From: Translation Bureau
Language Navigator allows you to search by keyword or by theme to quickly find answers to questions about language or writing in English and French. To learn more about this search engine, consult the section entitled About Language Navigator.
New to Language Navigator? Learn how to search for content in Language Navigator.
Search by keyword
Search fields
Search by theme
Search by theme to quickly access all of the Portal’s language resources related to a specific theme.
About Language Navigator
Language Navigator simultaneously searches all of the writing tools, quizzes and blog posts on the Language Portal of Canada. It gives you access to everything you need to write well in English and French: articles on language difficulties, linguistic recommendations, conjugation tables, translation suggestions and much more.
To translate a term or to find answers to terminology questions in a specialized field, please consult TERMIUM Plus®.
Results 21 to 30 of 63 (page 3 of 7)
face off, face-off, faceoff
Face off is the verb, while the spellings face-off and faceoff for the noun are correct (the National Hockey League uses faceoff for the noun). The Senators and the Leafs faced off in this year’s semi-finals. How many Stanley Cup face-offs have you seen?Source: Writing Tips Plus (English language problems and rules)
Number of views: 3,462
back up, backup
The phrasal verb is spelled as two words, with no hyphen: back up. Have you backed up your data today? The noun and adjective are spelled as one word, with no hyphen: backup. Habib has agreed to be my backup at tomorrow’s meeting. My hard disk crashed and I had no backup disk.Source: Writing Tips Plus (English language problems and rules)
Number of views: 3,084
noun phrase
A phrase is a group of words that forms a unit simpler than a sentence. Unlike a sentence (or clause), a phrase normally does not contain both a subject and a finite (conjugated) verb. A noun phrase is simply a noun (or pronoun) with its modifiers. Examples of noun phrases Noun phrases consist of a noun or pronoun modified by adjectives, phrases or even dependent clauses. Noun or pronoun + adjectives two old shoes [noun shoes + adjectives two and old] many others [pronoun others + adjective many] Noun or pronoun + prepositional phrase trucks with rusty fenders [noun trucks + prepositional phrase with rusty fenders] both of you [pronoun both + prepositional phrase of you] Noun or pronoun + participle phrase workers delivering supplies [noun workers + present participle phrase delivering supplies] anyone delivering supplies [pronoun anyone + present participle phrase] cars made in Canada [noun cars + past participle phrase made in Canada] the ones made in Canada [pronoun ones + past participle phrase] Noun or pronoun modified by an infinitive phrase popcorn to snack on [noun popcorn + infinitive phrase to snack on] something to snack on [pronoun something + infinitive phrase] Noun or pronoun modified by a dependent clause clients who want this service [noun clients + clause who want this service] those who want this service [pronoun those + clause] Note: We have said that a phrase normally does not contain a subject and verb. The exception is a phrase that contains a dependent clause as a modifier, because every clause has a subject and verb.Source: Writing Tips Plus (English language problems and rules)
Number of views: 3,003
The evolution of gender in the English language
A blog post about the history of gender in the English language.The gender of words is such a simple, yet complex, concept. Grammatically, gender is merely a way of classifying the words in a lexicon. Socially, gender is the way societies use language to structure the world.Note 1 Nowadays, there’s a lot of talk about gender in the context of inclusive writing. In this post, however, we’ll talk about the evolution of gender in the English language and what remains of the systems of past centuries. Old English: The 5th to 11th centuries The evolution of the English language is marked by three main periods: the Old English (or Anglo Saxon) period, the Middle English period and the Modern English period. Modern English no longer bears any resemblance whatsoever to Old English, so much so that, today, you can’t even read Old English without having studied it. Spoken and written from the 5th century until the Norman Conquest, Old English (or Anglo-Saxon) was brought to England by the Germanic and Scandinavian tribes who settled there. It has its own vocabulary, its own grammar and even its own alphabet (which is called futhorc). With its Germanic roots, Old English borrows from Latin, Old French and Old Norse. Like Latin and Modern German, Old English is what we call an inflected language. Its grammar is based on a system of five main cases (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative and instrumental), three genders (masculine, feminine and neuter) and two numbers (singular and plural).Note 2 Unlike nouns in Modern English, nouns in Old English are gendered, that is, masculine nouns are feminized. For example, the word bæcere (baker) is written bæcestre in the feminine form. In Old English, adjectives and pronouns agree with the subject in gender and number. Gender in Old English is grammatical: nouns that designate living organisms correspond to the biological sex of the organism they refer to, whereas with nouns that designate inanimate objects, gender is assigned more arbitrarily and unrelated to the meaning of the noun. Middle English: The 11th to 15th centuries When William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066, Anglo-Norman (a variant of Old French) became the language of high society, while English was relegated to the lower classes. All the transformations that English society underwent following the Norman Conquest influenced the language. Old English gradually transformed and gave way to Middle English (spoken from 1150 to 1500). At that time, under various influences, the English language lost its system of inflections and gender assignment: feminine forms disappeared, as did grammatical gender. English started becoming simpler and more like Modern English. In fact, you can read the original Middle English version of Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales (one of the best-known literary works of that time) and understand its overall meaning. Modern English: The 15th century to present In Modern English, only the pronouns he, she and it, as well as suffixes like -man, -woman and -ess mark gender.Note 3 However, some nouns designating inanimate objects are always assigned a gender. Have you ever wondered why we use she when talking about a ship? A ship has no biological sex, but it has been assigned a feminine identity for centuries. Why is a ship a she? A number of theories have been put forward to explain why certain nouns designating inanimate objects still have a gender marker. It’s interesting to note that, in many cases, these nouns take the feminine gender, rather than the masculine: the well-known ship, Earth, countries and nature, to name a few.Note 4 In the case of ship, some believe it may have taken on a feminine gender under the influence of the Latin word navis, a feminine noun meaning “ship.” However, since the Old English word scip (neuter, not feminine, gender) was borrowed from the Germanic languages to designate the boats we call ships today, this theory doesn’t seem to hold water. Symbolism and tradition may also explain the phenomenon. In the history of many cultures, ships were dedicated to goddesses or mythical female figures who were said to protect and guide sailors on their voyages. These maritime deities were considered the guardians of the seas, and designating ships as female would have been a way of invoking their protection. The use of the pronoun she to designate ships isn’t universally accepted. Some people, who consider the use of the pronoun she to be sexist, would prefer that the pronoun it be used to designate ships. As language continues to evolve and degender, it will be interesting to see if the practice of using the pronoun it for words like ship becomes more established. One thing is certain: language will continue to evolve with the societies that use it, and the English we speak 1500 years from now may not bear any resemblance to the English we speak today. What do you think English will be like centuries from now? Sources Note 1 Guenfoud, Razika. (2020–2021). Genre grammatical : étude morphosyntaxique (PDF). [Doctoral thesis, University of Biskra]. University of Biskra Theses Repository. Return to note 1 referrer Note 2 Langster. (n.d.). A Brief History of the English Language: From Old English to Modern Days. Return to note 2 referrer Note 3 Curzan, Anne. (2003). Gender Shifts in the History of English. Cambridge University Press. Return to note 3 referrer Note 4 Whorf, Benjamin Lee. (1956). Language, Thought, and Reality. MIT Press. Return to note 4 referrerSource: Our Languages blog (posts from our contributors)
Number of views: 2,610
Noun and pronoun characteristics
Nouns and pronouns have three major characteristics: case, number and gender. Noun and pronoun case The case of a noun or pronoun determines how it can be used in a phrase or clause. There are three cases in modern English: Subject case The subject case is used for a noun or pronoun that stands alone. It can also be the subject of a clause, or the subject complement, or stand in apposition to any of these. Object case The object case is used for the object of a preposition, verb or verbal, or for any noun or pronoun that stands in apposition to one of these. Possessive case The possessive case is used for any noun or pronoun that acts an an adjective, implicitly or explicitly modifying another element in the sentence. Nouns always take the same form in the subject case and the object case, while pronouns often change their form (he, him). Both nouns and pronouns usually change their form (man’s, his) for the possessive case: Subject case The man travelled to Newfoundland. He travelled to Newfoundland. Object case The taxi drove the man to the airport. The taxi drove him to the airport. Possessive case The baggage handlers lost the man’s suitcase. The baggage handlers lost his suitcase. For further information, see the sections on possessive nouns, possessive pronouns and possessive adjectives. Noun and pronoun number The number of a noun or pronoun is singular if it refers to one thing or plural if it refers to more than one thing. When the noun or pronoun is the subject, then its number also affects the verb. Note the difference in number in the following examples: Singular That woman is concerned about this issue. She is concerned about this issue. Plural Those women are concerned about this issue. They are concerned about this issue. Note that the plural pronoun they is in the process of becoming singular in spoken English. For example, one might say A person called and they did not leave their name. This construction allows the speaker to avoid identifying the gender of the person and has been common in speech for many years. You should be aware, however, that some people still consider it unacceptable in formal writing. For