The
Grammar
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# 174

QUESTION
How do you address persons (male/female) with the same last name? Would you say: Mr Rogers, Mr. Rogers or Misters Rogers? Also, is there an abreviation for Mr. Ms. Miss or Mrs. in the plural form?
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Frederiksted, St. Croix Tuesday, July 28, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
The plural of Mr. is Messrs. (We invited Messrs. Carter, Lincoln, and Ford.) The plural of Mrs. is Mmes or Mmes. (with or without the period). The plural of Miss is the Miss Rogers and Kent. I don't know what the plural of Ms could be; it's not an abbreviation, so I don't know why it couldn't be Mses. You could write Messrs. Rogers or Misters Rogers -- just don't write Mrs. Rogers.

QUESTION
I would like to know which is correct: "I am used to this." or "I am use to this." Is either acceptable?

Thanks in advance

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Ann Arbor, Michigan Tuesday, July 28, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
Think of the word "accustom" instead of "use." We would write "I am accustomed to this," right? So we would also write "I am used to this."

QUESTION
I am entering an essay-writing contest. The essay must be 100 words or less. When counting the total number of words in my essay, are words such as "a, of, the, an," included in the total count? Is there a "rule of thumb" about such things? Thanks in advance!
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Kitty Hawk, North Carolina Wednesday, July 29, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
I imagine you're using a word-processor to write your final draft on, aren't you? Let the word-processing program count your words. If it doesn't do so at first, it might do so in the spellchecking program. (That's what the APA Publication Manual recommends.) It probably counts everything, including the articles and prepositions. As far as I know, there are no set rules about this kind of thing, and anyone who doesn't specify doesn't have much right to be picky about it. To avoid being declared ineligible, though, I would either find out from the contest judges or go ahead and count the articles and other "little words."

QUESTION
What's the difference (in meaning)of the following:
  1. A high-value product and a high-valued product.
  2. A full-feature device and a full-featured device.
How to determine the appropriate word to use as adjective: for example a noun, like feature or a verb with "ed," like featured?

Thanks in advance.

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Taipei, Taiwan Wednesday, July 29, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
I can't imagine saying "high-valued product," though I can imagine calling something a highly valued product. "High-value" means what it sounds like; this thing has high value (intrinsically speaking), though I think it's a clumsy phrase. Again, with "feature," I can imagine a "fully featured device," but the meaning of "full-feature device" escapes me.

Surely most of the time you are going to be using the past participle (the verb form with the -ed ending, in this case) to modify whatever it is you're talking about. And I would think you'd be better off with an adverb to modify that participle (as in "fully featured" or "highly valued").


QUESTION
It is proper to italicize the title of a book, but what about the title of a piece of software?
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Austin, Texas Wednesday, July 29, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
I have never seen the title of software italicized. I don't know why or why not.

QUESTION
I am having trouble distinguishing when to use set-up vs setup. Is there a rule that I can apply?

Thanks.

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Wednesday, July 29, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
I'm not familiar with the use of this word with a hyphen, and I don't think there are any rules about this particular word. A setup is an arrangement, a plan, a constitution or makeup for something. If you set up something, you probably are creating a setup. The verb is always two words: set up. (How's that for going out on a limb?) The dictionary is your best friend in situations like this.

QUESTION
Is there a comma before using the word because? Please include the reason why there is or is not.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Unknown Wednesday, July 29, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
I hate to do this to you, but sometimes there is and sometimes there isn't. You'll have to determine whether the clause that begins with because is essential to the meaning of the sentence or not. If it's essential, then you will not use a comma in front of it; if the information it adds to the sentence is "added information," parenthetical, not essential, then you'll want to use a comma in front of it. It's nearly always going to be essential -- no comma.
  • I love this opera because it was written by my uncle.
  • We ran out of gas half way to Phoenix and had to walk the rest of the way, because I forgot to fill the tank.

QUESTION
I need to know where I place the apostrophe in the word "homeowners" in the following sentence:
Come to us for all your homeowners insurance needs.
When I owned a home by myself, I would have needed homeowner's insurance; since my home is now insured in both husband's and my names, I think I have homeowners' insurance.

But what about the sentence in question, which tells the prospective clients that he/she needs (or they need) insurance.

Or is this just business-ese and would have no apostrophe?

What do you think? Thanks

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Henderson, Nevada Wednesday, July 29, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
You definitely need an apostrophe, whether it's written in "business-ese" or not. It is, however, used as an abstraction and, even when it's referring to you and your husband, it's not referring to any specific being or set of beings. I'd go with the singular in this case: homeowner's insurance. In fact, I think you and your husband have homeowner's insurance; it's just that you own it in common.

QUESTION
I am simply trying to find out the proper format for writing a business letter. Thank you!
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
New York, New York Wednesday, July 29, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
Until I get around to setting up some models for myself, I refer questions about business letter formats to the Purdue University Online Writing Lab. You can find it by going to our Main Page and selecting the Online Resources for Writers. It's not very fancy, but they have some models for various kinds of business letters.

QUESTION
In a statement like: All I wanted WERE flowers, or: all I need ARE piles of gold, how is the "all" functioning? Why doesn't it imply singularity, as in "all I want is this one single thing: flowers?" Is it still an indefinite pronoun here?
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Oakland, California Wednesday, July 29, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
"All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth." All can be tricky. It be either singular or plural:
  • All of the food has gone bad.
  • All of the TV dinners are missing.
It depends on whether you're talking about something that's countable or not. I think you're right -- "all that I want" is one thing, so you want a singular verb.

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