The Grammar Logs -- Number One Hundred, Four

The
Grammar
Logs
# 104

Question I would like to know if there is any difference between "just" and "only". I know they have the same meaning, but should I use them after same rules or doesn't it matter ? I'm an ESL student and for me it is really important to learn English in the good way from the beginning. Thank you!
Source & Date
of Question Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
16 April 1998
Grammar's
Response It's a bit of an oversimplification to say that the two words have the same meaning. There are some occasions where the meanings intersect, when they both tend toward the diminution of something: "He's just a boy" and "He's only a boy." But they come at it from two different directions. "Just" comes from the direction of precision and "only" comes from the direction of aloneness. So in these two sentences, the words are at their starting points and aren't interchangeable: "He'll turn twelve at just 3:15 tomorrow." AND "He's hoping only for his father to call." From there, precision and solitude converge and confuse the two farther down the usage line.
That's when they're adverbs. When they're adjectives, their meanings don't converge at all because "just" means fair, and "only" means sole. So "That's only the law" can converge with "That's just the law" (adverbs). But "That's the only law" is completely different from "That's the just law."
Authority: Evelyn Farbman, Professor of English at Capital Community College and author of Sentence Sense: A Writer's Guide.

Question I didn't find any reference to footnoting in your guide. What is the proper APA style for this regarding books, periodicals, and other types of source citations?
Source & Date
of Question Columbus, Ohio
16 April 1998
Grammar's
Response Visit our web-site on the APA-style of citations at http://cctc.commnet.edu/apa/apa_index.htm. Footnotes are no longer used for documenting the use of such resources. Instead, the information is included parenthetically within the text. See the last question on the page -- about parenthetical documentation.

Question We are trying to figure out which is correct: Antidiscrimination or Anti-Discrimination.
Please let me know as soon as possible.
Thank you.
Source & Date
of Question Salt Lake City, Utah
16 April 1998
Grammar's
Response A word like that doesn't require a hyphen -- antidiscrimination -- even if it were part of the title of an office. (I don't know why you'd want to capitalize discrimination.) If it's a capitalized word that you're "anti," such as Catholic or Darwinism, say, you'd use a hyphen: anti-Catholic, anti-Darwinism.

Question Please explain the usage of I and Me. Thank you. This is for a fourth grader.
Source & Date
of Question Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
16 April 1998
Grammar's
Response "I" is the actor of a sentence: I hit the ball. I did my homework. "I" can also be something in a sentence: I am a fourth grader. I am tall. We say that "me" is the object of action in a sentence: My brother hit me. My mother loves me. When "I" or "me" is combined with someone else, the other person usually comes first: "My brother and I are going to the movies." "Mom gave the money to my brother and me." How's that?

Question How do you properly address an attorney in a letter?
Source & Date
of Question Minneapolis, Minnesota
16 April 1998
Grammar's
Response I have some ideas about that, but they aren't proper. Actually, I don't find any evidence in my references that a lawyer is addressed in any different from the address you'd use for other people. I don't think lawyers use the Esq. after their names anymore, do they? And that would serve only for male lawyers. (And is never used in combination with Mr., by the way.) Treat them like other people and they'll probably feel lucky.

Question I know that there is also a major field called "inversion", but I didn't know how to find out the usage in this web site. Would you please tell me how to use inversion?
If it's not convenient to you to answer the whole thing, please tell me about the inversion of subjects and verbs follow by negative adverbs.
Source & Date
of Question Athens, Georgia
16 April 1998
Grammar's
Response We use inversion when we ask a question: "Are you happy?" We use it with expletive constructions: "There are two dogs in my yard." And we use it, rarely, for dramatic effect: "Out of the valley of the shade of death rode the magnificent seven." With negative adverbs, the effect is also rather literary (if not stuffy), with the subject appearing between the auxiliary and the main part of the verb:
Never have I seen such devastation.
Seldom does crime pay the way thieves expect it to.
Scarcely ever have so many students been caught cheating.

Question I found the following sentence in a textbook.
What would happen if a major earthquake hit?
Wouldn't you say "if a major earthquake hits?" We say "If it rains tomorrow, I will stay at home," don't we?
Source & Date
of Question Yokohama, Japan
17 April 1998
Grammar's
Response The sentence in the textbook is using an elliptical form of a subjunctive verb: "if a major earthquake were to hit." On the other hand, in the sentence about the rain, we use the plain indicative mood because, as the NYPL Writer's Guide says, "If the information in such a clause points out a condition that is or was probable or likely, the verb should be in the indicative mood. The indicative tells the reader that the information in the dependent clause could possibly be true"

Question I don't know if this sentence is correct or not.
Joined by bus drivers angry about the rise in prices of vehicle spare parts, the mob destroyed Chinese shops and torched houses.

Source & Date
of Question Hong Kong
17 April 1998
Grammar's
Response The logic of it is a bit perplexing, but that's the nature of mobs, I guess. Structurally, it looks fine, although it might have been more clear who was in the mob before it was joined by the bus drivers. It's a good sentence, though.

