Teacher Discussion Forums

'the action of suddenly stepping on the brake hard' (This might
cause rear-end collusion.)
What is the noun for this action?
1. harsh braking?
2. sudden braking?
3. any other?

Also does the following work if we were to use
the noun form?
"He applied a sudden braking."

Thank you.

Itasan wrote:'the action of suddenly stepping on the brake hard' (This might
cause rear-end collusion.)
What is the noun for this action?
1. harsh braking?
2. sudden braking?
3. any other?

Also does the following work if we were to use
the noun form?
"He applied a sudden braking."

Thank you.

BrE perpsective.
He applied the brakes suddenly - OK
He applied sudden braking - Unatural for BrE, may be OK for others.

other terms.
hit the brakes
Slam on the anchors - 'he/she slammed on the anchors'

If this is a deliberate manouver to avoid an accident it is called an emergency stop. - e.g. 'I had to do an emergency stop.'

Thank you very much, tigertiger, for the valuable inforamtion.
1. hit the brakes - I think you have only one brake pedal, but you say 'brakes', right? Is this because you step on it a number of times?
2. anchors = brakes?
3. Do you also say 'jam on the brakes'?
Thank you.

tigertiger wrote:

Itasan wrote:'the action of suddenly stepping on the brake hard' (This might
cause rear-end collusion.)
What is the noun for this action?
1. harsh braking?
2. sudden braking?
3. any other?

Also does the following work if we were to use
the noun form?
"He applied a sudden braking."

Thank you.

BrE perpsective.
He applied the brakes suddenly - OK
He applied sudden braking - Unatural for BrE, may be OK for others.

other terms.
hit the brakes
Slam on the anchors - 'he/she slammed on the anchors'

If this is a deliberate manouver to avoid an accident it is called an emergency stop. - e.g. 'I had to do an emergency stop.'

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there's not such a huge difference between what you call BrE and 'other english', grammatically speaking. it's more about usage than structure. and some words like 'colour' being spelled 'color' by everyone else in the world except the uk.

no one who speaks english properly would say "he applied sudden braking".

We say "brakes" because there are brakes on all four wheels, and we hope all four are in good order when we need them. Americans say "hit the brakes" or "slam on the brakes".