The Grammar Logs -- Number Twenty-Eight

The
Grammar
Logs
# 28

Question Is it "friendlier" or "more friendly"? It seems that I have read and/or heard both. Which is correct?
Source & Date
of Question Somewhere
16 September 1997
Grammar's
Response I like questions like this: either way is correct. Depend on your ear here.

Question I define factor nouns as nouns which tell the magnitudes or levels of a particular parameter. The following are some examples:

Intensity(tells a note is at, e.g., 42 db)
Pitch(tells a note is at, e.g., 440 Hz)
Speed(tells a vehicle is travelling at, e.g., 120 mph)
Length(tells a table is, e.g., 135 cm long)
Weight(tells a table is, e.g., 25 kg heavy)
Height(tells a table is, e.g., 90 cm tall)
Do we allow the plural forms of factor nouns to exist by add "s" to them? Consider the following pairs of statements:
A1. One factor that differentiates one musical note from another is INTENSITY. The two notes you heard had different intensity.
A2. One factor that differentiates one musical note from another is INTENSITY. The two notes you heard had different intensities.

B1. Another factor that differentiates one musical note from another is PITCH. The two notes you heard had different pitch.
B2. Another factor that differentiates one musical note from another is PITCH. The two notes you heard had different pitches.

C1. The two boys are of different height.
C2. The two boys are of different heights.
Are the first or second statements correct?
Source & Date
of Question Singapore
18 September 1997
Grammar's
Response The short answer to your question "Do we allow the plural forms of factor nouns to exist by add "s" to them?" is YES. Both sentences in all three sets are correct.

Question Like versus as:
My editor and I disagree. She says:

If your business has such a system, you will need a dedicated analog phone line to use the modem, just _like_ you had to provide for your fax machine.
But I say:

If your business has such a system, you will need a dedicated analog phone line to use the modem, just _as_ you had to provide for your fax machine.

Source & Date
of Question San Diego, California
18 September 1997
Grammar's
Response Sorry, but neither sentence is quite satisfactory as it stands. If the "like" is introducing an understood prepositional phrase, "like the one you had to provide for your fax machine," then your boss is right. If the "as" (in your sentence) is introducing a clause, then you're correct, except the sentence is missing something: ". . . you will need a dedicated analog phone line to use the modem, just as you had to provide one for your fax machine." Without that word one in there, your clause is incomplete, and I think the prepositional phrase is how most people would read the sentence, and the like would be correct. I would be more likely to use an "as" in this sentence if you began the sentence with the dependent clause: "Just as you had to provide a dedicated analog phone line for your fax machine, you will need a dedicated analog phone line to use the modem."

Question Please explain drink...drank and drunk
Source & Date
of Question Illinois
19 September 1997
Grammar's
Response It would be easier to explain the Concept of the Fortunate Fall. Like sink-sank-sunk (but whatever happened to think-thank-thunk?), drink-drank-drunk are irregular forms of the verb.
I drink a lot of water.
Yesterday I drank a lot of water.
I have drunk a lot of water.
See our brief section on Irregular Verbs.

Question When writing a business letter in the "good old days" we used to open it with "Dear sirs" or "Gentlemen." What would you suggest as a politically correct substitute in this enlightened age. I usually resort to "Hi," but it doen't seem very businesslike.
Thanks!
Source & Date
of Question Avon, Massachusetts
21 September 1997
Grammar's
Response If you know the addressed person's name, use it, along with the appropriate Mr., Dr., Mrs., Miss, Senator, or Ms. Otherwise, use an appropriate job title: Dear Personnel Manager, Dear Customer Service Representative. "Dear Sir or Madam" does the job nicely, and you can even address the company: Dear Hartford Insurance Group, or Dear Yale University.
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 I need an elementary grammar book. Tips or grammar class plans.
I also need verb class plans
Source & Date
of Question Tandil, Argentina
21 September 1997
Grammar's
Response I think your best bet, on the internet anyway, is to go to DAVE'S ESL CAFE. There are addtional resources listed at our colleges' ESL page.
If you don't find a direct answer at Dave's ESL Cafe, there are several spots there for submitting queries that will get answers from the Cafe's bright and generous users.