Question I was under the impression that all chemical elements were supposed to be capitalized (i.e. Nitrogen, Carbon, etc.). Has someone given me the wrong impression?
Source & Date
of Question Santa Clara, California
17 April 1998
Grammar's
Response Apparently so. Typographical habits about such matters are subject to change, so maybe the elements were, once upon a time, capitalized. As of now, though, we don't capitalize them in text (although we do capitalize their symbols, as in NaCl, NaOH, etc.).
Authority: Chicago Manual of Style 14th ed. U of Chicago P: Chicago. 1993.

Question What would be the subject noun and verb or verb phrase?
Finally the coin was found.
and
The lady would not give up.

Source & Date
of Question Winston-Salem, South Carolina
17 April 1998
Grammar's
Response The subject nouns are "coin" and "lady"; the verb phrases are "was found" and "would give up." (Technically, the "not" is not part of the verb; it's an adverb modifying the verb string [phrase].)

Previous Grammar Log
Next Grammar Log
Index of Grammar Logs
Guide to Grammar and Writing

Question	We are trying to figure out which is correct: Antidiscrimination or Anti-Discrimination. Please let me know as soon as possible. Thank you.
Source & Date of Question	Salt Lake City, Utah 16 April 1998
Grammar's Response	A word like that doesn't require a hyphen -- antidiscrimination -- even if it were part of the title of an office. (I don't know why you'd want to capitalize discrimination.) If it's a capitalized word that you're "anti," such as Catholic or Darwinism, say, you'd use a hyphen: anti-Catholic, anti-Darwinism.

Question	I know that there is also a major field called "inversion", but I didn't know how to find out the usage in this web site. Would you please tell me how to use inversion? If it's not convenient to you to answer the whole thing, please tell me about the inversion of subjects and verbs follow by negative adverbs.
Source & Date of Question	Athens, Georgia 16 April 1998
Grammar's Response	We use inversion when we ask a question: "Are you happy?" We use it with expletive constructions: "There are two dogs in my yard." And we use it, rarely, for dramatic effect: "Out of the valley of the shade of death rode the magnificent seven." With negative adverbs, the effect is also rather literary (if not stuffy), with the subject appearing between the auxiliary and the main part of the verb: Never have I seen such devastation. Seldom does crime pay the way thieves expect it to. Scarcely ever have so many students been caught cheating.

Question	I found the following sentence in a textbook. What would happen if a major earthquake hit? Wouldn't you say "if a major earthquake hits?" We say "If it rains tomorrow, I will stay at home," don't we?
Source & Date of Question	Yokohama, Japan 17 April 1998
Grammar's Response	The sentence in the textbook is using an elliptical form of a subjunctive verb: "if a major earthquake were to hit." On the other hand, in the sentence about the rain, we use the plain indicative mood because, as the NYPL Writer's Guide says, "If the information in such a clause points out a condition that is or was probable or likely, the verb should be in the indicative mood. The indicative tells the reader that the information in the dependent clause could possibly be true"

Question	I don't know if this sentence is correct or not. Joined by bus drivers angry about the rise in prices of vehicle spare parts, the mob destroyed Chinese shops and torched houses.
Source & Date of Question	Hong Kong 17 April 1998
Grammar's Response	The logic of it is a bit perplexing, but that's the nature of mobs, I guess. Structurally, it looks fine, although it might have been more clear who was in the mob before it was joined by the bus drivers. It's a good sentence, though.

Question	What would be the subject noun and verb or verb phrase? Finally the coin was found. and The lady would not give up.
Source & Date of Question	Winston-Salem, South Carolina 17 April 1998
Grammar's Response	The subject nouns are "coin" and "lady"; the verb phrases are "was found" and "would give up." (Technically, the "not" is not part of the verb; it's an adverb modifying the verb string [phrase].)

Question	I didn't find any reference to footnoting in your guide. What is the proper APA style for this regarding books, periodicals, and other types of source citations?
Source & Date of Question	Columbus, Ohio 16 April 1998
Grammar's Response	Visit our web-site on the APA-style of citations at http://cctc.commnet.edu/apa/apa_index.htm. Footnotes are no longer used for documenting the use of such resources. Instead, the information is included parenthetically within the text. See the last question on the page -- about parenthetical documentation.

Question	Please explain the usage of I and Me. Thank you. This is for a fourth grader.
Source & Date of Question	Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 16 April 1998
Grammar's Response	"I" is the actor of a sentence: I hit the ball. I did my homework. "I" can also be something in a sentence: I am a fourth grader. I am tall. We say that "me" is the object of action in a sentence: My brother hit me. My mother loves me. When "I" or "me" is combined with someone else, the other person usually comes first: "My brother and I are going to the movies." "Mom gave the money to my brother and me." How's that?

Question	How do you properly address an attorney in a letter?
Source & Date of Question	Minneapolis, Minnesota 16 April 1998
Grammar's Response	I have some ideas about that, but they aren't proper. Actually, I don't find any evidence in my references that a lawyer is addressed in any different from the address you'd use for other people. I don't think lawyers use the Esq. after their names anymore, do they? And that would serve only for male lawyers. (And is never used in combination with Mr., by the way.) Treat them like other people and they'll probably feel lucky.