The Grammar Logs -- Number One Hundred, Nineteen

The
Grammar
Logs
# 119

Question When speaking about a single location, such as a business would you use the word premise or premises.
For Example:
I will be going to the customer(premise or premises).

Source & Date
of Question Madison, New Jersey
4 May 1998
Grammar's
Response Premise means the basis of an argument. Premises is plural and means the buildings and grounds in which something is based, so even if it's one building on one plot of ground, you're visiting the premises.

Question I have heard in speech patterns the use of an infinitive with what appears to be a gerund as the object of the infinitive instead of the infinitive form. It is hard to make examples because these catch one off guard. However, I think I have a good example I heard in regards to the IRS problem. "----- is central TO IMPROVING the agency." Instead of _____ is central to improve the agency. Is the gerund form acceptable or an example of incorrect usage?
Source & Date
of Question Whittier, California
4 May 1998
Grammar's
Response If we said something like "this is central to our faith," we would be using a noun as the object of the preposition "to," right? I think that phrase works the same way when you're looking for a verb form: "Something is central to improving the agency" where "improving" is a verb form used as a noun (gerund). We could also have said "central to our improvement of the agency," and again, we're using a noun form. I think the gerund is fine in that sentence.

Question Do you use a comma after a date when the date is serving as an adjective. For instance: "a May 1, 1998 letter that was sent..." or is it "a May 1, 1998, letter that was sent...
Source & Date
of Question Washington, D.C.
7 May 1998
Grammar's
Response Yes, for some reason the year is always treated parenthetically when the date is constructed that way. At least it's consistent.

Question The book "Sounder" by W. Armstrong was written in the third-person. Why would the author write this book in the third-person instead of first- person?
Source & Date
of Question Somewhere, Canada
7 May 1998
Grammar's
Response I don't know. Perhaps to create a greater sense of distance between himself and the material? Sometimes it's just easier to write about something when you imagine it happening to someone else. It's always a tough choice, but the reasons for choosing one or the other are probably as murky to the author as they are to you.

Question What are the three main parts of a sentence?
Source & Date
of Question Chicago, Illinois
7 May 1998
Grammar's
Response I don't know. Every sentence has a subject (although it may be implied) and a predicate, which is what you're saying about the subject, but the third part, that I don't know. Maybe somebody is thinking about subject-verb-object? Except that many sentences don't have an object, so that wouldn't work. I give up.

Question I thought "Myriad" should be used as follows:
There were myriad topics of discussion at the annual meeting...
Is it proper to say "There was a myriad of topics..." ?
Source & Date
of Question Bohemia, New York
7 May 1998
Grammar's
Response I always thought so myself, but some dictionaries will define "myriad" as "a great number" and then give an example like "a myriad of ideas." So I guess you can use it both ways, as a noun -- "a myriad of ideas" -- and as an adjective -- "a myriad ideas."

Question I've doubt about prepositions. I don't know when I must use AT, TO, FOR, ON, IN, INTO and so on.. Could you help me, please? Thanks
Source & Date
of Question Barueri, Sao Paulo, Brazil
7 May 1998
Grammar's
Response Be sure to visit the section on Prepositions.
If you have a more specific question after that, please let me know.

Question I would like to know whether I should use shine or shining for the following sentenses. Thank you very much.
shines or is shining

after three days of rain, I'am glad that the sun _________ again today.
Every morning, the sun ____________ in my bedroom window and ____________(wake) me up.
I personally think that, the first question, the answer may be is ' is shining', because the sun shines every day, so i can't use shines to show that it has not been shining for three days.
while for the second question, i think the answer perhaps is shines, but I am not sure.
thank you so much.
Source & Date
of Question Somewhere, Malaysia
7 May 1998
Grammar's
Response Yes, you want "is shining" and "shines" and "wakes." Good job! It looks like you've got a good grasp on this concept!

Question Part of my job, as an Applications Engineer, is to make corrections to existing documents. There are software manuals floating around that are in dire need of correcting. Anyway, I have two questions for you:

In your opinion, what is considered correct when it comes to using an apostrophe with abbreviated items to make them plural. For example, PLD is an abbreviation for programmable logic device. When I talk about PLDs, should I use an apostrophe?
My second question deals with capitalization. To set up this question, let's say that there exits a option in our software package that lets me toggle on and off something called "Turbo Mode". This option resides in a dialogue box called "Features", and is located in the "Options" menu.
Is the following sentence correct?
If you want the chip to be in turbo mode, go to the Options menu and select Features, which brings up a dialog box where you should check the Turbo Mode box.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Source & Date
of Question Unknown
7 May 1998
Grammar's
Response Your turbo mode statement looks fine to me. It's quite all right to capitalize such commands in order to set them apart from the rest of the text. But no, you don't need to put an apostrophe after the abbreviation or acronym to turn it into a plural. In fact, don't use the apostrophe.

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Question	When speaking about a single location, such as a business would you use the word premise or premises. For Example: I will be going to the customer(premise or premises).
Source & Date of Question	Madison, New Jersey 4 May 1998
Grammar's Response	Premise means the basis of an argument. Premises is plural and means the buildings and grounds in which something is based, so even if it's one building on one plot of ground, you're visiting the premises.

Question	I thought "Myriad" should be used as follows: There were myriad topics of discussion at the annual meeting... Is it proper to say "There was a myriad of topics..." ?
Source & Date of Question	Bohemia, New York 7 May 1998
Grammar's Response	I always thought so myself, but some dictionaries will define "myriad" as "a great number" and then give an example like "a myriad of ideas." So I guess you can use it both ways, as a noun -- "a myriad of ideas" -- and as an adjective -- "a myriad ideas."

Question	I've doubt about prepositions. I don't know when I must use AT, TO, FOR, ON, IN, INTO and so on.. Could you help me, please? Thanks
Source & Date of Question	Barueri, Sao Paulo, Brazil 7 May 1998
Grammar's Response	Be sure to visit the section on Prepositions. If you have a more specific question after that, please let me know.

Question	I would like to know whether I should use shine or shining for the following sentenses. Thank you very much. shines or is shining after three days of rain, I'am glad that the sun _________ again today. Every morning, the sun ____________ in my bedroom window and ____________(wake) me up. I personally think that, the first question, the answer may be is ' is shining', because the sun shines every day, so i can't use shines to show that it has not been shining for three days. while for the second question, i think the answer perhaps is shines, but I am not sure. thank you so much.
Source & Date of Question	Somewhere, Malaysia 7 May 1998
Grammar's Response	Yes, you want "is shining" and "shines" and "wakes." Good job! It looks like you've got a good grasp on this concept!

Question	Part of my job, as an Applications Engineer, is to make corrections to existing documents. There are software manuals floating around that are in dire need of correcting. Anyway, I have two questions for you: In your opinion, what is considered correct when it comes to using an apostrophe with abbreviated items to make them plural. For example, PLD is an abbreviation for programmable logic device. When I talk about PLDs, should I use an apostrophe? My second question deals with capitalization. To set up this question, let's say that there exits a option in our software package that lets me toggle on and off something called "Turbo Mode". This option resides in a dialogue box called "Features", and is located in the "Options" menu. Is the following sentence correct? If you want the chip to be in turbo mode, go to the Options menu and select Features, which brings up a dialog box where you should check the Turbo Mode box. Thanks in advance for your help.
Source & Date of Question	Unknown 7 May 1998
Grammar's Response	Your turbo mode statement looks fine to me. It's quite all right to capitalize such commands in order to set them apart from the rest of the text. But no, you don't need to put an apostrophe after the abbreviation or acronym to turn it into a plural. In fact, don't use the apostrophe.

Question	I have heard in speech patterns the use of an infinitive with what appears to be a gerund as the object of the infinitive instead of the infinitive form. It is hard to make examples because these catch one off guard. However, I think I have a good example I heard in regards to the IRS problem. "----- is central TO IMPROVING the agency." Instead of _____ is central to improve the agency. Is the gerund form acceptable or an example of incorrect usage?
Source & Date of Question	Whittier, California 4 May 1998
Grammar's Response	If we said something like "this is central to our faith," we would be using a noun as the object of the preposition "to," right? I think that phrase works the same way when you're looking for a verb form: "Something is central to improving the agency" where "improving" is a verb form used as a noun (gerund). We could also have said "central to our improvement of the agency," and again, we're using a noun form. I think the gerund is fine in that sentence.

Question	Do you use a comma after a date when the date is serving as an adjective. For instance: "a May 1, 1998 letter that was sent..." or is it "a May 1, 1998, letter that was sent...
Source & Date of Question	Washington, D.C. 7 May 1998
Grammar's Response	Yes, for some reason the year is always treated parenthetically when the date is constructed that way. At least it's consistent.

Question	The book "Sounder" by W. Armstrong was written in the third-person. Why would the author write this book in the third-person instead of first- person?
Source & Date of Question	Somewhere, Canada 7 May 1998
Grammar's Response	I don't know. Perhaps to create a greater sense of distance between himself and the material? Sometimes it's just easier to write about something when you imagine it happening to someone else. It's always a tough choice, but the reasons for choosing one or the other are probably as murky to the author as they are to you.

Question	What are the three main parts of a sentence?
Source & Date of Question	Chicago, Illinois 7 May 1998
Grammar's Response	I don't know. Every sentence has a subject (although it may be implied) and a predicate, which is what you're saying about the subject, but the third part, that I don't know. Maybe somebody is thinking about subject-verb-object? Except that many sentences don't have an object, so that wouldn't work. I give up.