The Grammar Logs -- Number Twenty-Five

The
Grammar
Logs
# 25

Question Maybe you can settle this: I complained to my sister that the line in the song: "What if God was one of us" is incorrect. I think it should be "What if God were one of us." My sister asked me to prove it, but I can't find a reference anywhere to this particular grammatical rule. The only example I could come up with was from another song: "If I were I were a rich man."
Source & Date
of Question San Francisco, California
28 July 1997
Grammar's
Response Most versions of Fiddler on the Roof I've heard played that as "If I was a rich man," so you've been lucky. Slowly but surely, the use of the subjunctive mood is disappearing from English. (Songs don't help at all.) And that's what you're referring to: the subjunctive, which is used to express a desire or present condition contrary to fact. "I'd be a better ballplayer if I were taller; if he were taller, he'd be better, too." So you win this argument, but it's a losing battle.
Authority: The Little, Brown Handbook by H. Ramsay Fowler and Jane E. Aaron, & Kay Limburg. 6th ed. HarperCollins: New York. 1995. By permission of Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc.

Question My grammar book says that if the verb in the independent clause is in the past or past perfect, the past or past perfect must be used in the dependent clause (except in the case of general facts). While this makes sense to me for the most part, I am curious whether this is an over-simplification. For instance, are these sentences really incorrect? (They sound fine to me):

I made the appointment for 9:00 tomorrow so that I can (not could) meet you afterwards.
I left my house at 8 this morning because I want (not wanted) to get to San Francisco by 4 pm.
Did you know that my sister is (not was) here? [She still is here]
The president said he will (not would) veto the bill.
I really need some guidance on this. Basically, I want to learn when it is appropriate to use a tense other than the three past tenses in the dependent clause of a sentence set in the past. Your help would really be appreciated.
Source & Date
of Question San Diego, California
39 July 1997
Grammar's
Response Great question! You're touching upon an area of grammar in which we frequently get away with something in speech that we have to be more careful about in writing: tense sequence. The general rule, as you state it, still holds: The verb in a subordinate clause must be past or past perfect if the verb in the main clause is past or past perfect (except for the state of general truths). I think an exception must be made for "said" because the subordinate clause contains indirectly quoted speech (although I haven't seen that exception listed in any of my reference books, and you could say "The president says he will . . ." or "The president said he would . . .").
As for the rest of your sentences, it really doesn't make sense to say "Did you know (past) that my sister is here [a present condition]? Or that you left at eight o'clock because (now) you want to get somewhere by four o'clock. No, you left because you wanted. It's tricky and the distinction wouldn't seem to matter much, in speech anyway, but there is a distinction worth saving here.
In response to your question, I've added a new section on Sequence of Tenses to the Guide to Grammar and Writing.

Question This is a question stemming from Grammar: I used a gender-free pronoun in a paper I wrote: my boss changed it to "his" (the antecedent was singular) and told me I was incorrect to use "their." I know I wasn't. Am I right? And if so, any advice on how to tell him, so as to maximize the "I told you so factor" without getting fired?
Source & Date
of Question Bonn, Germany
30 July 1997
Grammar's
Response Is it possible for you to find some common ground here? Can you pluralize everything so you're using "their" instead of "his" or that monstrosity "his/her"? You can try leaving an anonymous note on your boss's desktop leading him to the website at the University of Texas devoted to the genderless pronoun where he will see Jane Austen, Shakespeare, and others using the genderless pronoun. (The site also discusses the history of the twentieth-century's hangup about this issue.)
If these things don't work -- well, it depends on how much you like your job.

Question Present perfect - past tense exercises
Source & Date
of Question Vienna, Austria
31 July 1997
Grammar's
Response The best I can do for you now is to refer you to Colin Mahoney's page on the Past and Present Perfect.
Eventually, I hope to have my own page of exercises, computer-graded quizzes, to help people, but Mahoney's page is very good.

Question Why is "Didn't you used to eat breakfast?" incorrect?
Source & Date
of Question Yongin, South Korea
31 July 1997
Grammar's
Response Who says it's incorrect? It means that the person being questioned was once in the habit of eating breakfast and now the questioner is wondering why the person doesn't eat breakfast anymore.

