156
16.11 strings of nouns use prepositions where possible 1. Do not put nouns in strings when the reader is unlikely to be able to understand how they relate to each other. Use prepositions to make the meaning clearer. This is particularly important in titles of papers – if the reader cannot understand your title then they will probably not read the paper.
2. A noun string can often be broken up by using a preposition
of = which belongs to,
for =
for the purpose of,
by = how something is done and where necessary converting the nouns into verbs. This helps to clarify the relationships between the various nouns.
YES NO 1,2 Least Toxic Methods
for Pest Control Least Toxic Pest Control Methods Pest Control Least Toxic Methods
1,2
Quantifying surface damage by measuring the mechanical strength of silicon wafers. Silicon wafer mechanical strength
measurement for surface damage quantification The
streets of San Francisco. San Francisco streets San Francisco’s streets
2 For
reasons of space , we will not consider … For
space reasons , we will not consider …
2 Instructions
for boiling potatoes
Potato boiling instructions 157
16.12 deciding which noun to put first in strings of nouns Unfortunately there are no clear rules regarding which noun should go first. Also, the convention varies from discipline to discipline. For the rules on when to use an
’s after the first noun, see genitive (
2
)
1. In many cases the first noun acts as an adjective that describes the second noun. In such cases the generic noun will normally go in second position.
2. When talking about families it depends on whether you are talking about people or insects, flowers etc. With human families use
surname + family ,
in entomology, botany etc. use
family + species. This is just one example illustrating the rather random nature of some aspects of the English language
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