transportation of different types?

[keannu]

Can we replace the underlined by the following?

ex)Andrew's family use different types of transportation. His mother goes to work by bus, while his father by train, and his sister by subway....

1)transportation of different types : Does it mean each family member tries the same number of transportation, making the meaning quite different from the example?
2)different kinds of transportations : I don't think you can pluralize transportation, right?

ps)If you should give a point to 1,2, how much will you give?(out of 10 supposing ex's is 10)

 

[Route21]

Hi keannu

As a NES, but not a teacher:

1. "Andrew's family use transportation of different types." works for me and means the same as your example.

You can't say: "the same number of transportation". You might have said: "the same number of types of transportation", but this would be inappropriate in your case, as each family member only used one form of transportation.

2. "transportations" is incorrect, as you correctly believe.

Hope this helps
R21

 

[keannu]

Hi keannu

As a NES, but not a teacher:

1. "Andrew's family use transportation of different types." works for me and means the same as your example.

You can't say: "the same number of transportation". You might have said: "the same number of types of transportation", but this would be inappropriate in your case, as each family member only used one form of transportation.

2. "transportations" is incorrect, as you correctly believe.

Hope this helps
R21

I can't thank you enough, but this will cause a serious problem in a student's mark in an English test as he lost all the points because of the answer 1 for the question.
An additional question is "Andrew's family use the transportation of different types", don't we have to insert "the"?

If switching the order works, are the following all the same?
ex1)I like different types of cars = I like cars of different types.
ex2)She brought many different types of handbags = She brought handbags of many different types.

 

[keannu]

Gil

What do you mean? I just asked if "the" should be inserted.
and if a verb is focused on individual members, the verb should be plural, while if all the members do the same thing, it can be singular. I don't think "uses" makes sense here, it shoud be "use".

"Andrew's family use the transportation of different types", don't we have to insert "the"? Try "uses"

 

[Route21]

Hi keannu

As I said in my post: "As a NES, but NOT a teacher".

Perhaps one of our English teachers could advise on the marking of the test.

Answering your second question: No, I wouldn't have added "the" - as, for example, I would not have said: "Vegetarians don't eat the fish".

In your last 2 examples, the first version, in each case, is somewhat easier on my NES ear. That having been said, there is a possibility of a difference in nuances between the two versions.

If A says: "I like SUV's" and B were to say: "I like different types of cars" then I would most likely understand B to mean he prefers cars other than SUV's.

If B had said:"I like cars of different types", to me, that could mean that he liked more than one type of car, including, say, SUV's, saloons and/or pick-ups.

Hope this helps
R21

 

[keannu]

Hi keannu

As a NES, but not a teacher:

1. "Andrew's family use transportation of different types." works for me and means the same as your example.

You can't say: "the same number of transportation". You might have said: "the same number of types of transportation", but this would be inappropriate in your case, as each family member only used one form of transportation.

2. "transportations" is incorrect, as you correctly believe.

Hope this helps
R21

When do you use "transportation of different types" and when do you use "different types of transportation"? What's the usage difference? I've heard the latter form a lot more than the former, but there should be some nuance or semantic difference.

 

[keannu]

Hi keannu

As I said in my post: "As a NES, but NOT a teacher".

Perhaps one of our English teachers could advise on the marking of the test.

Answering your second question: No, I wouldn't have added "the" - as, for example, I would not have said: "Vegetarians don't eat the fish".

In your last 2 examples, the first version, in each case, is somewhat easier on my NES ear. That having been said, there is a possibility of a difference in nuances between the two versions.

If A says: "I like SUV's" and B were to say: "I like different types of cars" then I would most likely understand B to mean he prefers cars other than SUV's.

If B had said:"I like cars of different types", to me, that could mean that he liked more than one type of car, including, say, SUV's, saloons and/or pick-ups.

Hope this helps
R21

My student is on the verge of reverting the mark his teacher gave him as the teacher gave no point to his answer. I understand the two meanings of "different" as "diverse, various" or "other than"

but the thing is "Andrew's family use transportation of different types" sounds like "All the family members (in common) use various types of transportation"
and "Andrew's family use different types of transportation" sounds like "Each family member uses each different type of transportation", so it's quite confusing.

but maybe as you said, the meaning differs depending on context, but what do you think?

 

[Route21]

Hi keannu

Referring back to your original post, it should be quite clear from the follow-on sentence, that each member of the family uses a very specific mode of transport that is different from that used by the other family members.

Context is everything!

Regards
R21

 

[keannu]

Hi keannu

Referring back to your original post, it should be quite clear from the follow-on sentence, that each member of the family uses a very specific mode of transport that is different from that used by the other family members.

Context is everything!

Regards
R21

You mean it's quite evident for "transportation of different types"? Can you tell me when to use this and when to use the other? Do they use "transportation of different types" more or "different types of transportation" more?
I need to confirm if he has to get a full point for the question.

