Reviewing Prefixes in Protest Stories
2024-05-17
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1In last week's Everyday Grammar, we looked at prefixes in reports of student protests against the war between Israel and Hamas.
2Then, we asked our readers to use prefixes from that story to write about their experiences with protests in their own countries.
3Our reader Kaori from Japan wrote to us about her father's experiences with student protests. She begins:
4"My father experienced anti-war demonstration against Japanese military re-establishment after World War Ⅱ when he was a university student."
5First, let us consider some small grammatical corrections.
6The phrase, "anti-war demonstration," needs an indefinite article as in "an anti-war demonstration," or it needs to be plural, as in "anti-war demonstrations."
7This is because it is the first time the demonstrations are being described. Remember this rule:
8Definite or indefinite article + Singular noun
9(Definite article) + Plural noun
10Using the definite article can be optional in some cases.
11Another correction is to the phrase, "Japanese military."
12This is a singular noun phrase, and it should have a definite article before it, as in "the Japanese military."
13The phrase, "the Japanese military re-establishment" might be unclear to a reader who does not know a lot about the history of Japan.
14We can change this statement to make it a little easier to understand.
15Rather than "the Japanese military re-establishment," we suggest using a prepositional phrase, "the re-establishment of the Japanese military."
16This kind of possessive structure can help clarify that the process of "establishing the military again" is being described.
17Among the prefixes Kaori uses in the statement, we find "anti-," which means "against" and "re-," which means "do again."
18Kaori might re-write her statement:
19"My father experienced an anti-war demonstration against the re-establishment of the Japanese military after World War II when he was a university student."
20Kaori continued, "Now, he is over 80 years old and says that it was some stupid memory because he didn't have any anti-war policy and reforming unstable society after war."
21Here we have the prefix "un-," which means "the opposite of."
22A formal way to say how your father sees this experience is "he looks back on it with some embarrassment."
23You say, "He didn't have any anti-war policy" but usually we talk about a government or organization having a policy.
24Speaking of an individual, Kaori may re-write this statement:
25"He looks back on the protests with some embarrassment because he did not hold strong anti-war opinions."
26The next phrase, "reforming unstable society after war," is a little unclear.
27It might mean that Kaori's father did not understand the need to reform Japan's society, which was unstable after the war.
28A clearer way to say this uses the noun form, "instability," where the prefix "un" changes to "in-."
29Then we can use the conjunction "nor" to connect two negative statements:
30"He looks back on the protests with some embarrassment because he did not hold strong anti-war opinions, nor did he understand the instability of Japan's society after the war."
31Kaori's next statement is, "Young power and enthusiastic mood at that time let him to march with his friends near U.S. navy camp in Yokosuka."
32Let us correct one word choice first. The verb "let" does not fit well in this statement because it means to permit someone to do something.
33"Led" works better because it means to cause someone to do something.
34Note that we can express "young power and enthusiastic mood" with the shorter phrase, "youthful energy."
35And remember our rule about the definite article. We need "the" before "U.S."
36To describe a large group of military structures, we usually use "base" rather than "camp."
37We should use the adjective form, "naval" instead of the verb form, "navy."
38Putting these changes together, we can say, "His youthful energy led him to march with his friends near the U.S. naval base in Yokosuka."
39Thank you for writing to us, Kaori.
40It was good for you to talk with your father about his youthful experience with anti-war protests. And we are grateful to you for sharing it with us.
41And that's Everyday Grammar!
42I'm Jill Robbins.
1In last week's Everyday Grammar, we looked at prefixes in reports of student protests against the war between Israel and Hamas. 2Then, we asked our readers to use prefixes from that story to write about their experiences with protests in their own countries. 3Our reader Kaori from Japan wrote to us about her father's experiences with student protests. She begins: 4"My father experienced anti-war demonstration against Japanese military re-establishment after World War Ⅱ when he was a university student." 5Use an article before a singular noun 6First, let us consider some small grammatical corrections. The phrase, "anti-war demonstration," needs an indefinite article as in "an anti-war demonstration," or it needs to be plural, as in "anti-war demonstrations." This is because it is the first time the demonstrations are being described. Remember this rule: 7Definite or indefinite article + Singular noun 8(Definite article) + Plural noun 9Using the definite article can be optional in some cases. 10Another correction is to the phrase, "Japanese military." This is a singular noun phrase, and it should have a definite article before it, as in "the Japanese military." 11The phrase, "the Japanese military re-establishment" might be unclear to a reader who does not know a lot about the history of Japan. 12We can change this statement to make it a little easier to understand. Rather than "the Japanese military re-establishment," we suggest using a prepositional phrase, "the re-establishment of the Japanese military." This kind of possessive structure can help clarify that the process of "establishing the military again" is being described. 13Among the prefixes Kaori uses in the statement, we find "anti-," which means "against" and "re-," which means "do again." 14Kaori might re-write her statement: 15"My father experienced an anti-war demonstration against the re-establishment of the Japanese military after World War II when he was a university student." 16Looking back from age 80 17Kaori continued, "Now, he is over 80 years old and says that it was some stupid memory because he didn't have any anti-war policy and reforming unstable society after war." Here we have the prefix "un-," which means "the opposite of." 18A formal way to say how your father sees this experience is "he looks back on it with some embarrassment." You say, "He didn't have any anti-war policy" but usually we talk about a government or organization having a policy. 19Speaking of an individual, Kaori may re-write this statement: 20"He looks back on the protests with some embarrassment because he did not hold strong anti-war opinions." 21The next phrase, "reforming unstable society after war," is a little unclear. It might mean that Kaori's father did not understand the need to reform Japan's society, which was unstable after the war. A clearer way to say this uses the noun form, "instability," where the prefix "un" changes to "in-." 22Then we can use the conjunction "nor" to connect two negative statements: 23"He looks back on the protests with some embarrassment because he did not hold strong anti-war opinions, nor did he understand the instability of Japan's society after the war." 24Youthful energy 25Kaori's next statement is, "Young power and enthusiastic mood at that time let him to march with his friends near U.S. navy camp in Yokosuka." 26Let us correct one word choice first. The verb "let" does not fit well in this statement because it means to permit someone to do something. "Led" works better because it means to cause someone to do something. Note that we can express "young power and enthusiastic mood" with the shorter phrase, "youthful energy." And remember our rule about the definite article. We need "the" before "U.S." 27To describe a large group of military structures, we usually use "base" rather than "camp." We should use the adjective form, "naval" instead of the verb form, "navy." Putting these changes together, we can say, "His youthful energy led him to march with his friends near the U.S. naval base in Yokosuka." 28Thank you for writing to us, Kaori. It was good for you to talk with your father about his youthful experience with anti-war protests. And we are grateful to you for sharing it with us. 29And that's Everyday Grammar! 30I'm Jill Robbins. 31Jill Robbins wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English. 32_________________________________________________ 33Words in This Story 34phrase - n. a group of two or more words that express a single idea but do not usually form a complete sentence 35mention - n. an act of saying something about a topic 36optional - adj. available as a choice but not required 37stable - adj. in a good state or condition that is not easily changed or likely to change 38embarrassment - n. the state of feeling foolish in front of others 39What do you think of the recent student protests of the war between Israel and Hamas? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.