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This question was closed without grading. Reason: No acceptable answer
English to Arabic translations [PRO] Science - Mining & Minerals / Gems
English term or phrase:The angles cut into the stone
The angles cut into the stone and the finish of the diamond affects its ability to reflect light and different grades of cut – ‘ideal, premium, very good, good and fair/poor’ - determine how much light the diamond will reflect.
I appreciate your insightful contributions to unravel the mystery lying behind this phrase. I will try to revert to you with any information in due course. Thank you again!
No disdain for grammarians should be inferred. I respect the work of grammarians, especially when they make sense, which they often do, but I have never been at peace with grammatical nomenclature or any other nomenclature, for that matter. I am even more disdainful towards musical nomenclature, especially when traditional Eastern modes are discussed. I think most theoretical constructs in all fields suffer from clumsy terminology. In the case of this grammatical issue, I have no problem with how the matter is expounded. It is just the word "principle" that sticks in my craw. Words like "principle," "rule," and "law" should be used sparingly. Grammarians could have referred to this point as "the proximity bias" "the proximity preference," "the proximity exception," or "the proximity anomaly."
The "principle of proximity" is not operative here
09:26 Mar 22, 2021
I have canvassed all the examples cited in both articles linked in your posting but could not find any example that would license the use of a third-person-singular "s" in the sentence under discussion. Assuming that "cut" is passive, which I still favor, the plural nature of the subject is controlled by the conjunction "and," not by either conjoined noun, proximal or distal. Additionally, the two conjoined nouns are not a common pair, like bacon and eggs, ham and cheese, or peanut butter and jelly.
I agree with you, Milena, that Sarah's reading and Saeed's precipitously removed contribution are more likely correct than not. However, I still suggest a confirmation by the text's owner, especially considering that the asker leans the other way.
Hi Milena, I've had a look at the links and the inherent details of agreement rules. While I thank you for your input, I'd prefer to maintain that ''cut'' is present simple and the clause is active; otherwise, the source text would be a mess.
Fuad's and Milena's contributions in the discussion are very inspiring and lead me to believe that ''cut'' is present tense active. Therefore, as Fuad points out, a comma is needed right after the conjunction ''and'' as the following chunk is a complete S+V+O. Given this syntactic environment, the verb ''affects'' has to inflect to agree with its subject ''the finish of the diamond'' but not with ''the angles'' which is subject of the preceding clause ''The angles cut into the stone'' where the clause is active not passive. Bottomline, as far as I see it, except for the missing comma, the source text is just fine as it is, but my suggestions is not at all, and I will have to reconsider it. I did wish however the writer had added at least an adverb, if not an entire phrase, to describe how the angles cut into the stone. This would've balanced the two clauses in both syntactically and semantically.
The past participle of "cut" is "cut," which makes it a funny verb. In this sentence, "cut" could be in the active voice or the passive voice. If it is in the active voice, which you seem to favor, then a comma would be needed before the conjunction "and." If passive, as both Sarah and Saeed seem to favor, then no comma would be needed, but the "s" in the verb "affects" would have to be deleted to achieve subject-verb agreement. Which is it? How can we tell? Very easy: check with your client/agency. If the project manager's English is decent, they will understand your query and appreciate your double-checking. Let us know what you find out. At this point in the game, I lean towards Sarah's and Saeed's view, but this is still conjecture. Input from the client would give us certitude.
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Answers
22 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +1
the angles cut into the stone
زوايا القطع في الحجر
Explanation: يقصد به شمل الزوايا وطريقة قطعها
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 50 mins (2021-03-21 22:55:09 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
No Lamine, cut here not verb. From my background, when we buy a ring with a diamond, its value becomes less if it has more cuts.
Sarah Hamed Egypt Local time: 21:46 Native speaker of: Arabic
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks Sarah, I think "cut into" here is a verb, and the verb "affects" refers only to "the finish of the diamond.
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