The Grammar Logs -- Number Twenty-One

The
Grammar
Logs
# 21

Question More planes were due to fly out later in the day.
Is this a passive sentence? Can it be said "more planes are due to fly out later in the day"? Thanks for your help.
Source & Date
of Question Kailua, Hawaii
8 July 1997
Grammar's
Response No, neither of these sentences are in the passive voice. The passive describes a sentence in which the subject is acted upon. "The program was approved by the Board of Trustees." In your sentences, one verb is in the past and one is in the present. "More planes were due. . ." (but apparently something came up and they are no longer expect to fly). "More planes are due . . . " (describing a present condition). But in neither case are the planes being acted upon. If we changed the verb we could create a passive construction: "The planes were scheduled to fly out today." Note that nothing is wrong with this passive construction; it is sometimes appropriate that the sentence stress the subject being acted upon.

Question Is it ever correct to say : one week's time - with the apostrophe after the "k"?
e.g. I will see the patient in one week's time.
Is there a specific rule covering time when it comes to using the apostrophe?
I would appreciate a reply as soon as possible. Thank you
Source & Date
of Question Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
10 July 1997
Grammar's
Response I know of no specific rule covering this situation, but, yes, it is always correct to say "I will see the patient in one week's time," although it might be better to say, "I will see the patient in one week." The problem is recognizing when a phrase like this is descriptive and when it is possessive. "She is seven months pregnant" is strictly descriptive. In "After seven years' work in France, he moved to England." and "He got four days' probation," though, the construction is possessive -- because the work and the probation belong to the time element. Does this description suffice?

Question No hurry, enjoy the Bahamas if you are there. If one is quoting an original poem in text, does one use quotes at the beginning and end of the poem? What if it is a well-known snatch of poetry, but of several lines?
Source & Date
of Question Tallahassee, Florida
10 July 1997
Grammar's
Response Yes, use quote marks to set off the lines of poetry and put a slash mark / (with a space on either side of the slash) to indicate the poet's line-breaks. If, however, you're quoting more than four or five lines of verse (or if the line-breaks themselves are important to your discussion), indent the poetry half an inch, use the poet's own line-breaks, and don't use quote marks. (Most style manuals indicate that you should double-space the poetry, but that seems like nonsense to me.)

Question When using terms throughout a document referring to an entity, when is it capitalizied?
I.e., Cascade School District is located in Leavenworth. The District employs 95 teachers. The Annual Report provides a summary of the district's progress. We are confident the new district goals will reflect the community's input.
Also referring to the school board. I.e., Cascade School Board meets on Mondays. The board took action on hiring.

When is it capitalized, when not? Please help. Thanks.
Source & Date
of Question Leavenworth, Washington
10 July 1997
Grammar's
Response I don't think there's a hard and fast rule on this. We run into the problem at the college (College?) all the time -- to capitalize or not. Some names contain both a proper noun and a common noun, and the question is whether we should capitalize the common noun when we want to differentiate between the specific entity and a more generic use of the word. "At Yale University blah blah blah; the University/university requires blah blah blah." In your sentences using "District," I think you distinguish nicely between a formal sense of the word and a more generic sense; the third and fourth sentences use district as a more generic modifier. In your sentences using "Board," however, I think I would've capitalized Board in the second sentence, because it refers to (represents?) that specific entity.
It's a tough call, and it's up to you. Consistency within a document is really important.

Question I like to use the present tense when summarizing the findings of academic studies. What do you think about the following sentences?

