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what does "superstitious and bigoted" refer to in a sentence?
to approve sth

Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

[In the nucleus are the heavyweights, the protons and neutrons], which manage to make up more than 99.9 percent of an atom’s mas

English answer:

The heavyweights, the protons and neutrons in the nucleus manage to make up more than 99.9 percent of an atom’s mass while ...

Added to glossary by Michael Powers (PhD)
Jul 13, 2011 12:14
12 yrs ago
English term

is the sentence correct?

English Science Physics
Specifically the bracketed part, more specifically - the position of "are" here.
[In the nucleus are the heavyweights, the protons and neutrons], which manage to make up more than 99.9 percent of an atom’s mass while occupying only a trillionth of its volume.

Thank you in advance!
Responses
4 +4 Grammatically correct, except redundant "the" and awkward syntatically
4 +6 Yes, it is correct
Change log

Jul 24, 2011 14:29: Michael Powers (PhD) Created KOG entry

Jul 24, 2011 14:30: Michael Powers (PhD) changed "Field" from "Other" to "Science" , "Field (specific)" from "General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters" to "Physics"

Discussion

Andy Watkinson Jul 13, 2011:
Manage "Manage" here is perfectly justified here because it serves to highlight the contrast between their volume and their mass.
PAS Jul 13, 2011:
Why "manage to make up"?
Wouldn't it be cleaner simply to write "which make up more than....."?

Responses

+4
6 mins
Selected

Grammatically correct, except redundant "the" and awkward syntatically

Grammatically it is correct; however, it is more common to start with the subject. In this case, that would be the following: The heavyweights, protons and neutrons in the nucleus manage to make up more than 99.9 percent of an atom’s mass while occupying only a trillionth of its volume.

Mike
Peer comment(s):
agree Tony M
10 mins
Thank you, Tony - Mike
agree Thayenga : Elegant editing. :)
11 mins
Thank you, Thayenga - Mike
neutral Cilian O'Tuama : but the protons and neutrons ARE the heavyweights, so the source text is actually more accurate than your edited version
18 mins
Thank you for educating me on that, Cilian. That being the case, the second "the" is not redundant and should be repeated as in the original; however, we can still begin the sentence with the subject to make its flow more natural in English.
agree Lara Barnett : "Heavyweights, protons etc are in the..."
2 hrs
Thank you, Lara - Mike
agree David Hal
21 hrs
Thank you, Rafael - Mike
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
+6
2 mins

Yes, it is correct

It seems fine.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2011-07-13 15:13:02 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Gramatically correct, but I agree that "...manage to make up..." is a slightly awkward expression. I would suggest "...together make up...". It would sound more natural.
Peer comment(s):
agree Cilian O'Tuama
22 mins
Thanks, Cilian!
agree Noni Gilbert Riley
1 hr
Thanks, Noni!
agree airmailrpl : It seems fine.
1 hr
Thanks, airmailrpl!
agree Simon Mac
3 hrs
Thank you, yx37029!
agree Sheila Wilson : It could be improved but it was OK
3 hrs
Thanks, Sheila! That´s what I thought too...
agree Thuy-PTT (X)
18 hrs
Something went wrong...
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