Friday, April 19, 2019

spoken english - Section two pieces, take two segments of hair


Will all the three sentences express this idea naturally?


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Section two roughly symmetrical pieces of your hair at the front. (Used by an American on a website.)




Or



Take two sections of your hair at the front.



Do all of these sentences sound natural and likely to you????


And what about:



Take a small section of hair in the front.



Here are a few links: https://www.instructables.com/id/Two-Small-Braids/



https://oureverydaylife.com/small-single-braids-yourself-20372.html


https://www.byrdie.com/boxer-braids-tutorial


https://www.ouidad.com/blog/classic-02


So do those three sentences sound equally likely?



Answer



I don't think "section" as a verb is unnatural in this context. I've certainly heard it in hair tutorials on youtube by plenty of different native speakers. Though I have heard it by itself, "section off" sounds more natural to my ear.



"Section off two equal pieces of hair at the forehead/behind the ear/at the crown of the head."



That said, I think "section" is much more common as a noun in this context (ex: "Separate/divide your hair into three equal sections, and bring the first section over the second") so using it as a verb as well might sound a little strange because it's duplicative.



David Siegel's first three examples sound natural to me; the fourth one ("take a set of hair") sounds really off.


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