"Iyengar et al. (1982) conduct experiments with altered newscasts and find that more favorable newscasts produce higher levels of citizen approval of presidential job performance."
"Smoller (1990) analyzes CBS News coverage of the presidency from 1969 to 1984 and finds that negative stories outnumber positive stories."
I would also like to know if I can switch to past tense when summarizing an historical finding. Example:

"Smoller (1990) finds that Reagan's news coverage was more negative than Carter's."
I would appreciate any advice you can offer.
Source & Date
of Question Elkins Park, Illinois
11 July 1997
Grammar's
Response Everything, including the use of the present tense, looks fine to me except I would say a historical, not an historical. Also, I don't think you can use et al the way it appears here. The abbreviation for et alii (followed by a period) ought to be reserved for parenthetical citation (so, at the end of your sentence, you could have a citation for Lyenger et al.), but I don't think you can use it in the middle of your sentence this way. It would be much better to say "Lyenger, Smith, and Jones (1982) conduct . . . ." Yes, you can switch to the past tense when logic dictates that you do so.
I trust that you've seen our Guide to Writing Research Papers.

Question I have to make an oral presentation on "Conjunctions" and need some detailed information about this topic in the English language. I hope you will be able to help me out.
Source & Date
of Question Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany
11 July 1997
Grammar's
Response Conjunctions in English work pretty much the same as they do in German, as I recall. The coordinating conjunction (what I call the cute little conjunctions) simply connect things or ideas: and, but, for, nor, yet, or, and so. The subordinating conjunctions establish somewhat more complex relationships between ideas and turn a clause into a dependent (subordinate) relationship, often within an adverb clause. The Guide contains a considerable list of transitional devices, a list that includes subordinating conjunctions, and this might prove helpful to your discussion. You could base your discussion on the increasing complexity of the relationship, going from the simplest, and, to something like after or when (in a simple adverb clause), to a conjunctive adverb such as subsequently or simultaneously.
Good luck.

Question My employer uses semicolons constantly when listing information in a sentence, such as: The company's current focus should be on revenue; clients; profit-sharing and communication. I tell him that commas are preferable but he insists semicolons are as accurate. Once and for all, is he correct? If he is, I will bend to his wishes and use semicolons all the time....ugh!
Source & Date
of Question Latham, New York
11 July 1997
Grammar's
Response The only reason you'd have to bring in big brother Semicolon would be if there are commas already within the elements that you are listing. So if you are creating a monster list: clients from Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic; profit-sharing among employers, employees, and assorted rabble; and communication among friends, relatives, and school chums -- THEN you need the semicolon. Otherwise, the comma will happily suffice.
I would say that your response to your boss depends on your relationship with your boss.

Question When do you use toward or towards? Are the two words interchangeable? What is the convention for usage?
Source & Date
of Question Spokane, Washington
11 July 1997
Grammar's
Response Toward is more common and is preferred in formal academic prose, but there's nothing wrong with either. You'll find towards more common in British and Canadian writing. Let your ear be your guide on this one.
Authority: Quick Access: Reference for Writers by Lynn Quitman Troyka. Simon & Schuster: New York. 1995. Used with permission.

Question Is the comma needed in this sentence?
One of the new songs for April is, "Old Texas".
Is this sentence acceptable?
Ms. Jacobs had come to see us, but we were hidden in the garage.
Thank you for your help. I'm 10 years old and had these sentences in school.
Source & Date
of Question Oroville, California
11 July 1997
Grammar's
Response I suppose I should insist that you tell me what you thought about the sentences first, but it's summertime. In your first sentence, you don't want a comma (but let's tuck that period inside the quote mark). In the second sentence, the comma's OK, but that verb is a little weird. If someone or something hid you, then it's okay; otherwise, I think you meant to say, "but we were hiding. . . "
Have a good summer!

Question What are operative words?
Source & Date
of Question Berkeley, California
12 July 1997
Grammar's
Response As near as I can tell, there is no such thing, really, as an "operative word." People seem to use it when they want to point out a particular word that they think matters (and the operative word in that sentence is matters). As far as I know, though, it has no official standing in grammar (and the operative word there is official).

