Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Nothing is permanent but change. This means that life is

Nothing is permanent but change. This means that life is Nothing is permanent but change. This means that life is a matter of change, and nothing can remain constant forever. Hester Prynne, the protagonist of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, is a clear example of the growth of a human being over a period of time. Her character and way of viewing life varies throughout the novel, as she goes from a prideful and glorious woman, to ashamed and hollow, to an example of redemption and self-empowerment.Before her public penitence in the scaffold, Hester is shown as a strong-willed and impetuous young woman. In this same scene, she shows a sense of irony and disdain. This is seen in the elaborated scarlet letter A on her bosom, which "seemed to express the attitude of her spirit, the desperate recklessness of her mood, by its wild and picturesque peculiarity" (51). Later on, she is said to be "the image of Divine Maternity."Grave of Elizabeth Pain, King's Chapel Burial Grou...

Monday, March 2, 2020

How to Say and Write Fractions in Spanish

How to Say and Write Fractions in Spanish Fractions in Spanish can be stated in several ways depending on the formality of the speech and the size of the number. As always, where there is a choice of which form to use, listening to or reading the fractions in everyday use will help you develop a feel for which form is appropriate. Halves and Thirds The special forms la/una mitad and el/un tercio can be used for half and third, respectively. Some examples of usage: Apple redujo a la mitad el precio de su iPhone ms barato. (Apple reduced to half the cost of its cheapest iPhone.)El estudio revela que la mitad del software utilizado en la nacià ³n es pirateado. (The study shows that half the software used in the nation is pirated.)Una mitad y otra mitad hacen uno. (One half plus another half make one.)Eres mucho ms que una mitad de un par. (You are much more than half of a couple.)Predicen la desaparicià ³n de dos tercios de los osos polares antes de 2050. (They predict the disappearance of two-thirds of polar bears before 2050.)Perdià ³ un tercio de su valor en menos de dos aà ±os. (It lost a third of its value in less than two years.)Los internautas espaà ±oles pasan un tercio de su tiempo libre conectados a la red. (Spanish Internet users spend a third of their free time connected to the web.) Fourths Through Tenths For fourths through tenths, you can use the masculine form of the ordinal numbers. These forms are cuarto (fourth, quarter), quinto (fifth), sexto (sixth), sà ©ptimo, sà ©timo (seventh), octavo (eighth), noveno (ninth) and dà ©cimo (tenth). Some examples: Un cuarto de los anfibios y reptiles europeos est en peligro de extincià ³n. (A quarter of European amphibians and reptiles are in danger of extinction.)La aprobacià ³n de la reforma constitucional requerir la obtencià ³n de una mayorà ­a favorable de tres quintos de senadores en una votacià ³n final. (The approval of constitutional reform requires the obtaining of a favorable majority of three-fifths of the senators in a final vote.)Dos sextos es igual a un tercio. (Two-sixths is the same as one-third.)Tres sà ©ptimos ms un sà ©ptimo es igual a cuatro sà ©ptimos. (Three-sevenths plus one-seventh equals four-sevenths.)El kilà ³metro es casi igual a cinco octavos de una milla. (A kilometer is about equal to five-eighths of a mile.)El ingreso total serà ­a de ocho novenos del salario mà ­nimo legal. (The total income would be eight-ninths of the minimum legal wage.)Perdià ³ tres dà ©cimos de su peso. (He lost three-tenths of his weight.) Use of Parte In everyday speech, it is common to express fractions by using the feminine form of the ordinal numbers followed by parte (which means part or portion). La tercera parte de internautas admite usar la misma contraseà ±a para todos sus accesos web. (A third of Internet users admit using the same password for all their accesses to websites.)Ms de la cuarta parte de las fuerzas armadas buscan terroristas. (More than a fourth of the armed forces are looking for terrorists.)Se dice que una sexta parte de la humanidad es analfabeta. (It is said that a sixth of humanity is illiterate.)Ella posee siete octavas partes de la casa. (She owns seven-eighths of the house.)_El litro es la centà ©sima parte de un hectolitro. (A liter is a hundredth of a hectoliter.)La pulgada es la duodà ©cima parte del pie y equivale a 2,54 cm. (The inch is 1/12th of a foot and is equivalent to 2.54 centimeters.) Sometimes the parte is omitted if the context makes it unnecessary Also, with larger numbers (i.e., smaller fractions), it is not uncommon for the ordinal number to be substituted. So, for example, you may hear doscientas cinco parte for 1/205th. The -avo Suffix The suffix of s: Una garrapatea equivale a un ciento veintiochoavos de redonda. (A semihemidemisemiquaver is equivalent to a 1/128th of a whole note.)El interà ©s mensual es equivalente a un doceavo de la tasa de interà ©s anual. (The monthly interest is equivalent to a twelfth of the annual interest rate.)En ningà ºn caso el crà ©dito diario exceder a un treintavo de los cargos. (In no case will the daily interest exceed a thirtieth of the charges.)El grueso de un vidrio corriente es de dos milà ©simos de metro. (The thickness of ordinary glass is two-thousandths of a meter.) Decimals and Percentages As in English, fractions in Spanish are commonly expressed in percentages and decimals. The phrase for percent is por ciento and phrases using percentages are treated as masculine nouns: El 85 por ciento de los nià ±os espaà ±oles se considera feliz. Eighty-five percent of Spanish children are considered happy. In most of the Spanish-speaking world, commas are used where decimal points are used in English. Thus 2.54 in English becomes 2,54 in Spanish. In Mexico, Puerto Rico and much of Central America, however, the convention used in U.S. English is followed: 2.54. In speech, numbers with decimals can be expressed digit by digit as in English. Thus you could say dos coma cinco cuatro or dos punto cinco cuatro depending on where you are. (A punto is a period, a coma a comma.) Key Takeaways Halves and thirds are frequently stated in Spanish using mitad and tercio, respectively.Special words are used for the fourths (cuartos) through the tenths (dà ©cimos).For elevenths, twelfths, and beyond, Spanish uses either the suffix -avo or the word parte following the ordinal numbers.