Читать книгу The Century Handbook of Writing - Garland Greever - Страница 12

6. Do not use a when or where clause as a predicate noun. Do not define a word by saying it is a "when" or a "where". Define a noun by another noun, a verb by another verb, etc.

 Wrong: The great event is when the train arrives.

 Right: The great event is the arrival of the train.

 Wrong: Immigration is where foreigners come into a country.

 Right: Immigration is the entering of foreigners into a country.

 Wrong: A simile is when one object is compared with another.

 Right: A simile is a figure of speech in which one object is compared with another.

Note.—A definition of a term is a statement which (1) names the class to which the term belongs, and (2) distinguishes it from other members of the class. Example. A quadrilateral is a plane figure having four sides and four angles. To test a definition ask whether it separates the term defined from all other things. If the definition does not do this, it is incomplete. Define California (so as to exclude other states), window (so as to exclude door), star (exclude moon), night, rain, circle, Bible, metal, mile, rectangle.

Exercise:

1 The pistol shot is when the race begins.

2 A snob is when a man treats others as inferior socially.

3 The wireless telegraph is where messages are sent a long distance through the air.

4 The definition of usury is where one charges interest higher than the legal rate.

5 Biology is when one studies plant and animal life.