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The Grammar Logs # 179 |
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| QUESTION |
| Please tell me how to determine when to use "like" and when to use "as if" What is the difference in their meanings. Your simple example in the confusables section didn't really help. |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
Fullerton, California  Sunday, August 2, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
The confusable note means to suggest that the major difference between like and as is that as is used to introduce clauses and like is used to introduce comparisons that aren't clauses. According to the online Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, however (which we can't see because their servers were stolen last week -- I didn't do it!), the distinction isn't terribly important, nor is it consistenty adhered to even by very good writers. Still, in formal writing, when introducing a dependent clause, use as: She ran as if her life depended on it [not She ran like her life depended on it]. |
| QUESTION |
| 32 years ago I graduated from High School. I am among the grammar and spelling challenged. (Not stupid, just ignorant).I desire to become a writer. There are volumes of software for foreign languages and math; but where is the grammer software? I love to write. People who have read my writings tell me they are great. I know in my heart of hearts that I lack the capacity to produce great art. QUESTION: Where can I obtain grammar software that will help me reach that plateau I so desire. I am glad I swerved into your site. |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Abilene, Texas Sunday, August 2, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| There may be "grammar software" out there, but forget about it. You just need to read, read, read, and then write! Maybe take a course in creative writing at the closest community college you can get to. Forget about great art -- you think Toni Morrison worries about great art? Just try to make the characters live, the world you give them to live in be colorful and interesting. Have fun writing, even if it drives you nuts. It's probably too late to get into a summer writing conference, but these things go on all year in some places. Find some other writers and form a group of your own -- if you can't find an already existing group. |
| QUESTION |
| I am writing a paper for my English class on a certain novel, and we are required to state the theme of the story, and who the protagonist and antagonist are. We were told to look these definitions up in a book of literary terms (and definitely not a standard dictionary), but I was a bit confused by their explanations. I would please like to know how exactly a theme is stated. I know it is a universal truth about life, society, humanity, etc. that is in full sentence form, but I do not know how to word the sentence. Would it be stated along the line of, say, "Those who do accomplish more than those who wait." Or, would it be more like, "A rolling stone gathers no moss." Please also give me an example if you can! I would also like to know what an antagonist is. Is an antagonist just one person, or can it be a group of people? Can the antagonist be an emotion or feeling? Or can it be some kind of event that provokes the protagonist to act or feel a certain way? Just what exactly are the possibilities or limits of what an antagonist can be? Thank you so much for your help! |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Toledo, Ohio Sunday, August 2, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| The theme is just the main idea: the theme of Shakespeare's King Lear is that when you try to measure love it turns on you and kills you; the theme of Shakespeare's Othello is that jealousy makes people stupid, etc. "A rolling stone gathers no moss" is a cliché, and that's probably not what your teacher wants. I suppose that an emotion, such as fear in a psychological thriller or war story, could be the antagonist. The antagonist is the force against our protagonist, and so it could be just about anything -- another person, or group of people, or a natural force, or a mountain, or Darth Vader, or Cujo the berserk St. Bernard. The protagonist is the central dymanic force of the fiction, usually for good, although not necessarily so. (For instance, who is the protagonist in the film Silence of the Lambs? the young FBI agent or Hanibel Lecter [sp?]?) The protagonist is usually, though, the moral focus of the fiction. (So, again, in The Great Gatsby, is it Nick, our narrator, or Gatsby himself?) I hope this response doesn't merely confuse you. Good luck with your essay. |
| QUESTION |
| In my world, we use the abbreviation of SF which stands for Standard Form; and use it in front of a specific number which represents a specific form, such as Standard Form 182 would be written/spoken as SF-182.
So do I write/say "an" SF-182 or "a" SF-182. Thank you---I like your site! |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Little Rock, Arkansas Monday, August 3, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| An SF-182 -- because the "s" sound begins with a vowel sound -- as if it were spelled "ess." |
| QUESTION |
| I took along a portfolio of the custom furniture I design (or designed) and build (or built) in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Thanks in advance. |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Taipei, Taiwan Monday, August 3, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| That's going to depend entirely on whether or not you're still designing and building it. If you're still doing it, you can use the present tense; if that's an activity that's behind you, you should use the past tense. |
| QUESTION |
| Dear Miss Grammar: Are the sentences below acceptable or are they simply not? If they are not, is there a better way to say it? Where did I fail, grammatically speaking?
Thank you very much |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Jaboatao dos Guararapes-PE, Brazil Monday, August 3, 1998 |
| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| There's nothing really wrong with any of them, although I think most of us (with any grey hair) would say "I pulled out most of my gray hair. . ." ("Off" sort of suggests that it wasn't your hair to begin with -- that it's a wig.) |
| QUESTION |
| When extracting an exact situation from the Bible, should you use quote marks? I thought that if the quotation is more than 4 lines long, it is necessary to start the quote on a new line and make the margins larger than the body text. Is this true? |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Spanaway, Washington Monday, August 3, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| I'm not sure what "extracting a situation from the Bible" means, but if it means you're quoting the language of the scriptures, then yes, it's a good idea to indent (at least a quarter of an inch beyond the normal half-inch indent) anything more than four lines. Also, when you indent like that, you won't need quotation marks to indicate that you're quoting something. You can find additional help at Suggestions for Writing About Literature. |
| QUESTION |
| I don't understand what is the use of "ain't. Could you explain it? |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Somewhere, Mexico Monday, August 3, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| In formal, written text, don't use it. If it's used at all, anywhere, it ought to be the contraction for am not. (Frankly, it makes more sense in a Tag Question to say, "I'm a student, ain't I?" than it does to say, "I'm a student, aren't I?") But the word has such a bad reputation that you're not doing yourself any favors learning where to use it "properly." |
| QUESTION |
Which form is correct and why?
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| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Monday, August 3, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| I don't think that should be an either/or question. If you're stressing the process, the act of having become, use that word; if you're just celebration the fact of having made it, of being there, use be. I would think that "become" stresses the fact that "we" (whoever that is) has grown into this situation; with the word "be," you (the "we") could've been made part of a larger institution from the outset. |
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