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Take recordings OR make recordings?

hirashin

Sempai
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8 Apr 2004
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Dear native English speakers,

which verb sounds right in the sentence below, taken or made?

When electrical recordings of the brain of the Indus Dolphin were [ made / taken ], it was found that the animal actually sleeps around 7 hours a day.

Hirashin
 
I also think "made" is better. Just for reference, the use of verbs that don't say very much (one expert referred to them as "colourless verbs") is frowned upon in scientific writing. As a scientific editor, I would much prefer "When electrical signals...were recorded" ("record" says so much more than "make"). But the sentence with "made" is fine for education purposes.
 
Oh? There seems to be some difference between British English and American English. Thank you all for the information.
 
British English and American English sure do differ , LOL. My wife is from England and we often compare the different words we were bought up with.
 
British English and American English sure do differ , LOL. My wife is from England and we often compare the different words we were bought up with.

Has her English changed over the years she has spent "across the pond"?
 
After living with me for 44 years , she has become a crazy Mainer , LOL. She was 9 when she came to the US. Her dad (RIP) , was Scottish and I hardly could understand a word he said , LOL. He was in the Black Watch (Ladies from Hell) for 30 years and one tough bastard. Her English mother was in the British military as a ack ack gunner and just as tough. A brother was in the 82nd airborne division for 20 years and her other brother a spook in the Air Force for 20 years. I think my wife's family background helped her put up with me. On one of our early dates , I took her shooting with me. She took my big 44 magnum handgun and put 6 rounds in the center of the target and I new then she was the one for me , LOL. But , now that I've made a short story very long , she no longer has an English accent or talks like an English lady.
 
Dear native English speakers,

which verb sounds right in the sentence below, taken or made?

When electrical recordings of the brain of the Indus Dolphin were [ made / taken ], it was found that the animal actually sleeps around 7 hours a day.

Hirashin
Dear Hirashin,

How about "Electrical signals recorded from the brain of an/the Indus Dolphin indicate it/they sleep(s) approximately (or nearly) 7 hours per day." (???)

Not sure if the recordings were of one subject or more than one subject. To me, that information is most pertinent so the reader can establish reproducibility across the study. If at all possible, don't get hung up on verbs; reword your sentence so that it is direct and vigorous.
 
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