Pasaje

[irmamar]

¿Qué palabra podría utilizar en lugar de "excerpt" para referirme a un "pasaje" o a un "fragmento" de un texto?

Would 'piece of text' be correct?

Thanks.

[poli]

Originally Posted by irmamar

¿Qué palabra podría utilizar en lugar de "excerpt" para referirme a un "pasaje" o a un "fragmento" de un texto?

Would 'piece of text' be correct?

Thanks.

A passage is used mostly in fiction and maybe from the bible. (if you believe the bible is fact). I wouldn't use passage in quoting a technical manual or a text book.
I believe the words quote from a text are better that a piece of text.

[Rusty]

While excerpt is used regularly, 'citation', 'quotation(quote)', 'passage', 'fragment of text', and 'piece of text' will all work. The first two are used when quoting something written elsewhere (and giving due credit). A fragment or piece of text is text copied from elsewhere, but not necessarily accredited. A passage is the same as a piece of text, but with the nuance that it's special in some regard (like a religious passage).

[irmamar]

I think 'fragment of text' suits me. Thank you.

[poli]

People will understand you, but as a native speaker a quote from a text
sounds more definitive to me. A fragment of text can also be something an
archeologist may find. (The geologists uncovered an fragment of text attributed to the philosopher Nagarjuna)

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by irmamar

I think 'fragment of text' suits me. Thank you.

Originally Posted by poli

People will understand you, but as a native speaker a quote from a text
sounds more definitive to me. A fragment of text can also be something an
archeologist may find. (The geologists uncovered an fragment of text attributed to the philosopher Nagarjuna)

I (almost) agree with Poli. A quotation from a text is something which has meaning in itself, being (presumably) grammatically correct and understandable outside the context. A fragment* of text is typically something which does not make immediate sense, for example the first few letters of an inscription on an ancient tombstone, where the rest is missing.

(According to the OED, quote is a verb, and quotation is a noun, but this is a different issue )

* from *frag, root frangere to break

[irmamar]

I'll be asked to build a commentary of a text. The text will not be complete, just an excerpt. For instance, if I have to comment the Carta Magna, I won't have all the Chart, just one or two clauses. While I'm writing the commentary, sometimes I have to refer to the text itself (and it helps to add words, since I have to write a minimum of words). Well, sometimes I can write something as "this excertp of the Carta Magna blah, blah, bla"; but I'd like to avoid repetition of words, so I would like to know a word to avoid writing "excerpt" again. Do you think that "quotation" is correct in this context? I thought "fragment" would work because in Spanish that would be correct: "Este fragmento de la Carta Magna bla, bla, bla".

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by irmamar

Do you think that "quotation" is correct in this context? I thought "fragment" would work because in Spanish that would be correct: "Este fragmento de la Carta Magna bla, bla, bla".

Synonyms or near-synonyms from Roget's thesaurus for excerpt are: citation, extract, fragment, part, passage, pericope , piece, portion, quotation, section, selection.

In context, section sounds good, but fragment does not. On the other hand, it is clear that the fragment is an integral part of a known text, so maybe we are being too picky objecting to it.

[irmamar]

I like 'extract', too. Thanks.

[poli]

You may like that word extract,butreally it's not a good choice. Extract is something extraido. It's like jugo or esencia. Vanilla extract adds flavor to desserts.
It's better to use a selection from... An excerpt from... A quote/quotation (if you like to impress with more syllables) from.

[Awaken]

Originally Posted by poli

You may like that word extract,butreally it's not a good choice. Extract is something extraido. It's like jugo or esencia. Vanilla extract adds flavor to desserts.
It's better to use a selection from... An excerpt from... A quote/quotation (if you like to impress with more syllables) from.

Agree. I also would consider saying, "This section of the Magna Carta refers to..." if you can divide it into "sections".

[irmamar]

Originally Posted by poli

You may like that word extract,butreally it's not a good choice. Extract is something extraido. It's like jugo or esencia. Vanilla extract adds flavor to desserts.
It's better to use a selection from... An excerpt from... A quote/quotation (if you like to impress with more syllables) from.

Originally Posted by Awaken

Agree. I also would consider saying, "This section of the Magna Carta refers to..." if you can divide it into "sections".

Then selection (from), quotation (from) and section (of).

Thank you.