The Grammar Logs -- Number Fourteen

The
Grammar
Logs
# 14

Question I have had many occasions to write business letters in English. In writing letters, I'm always confused when it comes to using articles and plurals. It is very hard to decide whether to use plurals or not.
We've always been thankful to you for your *efforts we have discussed with Inchon and decided the following *subjects.
We request you to look into them carefully and give us your *comments about any possible *problems of our *plans if any by the March 15.
Are there any easy way of distinguishing countable and uncountable nouns? I think that even the same noun is sometimes countable and sometimes not.
I hope I can find my e-mail box with your answer.
Thank you!
Source & Date
of Question Seoul, South Korea
3 June 1997
Grammar's
Response What I'm about to say isn't necessarily going to be helpful: yes, sometimes a noun can be both a mass noun and a count noun -- fortunately, though, not at the same time. We could say, "We have the room ready for you." and we could say "We have room for you." In the first case, room is clearly countable; in the second, it is not. With the mass noun, we do not use the. Your use of plurals in your example seems appropriate. May I make some suggestions, though? Change "request" to "ask that," delete "if any" (because that eventuality is covered by "any possible"), and delete the the before March 15 (a noncountable noun). Some of your plurals could be made singular; however, if the plurals are what you mean, stick with them. The general rule is this: Do not use the with a plural noun or a mass noun when the noun refers generally to all representatives of what it names: Democracy (not the democracy) fosters freedom (not the freedom. Use the when referring to one or more specific representatives of what the noun names: The women come and go.
Authority: The Little, Brown Handbook by H. Ramsay Fowler and Jane E. Aaron, & Kay Limburg. 6th ed. HarperCollins: New York. 1995. By permission of Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc.

Question What can we say about the capitalization of job titles and the like?

board of directors
president
chairman

Source & Date
of Question Moscow, Russia
4 June 1997
Grammar's
Response Unless such titles precede someone's name, we usually don't capitalize them. We would say something about Senator Chris Dodd, but then write, Chris Dodd, the senior senator from Connecticut. And, if the title appears alone, it would not be capitalized. He was a member of the board of directors. In the U.S.A., at least, we make an exception with the title of President when it's associated with an individual. Richard Nixon was elected President in 1960. (But, "Sarah wanted to be president even when she was a little girl.")

Question How would we phrase this?

Market Share's new name and logo IS .....
or is it?
Market Share's new name and logo ARE...??

Source & Date
of Question Minneapolis, Minnesota
4 June 1997
Grammar's
Response We can't answer that question from the context given. Are we going to see the new name and logo as one thing? If so, then the answer to your question is "is"? If we're going to see them as two separate things (a name followed by a symbol which represents the name, perhaps), then the answer to your question is "are." The first, singular-verb response, though, is a definite possibility, if that's what you mean.

Question
Could you explain the difference between the following two sentences? Which is better?

Your English will be remarkably improved.
Your English will improve remarkably.

resource or resources?

Don't throw away paper, because it is an important resource.
Don't throw away paper, because it is important resources.
Thank you very much in advance.
Source & Date
of Question Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
4 June 1997
Grammar's
Response First, the "resource question": (a) is definitely the only correct way of wording this. "It" is singular, and the predicate, too, must be singular.
Second, the "English question": Both are possible, but (b) is probably preferred, since it's a more "active" sentence ([a] using the passive construction "be improved.") Frankly, there's not a huge difference between them.

Question Hi, a friend of mine told me that these sentences are confused. Could you please tell me how would you write them better?
Since my mini-lesson test demonstration in my class of "Principles of ESOL Testing" was a fun-game to describe, mark, evaluate and assess the students' skill to write good paragraphs, I thought that the same theme could be the teaching content and the matter of assessment of my "Student Class Contact Teaching and Testing Assignment." So, with the approval of my grammar and writing teacher, I taught grammar students basically the same mini-lesson.

Source & Date
of Question Unknown
4 June 1997
Grammar's
Response I agree that the sentence is confusing, and it's probably because that initial dependent clause (the adverbial "since" clause) is allowed to ramble much too long and in too many directions before the independent clause steps in to save the day. Also, the independent clause refers to a "theme" that hasn't been mentioned as such, so we're not sure what the "same theme" refers to. Finally, get rid of the word "basically." Is there some way that we could break that first sentence into at least two separate sentences?

