[General] how to describe time period relationship?(Subset intersection)

Status
Not open for further replies.

tobysky

Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
China
Current Location
China
Suppose I have four time periods as follows:

Period A: from July 1st, 2010 to July 10th, 2010,
Period B: from July 3rd, 2010 to July 12th, 2010.
Period C: from July 3rd, 2010 to July 9th, 2010.
Period D: from July 15th, 2010 to July 19th, 2010.

Can I say:

1) Period C is the subset of period A.
2) There is an intersection between period A and B.
3) There is no intersection between period A and D.

or any suggestions on words subset, intersection and union of set?

How to describe time period relationship?

Many thanks.
 
Last edited:

Rover_KE

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jun 20, 2010
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
Isn't this a maths question?

Rover
 

riquecohen

VIP Member
Joined
Aug 24, 2010
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
Brazil

tobysky

Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
China
Current Location
China
Isn't this a maths question?

Rover

Yes, kind of. But actually, I work in a software company as a developer. I am required to write some design documents. So I just want to check whether I used these words correctly.

Thank you.
 

Raymott

VIP Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2008
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
English
Home Country
Australia
Current Location
Australia
1) Period C is a subset of period A. It's not the only subset, so you can't say it's 'the' subset unless you've already mentioned a subset. If the question read, "Identify the subset in the four sentences", you could use 'the'.

2) There is an intersection between period A and B.
3) There is no intersection between period A and D.

or any suggestions on words subset, intersection and union of set?

How to describe time period relationship?

Many thanks.
If your readership was unfamiliar with set theory, you could say:
1. Period A includes all the time in period B.
2. Period A includes some of the time in period B and vice versa.
3. Period A and Period D do not share any time period. / There is no overlap of time periods in Periods A and D.
 

tobysky

Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
China
Current Location
China
This is what I want. Thanks for your further answer. :)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top