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#2 (permalink) Wed Nov 22, 2006 7:30 am Expression: Rice crop needs heat to ripen |
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Hi Tom
You would have to say "A/The rice crop needs..." or "Rice crops need..."
Amy _________________ "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln |
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Yankee I'm a Communicator ;-)

Joined: 16 Apr 2006 Posts: 8316 Location: USA
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#3 (permalink) Wed Nov 22, 2006 9:06 am Expression: Rice crop needs heat to ripen |
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Hi Tom,
This could also work as it is if you look at it as a definition of rice crop similar to: Apple is a type of fruit.
A _________________ English as a Second Language You can read my ESL story Present Simple |
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Alan Co-founder

Joined: 27 Sep 2003 Posts: 13891 Location: UK
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#4 (permalink) Wed Nov 22, 2006 12:56 pm Expression: Rice crop needs heat to ripen |
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| That sentence also sounds like a newspaper heading, doesn't it? In true journalistic style, it could then mean something totally different about some kind of extraordinary phenomenon related to a certain Mr Rice's haircut, for example... |
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Conchita Language Coach

Joined: 26 Dec 2005 Posts: 2826 Location: Madrid, Spain
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#5 (permalink) Wed Nov 22, 2006 15:43 pm Expression: Rice crop needs heat to ripen |
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It does sound like a newspaper headline but, ignoring the issue of 'A/The' for the moment... using 'rice crop' as opposed to 'crop of rice' sounds much more general, referring, perhaps, to the entire rice yield from a particular region. The latter expression I would take to mean something much more limited and local.For example: 'the crop of rice from the lower paddies was higher than that from the upper.)
I'd say the two expressions can actually be used interchangeably for all intents and purposes, but it seems to me that there are subtle shades of difference. |
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Pond969 You can meet me at english-test.net
Joined: 17 Nov 2006 Posts: 99 Location: Canada
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| Plural or not (spam emails vs. email spam) | Which or that? |