The Grammar Logs -- Number Twenty

The
Grammar
Logs
# 20

Question Hello. I would like to ask you what is the correct form of the following sentence:

We are looking forward to meeting you again.
or

We are looking forward to meet you again.
I suppose the first is the correct one, but I would like to check it. Thank you very much Bye.
Source & Date
of Question Bratislava, Slovak Republic
3 July 1997
Grammar's
Response Congratulations! You have submitted the 200th Question to Ask Grammar! Your prize is a brand new Ford Explorer, and you will receive it just as soon as we figure out how to squeeze it into this CD-ROM slot!
The correct response is the one you chose: "We are looking forward to meeting you again." The "meeting," in this case, is a thing that you look forward to and thus it is appropriate that you choose the gerund form (noun verbal) of the verb.

Question I know that the contraction for "is" is "'s", say like "She's beautiful." But can "'s" apply to "was" as well? Can we say "She's absent yesterday"?
Source & Date
of Question Hong Kong
3 July 1997
Grammar's
Response No, you can't. The contraction 's is a contraction for is or has. So it could be used as "She's been absent for two days." (She has been absent for two days.) which is in the present perfect tense.

Question Are there any other tenses besides the following: Past Perfect, Past Perfect Progressive, Past, Past Progressive, Present Perfect, Present Perfect Progressive, Present, Present Progressive, Future Perfect, Future Perfect Progressive, Future, and Future Progressive?
Source & Date
of Question Knox, Indiana
6 July 1997
Grammar's
Response Not that I know of. Those are all the tenses in the active voice. Or was this a trick question?

Question I would like you to send me a complete list of collective nouns.
Source & Date
of Question Lisbon, Portugal
6 July 1997
Grammar's
Response That would be a very long list indeed. Quirk and Greenbaum break them down into classes, and that might be more helpful.
Specific: army, class, club, committee, crew, crowd, family, flock, gang, government, group, herd, jury, majority, minority.
Generic: the aristocracy, the bourgeoisie, the clergy, the elite, the gentry, the intelligentsia, the laity, the proletariat, the public
Unique: The Arab League, the Congress, the Kremlin, the Papacy, Parliament, the United Nations, the United States, the Vatican
The important thing is not to have a complete list, but to understand how they work when they appear.
Authority: A University Grammar of English by Randolph Quirk and Sidney Greenbaum. Longman Group: Essex, England. 1993.

Question Please explain "sentence" to me. What is "sentence" in general? And the kinds of sentence?
Source & Date
of Question Sunchun Chullanamdo Korea
6 July 1997
Grammar's
Response A sentence is said to be a group of related words that express a complete thought. There are many different kinds of sentences, but one common classification lists the following: a simple sentence, which contains one independent clause; a compound sentence, which contains at least two independent clauses; a complex sentence, which contains at least one dependent clause and one independent clause; a compound-complex sentence, which contains at least one dependent clause and two or more independent clauses. See the definition of clauses in the Guide for further help.

Question In a block quote, if the first part of the first sentence is omitted, is it necessary to use an ellipsis? If so, is the first word upper case or lower case? If upper case, should the letter be within brackets or alone? Is capitalization based on whether the quoted phrase forms a gramatically complete sentence or if its a fragment?
For example:
...so we must introduce our Guardians when they are young to fear, and, by contrast, give them opportunities for pleasure, proving them far more rigorously than we prove the gold in the furnace.
(Plato's Republic)
I would really appreciate hearing from you! I've checked several style manuals and haven't been able to find the answer to this question.
Source & Date
of Question Cambridge, Massachusetts
7 July 1997
Grammar's
Response This is what Bill Walsh, Copy Editor of the Washington Post has to say about this matter:
There is no need to use ellipses at the beginning or end of a quote, except perhaps to create the feeling of a trailing-off at the end (I thought I did the right thing, but then again . . .). It's silly to indicate omission at the beginning or end of a quote, since virtually all quotes are from people who have spoken before in their lives and will do so again.
I'll buy what Walsh says about the ellipsis at the beginning of the quotation, but I can see a use for it at the end of a quotation. It shows your reader that you've ended a thought before the original writer or speaker ended a thought. (That feels more important to me than showing that you've picked up a quoted thought mid-sentence.) I think it's fine to begin a quotation mid-sentence, but don't use the ellipsis there. If your punctuation is different from the original writer's, indicate so with a bracket. [S]o we must introduce our guardians . . . (And put spaces between those three dots that make up the ellipsis, by the way.) Re-punctuating a quoted sentence because you've turned a complete sentence into a fragment is a violation of the basic structure of the quoted thought and should be avoided.
Authority: Quick Access: Reference for Writers by Lynn Quitman Troyka. Simon & Schuster: New York. 1995. Used with permission.

Question Is there a difference between "can not" as two words and "cannot" as one word?
Source & Date
of Question Kailua, Hawaii
7 July 1997
Grammar's
Response Yes, there is. Normally, cannot is, for some reason, spelled as one word. If you spell it as two separate words, it means that you are emphasizing the not part of the construction, as you would when you are angry or being especially emphatic and negative. "You cannot do that" is a statement of fact, then; "You can not do that" is a declaration that you'd better not do that or someone will get very upset. (It's hard to describe the difference without sound, I'm discovering, but I hope this will suffice.)

Question When abbreviating "association," should there be a period after the n? Ass'n. or Ass'n ?
Thanks.
Source & Date
of Question St. Louis, Missouri
8 July 1997
Grammar's
Response It's an abbreviation, not a contraction, so leave out the apostrophe, but do put a period after the "n."

