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The Grammar Logs # 134 |
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| QUESTION |
| Capitalization question: Should the term "state" or "federal" be capitalized in the following sentence? This offering is being made pursuant to exemptions from state and federal securities laws. |
| SOURCE & DATE OF QUESTION |
| Boston, Massachusetts ___ Wednesday, May 27, 1998 |
| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| No, there's no reason to capitalize those words. |
| QUESTION |
| If "Ms." is not an abbreviation, why do we put a period after it? |
| SOURCE & DATE OF QUESTION |
| Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin ___ Thursday, May 28, 1998 |
| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| Good question. I would guess it's for the sake of consistency with Mr. and Mrs. I notice that the abbreviations for Madame and Mademoiselle -- Mme and Mlle -- do not have periods after them. I try not to let such things bother me. Authority: Chicago Manual of Style 14th ed. U of Chicago P: Chicago. 1993. 462.
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| QUESTION |
| I want to know if on this program you have some exercises about question tags. |
| SOURCE & DATE OF QUESTION |
| Unknown ___ Thursday, May 28, 1998 |
| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| Question tags (or tag questions, as they're sometimes called) are treated briefly in the section on "Punctuation Marks Besides the Comma." But we have no exercises on them. I think, though, that if you go to the Quiz List, and click on the hyperlink to the TESOL quizzes at the bottom of that page, you'll find some exercises on question tags in that collection. |
| QUESTION |
| In typing an accurate and complete transcription of a taped conversation, the direct quotation "Oh my God" is used several times. In this case, isn't God capitalized, since it refers to diety? Thanks so much for your help, and I would so appreciate knowing where I could find an exact rule for this. It has become a point of major contention between my husband and his secretary. |
| SOURCE & DATE OF QUESTION |
| Baytown, Texas ___ Thursday, May 28, 1998 |
| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| Unless you're referring to mythological gods and godesses, you would want to capitalize all such references to a supreme being, whether it's God, Allah, Buddha. Sometimes you'll see a comma after the "Oh," but it's probably not necessary since the whole phrase can be taken as an interjection. Just about any style manual will have a rule about this in its section on capitalization. Authority: New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage HarperCollins: New York. 1994. 2212. Cited with permission.
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| QUESTION |
| Here I go with one more question for you!! Remember I told you I was getting prepared for the TOEFL test? Well, I'm stuck right here: I'm supposed to find the best choice to fill this blank: Noise pollution generally recieves less attention than _____ air pollution.According to the book the correct answer should be "does" Noise pollution generally recieves less attention than does air pollution. I've always thought it was correct to say: Noise pollution generally recieves less attention than air pollution does.It's a comparison. Is it possible to invert the order. from air "pollution does" into "does air pollution"? Could you please help me? |
| SOURCE & DATE OF QUESTION |
| Tijuana, B.C. Mexico ___ Friday, May 29, 1998 |
| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| Yes, it is commonplace to invert the subject-verb order in a construction like that. The process is difficult to describe, however. In order to bring end-focus on the important element in this subordinate clause, air pollution, the predication ("does") is fronted (put first). I suggest you get hold of Quirk's book (cited below) to help you out with this concept. Authority: A University Grammar of English by Randolph Quirk and Sidney Greenbaum. Longman Group: Essex, England. 1993. 414. Used with permission.
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| QUESTION |
I've questions on verb tenses:
Are both of the following statements grammatically correct? When do you use each one?
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| SOURCE & DATE OF QUESTION |
| Taiwan ___ Friday, May 29, 1998 |
| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| They are both correct, but for different contexts. We would probably use the second sentence, with the present perfect "have become," to describe the "state" of someone who is still with the company. The use of the simple past, "became," would be used to describe the "state" of someone who has just left the company or is about to. See the section on Tense and use the hyperlink to Mr. Mahoney's article on the perfect tense. |
| QUESTION |
Are the following "a lot" examples correct? Why?
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| SOURCE & DATE OF QUESTION |
| Boston, Massachusetts ___ Friday, May 29, 1998 |
| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| That's a phrase we can probably do without in formal prose. You're usually better off with "many" or "several." Both sentences are correct, however. "A lot of" works the same as fractional expressions in that it's singular when it's talking about something that is not countable (A lot of the sugar is no good.) and plural when it's talking about something countable (like your people and your chickens). The "there are" is an Expletive Construction, which we can do without more often than not. |
| QUESTION |
Please, I would like to know the difference between "repent" and "regret"... I know that when we talk about God, and sins, the word "repent" is frequently used... But can I also say that :
I repent having disobeyed my mom ? |
| SOURCE & DATE OF QUESTION |
| Somewhere, Brazil ___ Saturday, May 30, 1998 |
| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| You can say that, but it's difficult to get away from that sense of the word "repent" that has to do with a change away from the life of sin toward a changed and improved life. So I wouldn't recommend it. You mean "regret" in that sentence, and I would save "repent" for situations fraught with religious overtones. |
| QUESTION |
| Hi! I found a difficulty of using 'as', I never understand what 'as' means.
I am looking forwards for your help. Thank you in advance |
| SOURCE & DATE OF QUESTION |
| Budapest, Hungary ___ Saturday, May 30, 1998 |
| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| That's probably because as has so many different meanings and functions within a sentence. We use it as a correlative to create comparisons: "I am as tall as my brother." We use it as a subordinating conjunction: "She spilled the milk as she got up." We use it as a pronoun meaning "a fact that": "She hates her brother, as is evident from her treatment of him." |
| QUESTION |
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When using the words "emphasis added" after a quote, does the footnote number go before or after the words? Examples:
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| SOURCE & DATE OF QUESTION |
| Longview, Washington ___ Saturday, May 30, 1998 |
| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| The only reference I have that speaks to this possibility is the APA Publication Manual, and that resource says to put the phrase italics added immediately after the word you've so altered and enclose it within brackets [italics added]. Since the bracketed phrase would go before your end-mark, obviously the footnote would go last. I'm not saying this is particularly logical, but it is the only resource that speaks to it directly. Personally, I think it makes sense to use . . . in the park.1 (emphasis added) But I can't find any authority that's going to back me up on that. The New York Public Library Writer's Guide suggests using (emphasis added) just before the period that ends the sentence in which you've underlined something for emphasis. That means, of course, that the footnote would come after the period in its regular position. |
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