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# 152

QUESTION
In writing dialog between characters in a novel, what is the correct use of a question mark or exclamation point?

"What time is it?" asked Trish.
"It's already noon!" exclaimed Mike.

or...

"What time is it," asked Trish.
"It's already noon," exclaimed Mike.

or...

should it be something else altogether?
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Alhambra, California Wednesday, June 24, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
Your first shot at it was right on target! Use the question mark and exclamation mark when called for (but don't overuse those exclamations.) (And watch your spelling of "exclaimed.") It's probably a good idea to find an author whom you can trust in such matters, find a page with a lot of dialogue, photocopy it, and keep it in front of you while you're writing dialogue -- until you've got the hang of it and it comes more or less naturally.

QUESTION
Here's another question regarding lists... this time, I'm wondering if it is correct to leave off the "and" on the second to last item in a list that is not preceeded by a colon.

Example:

Two concepts that need to be described for this bulletin are

  • who is a faculty-employee
  • what are regular and non-regular employees.
It doesn't look right to me, but I see this constantly. Thanks
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Victoria, British Columbia Wednesday, June 24, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
The Chicago Manual of Style doesn't provide for an introductory line that doesn't end in a colon -- at least not that I can see. The New York Public Library's Writer's Guide to Style and Usage, however, offers this advice:
  • the introductory sentence may end with a comma, semicolon, dash, or no punctuation at all, whichever is appropriate;
  • the list items can begin with lowercase letters;
  • the second-to-last item ends with and; and
  • the last item ends with a period.
I realize this is quite different from what we suggested earlier, based on what we see in the Chicago style guide. You can conclude from this that the punctuation of vertical lists is very much a personal matter. Consistency is a virtue. This guide (the NYPL guide) also suggests ending the introductory element with a dash and dropping end punctuation altogether.

Authority: New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage HarperCollins: New York. 1994. Cited with permission. 318.
QUESTION
I know this is the correct spelling of the name "DuPont"; however, if it is used in a title that is all caps, is it "DUPONT"?
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Unknown Wednesday, June 24, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
I can't find an authoritative answer to this question -- probably because most of them suggest that using ALL CAPS is not a particularly good idea. If it's really necessary, though, could you use a small cap for the "u" in DuPont? DUPONT?

QUESTION
Perhaps you can help me; my last name is Ayers, how do I refer to my family collectively - The Ayers or The Ayers'?
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Winnetka, California Thursday, June 25, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
I'm starting to feel sorry for people whose last name ends in "s"! The plural of Ayers is Ayerses (and the plural of Jones is Joneses and of Adams is Adamses, etc.). If we're talking about going over to your house, we could write that we're going over to the Ayerses' (or to Mr. and Mrs. Ayers' house).

Authority: New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage HarperCollins: New York. 1994. Cited with permission. 270.
QUESTION
techniques or methods for paraphasing sentences.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Washington, D.C. Thursday, June 25, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
Sorry, but I'm not aware of any rules covering such matters. You might review the introductory sections of our Guide to Writing Research Papers if you're thinking about the ways of properly citing authorities and resources. But I think you're just wondering how to say, in your own words, what someone else has thought and written, and I don't think there's any one correct way of doing that. Just remember that old "According to . . . " and "As ______ points out in Such and Such . . . ."

QUESTION
Q1. Which sentence is correct?
  1. This suitcase is made of leather.
    or
  2. This suitcase is made from leather.
Q2. Is this sentence correct?
Contact between 10 AM to 1 PM & 5 PM to 8 PM
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Jaipur, Rajasthan, India Thursday, June 25, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
Probably either "of leather" or "from leather" is correct, but I'm sure that "made of leather" is much more common. Avoid "with leather," which is kind of a weasel word: there's some leather involved in the manufacture of the piece, but most of it is vinyl or something else.

With a range of time like that, I think you'd be better off with "between 10 am and 1 pm or between 5 pm and 8 pm. (or from 10 am to 1 pm, etc.)


QUESTION
Thanks for your site. It helps me. The question is this. What's the difference between this:
  1. "he is an American" and "he is American".
  2. "let's have lunch". and " have a lunch."
  3. "at school" and "at the school"
it's a little easy but sometimes make me unhappy. So would you answer this question as soon as possible. Thanks for your kindness and trouble. I'll be waiting your mail.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Unknown Thursday, June 25, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
I'm not aware of any difference in #1; perhaps the second pertains a bit more to the idea of legal citizenship? "Have a lunch" would be a peculiar way of saying it; we don't use the indefinite article with that word. In #3, saying someone is at "the school" pertains more to the building itself -- less to the idea of school and more to the physical structure itself. (But there's not much difference between these two expressions.)

I'll post these rather tentative answers, and if someone wants to suggest other responses by means of e-mail, I'll add them here later.


QUESTION
Voice mail is a noun. "My voice mail is full," for example. May I "voice mail someone"? This seems to be a little tricky since I can't "mail someone," but I can "phone someone".
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Santa Clara, California Thursday, June 25, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
This is a matter of idiomatic usage. It is peculiar to say "e-mail me," isn't it? But you often hear that when someone means something like "e-mail the directions to me." But, as you point out, it's probably no more peculiar than "Let's phone Bill"

QUESTION
Please show me how you would punctuate the following:
Your locally owned neighborhood grocery store.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Minneapolis, Minnesota Thursday, June 25, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
There's no reason to use a comma (or anything else) in that phrase. See the section on Coordinate Adjectives.

QUESTION
I have seen the phrase "...is looking to..." is this a regional expression or standard English?
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Eagle Rock, Virginia Friday, June 26, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
Certain variants of this phrasal verb are probably more standardized than others, and I'm not aware of their source. If we say, "We're looking to the future," that's pretty standard, I think. In the sense of anticipation, "We're looking to prevent any more losses," the phrase will be discovered in most dictionaries. In the sense of expressing intention, "He's looking to punch his lights out!", I suspect the usage is colloquial and may be a regionalism; I don't know.

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