The Grammar Logs -- Number One Hundred, Twenty-Four

The
Grammar
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# 124

Question Is there a hard and fast rule for using "because" versus "since" when meaning "for the reason that"?
I always thought you should use "since" when referring to time. Yet, I've seen "since" used in lieu of "because."
For example: Because it rained on Saturday, we cancelled our picnic. Or: Since it rained on Saturday, we cancelled our picnic.
But: Since the beginning of the rainy season, we haven't been to the beach.
Thanks for your response!
Source & Date
of Question New York, New York
13 May 1998
Grammar's
Response In informal writing and speech, we certainly "get away with" the use of "since" when we mean "because," but we ought not to substitute "since" for "because" in formal writing -- for the very reason of chronology versus causality that you point out.

Authority: The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers by Chris M. Anson and Robert A. Schwegler. Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.: New York. 1997. G-7.

Question Which is better? It is me, or it is I? Also, that is I, or that is me?
Source & Date
of Question Marshalltown, Iowa
13 May 1998
Grammar's
Response In formal writing, use the predicate nominative form -- "I." In speech and casual writing or fiction, use "It is me" and "that is me." Eventually, this rule will relax to the point that "It is me" will be acceptable in formal, academic prose, but it will still cause grief today among some instructors and bosses who had Mrs. Hyde in eighth-grade English.

Question Please settle our dispute. While reading a newletter for Emory Hospital, it was noted that under the pictures of our administrative group, none of the titles were capitalized except for John Doe, M.D., Medical Director. The rest were listed as follows: Mary Doe, M.D., chairman, department of medical history and ethics, and Jane Doe, chief financial officer. I think this is incorrect. Shouldn't titles be capitalized?
Source & Date
of Question Atlanta, Georgia
13 May 1998
Grammar's
Response Under their pictures, I would say this is certainly an egregious insult; within normal text, it's another matter, although I think consistency is very important here, too. This is what the NYPL's Writer's Guide to Style and Usage has to say:
Most newspapers, magazines, and books consistently lower-case business titles, even though the practice in internal business documents is to capitalize titles of a company's officers and managers, presumably to add importance. To ensure consistency, however, it is better to lowercase all titles, regardless of the person's position and regardless of whether the title precedes or follows the [person's name].
This applies to in-text uses of titles, however, and doesn't necessarily apply to the situation you mention, with the photos. I would think consistency and good, democratic manners -- if that isn't a contradiction in terms 8-) -- should prevail here.
Authority: New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage HarperCollins: New York. 1994. Cited with permission. 210.

Question When indicating a range,which is preferred/correct? "to" or "through" (e.g., 1 to 5, or 1 through 5)? We try to avoid use of the en dash in these cases.
Source & Date
of Question Milford, Massachusetts
13 May 1998
Grammar's
Response Most authorities recommend the use of the en dash, but if you're not using it for your documents, I would recommend "from 1 to 5." You could also use "between 1 and 5," but that raises the question of whether 1 and 5 are included. If you use the en dash, you can leave out repeated digits, as in pages 1465-513.
Authority: Chicago Manual of Style 14th ed. U of Chicago P: Chicago. 1993. 310-11.

Question Is there a definitive resource on protocol for how to handle addressing people with different names in a business letter? For example
Sue Smith and John Smith

Mr. and Mrs. John Smith?
Mr. John and Ms. Sue Smith?
Mr. John and Mrs. Sue Smith?
Mr. and Mrs. John and Sue Smith?
Also, what are the rules on using an ampersand ("&") versus "and" in these situations?
Thanks.
Source & Date
of Question New York, New York
13 May 1998
Grammar's
Response The NYPL Writer's Guide to Style and Usage says that the Random House Dictionary of the English Language and the New York Public Library Desk Reference, and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th edition, have sections devoted to this science. None of my reference books carry that information, I'm sorry to say. My personal druthers are for John and Sue Smith, but I'm sure I'm quite alone in that.

Question Grammatically speaking, what is the difference between that and which?
Source & Date
of Question Bellevue, Nebraska
13 May 1998
Grammar's
Response Please see the "that and which" article in the Notorious Confusables and get back to us if that doesn't answer your questions.

Question Dear Grammar Master,
I read in a book a sentence which goes like this:
'It is clear that the committee is agreed that the new policy is an excellent plan,in principle.'
Should not it be ' agrees' OR ' has agreed' OR ' is agreeable' instead of 'is agreed'?
Many thanks
Source & Date
of Question Besut, Trengganu, Malaysia
13 May 1998
Grammar's
Response Any of your substitutes would do just fine, but there is a sense of that word, meaning "to be of one mind," chiefly British, I think, that allows us to use "agreed" as a predicate adjective. "We are agreed," or "The committee is agreed." It describes a condition arrived at by consensus. Having said this, I don't find evidence for it in any of my dictionaries, but I don't have a new unabridged dictionary at home.

Question I have a question about a word PUPOSEFUL . The question is how would you use the word PURPOSEFUL in a sentence?
Source & Date
of Question San Diego, California
13 May 1998
Grammar's
Response The adverb purposefully is often confused with the word purposely. If you do something purposely, you do it intentionally; if you do something purposefully, you do it with determination, as if your life depended on it. So we could use the adjective purposeful to suggest that someone was filled with determination, stays on course (if carried to its extreme, even "single-minded"), etc.:
On her drive to be national champion and in her zeal to be the best, Coach Espinoza became regarded as the most purposeful coach in the country.

