Mein erstes Essy seit fast 4 Jahren

[mystikal]

Hello everybody,

i have not written an essay for four years. It is very difficult to find the right beginning and to fill the arguments with live. I have some grammatical problems and i hope you can help and support me.

For example i want to say the following:
Another good point to keep your personal identity are traditions and values.

The sentence sounds bad and i dont know which person i have to choose.

Another example is:
Every foreigner has roots in his home country. Maybe his grandparents or his sister live their.

I dont think that "his" is allright, because wie dont know, if the foreigner is male or female. I hope you get my problem and can help me out.

Thanks a lot and sorry for my bad english!

[andy55]

Sorry for my correction but the word "I" and "English" too will be every time written with a capital letter

[Delfino]

Hello everybody,

I have not written an essay in the last four years.
It is very difficult to find the right words to begin with and to fill the arguments with live.
I have some problems with grammar too.
Therefore I hope you can help and support me.

For example, I want to say the following:

Another good point to keep your personal identity are traditions and values.

The sentence sounds bad and sometimes I don't know which gender I should use.

Here is another example:
Nearly every foreigner has roots in his or her home country.
His or her siblings, parents or grandparents might still live there.

I don't think that "his" is entirely correct because we don't know the gender of the foreigner.
I hope you understand my problem.

Yes, I do and you are correct to criticise that aspect.

Can you please help me out?

Sure, take a look at my suggestion above.

Thanks a lot and sorry for my bad English!

Your English is not that bad but you should always reread your texts to avoid simple typos.
Feel free to ask us here whenever you need help (e.g. clarification of grammar).

Good luck.

[mystikal]

Thank you a lot for your suggestions.

Have I always use "his and her" when I don't know the gender? Are there any alternatives? In German we can say "Seine Eltern oder Großeltern leben dort...", we only speak about the foreigner (der Ausländer). In this case the gender is not so important, but in English it is. This is why I have a little problem.

Moreover I want to discuss the following sentence:

"This is why I want to discuss if foreigners should preserve their national identity or not?"

Is this sentence correct?

Bye Mystikal

[Delfino]

Titel: Mein erster Essay seit fast 4 Jahren.

Thank you very much for your suggestions.

Do I always have to use "his or her" when I don't know the gender?
Are there any alternatives?

You can use the equivalent of the German "man", the plural or ...
Ones siblings, parents or grandparents might still live there.
Their siblings, parents or grandparents might still live there.

In German we can say "Seine Eltern oder Großeltern leben dort...", we only speak about the foreigner (der Ausländer).
In this case the gender is not so important, but in English it is.

I'm German too. So I know about that.
In German the gender of the noun (der Ausländer) is important - it's masculine.
Although the person in question can be of any gender.

This is the reason why I have a little problem.
That is the reason why I have a little problem.

Moreover, I want to discuss the following sentence:
"This is the reason why I want to discuss if foreigners should preserve their national identity or not?"
Is this sentence correct?

Yes, the use of the plural solved your problem nicely.

Bye
Mystikal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_neu ... in_English

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_neu ... References

http://www.aswedeingermany.de/50Languag ... guage.html

[mystikal]

Another question: Can I use the "you"-Form in an Essay?

For example: In General as a foreigner you have relations in your native country.

Or would you say it is better to avoid this form?

Bye Mystikal

[Delfino]

These stylistic things depend a lot on the context and the expectations of the addressee.
Although you might be allowed to use "you" in an essay I suggest you try to find other ways to express your thoughts.

Most foreigners keep relations of some kind to their home country.

In general, foreigners have relations (of some kind) to their home country.

[mystikal]

I used the plural form.

Thank you very much for the support.

Bye