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The Grammar Logs # 175 |
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| QUESTION |
I am writing a report on Poland and ran into trouble when writing the following sentence:
Rising consumption and investment have been the main driving force behind economic growth in Poland over the past two years.Should it be: rising consumption and investment has been? And what are the specific rules governing gerund/verb agreement? Thank you |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
London, England  Wednesday, July 29, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| These two things -- rising consumption and investment -- seem to be one thing, one force, in this sentence. They're acting sort of like macaroni and cheese or rice and beans. (Pardon my culinary metaphor, but I'm hungry.) So you want a singular verb. If I'm wrong about this, and they're discrete things acting as one force, you'll want the plural verb. You don't really have a gerund here; you have a participle ("rising") modifying both consumption and investment. Whether they're two things or one is something you'll have to decide. |
| QUESTION |
| Usage of "before" and "ago". Thanks. |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Jaipur, Rajasthan, India Wednesday, July 29, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
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| QUESTION |
| The term "god speed" means what? Good luck? Best wishes? Is that the correct spelling? |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Fairfield, Connecticut Wednesday, July 29, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| It's often written as one word -- Godspeed -- and means God grant you a safe and prosperous journey, or something to that effect. (In Middle English, "speed" could mean success.") You'll also see it written as "Goodspeed" (as in the Goodspeed Opera House), which is probably a result of artists' unwillingness to use God's name (in vain?) in a theatrical (profane?) setting. |
| QUESTION |
I need your recommended use of hyphens in the following phrase:
A natural gas fired fluidized bed system. . . |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Hill Air Force Base, Utah Wednesday, July 29, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
Too bad you're not writing in German; that could be one long, beautiful word! Certainly we want natural-gas-fired hyphenated, and we probably want bed-system hyphenated, but I don't really know what a "bed system" is. I'll have to leave that part of it up to you. It's probably
A natural-gas-fired fluidized bed-system. . .but that depends on the meaning of "bed system." You might even want to put a comma after "natural-gas-fired." Could you transpose "fluidized" and "natural-gas-fired"? If so, put a comma after "natural-gas-fired." |
| QUESTION |
| My speech teacher gave me a 96% on a recent report. The only change she recommended was from "David's sermon content will be..." to "The content of David's sermon..." She said "sermon" should not come between "David" and "content." I think 4% is a lot to deduct for this. I can't find any sources that specifically address the issue. Thank you |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Unknown Wednesday, July 29, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| I think she's right about the real subject of the sentence: it's the content of David's sermon. I don't think it's a matter of having "sermon" coming between "David" and "content"; it's a simple matter of clarity and drawing your reader's attention to the exact subject -- the "content of David's sermon." As to whether four percent is a lot to deduct -- well, I think it is, but that and two bucks will buy you a coffee coolata at Dunkin' Donuts. |
| QUESTION |
In the following sentence, should the word "year's" have an apostrophe to indicate the possessive and why?
I have 10 year's experience in journalism. |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Marietta, Georgia Wednesday, July 29, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
Yes, you want the possessive there, and because you're using a plural (years), the apostrophe wants to come after the "s": ten years' experience. It's as if the measurement of time becomes personified and the experience belongs to it (the experience of ten years) .
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| QUESTION |
| In the "Avoiding Primer Language" quiz, the question contains information that your answer does not. In my answer, I tried to also include that the novel was written by Ken Kesey, since that was included in the question. However, your answer didn't mention Kesey at all. Even though I did feel a bit gypped [which may not be a grammatically correct word, but I think you know what I mean], I did think the quizzes were rather neat-o. And best of all, I did find the answer to the question that originally brought me here (where to put quotation marks, inside or outside of periods and commas). Thanks! |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Somewhere, South Carolina Wednesday, July 29, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| You're right. I cheated. Thinking how Ken Kesey must feel! I've fixed it and now Kesey's name is in there (and I spelled "Cuckoo" right this time). You may have a better version, though; if you do, send it on to us. |
| QUESTION |
| 1) I often see "including:" setting off a list of items. Is this ever correct or does it always require "the following" before the colon (which seems rather starchy)? Should the colon be removed altogether? If so, can a list of items that are separated by semi-colons exist WITHOUT the introductory colon? 2) How do I handle hyphenation in the following example: "Program areas will implement standards for healthcare and health insurance related transactions"? I want to put the hyphen between "insurance" and "related" but then there has to be one after "healthcare" and "health", too, right? Thanks for your help! |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Thursday, July 30, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| When you're creating a vertical list, you can put a colon after the "including" (even though you would not do that in the flow of normal text -- where you would remove the colon). You're better off allowing the colon to follow an independent clause, however. There's a difference between healthcare insurance and health insurance? Your instincts are right to put a hyphen between insurance and related, which mean you'll need one after health and healthcare as well. But you'll put a space after the hyphen in healthcare, right? healthcare- and health-insurance-related transactionsPersonally, I would avoid the hyphenation question with something like Program areas will implement standards for transactions related to healthcare and health insurance |
| QUESTION |
| I would like to know the correct spelling of "scaleable", "configurable" and "upgradeable". Do you include the "e" of don't you? I have checked dictionaries and the web. But, I am getting both answers depending on the source. Thanks |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Burlington, Ontario, Canada Thursday, July 30, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| My dictionaries all say "scalable" (and don't admit "scaleable") although I must admit it looks funny to me. "Configurable" drops that silent "e" at the end of "configure." I see both spellings of "upgradable/upgradeable." I'm afraid I can't do much here beyond pointing you toward another dictionary. Authority for this note: WWWebster Dictionary, the World Wide Web edition of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, Tenth Edition. Used with permission. |
| QUESTION |
I have a problem about the following sentence.
'..., the only one which could leave him with his remaining dignity intact is to offer evidence on tape.'
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| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Hong Kong, China Thursday, July 30, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| The relative clause "which could leave him with his remaining dignity intact" comes between the subject, "one," and its verb, "is." (The "to" is part of the infinitive phrase, which is the predicate nominative of the clause.) Without your clause, the sentence would read, "the one one is to offer evidence on tape." If you eliminate "is to," you won't have a verb. In short, there's no thing wrong with this structure: "Our only hope is to reorganize." |
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