VOA · Everyday Grammar
Advanced · C1learner speed5:472024-05-16public domain
Everyday Grammar digs into one grammar topic per episode — verb tenses, prepositions, sentence patterns — with plenty of spoken examples. Because you are listening to language about language, it doubles as grammar review while you train your ears.
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01In last week's Everyday Grammar, we looked at prefixes in reports of student protests against the war between Israel and Hamas.
02Then, we asked our readers to use prefixes from that story to write about their experiences with protests in their own countries.
03Our reader, Kaori, from Japan, wrote to us about her father's experiences with student protests.
04She begins, My father experienced anti-war demonstration against Japanese military reestablishment after World War II when he was a university student.
05First, let us consider some small grammatical corrections.
06The phrase anti-war demonstration needs an indefinite article, as in an anti-war demonstration.
07Or, it needs to be plural, as in anti-war demonstrations.
08This is because it is the first time the demonstrations are being described.
09Remember this rule.
10Definite or indefinite article plus singular noun.
11Definite article plus plural noun.
12Using the definite article can be optional in some cases.
13Another correction is to the phrase Japanese military.
14This is a singular noun phrase, and it should have a definite article before it, as in, the Japanese military.
15The phrase, the Japanese military reestablishment, might be unclear to a reader who does not know a lot about the history of Japan.
16We can change this statement to make it a little easier to understand.
17Rather than the Japanese military reestablishment, we suggest using a prepositional phrase, the reestablishment of the Japanese military.
18This kind of possessive structure can help clarify that the process of establishing the military again is being described.
19Among the prefixes Caudi uses in the statement, we find anti, which means against, and re, which means do again.
20Caudi might rewrite her statement.
21My father experienced an anti-war demonstration against the reestablishment of the Japanese military after World War II when he was a university student.
22Caudi 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.
23Here we have the prefix un, which means the opposite of.
24A formal way to say how your father sees this experience is, he looks back on it with some embarrassment.
25You say, he didn't have any anti-war policy, but usually we talk about a government or organization having a policy.
26Speaking of an individual, Caudi may rewrite this statement.
27He looks back on the protests with some embarrassment because he did not hold strong anti-war opinions.
28The next phrase, reforming unstable society after war, is a little unclear.
29It might mean that Caudi's father did not understand the need to reform Japan's society, which was unstable after the war.
30A clear way to say this uses the noun form instability, where the prefix un changes to in.
31Then we can use the conjunction nor to connect two negative statements.
32He 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.
33Caudi's next statement is, young power and enthusiastic mood at that time, let him to march with his friends near U.S.
34Navy camp in Yokosuka.
35Let us correct one word choice first.
36The verb let does not fit well in this statement because it means to permit someone to do something.
37Let works better because it means to cause someone to do something.
38Note that we can express young power and enthusiastic mood with the shorter phrase, youthful energy.
39And remember our rule about the definite article.
40We need the before U.S.
41To describe a large group of military structures, we usually use base rather than camp.
42We should use the adjective form naval instead of the verb form navy.
43Putting these changes together, we can say, His youthful energy led him to march with his friends near the U.S.
44naval base in Yokosuka.
45Thank you for writing to us, Caudi.
46It was good for you to talk with your father about his youthful experience with anti-war protests.
47And we are grateful to you for sharing it with us.
48And that's Everyday Grammar.
49I'm Jill Robbins.
// transcribed with Whisper AI — reading it is easy; catching it by ear is the skill
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