"Both A and B" in a complex structure - English Grammar

"While both language and cultural distances can affect the amount of langauge transfer, this does not always make the task of learning easier... WelcomeGuestForumSearch|ActiveTopics|Members中文简体DanskNederlandsEnglishSuomiFrançaisDeutschNorskPolskiRomânăРусскийEspañolSvenskaTürkçe TheFreeDictionaryLanguageForums » English » EnglishGrammar » "BothAandB"inacomplexstructure "BothAandB"inacomplexstructure Options PreviousTopic · NextTopic FlowerDew Posted: Thursday,April12,201211:40:38AM Rank:Newbie Joined:4/12/2012Posts:36Neurons:108 Hi,Somebodywroteasentenceasfollows:"Whilebothlanguageandculturaldistancecanhaveaffecttheamountoflanguagetransfer,thisdoesnotalwaysmakethetaskoflearningeasier..."Ithinktheunerlinedpartsareproblematicandwouldliketosuggesttothewriterchangingthissentenceto:"Whilebothlanguageandculturaldistancescanaffecttheamountoflangaugetransfer,thisdoesnotalwaysmakethetaskoflearningeasier..."Theoriginalauthorwastryingtocombine"languagedistance"and"culturaldistance"using"both...and".Inthiscase,should"distance"bepluralised?Couldsomebodyconfirmmysuggestionisappropriate/correct?Wouldtherebeanybetteralternative?FYI,"languagedistance"and"languagetransfer"arefield-specificterminology.Thanksinadvance.FD Backtotop   thar Posted: Thursday,April12,201211:51:49AM Rank:AdvancedMember Joined:7/8/2010Posts:26,613Neurons:108,390 OK,whoisfirsttoanswer....youareright,thesentenceaswrittenisincorrect"Whilebothlanguageandculturaldistancecanhaveaffecttheamountoflanguagetransfer,thisdoesnotalwaysmakethetaskoflearningeasier..."youcouldeithersaycanaffectorcanhaveaneffecton(Ihopethatisright,Ifindmyaffectsandeffectsconfusing)itmaybethewriterdidwhatIoftendointhesepostsandhadtwothoughtsatthesametime...ifyouareusing'can'itmakesnodifferencesingularorplural(itcan,,theycan)ifyousaidbothAandBhaveaneffecton-youneedtheplural'have'Ok,youdidnotmeanthatabouttheplural.youhavelanguagedistance,andculturaldistance.Youcouldcombinethisinto'languageandculturaldistances'-tomakeitclearyoudonotmean'language'and'culturaldistance'.Butissoundsabitcontrived,soIthinkbecauseitisashortphraseeachtime,itactuallysoundsabitbetterkeepingeachpartwholeandseparateandsaying'languagedistance'andculturaldistance'.Itisslightlymorenaturalandlessdistractingfromtheflow.Butthatisamatterofpersonalstyle.Itwouldnotbewrongwith'AandBdistances'. Backtotop   Drag0nspeaker Posted: Thursday,April12,201211:58:51AM Rank:AdvancedMember Joined:9/12/2011Posts:36,430Neurons:260,557Location:Livingston,Scotland,UnitedKingdom TherearetwodifferentpointshereIthink.Concerningthe'affect':Ijusttookitasatypographicalslipoftenses(thewritermeanteither"canhaveaffected..."or"canaffect...").'Canaffect'seemstofitbetter.Concerning'distance':"Distance"ismostcommonlyanUncountablenoun-"Howmuchdistance"-thoughitcanhavethecountablemeaning.Mysuggestionwouldbe"Whilebothlanguageandculturaldistancecanaffecttheamountoflanguagetransfer,thisdoesnotalwaysmakethetaskoflearningeasier..."Theuseofthepluraldoeshandleanypossibilityofambiguity("language"and"culturaldistance"asopposedto"languagedistance"and"culturaldistance")-though,ifIrememberthecontextcorrectly,itwasobviousthat"languagedistance"wasmeant.AsfarasIrecall,itwasadiscussionaboutlearningalanguagewithinalingualfamily(likeIndo-European,orwithintheRomancelanguages)asopposedtolearningonefromacompletelydifferent'family',likeChinese). Backtotop   FlowerDew Posted: Thursday,April12,201212:35:47PM Rank:Newbie Joined:4/12/2012Posts:36Neurons:108 ThankstobothDrag0nspeakerandthar.Iknowtheoriginalauthorwasclearlyreferringto'languagedistance'and'culturaldistance'fromthecontextwhereshewroteit(whichissimilartowhatDrag0nspeakerexemplifiedreRomancelanguagesandChinese.Sofromwhatbothofyousaid,Ithinkitissafetoasktheauthortoputaplural's'to'distance'.Infact,Iwasalsothinkingofseparatingthestructureinto'languagedistance'and'culturaldistance'inordertoavoidambiguity(assuggestedbythar).AndIalsothoughtTheproblemherewasalsocausedbythestructuresofthetwophraseswhichareslightlydifferent--theformerbeingacompound(noun+noun)antthelatteranounmodifiedbyanadjective...ThankDrag0nspeakerandtharagainforyourgreatfeedback. 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