13 October 2007

Use "Individual" As An Adjective . . .

So, I have a job. Random, I know, but it's perfect for me. I wasn't even looking for a job, it just fell into my hands from a fellow student. I won't get paid until December, and that's only if I can somehow get the paperwork done on time. Anyway, I edit example sentences for an English language book. The problem I've run into is that these sentences were not written by native speakers and they are hilarious enough that I am re-writing instead of editing. Of course, if you know me, I tend to do that anyway. The sentences are supposed to be simple and the meaning of the word should be understood by the context. Would you let sentences like these slip by?

"Only five persons are allowed into the lift." (Who uses the word "person" anyway?)
or
"What age are you?" (Understandable, but weird.)
or
"Each individual part is as important as the next one." (Let's confuse the students.)
or
"He has been given the title of 'sir' from the queen." (Teach them that "sir" is only for royalty.)

I guess it's going to take me longer than I thought.

How's this? "We said goodbye as we walked to our individual cars."

4 comments:

  1. I don't know, Michelle--in my mind you might be overstepping the bounds of an editor. None of those sentences were too weird. Then again, we've never agreed on the prescriptive vs. descriptive debate, either.

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  2. and, yes, I regularly treat "none" as plural

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  3. That's pretty awesome. As a grammer-freak English teacher I'd have a hard time resisting the rewrite urge myself.

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  4. Um, busy little bee, did you mean grammar?

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