Question What part of speech is a number, such as "one" in the following sentence:
I have only one question.
Is it an article or an adjective? Or, something else? And, what if the number was, for example, fourteen. Would it still be the same thing?
Source & Date
of Question Sunderland, Massachusetts
5 June 1997
Grammar's
Response Yes, that's an adjective there. And "fourteen" would be the same -- except thirteen more. 8-) And if you wrote it as a numeral, it would still be an adjective -- "We enrolled _3,422_ students last semester." -- because it clearly modifies the noun, "students." Only _a, an, the_ are articles.

Question Does the pronoun "none" refer to a single or plural antecedent? "None of the views expressed here represents (or "represent?") official policy."
Source & Date
of Question Columbia, Missouri
5 June 1997
Grammar's
Response The answer to your either/or question is Yes. "None," in itself, has no number and can refer to things either plural or singular; you cannot tell without context and sometimes you can't tell with context. If you mean it in the sense of "not one," then choose the singular verb. But if you have something else in the sentence that suggests that you mean it as a plural, choose a plural verb (see the effect of their in the following sentence): "None of the students have done their homework yet." It's nice (and rare) in Grammar to have a situation in which you're right no matter which option you choose.

Question I have a question about the following sentences.

Probably no man had more effect on the daily lives of most people in the United States than did Henry Ford, a pioneer in automobile production.
Hot air accompanied by high relative humidity feels warmer than it actually is.
Western Nebraska generally receives less snow than does eastern Nebraska.
Hot objects emit more infrared rays than do cold objects.
Hares do not dig burrows as do European rabbits.
Probably no other essential metal has its sources as far away from the industrial centers as tin does.
Rewriting the parts I don't understand.

...than did Henry Ford..
. ...than it actually is.
...than does eastern Nebraska.
...than do cold objects.
. ...as do European rabbits.
...as tin does.
As I see the situations in 1 through 6, sometimes the positions of S(subjects) and V(verbs such as did, is, does, do) are inverted but sometimes not. What makes them so? I can't really find out why.
Thanks.
Source & Date
of Question Redondo Beach, California
5 June 1997
Grammar's
Response I'm posting this question with the hope that someone will read this and help us out with a good answer! I would observe here that on some of those sentences, I could just as easily put the verb after the subject -- in fact, I could (and probably would) do that with all of them except for the second, about the air -- and, maybe, the first one, because you've got the modifying phrase between Ford and the verb and that makes it clumsy if the verb comes last. But that doesn't answer the question about why this inversion often happens. I'll keep looking and change this when I find something.

Question Which is correct, admission or admittance, and why?
The club refuses (admission/admittance) to anyone not wearing shoes.

Source & Date
of Question Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
6 June 1997
Grammar's
Response Webster's Third doesn't help here, does it? Admission (in this context) is "the act of allowing to enter; entrance gained by permission; provision [etc.]; price paid." And Admittance is "permission or right to enter; act of admitting; actual entrance." And they come from the same Latin admitter. I don't see much of a difference there, but for some reason I would use "admittance" in your sentence -- though I couldn't tell you why, based on the dictionary's definitions. I think of "admitting" as allowing someone to walk through a door; "admission" feels more like allowing someone into an institution -- the Illinois Bar Assocation, say, or a college.

Question I want to know the difference between "toward" and "towards."
Thanks for your reply.
Source & Date
of Question Faridabad, Haryana, India
9 June 1997
Grammar's
Response There is no difference between toward and towards. They mean the same thing, and the correct choice of which to use is strictly a matter of what sounds better to you. We can say, though, that the word toward is preferred in formal, academic prose. (This is true unless you're writing in Canada or the U.K., where towards is probably preferred, which makes me wonder if this might not be true, also, in India.)
Authority: The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers by Chris M. Anson and Robert A. Schwegler. Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.: New York. 1997.

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Question	What can we say about the capitalization of job titles and the like? board of directors president chairman
Source & Date of Question	Moscow, Russia 4 June 1997
Grammar's Response	Unless such titles precede someone's name, we usually don't capitalize them. We would say something about Senator Chris Dodd, but then write, Chris Dodd, the senior senator from Connecticut. And, if the title appears alone, it would not be capitalized. He was a member of the board of directors. In the U.S.A., at least, we make an exception with the title of President when it's associated with an individual. Richard Nixon was elected President in 1960. (But, "Sarah wanted to be president even when she was a little girl.")

