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The Grammar Logs # 149 |
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| QUESTION |
Please,
I have heard the expression "it won't do any good " many times, and
I do know how to use it. But, could I say the opposite of this expression?
I mean, does the expression "it will do some good" exist?
eg.
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| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
Goiania - Goias - Brazil  Sunday, June 21, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| I can't think of any idiomatic expression that exactly fills the bill here -- something like "It would be a goood idea to buy sweaters. . ."? Or "It would be smart/wise"? "It will do some good" feels rather clumsy and probably would only be used as an immmediate contrast to the first expression: "It won't do any good to spank children, but it will do some good to talk sternly to them." |
| QUESTION |
Remember that an -ing verb form without an auxiliary form to accompany it can never be a verb.In the sentence above, which one is the verb within the clause after " that"? i don't understand what it's trying to explain. Tell me, please. |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Sunray, Texas Sunday, June 21, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| The verb in the clause you're referring to is "can be" (modified, of course, by "never"). The point of the sentence is that when a verb form ending in -ing appears by itself it is either a modifier (a participle) or a noun (a gerund); this is, it is a verb form, but not a verb. We say this to help students avoid fragments such as "The mayor, along with his two brothers, being arrested this morning." That sentence doesn't have a verb. We need the auxiliary "is" so that "is being arrested" becomes a full verb and we have a complete sentence. |
| QUESTION |
| Please, what is the right way to say that the sole of my shoes is up, I mean, can I say my shoes are "upside-down"? I know that we use upside down when the top of something is on the bottom, and the bottom on the top. But what about shoes? And how should I describe the action of changing their position...to turn over the shoes? Thanks |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Goiania-Goias Brazil Sunday, June 21, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| I can't see why shoes would be different from anything else. My shoes are upside-down. My shoes are turned over? "Turn over your shoes" would suffice nicely, it seems to me. |
| QUESTION |
Could you please tell me how to use the following phrasal verbs?
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| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| TUEN MUN, HONG KONG Sunday, June 21, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| I think we usually use "concerned with" when we're talking about documents: "This chapter is concerned with issues of economic policy" (or we could say, "This chapter concerns issues of . . . "). People are "concerned about": "I am concerned about our inability to pay off our long-term debt." I have to admit I'm sort of guessing here. I'll post this question and answer and maybe somebody who knows will mail in a clarification. David Eason suggests that concerned about implies "care or worry," while concerned with implies "regarding." I guess that further reinforces my sugggestion that "concerned about" has to do with people -- since things don't normally "care or worry," whereas we could sat that a newspaper article is "concerned with." Make sense? |
| QUESTION |
Someone has taught me that "education " in English concerns schooling, culture, and not "politeness" or "up-bringing". But she also said that parents can either bring-up, raise, or "TRAIN" their children. Is it really right? I mean, can I say like that :
* Joe and Mary have trained their child pretty well. That's why he has become such a nice adult.Can " train" in this case be used instead of " brought up", or raised ? Thanks |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Goiania/Goias - Brazil Sunday, June 21, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| I think most people would use the word "brought up." "Training" is something you do with pets (although we do talk about "toilet training" our children). It is true that education, at least in the U.S., doesn't touch often upon matters of manners, etc. In formal writing, we would say that parents rear children (not raise, which is what we do with animals), although some people would argue that that is a distinction not worth maintaining. |
| QUESTION |
| HI, I am an ESL student. I want to learn about "MODAL VERBS". Could you help me, please? |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Chicago, Illinois Sunday, June 21, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| Please go to the section on Helping and Modal Auxiliary Verbs. If you still have questions after that, please write again. |
| QUESTION |
| I would like to know which one is the correct answer of the following question. * In the area known as Greater London, over 70% of this traffic ...... private cars.
Thank you very much for your assistance. |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Bangkok, Thailand Monday, June 22, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| The subject here is 70%. Fractional or decimal expressions are singular if they refer to noncountable things -- like traffic (unlike "cars," say, "traffic" is singular). So we need a singular verb (not "are"). "Is made of" is the wrong phrasal verb ("is made up of" might work); "includes no" doesn't make sense, logically. So we're left with "consists of," which works fine. |
| QUESTION |
Is the following considered correct usage?
"In case you'd forgotten"Thank you |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Yorktown, Virginia Monday, June 22, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| For casual writing, that looks OK to me. Some people would object to the contraction (for "you had" in this case) in formal writing, but is that what leads you to ask the question? |
| QUESTION |
| If you were going to tell someone they didn't see something would you say "You haven't seen......, or You didn't see......" Or are both correct? Thanks! |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Havelock, North Carolina Monday, June 22, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| Seems to me they're both correct, depending on the circumstances. "You haven't seen the newspaper around here, have you?" "Four deer ran through the yard, and you didn't see them?" or "You didn't see him commit that murder because he wasn't even in town that night." Something tells me that in most contexts, you're going to use the present perfect, "haven't seen." |
| QUESTION |
| In the sentence "What's up?" what part of speech is the word "up"? |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Holland, Michigan Monday, June 22, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| It's dangerous trying to analyze something that is purely idiomatic and slangy. I think "up" is a preposition playing the role of an adverb modifying the verb "is." I'm also wondering if "to be up" isn't becoming a commonly accepted Phrasal Verb. |
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