expressions and syntax

[Interventizio]

I have some doubts.
1) can I "get the calculations wrong"? Meaning: to make some mathematical mistakes.
3) "The question can be trivialized further to make things simpler" Or "The question can be
further trivialized to make things simpler"? The second one appears to be too formal to me, if not outright incorrect.
4) What is the difference between "standpoint" and "point of view"? Here the sentence I have in mind: "the standpoint/point of view of ethics says that..."

Thanks in advance.

[Raymott]

I have some doubts.
1) can I "get the calculations wrong"? Meaning: to make some mathematical mistakes.
Yes.
3) "The question can be trivialized further to make things simpler" Or "The question can be
further trivialized to make things simpler"? The second one appears to be too formal to me, if not outright incorrect.
If you 'trivialise' something, you make it practically negligible.
Trivialising a question is not making it simple to answer, but implying that the answer is not important. You should use "simplifying" or some other word.

4) What is the difference between "standpoint" and "point of view"? Here the sentence I have in mind: "the standpoint/point of view of ethics says that..."
Neither sounds right for that expression. Here are some sentences where either term is OK:
"From the point of view/standpoint of the law, driving too fast is punishable".
"From my standpoint/ From my point of view/ From where I stand ..., I think it's a good idea."
Thanks in advance.

R.

[Interventizio]

Thanks.

3) I didn't know that implication of the the verb "trivialize" so I definitely learned something.
however, my doubt was about the position of the adverb. Which do you think is the best one in the examples I gave?

4) I get it, "standpoint" and "point of view" can be used interchangeably.

Thank you again for the precious help.

[Raymott]

Thanks.

3) I didn't know that implication of the the verb "trivialize" so I definitely learned something.
however, my doubt was about the position of the adverb. Which do you think is the best one in the examples I gave?
Sorry, I forgot that bit. They are both OK. I have no preference.

4) I get it, "standpoint" and "point of view" can be used interchangeably.
They are interchangeable in the context I gave. Very few, if any, pairs of words are universally interchangeable.


Thank you again for the precious help.

R.

[rx-f]

If you search Google for "mathematics trivialize" or "mathematics trivializing" (without the quotation marks in the search), you'll find plenty of results in which the word "trivialize" seems to be a piece of mathematical terminology.

In maths, perhaps "trivialize" doesn't mean "make unimportant" at all, but rather takes on a field-specific technical sense - though Raymott is right that "make unimportant" is what the word means in everyday English.

More generally, though, something can be trivialized further or further trivialized; both are correct English.