The Grammar Logs -- Number One Hundred, One

The
Grammar
Logs
# 101

Question I want to learn the usage of used to, be used to and be accustomed to.
Source & Date
of Question Istanbul, Turkey
13 April 1998
Grammar's
Response When we say we used to play tennis on Saturdays, that means that at one time we were in the habit of doing that. When we say we are used to playing tennis on Saturdays, that means that we are now in the habit of playing tennis on Saturdays; it's something that we often do (although there might be some exceptions to this practice). If we say we are accustomed to playing tennis on Saturdays, it's a bit more formal way of saying the same thing (some people would say it's not only more formal, it's stuffy, but that's not necessarily so).
Does that help?

Question What are anomalous verbs?? I need all examples if possible.
Source & Date
of Question Sao Paolo, Brazil
13 April 1998
Grammar's
Response I have never heard of "anomalous verbs." Perhaps they're the same as "irregular verbs," verbs that take on "different" forms when they change tense (as opposed to the common -ed ending for past tense, for instance)? If so, there is a section on irregular verbs in the handout on verbs and a chart of common irregular verbs. Be sure to take the quizzes on irregular verbs. I'll post this question and response here in case one of our readers has come across this bit of grammatical vocabulary and can help us out.
Rob De Decker writes this about "anomalous verbs":
The term "anomalous verb" is defined in A.S.Hornby'sA Guide to Patterns and Usage in English. Anomalous verbs are verbs that do not take "to do" in questions or negative sentences (can, may, be, will, shall . . . ). It is a useful notion, because it is not exactly the same as "auxiliary verb". (He is not old enough: to be is not an auxiliary here; He daren't ask : auxiliary and anomalous, but He doesn't dare to ask: auxiliary but not anomalous. . . ).

Question If the slugs were poisoned then other animals would die.
Is this correct? Can I say other animals die?
Thanks
Source & Date
of Question The Netherlands
13 April 1998
Grammar's
Response The real question, of course, is Who poisoned the slugs? First, though, let's put a comma after the word "poisoned." Then, given the tense of your subordinate clause, "were poisoned," the use of the present tense "die" is going to create difficulties for you. The conditional "would die" is much better. If you used the present perfect tense, "If the slugs are poisoned," I think you'd use "will die." (But you didn't ask me that.)

Question It is important that we be careful about grammar in business writing.
question: What is the rule governing the use of "be" in this sentence? I believe the same rule applies to other constructions, such as "It is recommended that . . ."
Source & Date
of Question Atlanta, Georgia
13 April 1998
Grammar's
Response You're talking about the use of the subjunctive mood. Click HERE for more information on its use.

Question Dear Grammar,
I don't understand the rule about using 'a' and 'an'. My sister told me that use 'an' before a word starting with a, e, i, o, u. But why do we use 'a uniform' instead of 'an uniform'? And we use 'a useless idea' instead of 'an useless idea'. Also, we use 'an "f"' instead of 'a "f"'.Please explain with some examples.
Source & Date
of Question Hong Kong
13 April 1998
Grammar's
Response See the section on articles and determiners. "Uniform" gets a (instead of an) because the "u" of uniform begins with a "y" sound (as if it were pronounced yooniform). Compare the beginning sound of "uniform" to the beginning sound of "ugly," for example. The same thing applies to "useless."
And how do we pronounce the letter "f"? As if it were spelled "eff." So we put an in front of it: "it begins with an f." The letter "b" sound, on the other hand, does not begin with a vowel sound; it begins with a consonantal "plosive," b. So we'd write, "it begins with a b. I know it's confusing, but believe it or not, it is consistent.

Question You have a ton of excellent information here and you deserve major kudos for taking the time to put it up. I am wondering if you could point me to a resource on how to properly write a Compare & Contrast paper. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Source & Date
of Question Unknown
13 April 1998
Grammar's
Response Slowly but surely, a section called Principles of Composition is coming together that should help with such questions. There is, indeed, a section on comparison-contrast essays already online. More will be added later, as we get permission to use other people's work, etc., but what's there ought to be helpful.

Question Hello,
I have two punctuation questions: One question concerning quotation marks and another concerning colons.
Quotation Marks
I believe English spelling and pronunciation is absurd (especially for language learners). At the sentence construction level, however, I think English to be very logical. Why is it then that the rules for punctuating quotation marks are shameful?

