Silly grammar question

Lagz · 1 Mar 2006 at 18:21

I'm getting myself really confused. Should there be the ' in "examples" in this sentence?

The loss of information of the forward transformation is defined to be the sum of the squared reconstruction errors for each of the training example’s input vectors.

Takhisis · 1 Mar 2006 at 18:22

My head hurts just trying to read the sentence, let alone work out if the grammar is correct

I think the answer is no and that its correct as it is but don't take my word - lets wait for one of the brainy people to post

Jenjey · 1 Mar 2006 at 18:23

no
Im confused

kitten_caboodle · 1 Mar 2006 at 18:23

Lagz said:
I'm getting myself really confused. Should there be the ' in "examples" in this sentence?

The loss of information of the forward transformation is defined to be the sum of the squared reconstruction errors for each of the training example’s input vectors.

Now this type of example always confuses me but I think so yes, as the input vectors belong to the training example, so it is possessive.

eg. Andy's parents were unhappy v Andys parents were unhappy.

Feel free to tell me I'm wrong grammar nazi's, I probably am

Jenjey · 1 Mar 2006 at 18:24

kitten_caboodle said:
Now this type of example always confuses me but I think so yes, as the input vectors belong to the training example, so it is possessive.

eg. Andy's parents were unhappy v Andys parents were unhappy.

Feel free to tell me I'm wrong grammar nazi's, I probably am

Sounds good to me, but im completely confused by the sentence hehe

kitten_caboodle · 1 Mar 2006 at 18:25

Jenjey said:
Sounds good to me, but im completely confused by the sentence hehe

Lol, i only read the last few words

These are a real sore point with me, always get them mixed up.

Takhisis · 1 Mar 2006 at 18:26

When I was at school, I was always taught that if you read a sentence out loud and needed to pause for a breath before you got to the end, then it needed a comma - going by that rule you need a comma at least...I just have no idea where it would go

dirtydog · 1 Mar 2006 at 18:26

Lagz said:
I'm getting myself really confused. Should there be the ' in "examples" in this sentence?

The loss of information of the forward transformation is defined to be the sum of the squared reconstruction errors for each of the training example’s input vectors.

If training examples is plural then the apostrophe should be at the end, ie. examples'

Nikias · 1 Mar 2006 at 18:27

kitten_caboodle said:
Now this type of example always confuses me but I think so yes, as the input vectors belong to the training example, so it is possessive.

eg. Andy's parents were unhappy v Andys parents were unhappy.

Feel free to tell me I'm wrong grammar nazi's, I probably am

I'm a card-carrying member of the Grammar Nazi party...and you're absolutely right. It's a horrible sentence though.

There should be no apostrophe in "Nazis" either.

BrenOS · 1 Mar 2006 at 18:28

" example's "

Horrible sentence mind.

robmiller · 1 Mar 2006 at 18:29

Reword it. It's technically right now but it doesn't read well at all. Just taking out the "of the" makes it much better IMO:

The loss of information of the forward transformation is defined to be the sum of the squared reconstruction errors for each training example’s input vectors.

Doohickey · 1 Mar 2006 at 18:31

To the OP, the answer is YES there should be. But the sentence is horrible to read

Edit: Oops, what Robmiller just said

dirtydog · 1 Mar 2006 at 18:31

Crispy Pigeon said:
I'm a card-carrying member of the Grammar Nazi party...and you're absolutely right.

No he isn't

Muban · 1 Mar 2006 at 18:34

Apostrophes are used to show omission or possession. In this case it is possession.

If there's one "owner" add an apostrophe and then s *
If there's more than one "owner" - add s then an apostrophe

*There are exceptions of course

Nikias · 1 Mar 2006 at 18:35

dirtydog said:
No he isn't

Kitten was, no? There must be an apostrophe there surely.

I don't want to have to re-enact the Night of the Long Knives on you! :mad:

dirtydog · 1 Mar 2006 at 18:37

Crispy Pigeon said:
Kitten was, no? There must be an apostrophe there surely.

I don't want to have to re-enact the Night of the Long Knives on you!

The way Lagz has worded the sentence means that examples is a plural. That might not have been his intention, but as it is worded, it should be examples' not example's

I'm disappointed in you

VIRII · 1 Mar 2006 at 18:39

The loss of information of the forward transformation is defined to be: "The sum of the squared reconstruction errors for the input vectors of each training example".

Nikias · 1 Mar 2006 at 18:42

dirtydog said:
The way Lagz has worded the sentence means that examples is a plural. That might not have been his intention, but as it is worded, it should be examples' not example's I'm disappointed in you

How do you know that examples is plural? There are multiple vectors, but there may just be a single training example.

The Grammar Nazi party is tearing itself apart from within already; we must instead unite against the common enemy.

dirtydog · 1 Mar 2006 at 18:43

Crispy Pigeon said:
How do you know that examples is plural? There are multiple vectors, but there may just be a single training example.

The Grammar Nazi party is tearing itself apart from within already; we must instead unite against the common enemy.

(by lagz)

each of the training example’s

'each' implies plural does it not?

Nikias · 1 Mar 2006 at 18:45

dirtydog said:
'each' implies plural does it not?

Each of the vectors (multiple) of the training example (single) was how I read it.

It was hard enough to read and understand that there may be several possible interpretations though.

Edit: VIRII seems to be agreeing with me. :confused:

I hope this sets a new precedent for future arguments.