The Grammar Logs -- Number Twenty-Three

The
Grammar
Logs
# 23

Question Example: I approved your JV - below - are these corrections generated from Cau's printout where he checks account numbers? I was just curious as to the source of the moves you were making.
Would you please explain to me why one of the verb above is present tense (where he checks account numbers?). Can it be past tense?
Thank you very much.
Source & Date
of Question Portland, Oregon
18 July 1997
Grammar's
Response The present tense is there (I'm guessing) because this is something that Cau does all the time, habitually. Yes, it could be written in the past tense, but it would mean something different; it would more clearly be referring to this specific incident or this particular, individual form.

Question Hi! What's the plural of the golf term 'hole-in-one'?
Source & Date
of Question Stockholm, Sweden
18 July 1997
Grammar's
Response Well, it wouldn't make sense to say holes-in-one, would it, because you can't possibly make more than one hole with one shot. I think this is going to be one of those compound nouns (like spoonfuls) that take the plural at the end of the word. I'd go with hole-in-ones: "She made two hole-in-ones in one round of golf." (I hope this isn't a golfer's idea of a trick grammar question!)

Question When a person says that his grammar is "poor", is he merely demonstrating just how bad it is, or is he better at it than he may think?
Source & Date
of Question Seattle, Washington
18 July 1997
Grammar's
Response I'm going out on a limb here because I don't have the right kind of dictionary at hand to back me up, but I have a feeling that this chap can be a poor writer, and he might be poor in grammar (or grammar skills), but I don't think he can have poor grammar. Unless we're feeling sorry for the grammar when he uses it.

Question I was looking for an explanation and comparison between that and which. I couldn't find it in your site.
Thanks
Source & Date
of Question Jerusalem, Palestine
18 July 1997
Grammar's
Response I've just added an explanatory note on the differences between that and which to the section on Notorious Confusibles. Please check it out and let us know if this helps or if you need more help on this difference.

Question Is the word 'none' still used in modern English grammar as a contraction of the compund 'no-one'? What is the more correct way to say no person

none,
no-one, or
no one?
This issue has arisen from a sentence my boss has constructed, which I will quote below as an example.
"He is willing to take the shift none wants."
I do not think this is a correct or modern usage of the contraction none. I suggested to him the following sentence revision.
"He is willing to take the shift that no-one wants."
The final sentence came out to something like the following.
"He is willing to take that shift that no one wants."
Who is correct, or at least, who is closest?
Source & Date
of Question San Jose, California
18 July 1997
Grammar's
Response I don't think no one and none have ever meant the same thing. "He is willing to take the shift that no one else wants." would be the happiest rendering of that sentence. Your boss's use of none is quite inappropriate, and you don't really need the hyphen between no and one. (In fact, you can't use a hyphen there.)

Question When using "have got" in a sentence, what rule is that violating if any?
example: I have got a pair of sneakers. Or, I've got a pair of sneakers.
Thank you!
Source & Date
of Question McMurdo Station, Antarctica
18 July 1997
Grammar's
Response Congratulations! I think you've just taken over for Most Remote Questioner, beating out Thailand! If you're not the most distant (and I think you are, at least as the TWA Crow flies), you're certainly in the most desolate area. Your Prize: a 1953 Philco Refrigerator, which you can pick up and take home any time you're in the neighborhood. Now to your question.
In formal, careful writing, you can almost always eliminate the got in such sentences. "I have a pair of sneakers" means the same thing, doesn't it? Some people (like my sixth husband, Fred) really loathe the word got and regard it as a vulgarism, so it's a good idea to weed it out if you can. If it serves a sense of urgency, you can keep it: "I've got to finish this paper before Tuesday." In formal prose, you're better off with "I must finish this paper before Tuesday."

Question First thank you in advance for all your help.
My question....have always been a little confused with the verb awaken and woke.....used in conversation or the written word..
Source & Date
of Question Chicago, Illinois
21 July 1997
Grammar's
Response Woke is the past tense of wake, that's all. The tricky part, I guess, is that the verb (almost always used with up) can be either transitive or intransive (i.e., I can either wake up [by myself] or I can wake up someone else). This is also true in in the past, using woke: I woke up and, in the process, I woke up my neighbor. Awaken is a somewhat archaic form of wake.

