[sarvodaya]

Originally Posted by YuriTokoro

＠覚さんへ　(＠sarvodaya)

Hi. I have three questions.


1. Can I say “while” instead of “during which” ?
What is the difference?

Originally Posted by JamboP26

You can say 'while' instead of 'during which'. There's no real difference. Its just quicker to say.

Originally Posted by dogsbody70

I think in this context "During which" is preferable, more dynamic)

No. You cannot. It would not make sense. "While" can be substituted for "during the time that".

In this case, if you wanted to use "while" you would have to say something like:

"While the famine was ongoing around a million people died and a similar number left the country in order to survive."

Ok, ゆりさん? Remember, while is "during the time that", "as long as". It can sometimes mean "whereas" and almost "although". It can also mean "at the same time". It doesn't mean "during which".

"Meanwhile" can mean "during which time" or "at the same time". Perhaps this is what you were thinking of.

However, a substitution of "meanwhile" would imply a disconnect between the two contemporaneous events. This is inappropriate to our example, because the fact that "this was a terrible time of starvation and poverty in Irish history" is intimately linked with the fact that "around a million people died and a similar number left the country in order to survive". The latter adds to the explanation of why and how "this was a terrible time".

Does all that make sense?

Originally Posted by YuriTokoro

2. Does “one variety of” mean “various”?
Why isn’t that “one variety of crops”?

Originally Posted by JamboP26

2. 'One variety of' means a certain group out of multiple groups. For example: Car makers Toyota, Nissan and Honda all make various models of car. If you were looking for 'one variety of' Nissan, you'd be looking for a certain kind of Nissan. Whereas if you are looking for 'various' Nissan's, you'd be looking at every car Nissan makes. A poor example maybe, but it makes my point. As for the second question in 2, as your looking for 'one variety of' crop, you use the singular version, instead of the plural.

Originally Posted by YuriTokoro

Hi, JamboP26.
Thank you!

I see. So, “one variety of Nissan” means “a certain type of vehicle of Nissan”. Right?
Thanks again!

Originally Posted by JamboP26

That is right. “one variety of Nissan” can be a group of Skyline's, GT-R's or March's. But it can also be, as in your example, a group of Nissan vans, Nissan trucks or Nissan cars. It's quite a flexible phrase. lol. Here to help any time.

Originally Posted by dogsbody70

Well you could say ONE crop variety but as there are many plants to make that CROP-- then variety of crops is fine.

"One variety of" doesn't mean "various". JamboP26 is correct.
"Various" simply means "different". Thus "various crops" means "different varieties of crops", whereas "one variety of crop" means "one particular variety out of a number of various possible varieties".

Now, a particular crop can be something like wheat, rice, oilseed rape, etc. Thus the following is a list of various crops:

Wheat
Corn
Rice
Maize
Oilseed rape
Sweetcorn

Within each crop there may be different varieties or cultivars. That is, different strains with given characteristics and genetic trends. Here are some different varieties of sweetcorn (from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Earlivee
Jubilee
Silver Queen
Precocious
Merlin
Divinity
Ravelin
Mattapoisett
and so on...

Thus the reason for writing "one variety of crop" instead of "one variety of crops" is that I have in mind selecting one particular variety of one particular crop. If I had said "one variety of crops" there could have been some ambiguity as to whether I just meant one particular crop (as in one crop out of all the crops that there are) or one particular group of different crops, such as cereals or something. I could equally have said "one variety of a particular crop", for added clarity.

3. “A single variety of crops” means one strain?
Why isn’t it in singular form?

Yes, this means one particular strain or variety or cultivar etc.
I no longer needed to use the singular to clarify the meaning as by this point the meaning was well established. I could have said "a single variety of crop", but I naturally chose the plural because I was thinking in general terms. That is, the sentence begins by talking about the Potato Famine, but then moves on to the general case: "when one has the choice", so it just feels more natural to use the plural. However, there is no major difference in meaning, it is more of a stylistic issue, especially given that we have already eliminated any ambiguity with the earlier occurence of "one variety of crop".

I hope that's clear, but don't hesitate to ask again if it isn't because I had to think for a moment!

It is a little late to ask. Sorry; I’m slow.
Thank you.

It is never too late to ask, ゆりさん!

For now, I must say お休みなさい。
I will write something more tomorrow.
覚