Question I've been told the proper way to write 5 ml when referring to a volume is 5 ml. However when using this phrase as an adjective, such as a 5 ml container, the proper way to write this phrase is 5-ml container.
Is this correct? The hyphen is used when using a phrase such as this as an adjective?
Thank you for your help. Your website is very informative!
Source & Date
of Question Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
14 May 1998
Grammar's
Response Yes. When a number becomes a modifier in conjunction with a measurement, a hyphen connects them. So it's a 12-inch piece of paper, a .22-caliber bullet, a 24-hour day, and a 5-ml container. One exception is the word "percent." For some reason, we'd say it's a 25 percent increase, not 25-percent increase. You might be wise to discover a scientific treatise or textbook and model your use of numbers and modifiers after the usage in that resource.
Authority: New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage HarperCollins: New York. 1994. Cited with permission. 415.

Question Is it now appropriate, in formal standard written English to use an adverbial clause as a noun clause or in place of a single noun or noun phrase as in:
Linda remembered where the radio said the weather would be excellent today.
instead of Linda remembered that the radio etc.
or The reason was because instead of the reason was that.
Thanks for your help!
Source & Date
of Question Sarnia, Ontario, Canada
14 May 1998
Grammar's
Response Using an adverb clause that way will lead to perdition. Only if Linda is, in fact, remembering where (in the kitchen?, in the bedroom?) the radio said that, can we use the adverb clause in that way. (We don't want to eliminate the possibility of "I remember when Grandma sat on the porch all night.," do we?) I also dislike the "reason was because," but the phrase seems to be winning its way into the minds of writers at all levels.

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Question	Is there a definitive resource on protocol for how to handle addressing people with different names in a business letter? For example Sue Smith and John Smith Mr. and Mrs. John Smith? Mr. John and Ms. Sue Smith? Mr. John and Mrs. Sue Smith? Mr. and Mrs. John and Sue Smith? Also, what are the rules on using an ampersand ("&") versus "and" in these situations? Thanks.
Source & Date of Question	New York, New York 13 May 1998
Grammar's Response	The NYPL Writer's Guide to Style and Usage says that the Random House Dictionary of the English Language and the New York Public Library Desk Reference, and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th edition, have sections devoted to this science. None of my reference books carry that information, I'm sorry to say. My personal druthers are for John and Sue Smith, but I'm sure I'm quite alone in that.

Question	Dear Grammar Master, I read in a book a sentence which goes like this: 'It is clear that the committee is agreed that the new policy is an excellent plan,in principle.' Should not it be ' agrees' OR ' has agreed' OR ' is agreeable' instead of 'is agreed'? Many thanks
Source & Date of Question	Besut, Trengganu, Malaysia 13 May 1998
Grammar's Response	Any of your substitutes would do just fine, but there is a sense of that word, meaning "to be of one mind," chiefly British, I think, that allows us to use "agreed" as a predicate adjective. "We are agreed," or "The committee is agreed." It describes a condition arrived at by consensus. Having said this, I don't find evidence for it in any of my dictionaries, but I don't have a new unabridged dictionary at home.

Question	I have a question about a word PUPOSEFUL . The question is how would you use the word PURPOSEFUL in a sentence?
Source & Date of Question	San Diego, California 13 May 1998
Grammar's Response	The adverb purposefully is often confused with the word purposely. If you do something purposely, you do it intentionally; if you do something purposefully, you do it with determination, as if your life depended on it. So we could use the adjective purposeful to suggest that someone was filled with determination, stays on course (if carried to its extreme, even "single-minded"), etc.: On her drive to be national champion and in her zeal to be the best, Coach Espinoza became regarded as the most purposeful coach in the country.

Question	Is it now appropriate, in formal standard written English to use an adverbial clause as a noun clause or in place of a single noun or noun phrase as in: Linda remembered where the radio said the weather would be excellent today. instead of Linda remembered that the radio etc. or The reason was because instead of the reason was that. Thanks for your help!
Source & Date of Question	Sarnia, Ontario, Canada 14 May 1998
Grammar's Response	Using an adverb clause that way will lead to perdition. Only if Linda is, in fact, remembering where (in the kitchen?, in the bedroom?) the radio said that, can we use the adverb clause in that way. (We don't want to eliminate the possibility of "I remember when Grandma sat on the porch all night.," do we?) I also dislike the "reason was because," but the phrase seems to be winning its way into the minds of writers at all levels.

Question	Which is better? It is me, or it is I? Also, that is I, or that is me?
Source & Date of Question	Marshalltown, Iowa 13 May 1998
Grammar's Response	In formal writing, use the predicate nominative form -- "I." In speech and casual writing or fiction, use "It is me" and "that is me." Eventually, this rule will relax to the point that "It is me" will be acceptable in formal, academic prose, but it will still cause grief today among some instructors and bosses who had Mrs. Hyde in eighth-grade English.

Question	Grammatically speaking, what is the difference between that and which?
Source & Date of Question	Bellevue, Nebraska 13 May 1998
Grammar's Response	Please see the "that and which" article in the Notorious Confusables and get back to us if that doesn't answer your questions.