Question When using the title of a short story in a sentence do you underline it or use quotation marks?
My sentence was:
My brother and I have read a short story entitled, "Journey to the Unknown".
Thank you!
Source & Date
of Question Oroville, California
21 July 1997
Grammar's
Response Most writers, in the United States (but not England), would put that period inside the last quotation mark; also, you don't really need a comma there (as you would, say, in "We read Joe Common's latest story, "Journey to the Unknown."). The rest of your sentence is very good. Generally, you use quotation marks around the title of something that cannot stand by itself: poems, short stories, articles in newspapers and magazines, etc. For further help, see our Suggestions for Writing about Literature.

Question Which is correct when making an abbreviation plural, adding s alone or adding 's? I seem to remember being taught that the 's is correct, but I see so many counter-examples that I've begun to doubt my memory.
Eg. which is correct?

"TLA's (Three Letter Abbreviations) are common in English"
OR
"TLAs (Three Letter Abbreviations) are common in English."

Source & Date
of Question Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
21 July 1997
Grammar's
Response Nowadays it's common practice to create such plurals without the apostrophe. The only exception is when you're referring to the plurals of single letters or numbers (She got four A's last term.) or to the plurals of words-as-words (There are four and's in that paragraph.). So TLAs would be sufficient.

Question If I write the following phrase: Don't let the "I dos" become "I don'ts," should there be an apostrophe before the s on dos and don'ts.
Thank you
Source & Date
of Question Yorba Linda, California
22 July 1997
Grammar's
Response Yes, there should be an apostrophe-s there. You should also italicize (or underline) the word-as-word, so your final version would look like this:
Don't let your I do's become I don't's.
Notice that the apostrophe and the s are not italicized.
Are you sorry you asked?

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Question	I was looking for an explanation and comparison between that and which. I couldn't find it in your site. Thanks
Source & Date of Question	Jerusalem, Palestine 18 July 1997
Grammar's Response	I've just added an explanatory note on the differences between that and which to the section on Notorious Confusibles. Please check it out and let us know if this helps or if you need more help on this difference.

Question	When using "have got" in a sentence, what rule is that violating if any? example: I have got a pair of sneakers. Or, I've got a pair of sneakers. Thank you!
Source & Date of Question	McMurdo Station, Antarctica 18 July 1997
Grammar's Response	Congratulations! I think you've just taken over for Most Remote Questioner, beating out Thailand! If you're not the most distant (and I think you are, at least as the TWA Crow flies), you're certainly in the most desolate area. Your Prize: a 1953 Philco Refrigerator, which you can pick up and take home any time you're in the neighborhood. Now to your question. In formal, careful writing, you can almost always eliminate the got in such sentences. "I have a pair of sneakers" means the same thing, doesn't it? Some people (like my sixth husband, Fred) really loathe the word got and regard it as a vulgarism, so it's a good idea to weed it out if you can. If it serves a sense of urgency, you can keep it: "I've got to finish this paper before Tuesday." In formal prose, you're better off with "I must finish this paper before Tuesday."

Question	First thank you in advance for all your help. My question....have always been a little confused with the verb awaken and woke.....used in conversation or the written word..
Source & Date of Question	Chicago, Illinois 21 July 1997
Grammar's Response	Woke is the past tense of wake, that's all. The tricky part, I guess, is that the verb (almost always used with up) can be either transitive or intransive (i.e., I can either wake up [by myself] or I can wake up someone else). This is also true in in the past, using woke: I woke up and, in the process, I woke up my neighbor. Awaken is a somewhat archaic form of wake.

Question	Hi! What's the plural of the golf term 'hole-in-one'?
Source & Date of Question	Stockholm, Sweden 18 July 1997
Grammar's Response	Well, it wouldn't make sense to say holes-in-one, would it, because you can't possibly make more than one hole with one shot. I think this is going to be one of those compound nouns (like spoonfuls) that take the plural at the end of the word. I'd go with hole-in-ones: "She made two hole-in-ones in one round of golf." (I hope this isn't a golfer's idea of a trick grammar question!)

Question	When a person says that his grammar is "poor", is he merely demonstrating just how bad it is, or is he better at it than he may think?
Source & Date of Question	Seattle, Washington 18 July 1997
Grammar's Response	I'm going out on a limb here because I don't have the right kind of dictionary at hand to back me up, but I have a feeling that this chap can be a poor writer, and he might be poor in grammar (or grammar skills), but I don't think he can have poor grammar. Unless we're feeling sorry for the grammar when he uses it.