more information, see the section on noun plurals. Noun and pronoun gender Unlike the Romance languages (e.g. French, Spanish and Italian), English has three genders for nouns and pronouns: masculine, feminine and neuter. Generally, the English language uses natural gender rather than grammatical gender—that is, the gender of a word is normally based on its biology so there is little need to remember whether a word is masculine or feminine. A noun that refers to something with male genitalia is masculine, a noun that refers to something with female genitalia is feminine and most other nouns are neuter by default. There was a time when the masculine gender was used by default when the gender of a person referred to was unknown, but very few people accept this usage any longer. However, there are a few tricky points of usage. First, one may refer to animals using the neuter gender or their natural gender: Neuter What a beautiful dog! Does it bite? Natural gender What a beautiful dog! Does she bite? Note that natural gender is often reserved for pets or animals with names (Jumbo, Flipper, Fido). Second, mythical beings (such as gods) are usually assigned to a natural gender, even if they are not regarded as having genitalia: God is great. God is good. Let us thank her for our food. Finally, people sometimes assign natural gender to inanimate objects, especially if they live or work closely with them. In the past, men (who were dominant in the professions and trades) tended to refer to large machines as being feminine: She is a fine ship. For more information, see the section on gender-specific nouns. Noun and pronoun person Personal pronouns always belong to one of three persons: first person if they refer to the speaker or writer (or to a group including the speaker or writer); second person if they refer to the audience of the speaker or writer (or to a group including the audience); and third person if they refer to anyone else. If the noun or pronoun is the subject, then its person also affects the verb. Nouns and other types of pronouns (e.g. demonstrative pronouns) are always in the third person. Note the differences in person in the following examples: First person I will come tomorrow. Bob showed the budget to us. Second person You should not forget to vote. Where is your coat? Third person It arrived yesterday. How can you stand working with them? Traditionally, the third person is used in formal writing, but some people now accept the first person. The important thing is being consistent throughout the text.Source: HyperGrammar 2 (basics of English grammar)
Number of views: 2,505
dependant, dependent
Use the spelling dependant for the noun. A wage earner with dependants is fully entitled to this deduction. The adjective is spelled dependent. Many Third World countries are dependent on food aid.Source: Writing Tips Plus (English language problems and rules)
Number of views: 2,215
The grammar of numbers
Two plus two is four, right? Well, the more you know about language, the more you might wonder about that basic equation. Maybe two plus two is four, but then again, maybe two plus two are four. Whether you’re an ace or airhead when it comes to math, you’ve no doubt struggled with grammar and numbers at some point. Quantities, fractions, slippery words like total and majority, team and staff—it’s sometimes hard to tell whether a thing is singular or plural. Quantities One of the most common number questions I get in my grammar workshops concerns whether collective nouns such as total, number and majority are singular or plural. The answer (not necessarily what participants want to hear) is, it depends. It depends on whether the noun refers to a single entity or to plural items and, often, on whether the noun is preceded by a or the. Take total, number and range, for instance. When preceded by a, these nouns usually team up with a plural construction and are treated as plural. When preceded by the, they refer to a single entity and are singular. A total of 82 dancers have signed up for the cha-cha competition. The total has exceeded our expectations. A number of adolescents are wearing midriff-baring T-shirts this summer. The number of adolescents wearing midriff-baring T-shirts this summer is higher than ever. A range of homemade jams, jellies and chutneys are for sale at this year’s craft fair. The range of products for sale at the fair is staggering. It helps to realize that when we combine such nouns with a, we create familiar expressions that are often synonymous with some, many or numerous and are therefore plural. This realization can help with other words, such as bunch and couple, whose number is determined more by their sense than by the preceding article. A bunch of us are headed to the drive-in for tonight’s double feature. (a bunch means some) A bunch of bananas is less expensive, but also less romantic, than a bouquet of flowers. (a bunch refers to a single entity) A couple of dogs are peeing on my lawn. (a couple means two) A couple is entitled to a Valentine’s discount with this vacation company. (a couple refers to a single entity) Majority is much like bunch and couple. When it refers to a plural (which it usually does), it’s plural, but when it refers to a single entity, it’s singular. A majority of voters in the referendum have chosen to destroy their ballots. (a majority means most of them) The majority of these Pop-Tarts have frosted tops, but I’ll try to find you a plain one. (the majority means most of them) Because you have argued your point so persuasively, the majority has sided with you. (the majority refers to a single