Question How do you show the plural of an acronym? Do you just add an s or 's? I have seen this done both ways.
Source & Date
of Question Charleston, Illinois
11 August 1997
Grammar's
Response A true acronym is a pronouncable word made up of first-letter initials: NASCAR, NASA, RADAR, IRA, etc. To create the plural of acronyms and other abbreviations, the tendency seems to be to avoid using the apostrophe. So "My father, who has two PhDs, was investing in two IRAs at the same time." Some of my reference books still tell me that using the apostrophe is acceptable, however. Consistency is important here.

Question I am trying to find out the best rule for when/if to capitalize "black" and "white" when referring to racial groups. I've seen/heard contradictory rules from various sources. Here is an example of a sentence I need help with:
The data pertain to blacks and whites in Claxton, Georgia, and blacks in West Africa.
In case it matters, the context is a fairly high-level scientific text. Thanks!!
Source & Date
of Question Sunderland, Massachusetts
12 August 1997
Grammar's
Response I don't think anyone wants to presume to have the power to rule on this one. Most of the manuals I've read, though, suggest that "blacks" and "whites" need not be capitalized. All of them stress the need for consistency on this issue, though. I don't think the level of the text would matter, though your geograhical audience might.

Question Which is the correct construction: "the greater of a and b", or "the greater of a or b"? This has been bugging me for some time.
Source & Date
of Question Los Angeles, California
15 August 1997
Grammar's
Response Well now we can both be bugged! I think that and is the correct choice here. It comes down to how you compound the objects of the preposition of, and I think the simplest connector, and, is what you want here. The word greater implies a choice being made within that prepositional phrase already, so the or is logically either dubious or redundant. Without the construction of that prepositional phrase, you do end up using the or : "Which is greater, A or B?"
If you have any second thoughts on this, please get back to me.

Question Hitting the ball is fun. "Hitting the ball" is a gerund phrase acting as a noun. This I understand. My question is: What is the function (if there is one) of the word "hitting" within the phrase. Is it also a noun or is it only part of the whole phrase. Please explain your answer in as much detail as possible.
Source & Date
of Question Middletown, Connecticut
20 August 1997
Grammar's
Response Yes, "hitting" is also a noun, a verbal, a verb-form acting as a noun, which, in this case, happens to be part of a larger structure, a verbal or gerund phrase, which is the subject of this sentence. (We can't say that "hitting" is the subject of the sentence; the entire phrase is the subject. Thus, if there's a distinction to be made here, I suppose, it's between "hitting" as gerund and noun and "hitting the ball" as gerund phrase and subject.) Does that do it?

Question This site's page on punctuation states "Use one space petween the period and the first letter of the next sentence." However, in most professional circles, a single space at the end of a sentence is considered barbaric. The same is true after a colon. Two spaces is the rule in both circumstances. At a prestigious consulting firm in our nation's capital, the professional writers on the Communications Team follow the two-space rule. At the same firm, the proofreaders have been observed marking up text that had been single spaced. Why does this school instruct us to make this error?
Source & Date
of Question Sacramento, California
20 August 1997
Grammar's
Response I'm not sure what you mean by "this school," but the APA Publication Manual, no real slouch when it comes to such matters, recommends (requires?) one space after all ending punctuation marks (and with colons). Lately it seems that most writing reference manuals (and the MLA Handbook) avoid commenting on this issue altogether. I think what's happening is that modern word-processors are taking care of the matter for us; in fact, the double-space will sometimes create an unduly long break between an end-mark and the beginning of the next sentence. For aesthetic reasons, I will still double-space in e-mail communications (that come across in a mono-spaced font), and there are times when one space after an exclamation mark or question mark (especially when I'm using italics) will not seem adequate. My prediction is that the word-processor will win out and the double-space will eventually disappear.

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Question	This is a question stemming from Grammar: I used a gender-free pronoun in a paper I wrote: my boss changed it to "his" (the antecedent was singular) and told me I was incorrect to use "their." I know I wasn't. Am I right? And if so, any advice on how to tell him, so as to maximize the "I told you so factor" without getting fired?
Source & Date of Question	Bonn, Germany 30 July 1997
Grammar's Response	Is it possible for you to find some common ground here? Can you pluralize everything so you're using "their" instead of "his" or that monstrosity "his/her"? You can try leaving an anonymous note on your boss's desktop leading him to the website at the University of Texas devoted to the genderless pronoun where he will see Jane Austen, Shakespeare, and others using the genderless pronoun. (The site also discusses the history of the twentieth-century's hangup about this issue.) If these things don't work -- well, it depends on how much you like your job.

