Before and Ago

Before and Ago Before and Ago Before and Ago By Maeve Maddox I came across the following sentence in a writers movie synopsis: [a man] passes away and bequeaths his shack on the island to a woman, a young girl that he met many years ago when he was in a prisoner of war hospital. The word that jars is ago where before is called for. before at some unknown time before now. ago at a certain time before, counting back from the present Another way of writing the above sentence would be to make use of a perfect tense: [a man] passes away and bequeaths his shack on the island to a woman, a young girl that he had met many years before when he was in a prisoner of war hospital. Even if the lapse of time had been specified, the sentence would still call for before: Â  [a man] passes away and bequeaths his shack on the island to a woman, a young girl that he met twenty years before, when he was in a prisoner of war hospital. Ago is for counting back from the present. The man is dead in the present described in the synopsis. Therefore before, not ago, is called for. For variation, you can use earlier or previously to indicate a time before a time already in the past. For a more detailed discussion of the uses of ago and before go here. Â   Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Using "a" and "an" Before Words34 Writing Tips That Will Make You a Better WriterWoof or Weft?

How to Pronounce Xi Jinpings Name

How to Pronounce 'Xi Jinping's' Name China has been growing as a world power, and Xi Jinping, the countrys leader since 2012, is ever-present in the news and on the world stage. Its important, therefore, for students of Chinese- and indeed for anyone keeping up with current events- to be able to pronounce the Chinese leaders name. But saying his name correctly is not simple; it requires understanding the Chinese alphabet as well as the tones you must use when pronouncing Chinese letters and words. Basic Pronunciation The alphabetical letters used to write sounds in Mandarin Chinese (called Hanyu Pinyin) dont often match sounds they describe in English, so simply trying to read a Chinese name and guess its pronunciation is not sufficient.  (Mandarin Chinese is the official language of Mainland China and Taiwan.) The simplest way to pronounce the name of the president of China is to say Shee Jin Ping. But you also must account for the Chinese tones. The Four Tones In Mandarin Chinese, many characters have the same sounds, so tones are necessary when speaking to help differentiate words from each other.  The four tones are: First: a level and higher pitchSecond: a rising tone that starts from a lower pitch and ends  at a slightly higher pitchThird:  a falling-rising  tone that begins at a neutral tone then dips to a lower pitch before ending at a higher pitchFourth:  a falling tone that starts the syllable at a slightly higher-than-neutral pitch then goes quickly and strongly downward You can listen to a recording of a native speaker pronouncing the name and mimic the pronunciation. The BBC notes that the name is pronounced -sh as in ship, -j as in Jack, -i as in sit, -ng as in sing. Breaking Down the Name The presidents name is ä ¹  Ã¨ ¿â€˜Ã¥ ¹ ³ (or ç ¿â€™Ã¨ ¿â€˜Ã¥ ¹ ³ written in traditional form). His name, as do most Chinese names, consists of three syllables. The first syllable is his family name and the two remaining are his personal name. Xi, the first part of the name, can be difficult for non-native Chinese speakers to pronounce because the hard  x sound does not exist in English. It is alveolo-palatal, meaning that its produced by placing the body of the tongue against the front part of the hard palate. The tongue position is similar to the first sound in yes in English. Try producing a hissing sound and youll get pretty close. The i is like the y in city but longer. The tone rises when pronouncing this part of the name, so it takes on the second tone. Jin is also tricky, but if you know how to pronounce the hard x in Chinese, it becomes a lot easier. J is pronounced like the x  sound but has a stop in front of it. Think of it as a very light t, or tx. Take care not to breathe out too hard when pronouncing the t because it will turn into a Chinese Pinyin q. The i in jin should sound similar to the i in xi but shorter. The tone falls in this part of the name, so it takes on the fourth tone. Ping is fairly straightforward; it is pronounced much as it looks in English written form. One minor difference is that the ng is pronounced farther back and is more prominent than in English. The tone rises in this part of the name so it takes on the second tone.

The Advancement of Technology Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Advancement of Technology - Research Paper Example On the other hand, at the present, Internet tools and techniques are transforming and modernizing the ways through which business operations are performed. In addition, these tools and techniques are also modernizing the basic technical frameworks on which various corporations are developing their domestic or internal business structures. This paper presents an overview of the developments in technology. This paper outlines the advancement of technology that has been playing a significant role in today’s world. Introduction New advancements in technology are brought through the knowledge of crafts, tools, methods and techniques or special scientific and technology systems. In addition, the technological developments play a significant role in resolving diverse kinds of issues and problems. Basically, these technological developments can be seen different areas such as in information technology, construction technology, space technology, medical technology, communication techno logy, art technology and so on. Moreover, the advancement in the technology refers to the development of all the areas connected with technology. The technology normally influences animal species, human and society. In fact, a lot of researches have been carried out on this subject shown that the advancement in technology plays a significant role in the improvement of human life. Before the 20th century this idea was rare in English. In this scenario, the earlier technology was taken as the explanation of art that was helpful. However, the description of â€Å"technology† has been changed with the development of technology (Advancements in Technology, 2012; Turban, Leidner, McLean, & Wetherbe, 2005). This paper will discuss the advancements in technology. In this scenario, this paper will discuss some of the important developments in the technology that helped the human race to become much faster, competent and more developed. Advancement in Technology in Different Sectors De velopment in technology performs a significant role in a number of areas/fields. In this scenario, one of the main technology based developments is seen in political sectors. With the advancement of technology a wide variety of war tools, guns, bombs are made. Though, they are bad for mass people who are not concerned with the war. On the other hand, the communication technology has narrowed the issues and barriers to the human communication. In fact, the history of developments in technology is both rich and long. Additionally, many researchers have made technology based development in space technology (astronomy), science and mathematics. In addition, the traditional herbal medicine, medicine and acupuncture are at the present replaced by the modern technology. With the improvement of technology shadow clock was created by the scientists, which was the first progress in technology. With the passage of time inventors invented a lot of scientific tools that are extremely large in nu mber and cannot be counted (Advancements in Technology, 2012; Turban, Aronson, & Liang, Decision Support Systems and Intelligent Systems, 7th Edition, 2004; Laudon & Laudon, 1999). The majority of business organizations are at the present making use of the Internet tools and techniques to develop a private internal network which is acknowledged as the