Collins Cobuild English Grammar (175 page)

opinion

picture

plan

position

reasoning

scheme

supposition

theory

thinking

view

viewpoint

vision

wish

referring to what is mentioned

10.21
   You can also refer back to actions and events using nouns that show your feelings about the action or event. For example, if you use the noun
incident
to refer to an accident at a nuclear power station, this simply describes the event, whereas if you use the noun
disaster
, this shows your reaction to the event.

Gwen was not the kind to make a fuss. In any event, she could handle the
situation
.
I believed the press would cooperate on this
issue
.
Parents may complain that their child does not eat a variety of healthy food. This
problem
doesn’t arise because the parents have been lenient about food in the past.

Here is a list of nouns that refer to events and are usually neutral:

act

action

affair

aspect

case

circumstances

context

development

effect

episode

event

experience

fact

factor

feature

incident

issue

matter

method

move

phenomenon

position

possibility

practice

process

reason

respect

result

situation

state

state of affairs

subject

system

thing

topic

way

Here is a list of nouns that refer to events and show your feelings about them:

achievement

advantage

answer

catastrophe

crisis

debacle

difficulty

disadvantage

disaster

exploit

feat

fiasco

gaffe

nightmare

plight

predicament

problem

solution

tragedy

BE CREATIVE

10.22
   When you are referring back to something that has been said or mentioned, you can use almost any noun that refers to texts, ideas, events, and sometimes even to people. The noun you use allows you to express your exact reaction to the thing that is being referred to. For example, you can refer to a football defeat using nouns such as
tragedy
or
farce
, and you can refer to an argument using nouns such as
row
and
battle
.

referring to pieces of writing

10.23
   You can refer in a neutral way to a previous piece of writing.

As explained in the previous
paragraph
, the bottle needs only to be washed clean.
We have seen in this
chapter
how the tax burden has increased fastest for households with children.

Here is a list of nouns used to refer to a piece of writing:

chapter

example

excerpt

extract

paragraph

passage

phrase

quotation

section

sentence

statement

summary

table

text

words

Substituting for something already mentioned: using
so
and
not

so
as a substitute for an adjective

10.24
   
So
is sometimes used in formal English as a substitute for an adjective that has already been mentioned.

They are wildly inefficient and will remain
so
for some time to come.
They are just as isolated, if not more
so
, than before.

so
and
not
after
if

10.25
   
So
is used to substitute for a clause after
if
, when the action or situation you are talking about has already been mentioned.

Will that be enough?
If so
, do not ask for more.

Not
is used to substitute for a negative clause, to suggest the opposite situation to the one already mentioned.

You will probably have one of the two documents mentioned below.
If not
, you will have to buy one.

so
and
not
with reporting verbs

10.26
   
So
and
not
are also used to substitute for clauses after some common reporting verbs. They are also used after the expression
I’m afraid
, which is used to report an unwelcome fact.

‘Are you all right?’ – ‘I think
so
.’
You’re a sensible woman – I’ve always said
so
.
‘You think he’s failed, don’t you?’ – ‘I’m afraid
so
.’
‘It doesn’t often happen.’ – ‘No, I suppose
not
.’
‘You haven’t lost the ticket, have you?’ – ‘I hope
not
.’

Here is a list of reporting verbs that can be followed by
so
and
not
:

believe

expect

hope

imagine

say

suppose

tell

think

Note that the use of
not
as a substitute with
think
,
expect
, and
believe
is rare or formal. When
not
is occasionally used with
say
, there is a modal in front of
say
.

‘Is this a coincidence?’ – ‘I
would say not
.’

Occasionally
so
is put at the beginning of the clause. This often has the effect of casting doubt on the truth of the fact involved.

Everybody in the world,
so
they say, has a double.

So
can also be used at the beginning of a clause for
emphasis
. This is explained in paragraph
9.62
.

do so

10.27
   
Do so
is used to mean
perform the action just mentioned
. The various forms of the verb
do
can be used. This structure is rather formal.

A signal which should have turned to red failed to
do so
.
Most of those who signed the letter
did so
under pressure from their bosses.
She asked him to wait while she considered. He
did so
.
Individuals are free to choose private insurance, and 10% of the population
have done so
.

Comparing with something already mentioned

10.28
   The word
such
can be used in several ways to hold a text together. You use it when you want to indicate that something is of the same sort as something that has already been mentioned. The grammatical patterns of
such
are unique. It can behave as a
determiner
, a
predeterminer
, and an
adjective
.

such
as a determiner

10.29
   
Such
can be a determiner referring back to something that has already been mentioned.

Most of the state’s electricity comes from burning imported oil, the highest use of
such fuel
in the country.
New business provides the majority of new jobs. By their nature,
such businesses
take risks.