Question	Present perfect - past tense exercises
Source & Date of Question	Vienna, Austria 31 July 1997
Grammar's Response	The best I can do for you now is to refer you to Colin Mahoney's page on the Past and Present Perfect. Eventually, I hope to have my own page of exercises, computer-graded quizzes, to help people, but Mahoney's page is very good.

Question	I am trying to find out the best rule for when/if to capitalize "black" and "white" when referring to racial groups. I've seen/heard contradictory rules from various sources. Here is an example of a sentence I need help with: The data pertain to blacks and whites in Claxton, Georgia, and blacks in West Africa. In case it matters, the context is a fairly high-level scientific text. Thanks!!
Source & Date of Question	Sunderland, Massachusetts 12 August 1997
Grammar's Response	I don't think anyone wants to presume to have the power to rule on this one. Most of the manuals I've read, though, suggest that "blacks" and "whites" need not be capitalized. All of them stress the need for consistency on this issue, though. I don't think the level of the text would matter, though your geograhical audience might.

Question	Which is the correct construction: "the greater of a and b", or "the greater of a or b"? This has been bugging me for some time.
Source & Date of Question	Los Angeles, California 15 August 1997
Grammar's Response	Well now we can both be bugged! I think that and is the correct choice here. It comes down to how you compound the objects of the preposition of, and I think the simplest connector, and, is what you want here. The word greater implies a choice being made within that prepositional phrase already, so the or is logically either dubious or redundant. Without the construction of that prepositional phrase, you do end up using the or : "Which is greater, A or B?" If you have any second thoughts on this, please get back to me.

Question	Why is "Didn't you used to eat breakfast?" incorrect?
Source & Date of Question	Yongin, South Korea 31 July 1997
Grammar's Response	Who says it's incorrect? It means that the person being questioned was once in the habit of eating breakfast and now the questioner is wondering why the person doesn't eat breakfast anymore.

Question	How do you show the plural of an acronym? Do you just add an s or 's? I have seen this done both ways.
Source & Date of Question	Charleston, Illinois 11 August 1997
Grammar's Response	A true acronym is a pronouncable word made up of first-letter initials: NASCAR, NASA, RADAR, IRA, etc. To create the plural of acronyms and other abbreviations, the tendency seems to be to avoid using the apostrophe. So "My father, who has two PhDs, was investing in two IRAs at the same time." Some of my reference books still tell me that using the apostrophe is acceptable, however. Consistency is important here.

Question	Hitting the ball is fun. "Hitting the ball" is a gerund phrase acting as a noun. This I understand. My question is: What is the function (if there is one) of the word "hitting" within the phrase. Is it also a noun or is it only part of the whole phrase. Please explain your answer in as much detail as possible.
Source & Date of Question	Middletown, Connecticut 20 August 1997
Grammar's Response	Yes, "hitting" is also a noun, a verbal, a verb-form acting as a noun, which, in this case, happens to be part of a larger structure, a verbal or gerund phrase, which is the subject of this sentence. (We can't say that "hitting" is the subject of the sentence; the entire phrase is the subject. Thus, if there's a distinction to be made here, I suppose, it's between "hitting" as gerund and noun and "hitting the ball" as gerund phrase and subject.) Does that do it?

Question	This site's page on punctuation states "Use one space petween the period and the first letter of the next sentence." However, in most professional circles, a single space at the end of a sentence is considered barbaric. The same is true after a colon. Two spaces is the rule in both circumstances. At a prestigious consulting firm in our nation's capital, the professional writers on the Communications Team follow the two-space rule. At the same firm, the proofreaders have been observed marking up text that had been single spaced. Why does this school instruct us to make this error?
Source & Date of Question	Sacramento, California 20 August 1997
Grammar's Response	I'm not sure what you mean by "this school," but the APA Publication Manual, no real slouch when it comes to such matters, recommends (requires?) one space after all ending punctuation marks (and with colons). Lately it seems that most writing reference manuals (and the MLA Handbook) avoid commenting on this issue altogether. I think what's happening is that modern word-processors are taking care of the matter for us; in fact, the double-space will sometimes create an unduly long break between an end-mark and the beginning of the next sentence. For aesthetic reasons, I will still double-space in e-mail communications (that come across in a mono-spaced font), and there are times when one space after an exclamation mark or question mark (especially when I'm using italics) will not seem adequate. My prediction is that the word-processor will win out and the double-space will eventually disappear.