Two English sentences to check

[wayfarer]

Hello again,
as I wrote in my public profile, one of my working tasks is writing the documentation of software applications. Now I'm translating a document in English: it's about a system that manages queues in hospitals, that is, gives to users appointments in a certain place and at a certain time so that they wait as shortly as possible. I'm unsure about some sentences that I wrote, can you check them?

First, I wrote that one of the features of the system is

"Late arrivers’ appointment restoring by check-in at the provided machine"

That is, an user who arrives late at an appointment, can use the provided machine and get another appointment. Are the words "restoring" and "provided" the more proper ones?

Then, speaking of another feature, I wrote

"Web queue reservation: the system gives to the user an appointment at the desk that is keeped within a fifteen minutes window"

Last thing, this system places in every waiting room a monitor that displays the upcoming appointments: is it correct to call them "room monitors", or there is a better way to name them? In Italian we say "monitor di sala".

Thanks in advance, Giulio.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by wayfarer

As I wrote in my public profile, one of my tasks at work is writing the documentation of software applications. Now I'm translating a document into English: it's about a system that manages queues in hospitals, that is, it makes appointments for the users in a certain place and at a certain time so that their wait is as short as possible. I'm unsure about some sentences that I wrote. Can you check them?

First, I wrote that one of the features of the system is:

"Appointments rescheduled for late arrivers by checking in at the provided machine"

That is, a user who arrives late for an appointment can use the provided machine and get another appointment. Are the words "restoring" and "provided" the more proper ones? (appointments will be 'rescheduled' - 'provided' is OK - 'check in' is the verb and gerund (noun) form)

Then, speaking of another feature, I wrote:

"Queue Reservation: The system provides to the user a fifteen-minute window at the appointment desk"
('kept' is the correct past-tense form of 'keep', but my correction throws the word out)

Last thing, this system has a monitor in every waiting room that displays the upcoming appointments. Is it correct to call them "room monitors", or is there a better way to name for them? In Italian we say "monitor di sala".

'Room monitors' may be used as a translation of monitor di sala, but your sentence sounds great the way I suggested.

[wayfarer]

Thank you very much another time Rusty, I replaced my sentences with those you provided. There is nothing to do, there are English expressions that I still don't know and can't get by translating literally from my language. For example, I didn't know the expression "to make an appointment for", and didn't know also the expression "a xxxx-minute window at", that sounds very nice.

You also corrected "an user" with "a user", isn't "an" used before every word that starts with vowel? Maybe "u" is not a vowel in English, or there is some rule I don't know?

[Rusty]

The 'u' that begins the word 'user' is known as a long 'u' sound. It is pronounced like the 'yu' in 'yuca'. When the 'u' is a short 'u' sound, you would then use the alternate definite article 'an'.

a university /ə yunəˈvɜrsɪti/
a user /ə ˈyuzər/
a unit /ə ˈyunɪt/
an usher /æn ˈʌʃər/
an unusual date /æn ʌnˈyuʒuəl deɪt/

Did you know that we pronounce the word 'the' differently depending on whether a vowel sound follows it or not?

the user /ðə ˈyuzər/
the usher /ði ˈʌʃər/

[Awaken]

Originally Posted by wayfarer

You also corrected "an user" with "a user", isn't "an" used before every word that starts with vowel? Maybe "u" is not a vowel in English, or there is some rule I don't know?

'u' is a vowel and usually "an" is used in front of a word that starts with a vowel. Rusty pointed out some exceptions with the letter 'u' but to really understand it, you need to think about the sound of the word that follows. Sometimes we use "an" in front of words that don't start with a vowel, but have the sound of a vowel. For example: an hour.

You can use the same logic for the example Rusty gave:

a university: sounds like "you" which starts with a consonant so it gets "a" in front.
an usher: sounds like "ush" which starts with a vowel so it gets "an" in front.

To really stress it, here are some examples with the letters themselves.
an S : sounds likes "es" so it gets "an" in front.
a T: sounds like "tee" so it gets "a" in front.

Hopefully that helps explain it. That is the same logic that applies to words like feminine words like aqua in Spanish. (un agua vs. la agua)

As always, the experts like Rusty can correct anything I said =)

[wayfarer]

Thank you for the explanation, I've got the point: "an" is used in front of all words that start with a "vowel like" sound.

I would like another few sentences to be checked:

1) Programmed advertising sequences on room monitors

With this sentence I would like to say that the room monitors cyclically display a certain set of advertisements.

2) The business model anticipates that the incomes come from fees paid by health structures, user payments by certain access channels, and advertising on room monitors.

Then, I wrote that the company that produces the system will place

3) Advertising posters by customer structures in order to boost web reservations

That is, in order to make users book their appointments by web.

I hope I explained myself clearly. Thanks in advance!!