 

[Route21]

Hi keannu

As I said before, and I will repeat again, I am NOT a teacher.
Teachers mark tests, not me, and they have their own specific rules that they have to apply to be fair to all students.

Please do not quote any of my posts as a basis for challenging a teacher!
They are the opinion of one particular NES only, not as definitive or in any way authoritative rulings.

A teacher would be able to advise better on the reasons why an answer may, for academic reasons, need to be judged in a particular way. Or, there may be in a nuance that the examiners had not envisaged at the time of framing both the question and the acceptable answer.

Regards
R21

 

[freezeframe]

If B had said:"I like cars of different types", to me, that could mean that he liked more than one type of car, including, say, SUV's, saloons and/or pick-ups.

New word for me. It sounds funny. :up:

 

[Route21]

Hi Freezeframe

It's one of those "British" things!:lol:

Saloons - definition of Saloons by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.
sa·loon (s

-l

n

)n.4. Chiefly BritishA sedan automobile.
from:
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.


Regards
R21

 

[freezeframe]

keannu, I'd love to give you a clear answer. But you did not clearly explain the problem. You indicate that there is a test question in dispute, yet you did not cite the question or what is indicated as the correct answer. So, it's hard to say anything that Route21 didn't already cover.

 

[keannu]

keannu, I'd love to give you a clear answer. But you did not clearly explain the problem. You indicate that there is a test question in dispute, yet you did not cite the question or what is indicated as the correct answer. So, it's hard to say anything that Route21 didn't already cover.

The question was like this. It was a free question not a multiple one.

Q1. Using the words in parenthesis, make a correct order of the sentence.
ex)Andrew's family use ( ). His mother goes to work by bus, while his father by train, and his sister by subway....
(types, transportation, of , different )

The answer in the original text was "different kinds of transportation", but my student wrote "transportation of different types" and got no point, while another student wrote "different kinds of transportations " and got a half point because of the wrong plural form of transportation.

According to Route21's personal(I know it's personal) opinion, there's no difference between "different kinds of transportation", and "transportation of different types", but it seems to me like the following as the car example.

*transportation of different types : All family members try the same number of types of transportation.
*different types of transportation : Each family member uses a different type of transportation.

As I have experienced so far, they usually use "adjective+ kinds(types) of noun", not "noun+of+adjective+kinds(types)" and as Route21 said, depending on context, "different" can be either "various" or "other".

My question is clear: Are the two same in this context or different? If they are same, which is more preferred?

 

[5jj]

Like freezeframe, I have nothing really to add to what R21 has already said. I am joining in only because this appears to be important to keannu, and R21 has stressed that he is not a teacher; I am a (retired) teacher.

Using the words in parenthesis, make a correct order of the sentence. Badly phrased. Better: "Put the words in brackets in the correct order in the following sentence"
ex)Andrew's family use ( ). His mother goes to work by bus, while his father goes by train, and his sister by subway....
(types, transportation, of , different )

The answer in the original text was "different [STRIKE]kinds[/STRIKE] types of transportation",
This is the answer I would have given myself, and would have expected to see from my students. (I assume you meant to write 'types')

but my student wrote "transportation of different types"
This is slightly less natural to me, but is perfectly acceptable
and got no point .......unfairly! ,

while another student wrote "different kinds of transportations " and got a half point because of the wrong plural form of transportation......fair enough.

This is becoming slightly confusing, because of the change from 'types' to 'kinds'. As above, I am assuming that this is irrelevant, and that the student wrote 'types' each time.

According to Route21's personal(I know it's personal) opinion, there's no difference between "different kinds of transportation", and "transportation of different types", (that is my opinion, too) but it seems to me like the following as the car example.

*transportation of different types : All family members try the same number of types of transportation.
*different types of transportation : Each family member uses a different type of transportation.

Not for me. The only difference for me is that "different types of transportation" is more natural than "transportation of different types".

As I have experienced so far, they usually use "adjective+ kinds(types) of noun", not "noun+of+adjective+kinds(types)" and as Route21 said, depending on context, "different" can be either "various" or "other".
Right. Context is vital.

My question is clear: Are the two same in this context or different? If they are same, which is more preferred?I have answered that in red above.

ps. Gilnetter suggested the verb form "uses". That is correct, but "use" would be more common (and acceptable) in BrE

 

[Raymott]

You mean it's quite evident for "transportation of different types"? Can you tell me when to use this and when to use the other? Do they use "transportation of different types" more or "different types of transportation" more?
I need to confirm if he has to get a full point for the question.

"Andrew's family uses different types of transportation. His mother goes to work by bus, [STRIKE]while[/STRIKE] his father by train, and his sister by subway.... "

I would give this full marks. "different types of transportation" in this context means "transportation of different types". I would use 'uses' because "Andrew's family use different things" is wrong. I would also not write, "while his father by train".

If you wanted to avoid controversy over "family use/s", you could write, "The members of Andrew's family use ..."