entity) A couple of footnotes about majority: Some usage texts, such as the Oxford Guide to Canadian English Usage (2nd ed., 2007), remind us to avoid majority when writing about things that can’t be counted and can’t therefore have a logical majority—for example, work, information or time. In these cases, most is a better choice. Most [not the majority] of the time, you can count on Natalie to tell you if you’re wearing something unflattering. Other texts, such as Garner’s Modern American Usage (3rd ed., 2009), go further and point out that most can replace a/the majority quite often, producing crisper prose and a more natural plural. Numbers Like nouns of quantity, other numerical expressions can shift from singular to plural, depending on whether they refer more to plural things or to a single amount. The three hours he spent watching A Brief History of Horticulture last night were the longest of Marvin’s life. (emphasis on the individual hours) Three hours was simply too long for a documentary on shrubs, he decided. (emphasis on the single amount) Fine, you might say, but there are numbers, damned numbers and then statistics. True, percentages and fractions can seem perplexing, but usage authorities are consistent in their advice: the number is determined by the noun following the percentage or fraction. According to this survey, 64 percent of respondents need eyeglasses when they read. The consultant says that 38 percent of the database needs to be updated. As night falls on the wilderness park, one quarter of the campers are blaring their radios and three quarters of the campers are stewing. One quarter of the park is noisy; three quarters is silent. Other collective nouns Collective nouns that are less number-oriented can be equally troublesome. Group, team, committee, staff and so on—are they singular or plural? Here, usage authorities take slightly different positions depending on which side of the Atlantic they call home. In the U.K. these nouns are usually treated as plural. In North America they’re usually treated as singular, except when the members of the collective are acting independently, in which case the nouns are considered plural. In the photo, the team is holding aloft a banner that says "Debating Rules!" (the team is acting as one entity) The team are arguing among themselves about who started the on-ice fight. (the individuals are acting separately) Though the latter sentence is correct, many Canadian editors would change it to "The team members are arguing . . . ." or "The players are arguing . . . ." to make the plural sound more natural (and to satisfy editors’ innate fussiness about consistency). Indeed, with collective nouns, consistency matters above all. As Bill Bryson notes in Bryson’s Dictionary of Troublesome Words, "A common fault is to flounder about between singular and plural. Even Samuel Johnson stumbled when he wrote that he knew of no nation ‘that has preserved their words and phrases from mutability.’ " So keep the debating team singular and the hockey team plural. Don’t count on numbers And what about two plus two? The fact is that with equations, singular and plural are both correct, though singular is preferred. Once again, consistency matters more than the choice itself. In math, it’s easy to distinguish between one and more than one. But in language, it’s not that simple. In language, it depends. The grammar of numbers is mutable, which is both the challenge and the beauty of this imperfect science. Related quiz Test yourself—The grammar of numbersSource: Peck’s English Pointers (articles and exercises on the English language)
Number of views: 2,164
infinitive, infinitive phrase
An infinitive is a type of verbal—a verb form that looks like a verb but does not act as the verb in a sentence. An infinitive is the basic form of a verb, usually with to in front of it: to go, to stay, to be. Infinitives act as nouns, adjectives or adverbs: Larissa wants to leave. [noun, object of verb wants] I can show you the way to go. [adjective modifying noun way] To exit, please turn to your left. [adverb modifying verb turn] An infinitive phrase is an infinitive with attached words. Because an infinitive is formed from a verb, it retains some of the properties of a verb, so it can take an object: Larissa wants to leave the concert. [infinitive to leave + object the concert] Like a verb, an infinitive can also be modified by an adverb or a prepositional phrase: To exit quickly, please turn to your left. [infinitive to exit + adverb quickly] I can show you the way to reach the exit from here. [infinitive to reach + object the exit + prepositional phrase from here] In the above examples, to leave the concert, to exit quickly and to reach the exit from here are all infinitive phrases. Infinitive phrases may have their own subjects. The subject of an infinitive phrase is in the object form: Yuri helped him to count the money. Alison allowed me to drive her Porsche. Sometimes the word to is left out: Yuri helped him count the money. Alison let me drive her Porsche. An infinitive without to is called a bare infinitive. Other infinitive forms We can change the form of the infinitive to show different times: An avid skier, Roberta appeared to be praying for snow. [Ongoing action at the same time: She was praying when the speaker saw her.] Marty seems to have forgotten his wallet. [Completed action at an earlier time: He forgot it before this comment was made.] The tenant is thought to have been cooking at the time of the fire. [Ongoing action at an earlier time: The tenant was in the process of cooking when the fire broke out, as the investigators now believe.] Infinitives can also be used in the passive voice: The roof needs to be repaired as soon as possible. This man claims to have been abducted by aliens.Source: Writing Tips Plus (English language problems and rules)