Commas and periods always go *inside* the quotation marks.
Semicolons and colons always go *outside* the quotation marks.
Question marks, exclamation marks, and dashes go *inside* quotation marks when they are part of the quotation, and *outside* when they do not.
Years ago in England I saw that the rules for UK English place all punctuation outside the closing quotation mark except when the punctuation is part of the quotation. Then, on the www, I found out why Americans use such a foolish system. The following is from .
According to William F. Phillips (wfp@world.std.com), in the days when printing used raised bits of metal, "." and "," were the most delicate, and were in danger of damage (the face of the piece of type might break off from the body, or be bent or dented from above) if they had a '"' on one side and a blank space on the other. Hence the convention arose of always using '."' and ',"' rather than '".' and '",', regardless of logic.
Fowler was a strong advocate of logical placement of punctuation marks, i.e. only placing them inside the quotation marks if they were part of the quoted matter. This scheme has gained ground, and is especially popular among computer users, and others who wish to make clear exactly what is and what is not being quoted. Logical placement is accepted by many more publishers outside than inside the U.S.
I now use the British system for all correspondence. Unfortunately, may people probably think I'm just ignorant. What do you think? Can you offer me some support? Your mission, should you decide to accept it, will be to help me change the English punctuation habits of some 265 million Americans .
Colon Punctuation
I remember being taught that the first letter of the first word following a colon is always capitalized. I have followed that advice from high school through a Masters degree. Then, one day, I suddenly noticed that major periodicals (e.g., Time and Newsweek) and newspapers were *not* capitalizing the first letter after a colon. Did they change the rule while I was asleep?
Thanks for any help. You've got a great website. With the high cost of ISP connections here I should go bankrupt reading all your question and answer logs .
Source & Date
of Question Jakarta, Indonesia
13 April 1998
Grammar's
Response After all the years I've been tucking students' commas and periods inside their quotation marks (especially the students from British-influenced places such as Jamaica -- the poor dears!), do you think I'd be willing to join such a cause. No matter how sensible, no way!! The explanation for how this U.S. peculiarity came to be, though, is fascinating, and I thank you for it!
As for the colon usage, I wasn't aware that it was ever any other way, so I can't comment on it. Such typographical rules are apt to change, indeed. Like the space after a period, for example. Most authorities now suggest that one space will do quite nicely; ten years ago, just about everybody wanted two spaces after a period. These things happen. Judging from the rest of your note, though, I doubt very much if you were asleep.

Question My question has to do with possessive 's. I have noticed, especially in the news media, the common method of showing that an item belongs to someone else is to say, "This manuscript is someone else's." Back in the old days, before electricity, I seem to remember that the proper technique was -- This manuscript is someone's else. Can you set an old man's mind straight?
Thank you.
Source & Date
of Question Rockford, Illinois
13 April 1998
Grammar's
Response In regard to your sanity, it might well be that the construction used to be "someone's else," although I can't vouch for that, since I've never seen it that way (or at least I don't remember it). As a compound construction, the "someone else's" makes sense to me. There's a Fowler's Guide online, somewhere, that dates back to 1907 or something like that. It would be interesting to see what he has to say about it, way back then, "before electricity."

Question What is the difference between "on business" and "in business"?
Thank you.
Source & Date
of Question Cairo, Egypt
13 April 1998
Grammar's
Response When we go to Egypt to conduct business with people, we say that we are there "on business." We will probably visit people who are "in business," doing the same kind of thing we do. If we form a partnership, we will be "in business together" and we will be "in business to make money."

Question How should this be written? Which, if any, is correct?

On March 10 and 11, 1998, I toured the city.
On March 10-11, 1998, I toured the city.
On March 10, 11, 1998, I toured the city
During March 10 and 11, 1998, I toured the city
During March 10-11, 1998, I toured the city.
During March 10, 11, 1998, I toured the city.
When should "during" be used?
Source & Date
of Question Atlanta, Georgia
13 April 1998
Grammar's
Response Although the Chicago Manual of Style has a lot to say about writing dates, it doesn't seem to touch on this question, exactly. It does suggest you can use hyphens for inclusive years, but not for dates. I think your best best is your first. I see no reason for using "during" at all. The word suggests something about the "duration" of, which probably is inappropriate. "I was a student during the Vietnam War." The Chicago Style Manual does advise against using th's, etc., in the writing of dates.

