'during ... occasions'

[Kenny同志]

Hi folks,

 

I know that the preposition that typically works with 'occasion(s)' is 'on' but I wonder whether it is acceptable to use 'during' in certain contexts. For example, can I say 'During the Spring Festival and other major celebratory occasions, we often have big family reunions'? Thanks in advance for your help. 

[mungouk]

"During the Spring Festival" sounds fine to me. It's not just a short event (like 1 day or shorter), but rather it has a significant duration.

 

"On" works for shorter periods, like a specific day or evening: "On New Year's Eve we no longer buy firecrackers"

 

Quote

 

during | ˈdjʊərɪŋ |
preposition

throughout the course or duration of (a period of time): the restaurant is open during the day | the period during which he grew to adulthood.
• at a particular point in the course of: the stabbing took place during a row at a party.
ORIGIN
late Middle English: present participle of the obsolete verb dure ‘last, endure, extend’, via Old French from Latin durare ‘to last’ (see duration).

 

 

[Kenny同志]

Thank you, Mungouk. But what about 'during ... other major celebratory occasions', as in the example sentnece? 

[realmayo]

It doesn't strike me as horribly wrong, but maybe a tiny bit off.

 

"have big family reunions": "have" suggests hold (hold an event, an event takes place); "reunions" seems like a one-off event after a family has been apart for quite a while.

 

"during":  by using "during" instead of "at" you seem to be drawing attention to the meaning of "throughout a period of time".

 

So - for me - maybe the implication is that on different days throughout Spring Festival, one family has several big family reunions, which doesn't really make sense (given what I wrote above).

 

I might prefer "At Spring Festival and on other major celebratory occasions, we often have big family reunions." And I wouldn't find that the "on" is awkward or too much, despite following the "at" so closely.

 

For me, "During Spring Festival and other major celebratory occasions, we often have big family arguments" doesn't have the problem I mentioned, so that makes me think the problem is with the word "reunions".

 

I will add that "major celebratory occasions" seems a bit odd: very formal or specific, but perhaps it needs to be.

 

Edit: if you just want to know about "During major celebratory occasions," then I think it's OK, as in "During major celebratory occasions we often have big family arguments".

 

[Kenny同志]

謝謝你，真Mayo。明白了。

[Moshen]

Quote

During the Spring Festival and other major celebratory occasions, we often have big family reunions

 

I would edit it to:

 

During the Spring Festival and other major celebrations, we often have big family reunions.

 

Even better:

 

During the Spring Festival and other major holidays, we often have big family reunions.

[Kenny同志]

Moshen, thank you so much. Your versions are far better than mine. I understand grammatically correct English and good English can be very different. ?

[Moshen]

Kenny, one thing I've learned from 40+ years of writing and editing is that when I'm hovering over a sentence looking for the right word and can't find it, usually the best solution is rewording the sentence to avoid that problem altogether.  That's what happened in this case.

[Kenny同志]

Yep, I can relate to that, though I'm far less experienced than you are. ?

[889]

What's with that the? Sounds like Chinese English. Make it, "During Spring Festival . . ."

[TaxiAsh]

On 10/22/2021 at 7:04 AM, Kenny同志 said:

I know that the preposition that typically works with 'occasion(s)' is 'on' but I wonder whether it is acceptable to use 'during' in certain contexts. For example, can I say 'During the Spring Festival and other major celebratory occasions, we often have big family reunions'? Thanks in advance for your help. 

I'm a bit late answering, but I thought of something... I think a lot depends on whether you are writing or speaking. 

For example, if I was reading an article, this doesn't look overly wordy, but in natural speak, it can be shortened quite a lot as other posters have already done. 

 

 

On 10/24/2021 at 10:16 PM, 889 said:

What's with that the? Sounds like Chinese English. Make it, "During Spring Festival . . ."

 

I didn't notice that as being wrong or unnatural.

 

I think I would say(speaking) 'Families usually get together over Christmas' (I certainly wouldn't write this in a book though or article! haha)

 

hmmm. but, I think if this is in a conversation type dialogue you might use the 'the' specifying a particular festival.  

 

e.g. (2 people discussing festivals, 1 Chinese, 1 Not - and teaching each other about festivals)

Not Chinese: In the UK families usually get together over Christmas, what about in China?

Chinese: We have a few festivals, and we try and all get together, but during the Spring Festival we.... because it's the biggest festival (or words to that effect)

 

In this case, I would probably say(speak and write) 'the' here. It's so very slight, but I think this would sound more natural in English, but it is singling out one over many others.

Without 'the' I think I would probably be speaking more USA English.  

 

 

 

[TaxiAsh]

Also, while I remember... 

 

in my list of 'looking for 成语', 

 

I would like to find one similar to 'nitpicking' in English. Because this thread involves nitpicking by me. (in a friendly manner of course!)

 

This would be actually very useful in dialogues with new people (on wechat/hellotalk)

 

 

 

 

[Publius]

On 10/25/2021 at 7:53 AM, TaxiAsh said:

in my list of 'looking for 成语', 

 

I would like to find one similar to 'nitpicking' in English.

吹毛求疵

[TaxiAsh]

On 10/25/2021 at 1:12 AM, Publius said:

吹毛求疵

Wow, thanks! 

 

I don't think I am being off topic to ask further... as this thread is about how to say things more naturally/correctly...

 

It's obviously important to know if using a 成语 that could be negative in colloquial use. May I ask, how could I use it in this scenario?  @Publius

 

I'll 'cut to the chase' - give you my EXACT example. 

 

I obviously chat to lots of people on wechat, people have different levels of English, and sometimes they will ask me if something sounds natural or not (I ask the same）

Some (who are teachers) will WANT me to REALLY 'nitpick', some don't. All my friends already know my level, so if I suddenly wrote a long sentence with perfect grammar, it would be ridiculous! haha 

 

[Publius]

I see, @TaxiAsh. I do feel that in the scenario you described 吹毛求疵 is a bit too formal, too negative. I probably would use another phrase, like this: 我希望你能够对我从严要求，本着鸡蛋里面挑骨头的精神，不放过任何一个微小的错误?

 

Also, 'cut to the chase' => 单刀直入(chengyu)、直奔主题(not a chengyu), enjoy

 

 

[Kenny同志]

On 10/25/2021 at 5:16 AM, 889 said:

What's with that the? Sounds like Chinese English. Make it, "During Spring Festival . . ."

Thanks for the feedback, 889. It's very helpful.

 

'The' has always been a tricky word for me. I think I need a good grammar book. 

[Kenny同志]

On 10/25/2021 at 7:36 AM, TaxiAsh said:

I think a lot depends on whether you are writing or speaking. 

For example, if I was reading an article, this doesn't look overly wordy, but in natural speak, it can be shortened quite a lot as other posters have already done. 

 

On 10/25/2021 at 7:36 AM, TaxiAsh said:

hmmm. but, I think if this is in a conversation type dialogue you might use the 'the' specifying a particular festival.  

 

e.g. (2 people discussing festivals, 1 Chinese, 1 Not - and teaching each other about festivals)

Not Chinese: In the UK families usually get together over Christmas, what about in China?

Chinese: We have a few festivals, and we try and all get together, but during the Spring Festival we.... because it's the biggest festival (or words to that effect)

 

Thanks for sharing your view, TaxiAsh. 

 

Written English is far more challenging than spoken. If English is not their mother tongue, very few learners will ever be able to write as well as a well-educated native speaker, I'm afraid. 

 

By the way, I love people giving me feedback on my English. Don't worry about appearing nitpicking. I like it.