English Language Question

[Shadow]

Hey all,

 

Here's one for you English teachers. While it's not exactly science, I couldn't think of a better place to post this.

 

This is probably been asked over and over, but what is the correct way of asking a question to which the answer would be, for example, "He was third", or "I'm fifth in line", or "Five is the third Prime Number". I know one can ask something like "What position does *something* occupy in the sequence of *something*" but isn't there another way?

 

Cheers,

 

Gabe

[gcol]

I suggest the format of the question depends upon how much you already know. Is it a question requiring a refining answer, or implying complete ignorance. Perhaps the question is one of a series. Each question begetting another.

 

Perhaps to phrase a question exactly requires knowledge of the answer, and therefore an exactly phrased question can only be rhetorical.

[Shadow]

The word, or words, I'm looking for shouldn't depend on the amount of knowledge one has at the time one asks the question. Nor should it matter if it were a series of questions. I don't think one requires knowledge of the answer to ask an exact question. For example, the question "How are you" implies no knowledge of the answer by itself, yet is as exact as it will ever be. Yes, it can also be used rhetorically, but that doesn't make it more precise.

 

I'm a bilingual person; I speak both Czech and English fluently. In the Czech language, there is a specific word you use when you ask for a position in a sequence, namely "kolikátý". If I could make up words in English, it would be something like "How manyth", or something along those lines. What I'm asking is if there is an equivalent English word.

 

Cheers,

 

Gabe

Edited November 17, 2008 by Shadow

[D H]

Who's on first.

 

Seriously, what you are asking about is cardinality versus ordinality. "How many" asks about cardinality. "What position" asks about ordinality.

[Dak]

In the Czech language, there is a specific word you use when you ask for a position in a sequence, namely "kolikátý". If I could make up words in English, it would be something like "How manyth", or something along those lines. What I'm asking is if there is an equivalent English word.

 

sort of like "kolikátý line you?" (i'm fifth in line) or "kolikátý five primes?" (five is the third prime number)? something like that?

[Shadow]

Close. More like "Kolikaty in line are you?" or "Kolikaty prime number is five?" It's difficult and not entirely accurate to combine two languages, but this is as close as one can get.

[Dak]

thanks.

 

You can sort of get that in English:

 

More like "Kolikaty in line are you?"

 

where in line are you?

 

or "Kolikaty prime number is five?"

 

which prime number is five?

[Shadow]

True enough, although it's still not as generic as I'd like it to be But alas, I guess you can never live up to a perfectionists dream, and a perfectionist I am. Thanks to everyone for helping me sort this subject out.

 

Cheers,

 

Gabe

[YT2095]

isn`t 5 the forth prime number?

[iNow]

No, it's the third. The number 1 is neither prime nor composite, so doesn't count... it's a special case. The number 2 is technically the first prime.

 

http://mathworld.wolfram.com/PrimeNumber.html

[Shadow]

You got a shiver running down my spine there for a second. To my knowledge, you call one a "unit", but they probably say that on Wolfram, so there's really no point in me saying so. Ah well...

 

Cheers,

 

Gabe

[John Cuthber]

You can get away with saying "How manyth in line are you?" in coloquial spoken English, but don't try putting it in an essay. It may be that in ten or a hundred years this will be acceptable English, -languages change.

At the moment, there really isn't a general way of saying it in English.

It would be better to ask "What position in the line are you?"

[Severian]

What's wrong with saying "Where in line are you?", or alternatively. "Excuse me, Sir. May I inquire as to your position in this queue?"

[Shadow]

Nothing is wrong with that, I was just curious as to whether or not this type of question can be asked using a specific word or words, such as "kolikátý" in Czech. Anyway, my curiosity has been almost satisfied.

 

Is there any simple way of asking a question to which the answer is "Obama is the 44th president."?

[John Cuthber]

Nothing is wrong with that, I was just curious as to whether or not this type of question can be asked using a specific word or words, such as "kolikátý" in Czech. Anyway, my curiosity has been almost satisfied.

 

Is there any simple way of asking a question to which the answer is "Obama is the 44th president."?

 

"Who is the 44th president?" But I know that's not what you meant. Coloquially, you could say "Obama is the how manyth president?", but it's not good English.

[Shadow]

And not colloquially? I guess I'd have to use "What position in the sequence of US presidents does Obama occupy?".

 

Cheers,

 

Gabe

[iNow]

I guess I'd have to use "What position in the sequence of US presidents does Obama occupy?"

 

Last.

[Shadow]

Or 44th. Either answer will work.