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Question	I want to learn the usage of used to, be used to and be accustomed to.
Source & Date of Question	Istanbul, Turkey 13 April 1998
Grammar's Response	When we say we used to play tennis on Saturdays, that means that at one time we were in the habit of doing that. When we say we are used to playing tennis on Saturdays, that means that we are now in the habit of playing tennis on Saturdays; it's something that we often do (although there might be some exceptions to this practice). If we say we are accustomed to playing tennis on Saturdays, it's a bit more formal way of saying the same thing (some people would say it's not only more formal, it's stuffy, but that's not necessarily so). Does that help?

Question	What are anomalous verbs?? I need all examples if possible.
Source & Date of Question	Sao Paolo, Brazil 13 April 1998
Grammar's Response	I have never heard of "anomalous verbs." Perhaps they're the same as "irregular verbs," verbs that take on "different" forms when they change tense (as opposed to the common -ed ending for past tense, for instance)? If so, there is a section on irregular verbs in the handout on verbs and a chart of common irregular verbs. Be sure to take the quizzes on irregular verbs. I'll post this question and response here in case one of our readers has come across this bit of grammatical vocabulary and can help us out. Rob De Decker writes this about "anomalous verbs": The term "anomalous verb" is defined in A.S.Hornby'sA Guide to Patterns and Usage in English. Anomalous verbs are verbs that do not take "to do" in questions or negative sentences (can, may, be, will, shall . . . ). It is a useful notion, because it is not exactly the same as "auxiliary verb". (He is not old enough: to be is not an auxiliary here; He daren't ask : auxiliary and anomalous, but He doesn't dare to ask: auxiliary but not anomalous. . . ).

Question	If the slugs were poisoned then other animals would die. Is this correct? Can I say other animals die? Thanks
Source & Date of Question	The Netherlands 13 April 1998
Grammar's Response	The real question, of course, is Who poisoned the slugs? First, though, let's put a comma after the word "poisoned." Then, given the tense of your subordinate clause, "were poisoned," the use of the present tense "die" is going to create difficulties for you. The conditional "would die" is much better. If you used the present perfect tense, "If the slugs are poisoned," I think you'd use "will die." (But you didn't ask me that.)

Question	It is important that we be careful about grammar in business writing. question: What is the rule governing the use of "be" in this sentence? I believe the same rule applies to other constructions, such as "It is recommended that . . ."
Source & Date of Question	Atlanta, Georgia 13 April 1998
Grammar's Response	You're talking about the use of the subjunctive mood. Click HERE for more information on its use.

Question	Dear Grammar, I don't understand the rule about using 'a' and 'an'. My sister told me that use 'an' before a word starting with a, e, i, o, u. But why do we use 'a uniform' instead of 'an uniform'? And we use 'a useless idea' instead of 'an useless idea'. Also, we use 'an "f"' instead of 'a "f"'.Please explain with some examples.
Source & Date of Question	Hong Kong 13 April 1998
Grammar's Response	See the section on articles and determiners. "Uniform" gets a (instead of an) because the "u" of uniform begins with a "y" sound (as if it were pronounced yooniform). Compare the beginning sound of "uniform" to the beginning sound of "ugly," for example. The same thing applies to "useless." And how do we pronounce the letter "f"? As if it were spelled "eff." So we put an in front of it: "it begins with an f." The letter "b" sound, on the other hand, does not begin with a vowel sound; it begins with a consonantal "plosive," b. So we'd write, "it begins with a b. I know it's confusing, but believe it or not, it is consistent.

Question	You have a ton of excellent information here and you deserve major kudos for taking the time to put it up. I am wondering if you could point me to a resource on how to properly write a Compare & Contrast paper. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Source & Date of Question	Unknown 13 April 1998
Grammar's Response	Slowly but surely, a section called Principles of Composition is coming together that should help with such questions. There is, indeed, a section on comparison-contrast essays already online. More will be added later, as we get permission to use other people's work, etc., but what's there ought to be helpful.

Question	Hello, I have two punctuation questions: One question concerning quotation marks and another concerning colons. Quotation Marks I believe English spelling and pronunciation is absurd (especially for language learners). At the sentence construction level, however, I think English to be very logical. Why is it then that the rules for punctuating quotation marks are shameful? Commas and periods always go inside the quotation marks. Semicolons and colons always go outside the quotation marks. Question marks, exclamation marks, and dashes go inside quotation marks when they are part of the quotation, and outside when they do not. Years ago in England I saw that the rules for UK English place all punctuation outside the closing quotation mark except when the punctuation is part of the quotation. Then, on the www, I found out why Americans use such a foolish system. The following is from . According to William F. Phillips (wfp@world.std.com), in the days when printing used raised bits of metal, "." and "," were the most delicate, and were in danger of damage (the face of the piece of type might break off from the body, or be bent or dented from above) if they had a '"' on one side and a blank space on the other. Hence the convention arose of always using '."' and ',"' rather than '".' and '",', regardless of logic. Fowler was a strong advocate of logical placement of punctuation marks, i.e. only placing them inside the quotation marks if they were part of the quoted matter. This scheme has gained ground, and is especially popular among computer users, and others who wish to make clear exactly what is and what is not being quoted. Logical placement is accepted by many more publishers outside than inside the U.S. I now use the British system for all correspondence. Unfortunately, may people probably think I'm just ignorant. What do you think? Can you offer me some support? Your mission, should you decide to accept it, will be to help me change the English punctuation habits of some 265 million Americans . Colon Punctuation I remember being taught that the first letter of the first word following a colon is always capitalized. I have followed that advice from high school through a Masters degree. Then, one day, I suddenly noticed that major periodicals (e.g., Time and Newsweek) and newspapers were not capitalizing the first letter after a colon. Did they change the rule while I was asleep? Thanks for any help. You've got a great website. With the high cost of ISP connections here I should go bankrupt reading all your question and answer logs .
Source & Date of Question	Jakarta, Indonesia 13 April 1998
Grammar's Response	After all the years I've been tucking students' commas and periods inside their quotation marks (especially the students from British-influenced places such as Jamaica -- the poor dears!), do you think I'd be willing to join such a cause. No matter how sensible, no way!! The explanation for how this U.S. peculiarity came to be, though, is fascinating, and I thank you for it! As for the colon usage, I wasn't aware that it was ever any other way, so I can't comment on it. Such typographical rules are apt to change, indeed. Like the space after a period, for example. Most authorities now suggest that one space will do quite nicely; ten years ago, just about everybody wanted two spaces after a period. These things happen. Judging from the rest of your note, though, I doubt very much if you were asleep.

Question	My question has to do with possessive 's. I have noticed, especially in the news media, the common method of showing that an item belongs to someone else is to say, "This manuscript is someone else's." Back in the old days, before electricity, I seem to remember that the proper technique was -- This manuscript is someone's else. Can you set an old man's mind straight? Thank you.
Source & Date of Question	Rockford, Illinois 13 April 1998
Grammar's Response	In regard to your sanity, it might well be that the construction used to be "someone's else," although I can't vouch for that, since I've never seen it that way (or at least I don't remember it). As a compound construction, the "someone else's" makes sense to me. There's a Fowler's Guide online, somewhere, that dates back to 1907 or something like that. It would be interesting to see what he has to say about it, way back then, "before electricity."

Question	What is the difference between "on business" and "in business"? Thank you.
Source & Date of Question	Cairo, Egypt 13 April 1998
Grammar's Response	When we go to Egypt to conduct business with people, we say that we are there "on business." We will probably visit people who are "in business," doing the same kind of thing we do. If we form a partnership, we will be "in business together" and we will be "in business to make money."

Question	How should this be written? Which, if any, is correct? On March 10 and 11, 1998, I toured the city. On March 10-11, 1998, I toured the city. On March 10, 11, 1998, I toured the city During March 10 and 11, 1998, I toured the city During March 10-11, 1998, I toured the city. During March 10, 11, 1998, I toured the city. When should "during" be used?
Source & Date of Question	Atlanta, Georgia 13 April 1998
Grammar's Response	Although the Chicago Manual of Style has a lot to say about writing dates, it doesn't seem to touch on this question, exactly. It does suggest you can use hyphens for inclusive years, but not for dates. I think your best best is your first. I see no reason for using "during" at all. The word suggests something about the "duration" of, which probably is inappropriate. "I was a student during the Vietnam War." The Chicago Style Manual does advise against using th's, etc., in the writing of dates.