Questions tagged [english]

Use this tag for questions about writing English accents, dialogues, and general use and cadence of the English language in writing. This tag is not for specific questions about grammar, spelling, etc for English writing.

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Which one is correct grammatically concerning good and well? [closed]

If I am asking my child to close the door completely, should I say, "Close the door good." or "Close the door well."
Vanissa's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
45 views

use of historical present in an installation for a museum

would historical present be appropriate for a video projection on a 3d model telling the story of a territory from archaeological and geological points of view? I worked on the Italian version and ...
chiara's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
103 views

How do you transcribe a quote with errors?

How do you quote someone whose native language is not English? Let's assume that the person make several grammatical mistakes, how should you quote them, do you quote them verbatim or do you quote ...
Sayaman's user avatar
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-1 votes
1 answer
80 views

Are there any particularly easy dialects with which to spice up my bit characters?

I want to spice up some of my bit characters, the folk who only appear for a scene or two and fulfil one purpose. One way of making them more memorable is to have them speak an English dialect, ...
KeizerHarm's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
126 views

I don't fully understand sentence unity

First, let me clarify that I do not intend right now to write in Early Modern English, although I tend to use some words uncommon in ordinary prose, such as "whereof", etc. However, being ...
garbus's user avatar
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8 votes
4 answers
3k views

Interspersing German in English dialogue?

My situation is this: in the dialogue I’m writing, the characters speak primarily English but occasionally use a German word for lack of a proper English equivalent. German capitalizes all nouns ...
Lea's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
145 views

How to write in a way that makes it easier for an ESL reader to parse and understand?

This question recently began percolating in my mind after some conversations at work, and hopefully it's not been asked here before and is applicable to this site. After searching I wasn't able to ...
Sciborg's user avatar
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0 votes
2 answers
147 views

Can I link a dialogue tag to dialogue using a colon

Can I introduce dialogue as follows - The headmaster entered the room: "Everybody sit down now!" or - "Everybody sit down now": The headmaster had entered the room I know I could ...
kerry's user avatar
  • 131
0 votes
1 answer
75 views

Trying to decide on writing style and format for dialogue. Looking for Grammatical advice and suggestions. Native British English spearker

I am new to this forum and writing and I am trying to decide on my preferred writing style. I am currently working on dialogue and looking for ideas and suggestions for grammatically correct and 'good ...
kerry's user avatar
  • 131
0 votes
1 answer
57 views

Are there any strict requirements for classifying a rhyming word?

I'm trying to write a yadu: Nude, tall and blue, Yellow's new love, ... Here, I'm trying to create a rhyme for the word blue with the word new but I'm wondering if the lack of the L sound in new ...
Hazel へいぜる's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
85 views

using a word for another meaning

Sorry if it sounds stupid but here's the question: I have a character who thinks the Italian word "pronto" has a similar meaning as "stupid" no matter how much others tell him the ...
Arian_ki's user avatar
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0 votes
3 answers
121 views

I need help translating military terms from a foreign language [closed]

I am translating a World War II memoir from Hungarian to English. I keep running into certain words which I understand perfectly, but have a hard time finding a proper translation. Can you guys help ...
Tamás Polgár's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
83 views

Should I write a book with third person perspective or first person perspective?

I am new to writing and I am starting my first novel which is a love story in 3rd person POV. After writing my first page, I started to think about how to change perspectives and write with the 1st ...
Dhiresh Budhiraja's user avatar
5 votes
7 answers
443 views

As a British writer writing a story set in America, should I write the narration in British or American English?

I asked this question on the English Language & Usage site but I thought it useful to ask here, too, since it is a writing issue. I'm writing a book that's primarily set in America; my protagonist ...
Helaina's user avatar
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1 vote
3 answers
104 views

International English Style Guide?

For writers who are self-publishing to Amazon (especially for a global or US & UK audience) is there a style guide for "international" English? Or must one commit fully to either an ...
grammarnic's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
167 views

How do I write with a rhythm/cadence without losing command of the English language?

I'm sorry. I know I've been posting a lot of questions lately. Many times in the past, when I tried to write words with cadence and showed them to people, they said that I had poor command of the ...
garbus's user avatar
  • 1,306