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Question	More planes were due to fly out later in the day. Is this a passive sentence? Can it be said "more planes are due to fly out later in the day"? Thanks for your help.
Source & Date of Question	Kailua, Hawaii 8 July 1997
Grammar's Response	No, neither of these sentences are in the passive voice. The passive describes a sentence in which the subject is acted upon. "The program was approved by the Board of Trustees." In your sentences, one verb is in the past and one is in the present. "More planes were due. . ." (but apparently something came up and they are no longer expect to fly). "More planes are due . . . " (describing a present condition). But in neither case are the planes being acted upon. If we changed the verb we could create a passive construction: "The planes were scheduled to fly out today." Note that nothing is wrong with this passive construction; it is sometimes appropriate that the sentence stress the subject being acted upon.

Question	Is it ever correct to say : one week's time - with the apostrophe after the "k"? e.g. I will see the patient in one week's time. Is there a specific rule covering time when it comes to using the apostrophe? I would appreciate a reply as soon as possible. Thank you
Source & Date of Question	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 10 July 1997
Grammar's Response	I know of no specific rule covering this situation, but, yes, it is always correct to say "I will see the patient in one week's time," although it might be better to say, "I will see the patient in one week." The problem is recognizing when a phrase like this is descriptive and when it is possessive. "She is seven months pregnant" is strictly descriptive. In "After seven years' work in France, he moved to England." and "He got four days' probation," though, the construction is possessive -- because the work and the probation belong to the time element. Does this description suffice?

Question	When using terms throughout a document referring to an entity, when is it capitalizied? I.e., Cascade School District is located in Leavenworth. The District employs 95 teachers. The Annual Report provides a summary of the district's progress. We are confident the new district goals will reflect the community's input. Also referring to the school board. I.e., Cascade School Board meets on Mondays. The board took action on hiring. When is it capitalized, when not? Please help. Thanks.
Source & Date of Question	Leavenworth, Washington 10 July 1997
Grammar's Response	I don't think there's a hard and fast rule on this. We run into the problem at the college (College?) all the time -- to capitalize or not. Some names contain both a proper noun and a common noun, and the question is whether we should capitalize the common noun when we want to differentiate between the specific entity and a more generic use of the word. "At Yale University blah blah blah; the University/university requires blah blah blah." In your sentences using "District," I think you distinguish nicely between a formal sense of the word and a more generic sense; the third and fourth sentences use district as a more generic modifier. In your sentences using "Board," however, I think I would've capitalized Board in the second sentence, because it refers to (represents?) that specific entity. It's a tough call, and it's up to you. Consistency within a document is really important.

Question	My employer uses semicolons constantly when listing information in a sentence, such as: The company's current focus should be on revenue; clients; profit-sharing and communication. I tell him that commas are preferable but he insists semicolons are as accurate. Once and for all, is he correct? If he is, I will bend to his wishes and use semicolons all the time....ugh!
Source & Date of Question	Latham, New York 11 July 1997
Grammar's Response	The only reason you'd have to bring in big brother Semicolon would be if there are commas already within the elements that you are listing. So if you are creating a monster list: clients from Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic; profit-sharing among employers, employees, and assorted rabble; and communication among friends, relatives, and school chums -- THEN you need the semicolon. Otherwise, the comma will happily suffice. I would say that your response to your boss depends on your relationship with your boss.

Question	No hurry, enjoy the Bahamas if you are there. If one is quoting an original poem in text, does one use quotes at the beginning and end of the poem? What if it is a well-known snatch of poetry, but of several lines?
Source & Date of Question	Tallahassee, Florida 10 July 1997
Grammar's Response	Yes, use quote marks to set off the lines of poetry and put a slash mark / (with a space on either side of the slash) to indicate the poet's line-breaks. If, however, you're quoting more than four or five lines of verse (or if the line-breaks themselves are important to your discussion), indent the poetry half an inch, use the poet's own line-breaks, and don't use quote marks. (Most style manuals indicate that you should double-space the poetry, but that seems like nonsense to me.)

Question	What are operative words?
Source & Date of Question	Berkeley, California 12 July 1997
Grammar's Response	As near as I can tell, there is no such thing, really, as an "operative word." People seem to use it when they want to point out a particular word that they think matters (and the operative word in that sentence is matters). As far as I know, though, it has no official standing in grammar (and the operative word there is official).