Question	How would we phrase this? Market Share's new name and logo IS ..... or is it? Market Share's new name and logo ARE...??
Source & Date of Question	Minneapolis, Minnesota 4 June 1997
Grammar's Response	We can't answer that question from the context given. Are we going to see the new name and logo as one thing? If so, then the answer to your question is "is"? If we're going to see them as two separate things (a name followed by a symbol which represents the name, perhaps), then the answer to your question is "are." The first, singular-verb response, though, is a definite possibility, if that's what you mean.

Question	Could you explain the difference between the following two sentences? Which is better? Your English will be remarkably improved. Your English will improve remarkably. resource or resources? Don't throw away paper, because it is an important resource. Don't throw away paper, because it is important resources. Thank you very much in advance.
Source & Date of Question	Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan 4 June 1997
Grammar's Response	First, the "resource question": (a) is definitely the only correct way of wording this. "It" is singular, and the predicate, too, must be singular. Second, the "English question": Both are possible, but (b) is probably preferred, since it's a more "active" sentence ([a] using the passive construction "be improved.") Frankly, there's not a huge difference between them.

Question	Hi, a friend of mine told me that these sentences are confused. Could you please tell me how would you write them better? Since my mini-lesson test demonstration in my class of "Principles of ESOL Testing" was a fun-game to describe, mark, evaluate and assess the students' skill to write good paragraphs, I thought that the same theme could be the teaching content and the matter of assessment of my "Student Class Contact Teaching and Testing Assignment." So, with the approval of my grammar and writing teacher, I taught grammar students basically the same mini-lesson.
Source & Date of Question	Unknown 4 June 1997
Grammar's Response	I agree that the sentence is confusing, and it's probably because that initial dependent clause (the adverbial "since" clause) is allowed to ramble much too long and in too many directions before the independent clause steps in to save the day. Also, the independent clause refers to a "theme" that hasn't been mentioned as such, so we're not sure what the "same theme" refers to. Finally, get rid of the word "basically." Is there some way that we could break that first sentence into at least two separate sentences?

Question	What part of speech is a number, such as "one" in the following sentence: I have only one question. Is it an article or an adjective? Or, something else? And, what if the number was, for example, fourteen. Would it still be the same thing?
Source & Date of Question	Sunderland, Massachusetts 5 June 1997
Grammar's Response	Yes, that's an adjective there. And "fourteen" would be the same -- except thirteen more. 8-) And if you wrote it as a numeral, it would still be an adjective -- "We enrolled _3,422_ students last semester." -- because it clearly modifies the noun, "students." Only _a, an, the_ are articles.

Question	Does the pronoun "none" refer to a single or plural antecedent? "None of the views expressed here represents (or "represent?") official policy."
Source & Date of Question	Columbia, Missouri 5 June 1997
Grammar's Response	The answer to your either/or question is Yes. "None," in itself, has no number and can refer to things either plural or singular; you cannot tell without context and sometimes you can't tell with context. If you mean it in the sense of "not one," then choose the singular verb. But if you have something else in the sentence that suggests that you mean it as a plural, choose a plural verb (see the effect of their in the following sentence): "None of the students have done their homework yet." It's nice (and rare) in Grammar to have a situation in which you're right no matter which option you choose.

Question	Which is correct, admission or admittance, and why? The club refuses (admission/admittance) to anyone not wearing shoes.
Source & Date of Question	Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan 6 June 1997
Grammar's Response	Webster's Third doesn't help here, does it? Admission (in this context) is "the act of allowing to enter; entrance gained by permission; provision [etc.]; price paid." And Admittance is "permission or right to enter; act of admitting; actual entrance." And they come from the same Latin admitter. I don't see much of a difference there, but for some reason I would use "admittance" in your sentence -- though I couldn't tell you why, based on the dictionary's definitions. I think of "admitting" as allowing someone to walk through a door; "admission" feels more like allowing someone into an institution -- the Illinois Bar Assocation, say, or a college.