Marcio_Osorio

"It is precisely at this point that I think other writers in this area have overlooked a possibility."

On the statement above. What does the "It is precisely at this point that" part translate to?


"Other writers in this area, I think, have overlooked a possibility precisely at this point"? -- Whether my attempt at EP falls short of expectation or comes as a pitiful, short-lived attempt, I still like EP better than standard English!

Thank you for your response.

Weetabix

You came up with effectively the translation that originally occurred to me.

EP may fall a bit short of standard English in its decreased flexibility for placing emphasis where you want it by placing something at one particular point in a sentence.

Your first sentence seems to emphasize "precisely at this point." The translation lessens that emphasis, I think.

You might also say, "Precisely at this point, I think, other writers have overlooked a possibility."

Karen

Weetabix, I don't see the difference of whether you use the precisely at the beginning or the middle of the sentence. The definition of precise means exact, so the placement of this word does not matter.

Weetabix

I find that, even though the definition of the specific word remains unchanged, you can draw a reader's or hearer's attention to a specific point or provide a different connotation more readily by changing word placement.

Try this for an auditory example:

I never said you stole the money.

Repeat this sentence several times, but each time, over emphasize one of the words, and listen to how the meaning of the sentence appears to change:

I never said you stole the money. (implies someone else said it)

I never said you stole the money. (reinforces that I didn't say it)

I never said you stole the money. (implies that I believe it though I didn't say it)

I never said you stole the money. (implies that I believe someone else stole it)

I never said you stole the money. (implies that although you didn't steal it, I think you misused it somehow)

I never said you stole the money. (implies that I think you stole something even if you didn't steal the money)

Do you see how the sense changes? I meant to convey that you can do that to a lesser extent with the written word by word or phrase placement.

Marcio's first sentence appears to emphasize the point at which the missing occurred. The second seems to dilute that point.

Karen

Yes,Weetabix, and when I read what you wrote, I thought maybe you meant how people emphasize a word. But, you did not write that in your comment to Marcio. I went solely on the meaning of the word. If we had to look at a written sentence and think about how one might say this sentence, we would come up with all kinds of different meanings. Possibly the way you read Marcio's sentence diluted your meanings. As for me, I read it with the same meaning.