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Old 05-04-2005, 08:35 PM   #3 (permalink)
MikeL
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There are rules, but I don't know where you would find them formalized: you would need to spend some time studying examples, and it would start to become intuitive.

Some ideas off the top of my head:

English often prefers passive verbs (usually without the auxiliary)
e.g. man killed by lion, whereas French is just as likely to use the active.

Noun agglomerations are common in English, without prepositions or verbs to make the relationship clear: French would insert a verb
e.g. bus driver strike commuter chaos

Articles are never used.

Perhaps others can suggest some more?
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