Number of views: 2,157
noun clause
A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb. Some clauses are independent: they can stand alone as sentences. Others are dependent: they cannot stand alone and need an independent clause, or sentence, to support them. These dependent clauses act as adjectives, adverbs or nouns. A dependent clause that acts as a noun is called a noun clause. Structure Noun clauses most often begin with the subordinating conjunction that. Other words that may begin a noun clause are if, how, what, whatever, when, where, whether, which, who, whoever, whom and why. Function Since a noun clause acts as a noun, it can do anything that a noun can do. A noun clause can be a subject, a direct object, an indirect object, an object of a preposition, a subject complement, an object complement or an appositive. Examples Subject: Whatever you decide is fine with me. Direct object: I can see by your bouncy personality that you’d enjoy bungee jumping. Indirect object: We will give whoever drops by a free Yogalates lesson. Object of preposition: Lacey talked at length about how she had won the perogy-eating contest. Subject complement: The problem is that my GPS is lost. Object complement: Call me whatever names you like; you’re still not borrowing my car. Appositive: Al’s assumption that bubble tea was carbonated turned out to be false. A key difference between noun clauses and other dependent clauses Other dependent clauses act as adjectives and adverbs. We can remove them and still have a complete independent clause left, with a subject and verb and any necessary complements. That is not the case with most noun clauses. Usually, a noun clause is too essential to the sentence to be removed. Consider these examples: Whether you drive or fly is up to you. I wondered if you would like to go to the barbecue. Sandy led us to where she had last seen the canoe. If we remove these noun clauses, what is left will not make much sense: … is up to you. I wondered …. Sandy led us to …. That is because, in each example above, the noun clause forms a key part of the independent clause: it acts as the subject, the direct object, the object of a preposition. Without those key parts, the independent clauses do not express complete thoughts. A sentence containing a noun clause is thus the one case in which an “independent” clause may actually need a dependent clause to be complete! Commas Noun clauses may need to be set off by one or two commas in the following situations. Appositives An appositive is a noun or nominal (a word or word group acting as a noun) that is placed next to another noun to explain it. For example, in the following sentence, the noun phrase the mayor of Riverton is an appositive explaining who John Allen is: John Allen, the mayor of Riverton, is speaking tonight. Noun clauses are nominals and can act as appositives. In that case, they may require commas if they are not essential to the meaning of the sentence. I did not believe his original statement, that he had won the lottery, until he proved it to us. Here, the words his original statement identify which statement is meant, so the noun clause provides information that is merely additional and not essential. For that reason, the clause is set off with commas. Compare that example to the one below: I did not believe his statement that he had won the lottery until he proved it to us. In this case, the noun clause is essential for identifying which statement is meant. It therefore takes no commas. Unusual position If the noun clause is in an unusual position, it may require a comma: That the work was done, we cannot deny. (object before verb) BUTThat the work was done is certainly true. (subject before verb, as usual) Whatever I say, she argues with. (object before its preposition) BUTWhatever I say seems to annoy her. (subject before verb, as usual) Clarity As the above examples show, we do not normally use a comma for a noun clause acting as subject at the beginning of the sentence, because that is the usual position for a subject. However, a comma may sometimes be needed to prevent confusion if two identical verbs end up side by side: Who the owner of this money is, is a mystery. Whatever property Alexandra still had, had increased greatly in value.Source: Writing Tips Plus (English language problems and rules)
Number of views: 2,077
hyphens: nouns with adjectives and participles
Hyphenate noun-plus-adjective compounds (in that order), whether they are used attributively (before the noun) or predicatively: duty-free goods / The goods were duty-free. tax-exempt bonds / The bonds are tax-exempt. Hyphenate noun-plus-participle compounds regardless of the position: snow-capped mountains / The mountains are snow-capped. a time-consuming activity / This activity is time-consuming. Exceptions: There are a number of them, including handmade and handwritten. Do not hyphenate compounds formed from a noun and a gerund (present participle used as a noun). Some noun-plus-gerund compounds are written as one word: housekeeping shipbuilding sightseeing cabinetmaking Others are written as separate words: decision making power sharing problem solving deficit spending Exceptions: foot-dragging gut-wrenching See hyphens: compound adjectives for such compounds used adjectivally.Source: Writing Tips Plus (English language problems and rules)
Number of views: 1,913