‘Better late than never’ is a common English idiom, often used by people embarrassedly giving you a birthday present or anniversary congratulations days or weeks after the event. And so it is with some small degree of embarrassment that I present our next translating item for your consideration, somewhat later than I would have liked had real life not once again grabbed me by the collar and stuck a big gun loaded with commitments between my shoulder blades!
Never mind though, because this is a BIG one, and if you’re going to claim any right to those degrees hanging on your wall (or rolled up and shoved in a drawer – apparently not everyone feels the need to frame their diplomas), then like James Bond in Q’s office before another exciting mission, you must “pay attention”!
Seriously, this is a big one, one of the universal errors which everyone everywhere makes when coming into English from another language. The culprit today is also, and the charge is Appearing in all the wrong places. Let’s look at the suspect line-up:
The bad guys:
1a. Celebrations for the opening of the event will be also attended by Jerzy Kowalski, Chairman of the Board.
2a. Since 2010, he has been also the Head of the Retail Banking Department.
3a. Previously, the artist had based also her realisations on the poems of William Butler Yeats.
4a. It is a historical place, but with an atmosphere created also by contemporary technology.
5a. These preserved images of America’s most important celebrities at the time prove the artist’s recognition also in this part of the world.
6a. Appearing also was the flagship representative of his work with Richard Constantine – the Oscar-winning 1997 score to Twice a Mother.
7a. Apart from the many historical items depicting the everyday life of the Kraków burghers in the Middle Ages, the research provided also many new insights into their lives.
The porridge
Never mind though, because this is a BIG one, and if you’re going to claim any right to those degrees hanging on your wall (or rolled up and shoved in a drawer – apparently not everyone feels the need to frame their diplomas), then like James Bond in Q’s office before another exciting mission, you must “pay attention”!
Seriously, this is a big one, one of the universal errors which everyone everywhere makes when coming into English from another language. The culprit today is also, and the charge is Appearing in all the wrong places. Let’s look at the suspect line-up:
The bad guys:
1a. Celebrations for the opening of the event will be also attended by Jerzy Kowalski, Chairman of the Board.
2a. Since 2010, he has been also the Head of the Retail Banking Department.
3a. Previously, the artist had based also her realisations on the poems of William Butler Yeats.
4a. It is a historical place, but with an atmosphere created also by contemporary technology.
5a. These preserved images of America’s most important celebrities at the time prove the artist’s recognition also in this part of the world.
6a. Appearing also was the flagship representative of his work with Richard Constantine – the Oscar-winning 1997 score to Twice a Mother.
7a. Apart from the many historical items depicting the everyday life of the Kraków burghers in the Middle Ages, the research provided also many new insights into their lives.
The porridge
As we know, also is an adverb. There are five different kinds of adverbs; those of manner, frequency, time, comment and degree. Now, I’m not entirely sure myself which of these nefarious groups also belongs to. It works like frequency, but feels like a comment.
Adverbs work with verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, and clauses to modify or adjust their meaning, and depending on the type of adverb, will either appear at the start of the sentence (comment), after the main verb (degree, manner, time), or before it (frequency).
As you can see from those grizzled recidivists above (the ‘a’ examples), also is all too often appearing after the main verb (for argument’s sake, by ‘main’ we here could mean ‘auxiliary’ too).
The answer then, according to The Rules of Grammar (one book you don’t want thrown at you), is to always remember to put also BEFORE the main verb!
A better, brighter tomorrow:
1b. Celebrations for the opening of this largest business event in Central Europe will also be attended by Jerzy Kowalski, Chairman of the Board.
2b. Since 2010, he has also been the Head of the Retail Banking Department.
3b. Previously, the artist had also based her realisations on the poems of William Butler Yeats.
4b. It is a historical place, but with an atmosphere also created by contemporary technology.
5b. These preserved images of America’s most important celebrities at the time also prove the artist’s recognition in this part of the world.
6b. Also appearing was the flagship representative of his work with Richard Constantine – the Oscar-winning 1997 score to Twice a Mother.
7b. Apart from the many historical items depicting the everyday life of the Kraków burghers in the Middle Ages, the research also provided many new insights into their lives.
Now then Bond, as long as you remember the simple rule, you will be able to eliminate a huuuuge source of zepsutyness from your work. Seriously, getting this right is the difference between gently nudging the car behind you when you’re parking, and slamming it into a tree at 110 Kmh. It’s the difference between ‘What a brilliant translation!’ and ‘That was a translation? I couldn’t tell!’. It’s the difference between waxing your legs and having the skin torn off them with fishing hooks by sadistic, demonic forces (although I’m told it feels like pretty much the same thing anyway).
Be strong, stay safe, it’s all good. Until Wednesday,
Your Friendly Neighbourhood Proofreader,
Jim. :)
Adverbs work with verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, and clauses to modify or adjust their meaning, and depending on the type of adverb, will either appear at the start of the sentence (comment), after the main verb (degree, manner, time), or before it (frequency).
As you can see from those grizzled recidivists above (the ‘a’ examples), also is all too often appearing after the main verb (for argument’s sake, by ‘main’ we here could mean ‘auxiliary’ too).
The answer then, according to The Rules of Grammar (one book you don’t want thrown at you), is to always remember to put also BEFORE the main verb!
A better, brighter tomorrow:
1b. Celebrations for the opening of this largest business event in Central Europe will also be attended by Jerzy Kowalski, Chairman of the Board.
2b. Since 2010, he has also been the Head of the Retail Banking Department.
3b. Previously, the artist had also based her realisations on the poems of William Butler Yeats.
4b. It is a historical place, but with an atmosphere also created by contemporary technology.
5b. These preserved images of America’s most important celebrities at the time also prove the artist’s recognition in this part of the world.
6b. Also appearing was the flagship representative of his work with Richard Constantine – the Oscar-winning 1997 score to Twice a Mother.
7b. Apart from the many historical items depicting the everyday life of the Kraków burghers in the Middle Ages, the research also provided many new insights into their lives.
Now then Bond, as long as you remember the simple rule, you will be able to eliminate a huuuuge source of zepsutyness from your work. Seriously, getting this right is the difference between gently nudging the car behind you when you’re parking, and slamming it into a tree at 110 Kmh. It’s the difference between ‘What a brilliant translation!’ and ‘That was a translation? I couldn’t tell!’. It’s the difference between waxing your legs and having the skin torn off them with fishing hooks by sadistic, demonic forces (although I’m told it feels like pretty much the same thing anyway).
Be strong, stay safe, it’s all good. Until Wednesday,
Your Friendly Neighbourhood Proofreader,
Jim. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment