quick grammar question

Parent Cafe
1

<p>quick grammar question </p>

<p>would it be</p>

<p>“provides me with a once in a life time education…”
or
“provides me with a once-in-a-life-time education…”</p>

<p>help!</p>

2

<p>I believe it’s the second one.</p>

3

<p>It’s not a huge deal because not everyone agrees on appropriate hyphen use, but the second version is correct. You are using multiple words to act as a single adjective before a noun, so you hyphenate the phrase.</p>

4

<p>Isn’t lifetime one word? Now that I’m staring it, it looks funny both ways!</p>

5

<p>“provides me with a once-in-a-lifetime education” is grammatically correct
because you use hyphens to transform that phrase into a one-word adjective
(oops, there it goes again!)'</p>

<p>I’d also say the word “with” is not necessary there; could be “provides me a…”</p>

<p>Also give this some thought: do you mean to say they provide you the education, or "provides me a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for education</p>

<p>The first sounds like a spoon feed; the second more like a partnership where you’re an active participant. </p>

<p>Just a thought. You probably addressed it elsewhere in your essay so those extra words aren’t necessarily good for you. You decide.</p>

6

<p>definitely “once-in-a-lifetime.” or “unique” if your word count has exploded.</p>

7

<p>Or “offers” me rather than “provides.”</p>

8

<p>“Once-in-a-lifetime” is a cliche. You should avoid cliches like the plague; they’re a-dime-a-dozen.</p>

9

<p>Cliche, yes.<br>
Here are refs supporting hyphenation to link compound nouns:
<a href=“http://www.rochester.edu/news/styleguide/grammar.html[/url]”>http://www.rochester.edu/news/styleguide/grammar.html&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://www.esc.edu/esconline/across_esc/writerscomplex.nsf/8fa4c6c0069894608525671d0049f3a0/fe74020ab07fa500852569c300729983?OpenDocument[/url]”>http://www.esc.edu/esconline/across_esc/writerscomplex.nsf/8fa4c6c0069894608525671d0049f3a0/fe74020ab07fa500852569c300729983?OpenDocument&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

10

<p>cJ, we are a bunch of scientists, lawyers and doctors, which means one thing: we are not grammar experts. :slight_smile: What does your English teacher think?</p>

11

<p>I really don’t like the idea of “once-in-a-lifetime-education.” What does this mean exactly? As Heraclitus claimed, we cannot swim in the same river twice. All education, whether excellent or mediocre is “once-in-a-lifetime.” If you mean excellent or wonderful, just say so.</p>

12

<p>Bunsen–as a poster with two English degrees, who teaches college composition, I’d like to say that I think that the “scientists, doctors, and lawyers” posting here are giving fine answers. We who teach English would lilke to think it’s a subject that everyone ought to know well!</p>

<p>(I particularly enjoyed dt123’s post:)!)</p>

13

<p>How about “unique”? :)</p>

<p>Grammar and spelling is constantly changing. There often isn’t one correct answer. But I agree I think lifetime is one word.</p>

14

<p>If the context is an essay than I’d go so far as to ask if you’re “telling” rather than “showing.” Better to demonstrate the education has been fantastic by giving details, scencarios, narratives. Harder but more impactful and more entertaining for the reader.</p>

15

<p>Garland, my comment was meant to be “tongue-in-cheek reply” (or is it “tongue in cheek”?). My hat is off to anyone with TWO English degrees!</p>

<p>Marite, I agree with your comment. The whole phrase sounds very artificial. “Unique” or “wonderful” are much better choices.</p>

16

<p>Just don’t go with “very unique.”</p>

17

<p>Good call, Seashore!</p>

<p>BB–I did get that your comment was made light-heartedly; I just wanted to take the opportunity to recognize what great writers populate CC!</p>