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The Grammar Logs # 180 |
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| QUESTION |
| Hello: I was wondering what what tense the following sentence is in: "I am about to have been shot."I seem to recall it's the future pluperfect, but I could be wildly mistaken. (In which case, I'm about to have been corrected by you.) Thanks! |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
Portsmouth, New Hampshire  Monday, August 3, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| That "about" + the infinitive construction does create a form of the future to express "imminent fulfillment" (as Quirk and Greenbaum call it). This happens to be a perfect aspect of that tense, the future perfect, and it also happens to be in the passive voice, so you've got what I would call the future perfect passive or passive future perfect. But if you take two aspirins and drink plenty of fluids you should be fine by the morning. |
| QUESTION |
| The progress report and finance forecast were prepared for your information. Q: I want to know that "were prepared" or "was prepared" should be correct? |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Hong Kong Tuesday, August 4, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| You're going to have to decide if "the progress report and finance forecast (note spelling)" are one thing or two. It looks like they're two, to me. If that's so, then you want "were prepared." |
| QUESTION |
Please diagram the new collegiate debate topic:
"Resolved: that the United States Federal Government should amend Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through legislation to create additional protections against racial and gender discrimination." |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Normal, Illinois Tuesday, August 4, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| Sorry, but I've resolved never to get into diagramming -- for two reasons: 1. It's very difficult to show on the WWW without getting into graphical representations. 2. I'm lousy at it. I do, however, recommend Kolln's book (see below). She has many helpful examples, although I don't know if her book would address all the issues in this particular sentence. Authority: Understanding English Grammar by Martha Kolln. 4rth Edition. MacMillan Publishing Company: New York. 1994.
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| QUESTION |
| Some last names begin with a lower case letter, e.g. Wesley von Schack. When such a name begins a sentence, should it be capitalized? For example, should von Schack be spelled "Von Schack"? |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Ithaca, New York Tuesday, August 4, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| Yes. The capitalization at the beginning of the sentence has nothing to do with the person's name; it gets capitalized, sort of by accident. |
| QUESTION |
This is taken from quotable quotes:
It is books that are a key to the wide world...Can you please explain why the speaker used "a key" to refer to "books"? Is it possible to say "the key," or use any other word in place of "a"? Thanks in advance. |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
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Taipei, Taiwan Tuesday, August 4, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| The writer probably used "a key" because books aren't the only key -- thus the indefinite article. I'm not sure what you have in mind with "any other word in place of 'a'." |
| QUESTION |
Which is the proper word to use: "Which of these items is the (less/least) expensive?" |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Arlington, Virginia Tuesday, August 4, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| That depends on how many items you're looking at. Two items -- less expensive; more than two items -- least expensive. If it's two items, we'd probably omit the. |
| QUESTION |
| None |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Hartford, Connecticut Wednesday, August 5-14, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| Grammar's Away on Break -- from August 5 through 14. See you soon. |
| QUESTION |
Here are the questions I have:
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| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Brooklyn, New York Wednesday, August 12, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| Check out the section on Pronouns for help with the forms of who. Be sure to take the quizzes, and then get back to us if you still have questions. "She and I" would serve as the compound subject of a sentence: "She and I are going to the movies." "She and me" -- well, wouldn't serve as anything. "Her and me" would: "Grandma loved Heloise; she left all her money to her and me." |
| QUESTION |
| 1.Use of the word can, could. My question...Can the word 'can' be used to answer a question requiring an answer in the past tense ? For example... Q Why was he happy ? A 1.He was happy because his brother told him that a chameleon can change colour. or 2. He was happy because his brother told him that a chameleon could change colour. 2. Which is the correct answer? a. The grasshopper is as green as the grass. b. The grasshopper is as green as grass. 3. a. The caterpillar is as green as the leaf. b. The caterpillar is as green as leaves. Thank you. |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Singapore Wednesday, August 12, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| You might want to review the section on Modal Auxiliaries. I think you want to use "can" with your chameleon because the present tense suffices nicely there. The caterpillar could be either "green as the grass" (if there is actually specific grass there that you're looking at) or "green as grass" (of a generic reference). The same is true of the "leaves," except we probably wouldn't say that because leaves are not quite as uniformly green as grass is. "The leaf" would refer to a specific leaf that the chameleon is posed against. |
| QUESTION |
Is the apostrophe needed? This title will go after a person's name on a business card.
Veterans' Employment Representative |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Richmond, Virginia Wednesday, August 12, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| I think it will depend on whether this person represents veterans one at a time (Veteran's) or as a group (Veterans'). If, however, the person is somehow a representative for Veterans Employment, it is possible to use the word as an attributive noun (adjective) and use no apostrophe. I hate to shilly-shally this way, but without knowing how the word is being used, it's kind of hard to say what form you want to use. |
| QUESTION |
Searched but could not find rules for
"I" and "me"
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| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Las Vegas, Nevada Wednesday, August 12, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
That is covered in the Pronouns section. If you're using these words as a subject, you'd use "George and I": George and I are good friends.If you're using the words as objects, you'd use "George and me": She gave the tickets to George and me. |
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