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example

English translation: example

07:26 May 6, 2014
English language (monolingual) [Non-PRO]
Social Sciences - General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters / General
English term or phrase: example
I am now writing an essay on an instance of language planning and policy in China, and I want to give 2 real examples at the beginning of the article to domenstrate the harm that a certain lanugage policy will cause.

Shall I use "Example 1 or 2", or "Case 1 and 2" or "Scenario 1 and 2", or any other word? These three words all sound like they refer to imaged situations, and not real events that had happened.

I hope I have made my point clear.
Ms Faith
Selected answer:example
Explanation:
As previously stated, "scenario" is definitely more suited to hypothetical situations and I assume that your examples are real.

I would also argue against "case". I feel that case is generally best used for an exhaustive list of mutually exclusive items. Case 1, the cat is alive. Case 2, the cat is dead. Heisenberg would add a third case! A list that is incomplete can always be terminated with the catch-all case "otherwise".

Examples are just that, not exclusive and not necessarily a complete list. For example, the cat can be black or white. But it could also be black and white or many other colours. This is the situation here, you are not suggesting that your two examples are the only possibilities, you are just showing the sort of things that can happen.

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Note added at 1 hr (2014-05-06 09:08:07 GMT)
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In response to your other suggestions, I would say that event, incident and instance all refer to a very specific thing whereas example is more general.

An event/incident/instance: The aircraft component was manufactured incorrectly because the engineer did not understand the imperial units and incorrectly converted inches to millimeters.

An example: Not all engineers understand imperial units and mistakes have occurred because inches were incorrectly converted to millimeters.

Obviously, there is a lot of overlap between these terms and it would be hard to establish an exact rule for which one is preferable. It also depends on your examples - are they specific events or more general? One possible guide is whether you could attach a definite date and time to it - if you can it's probably more of an event. If not it's more of an example.

Selected response from:

Terry Richards
France
Local time: 14:00
Grading comment
Thanks!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +2Example or Case
B D Finch
4 +1example
Terry Richards


Discussion entries: 3





  

Answers


23 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
Example or Case


Explanation:
If you introduce the two examples by using the word "example", you don't need to label them "Example 1" and "Example 2", and that would be neater. Your introduction will explain that they are real. Avoid "scenario", as that does apply better to hypothetical situations.

B D Finch
France
Local time: 14:00
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 192
Notes to answerer
Asker: How about episode, or incident?


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Tony M
22 mins
  -> Thanks Tony
agree  Victoria Britten: Precisely!
2 hrs
  -> Thanks Victoria
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
example


Explanation:
As previously stated, "scenario" is definitely more suited to hypothetical situations and I assume that your examples are real.

I would also argue against "case". I feel that case is generally best used for an exhaustive list of mutually exclusive items. Case 1, the cat is alive. Case 2, the cat is dead. Heisenberg would add a third case! A list that is incomplete can always be terminated with the catch-all case "otherwise".

Examples are just that, not exclusive and not necessarily a complete list. For example, the cat can be black or white. But it could also be black and white or many other colours. This is the situation here, you are not suggesting that your two examples are the only possibilities, you are just showing the sort of things that can happen.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2014-05-06 09:08:07 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

In response to your other suggestions, I would say that event, incident and instance all refer to a very specific thing whereas example is more general.

An event/incident/instance: The aircraft component was manufactured incorrectly because the engineer did not understand the imperial units and incorrectly converted inches to millimeters.

An example: Not all engineers understand imperial units and mistakes have occurred because inches were incorrectly converted to millimeters.

Obviously, there is a lot of overlap between these terms and it would be hard to establish an exact rule for which one is preferable. It also depends on your examples - are they specific events or more general? One possible guide is whether you could attach a definite date and time to it - if you can it's probably more of an event. If not it's more of an example.



Terry Richards
France
Local time: 14:00
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 120
Grading comment
Thanks!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  writeaway
9 mins
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



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