
coup de grace
per se
coup d’etat
– Plural
coups d’etat
i.e.
– id est:
that is
cf.
– confer:
compare
e.g.
– exempli gratia:
for example
et al.
– et alii:
and others
– Note that there is no full stop after et. It is not abbreviated
Bacillus
– Plural bacillae. No italics as an accepted scientific term
Mitochondrion
– Plural mitochondria. No italics as an accepted scientific term
Obscure Abbreviations
op. cit.
– in the work cited
loc. cit.
– in the place cited
ibid.
– in the same work
viz.
– namely
circa
– about
etc.
– and so forth
1st three are still used a great deal in footnotes in legal journals to
shorten the quotation of cases
viz. and circa should never be used
etc. should really not be used because it does not add anything to
what you say. Is commonly not italicised, but avoid.
Other rules
Be consistent
See what the journal normally uses and stick to it
Do use approved abbreviations, but check the journals
instructions to authors
Do not overuse abbreviations, remember why you are
using them
Do not use an abbreviation in the title except something
like DNA or ELISA
Try not to begin a sentence with an abbreviation if at all
possible
Remember to give a generic name in full first, then only
abbreviated the genus
– Escherichia coli then E. coli not E. c.
Plural of abbreviations
Page and species have special plural forms
– Species
sp. – singular
spp. - plural
– Page
p. – singular
pp. - plural
An apostrophe indicates the possessive, be
careful when using with abbreviations
– “the DNAs were . . .” not “the DNA’s were . . .”
– except for “the DNA’s properties . . .”
Units of measure
– Do not pluralize
1 ml; 100 ml; 1 l; 100 l.
Final Comments
Avoid abbreviations for subdivisions of countries
– Calif. or CA; Mich. or MI; Lond.; H. K.
– Many people outside the country don’t know them
For countries except for the United States of America and the
United Kingdom, do not abbreviated (exception, USSR, which
does not exist anymore). Not even the European Union (E.U.)
– United States of America
U.S.A. or USA. or U.S. or US
I prefer 1st but be consistent
– United Kingdom
U.K. or UK
I prefer 1st but be consistent
This is the correct term for the whole area in Europe controlled from
Parliament in London
Do not use England, Britain Great Britain, British Isles. These have specific
and somewhat obscure meanings
If you mean Scotland or Wales, be specific and be careful not to call it
England
Ireland is a place, not a country. It is made up of Eire or the Republic of
Ireland (Use the former) and Northern Ireland or Ulster (Use the former)
Placing of some Latin words
in vivo (in a living system)
– in vivo assay
– assay in vivo
More correct
in vitro (in a test tube or artificial system)
– in vitro experiment
– experiment in vitro
More correct