Question Should I write Metro Atlanta Area or metro Atlanta area? Please help me with this initial cap question. -- Thanks.
Source & Date
of Question Atlanta, Georgia
8 July 1997
Grammar's
Response If this is some kind of official (postal or governmental) entity, then you'll capitalize all the words. However, it sounds like an informal, unofficial designation of a geographical area, so I think only the word Atlanta will be capitalized. You would speak of the metropolitan Atlanta area, wouldn't you? "Metro," in this case, I think, is only an adjective (like "metropolitan"). If you speak of "Metro Atlanta" as some kind of real, official entity, I don't know why you'd need the word "area." If it sounds to you like I'm guessing, well . . . .

Question Why don't we capitalize sun?
Source & Date
of Question Washington, D.C.
8 July 1997
Grammar's
Response You can capitalize sun if you want to, and you'll be in pretty good company. Most people don't capitalize the word probably for the same reason that they don't capitalize moon. These names aren't really the names of those specific bodies but generic words that are usually accepted as names. There are innumerable suns and there are many moons in our own solar system. It's only when we say "the sun" and "the moon" that an astronomer would know which body we're talking about (although most of us get along quite nicely). There are many resources about the sun, our sun, however, that refer to it as if its name were Sun, and it is always capitalized (and always accompanied by the).

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Question	Hello. I would like to ask you what is the correct form of the following sentence: We are looking forward to meeting you again. or We are looking forward to meet you again. I suppose the first is the correct one, but I would like to check it. Thank you very much Bye.
Source & Date of Question	Bratislava, Slovak Republic 3 July 1997
Grammar's Response	Congratulations! You have submitted the 200th Question to Ask Grammar! Your prize is a brand new Ford Explorer, and you will receive it just as soon as we figure out how to squeeze it into this CD-ROM slot! The correct response is the one you chose: "We are looking forward to meeting you again." The "meeting," in this case, is a thing that you look forward to and thus it is appropriate that you choose the gerund form (noun verbal) of the verb.

Question	When abbreviating "association," should there be a period after the n? Ass'n. or Ass'n ? Thanks.
Source & Date of Question	St. Louis, Missouri 8 July 1997
Grammar's Response	It's an abbreviation, not a contraction, so leave out the apostrophe, but do put a period after the "n."

Question	I know that the contraction for "is" is "'s", say like "She's beautiful." But can "'s" apply to "was" as well? Can we say "She's absent yesterday"?
Source & Date of Question	Hong Kong 3 July 1997
Grammar's Response	No, you can't. The contraction 's is a contraction for is or has. So it could be used as "She's been absent for two days." (She has been absent for two days.) which is in the present perfect tense.

Question	Are there any other tenses besides the following: Past Perfect, Past Perfect Progressive, Past, Past Progressive, Present Perfect, Present Perfect Progressive, Present, Present Progressive, Future Perfect, Future Perfect Progressive, Future, and Future Progressive?
Source & Date of Question	Knox, Indiana 6 July 1997
Grammar's Response	Not that I know of. Those are all the tenses in the active voice. Or was this a trick question?

Question	Please explain "sentence" to me. What is "sentence" in general? And the kinds of sentence?
Source & Date of Question	Sunchun Chullanamdo Korea 6 July 1997
Grammar's Response	A sentence is said to be a group of related words that express a complete thought. There are many different kinds of sentences, but one common classification lists the following: a simple sentence, which contains one independent clause; a compound sentence, which contains at least two independent clauses; a complex sentence, which contains at least one dependent clause and one independent clause; a compound-complex sentence, which contains at least one dependent clause and two or more independent clauses. See the definition of clauses in the Guide for further help.

Question	Is there a difference between "can not" as two words and "cannot" as one word?
Source & Date of Question	Kailua, Hawaii 7 July 1997
Grammar's Response	Yes, there is. Normally, cannot is, for some reason, spelled as one word. If you spell it as two separate words, it means that you are emphasizing the not part of the construction, as you would when you are angry or being especially emphatic and negative. "You cannot do that" is a statement of fact, then; "You can not do that" is a declaration that you'd better not do that or someone will get very upset. (It's hard to describe the difference without sound, I'm discovering, but I hope this will suffice.)

Question	Should I write Metro Atlanta Area or metro Atlanta area? Please help me with this initial cap question. -- Thanks.
Source & Date of Question	Atlanta, Georgia 8 July 1997
Grammar's Response	If this is some kind of official (postal or governmental) entity, then you'll capitalize all the words. However, it sounds like an informal, unofficial designation of a geographical area, so I think only the word Atlanta will be capitalized. You would speak of the metropolitan Atlanta area, wouldn't you? "Metro," in this case, I think, is only an adjective (like "metropolitan"). If you speak of "Metro Atlanta" as some kind of real, official entity, I don't know why you'd need the word "area." If it sounds to you like I'm guessing, well . . . .

Question	Why don't we capitalize sun?
Source & Date of Question	Washington, D.C. 8 July 1997
Grammar's Response	You can capitalize sun if you want to, and you'll be in pretty good company. Most people don't capitalize the word probably for the same reason that they don't capitalize moon. These names aren't really the names of those specific bodies but generic words that are usually accepted as names. There are innumerable suns and there are many moons in our own solar system. It's only when we say "the sun" and "the moon" that an astronomer would know which body we're talking about (although most of us get along quite nicely). There are many resources about the sun, our sun, however, that refer to it as if its name were Sun, and it is always capitalized (and always accompanied by the).