Question PLURALITY OF COUNTABLE NOUNS AFTER "ANY"
We use either of the following for "any" and countable nouns:
A1. Are there any chairs in the room?
A2. Is there a chair in the room?

But not:
A3. Is there any chair in the room?
However, I'm confused about the GENERAL USAGE of "any" before countable nouns. For example, which of the following is correct?
B1. I entered the room but I could not see any animal.
B2. I entered the room but I could not see any animals.
C1. Do you need any table?
C2. Do you need any tables?

Source & Date
of Question Singapore
21 September 1997
Grammar's
Response You're right: you can use "any" as a determiner before plural count nouns and either singular or plural non-count nouns. Whether you can use "any" as a determiner before a singular count noun or not depends on the stress you are placing on the determiner. (Which means that all of those sentences could be correct.) Singular count nouns can be preceded by "any" or "some" (and "some" is frequently accompanied "or other," as in "I wanted some book or other.") when the determiner receives the stress in the sentence. "I don't want ANY excuse from you!" "Is there ANY reason for this to happen?"
Authority: A University Grammar of English by Randolph Quirk and Sidney Greenbaum. Longman Group: Essex, England. 1993.

Question I asked the following question of a fellow worker, "Sir, who said this?"
"You know that a conjurer gets no credit when once he has explained his trick; and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all."
His answer was "Mr. Sherlock Holmes".
I believe the correct answer is "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle" as Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character and therefore cannot literally be credited as having "said" anything.
Grammatically speaking (or factually speaking) which is correct? Thanks!
Source & Date
of Question Irving, Texas
23 September 1997
Grammar's
Response I don't think we have a grammatical problem here at all; it's a matter of usage and how we feel about our fictional characters. I think Doyle would be astonished to hear that Sherlock Holmes can't be said to say something, literally or otherwise. Holmes is probably more real to most of us than Doyle is. Fictional characters talk to me all the time, I'm happy to report. Doyle wrote it, but surely Holmes said it. If you were, however, listing this quotation in a book of such material, you'd undoubtedly put Doyle's name after it, as author.

Question According to some standard grammar textbooks, we should not allow and in negative sentences. Instead, or should be used. For example:
A1. He does not like math AND science. (WRONG)
A2. He does not like math OR science. (RIGHT)
However, the following statement can be found almost everywhere in Singapore:
B1. No food AND drinks are allowed.
Have they condoned a grammatical mistake?
Source & Date
of Question Singapore
23 September 1997
Grammar's
Response Well, yes and no. Common usage in negative constructions is pretty loose in this matter. We would say "Food and drinks are not allowed," but, to be strictly logical, we should probably say "No food or drinks are allowed."

Question What is the definition of simile and metaphor? Is there a worksheet?
Source & Date
of Question Leonia, New Jersey
23 September 1997
Grammar's
Response I don't know about any worksheet, but there is an entire web-page devoted to literary devices at the University of Victoria, Canada.
A metaphor is a way of saying that something is like something else. A simile is a way of doing the same thing, but using like or as in the process. "The road is a ribbon of moonlight," then, is a metaphor; "The road is like a ribbon of moonlight" is a simile. All similes are metaphors, but not all metaphors are similes.

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Question	Like versus as: My editor and I disagree. She says: If your business has such a system, you will need a dedicated analog phone line to use the modem, just _like_ you had to provide for your fax machine. But I say: If your business has such a system, you will need a dedicated analog phone line to use the modem, just _as_ you had to provide for your fax machine.
Source & Date of Question	San Diego, California 18 September 1997
Grammar's Response	Sorry, but neither sentence is quite satisfactory as it stands. If the "like" is introducing an understood prepositional phrase, "like the one you had to provide for your fax machine," then your boss is right. If the "as" (in your sentence) is introducing a clause, then you're correct, except the sentence is missing something: ". . . you will need a dedicated analog phone line to use the modem, just as you had to provide one for your fax machine." Without that word one in there, your clause is incomplete, and I think the prepositional phrase is how most people would read the sentence, and the like would be correct. I would be more likely to use an "as" in this sentence if you began the sentence with the dependent clause: "Just as you had to provide a dedicated analog phone line for your fax machine, you will need a dedicated analog phone line to use the modem."

Question	Please explain drink...drank and drunk
Source & Date of Question	Illinois 19 September 1997
Grammar's Response	It would be easier to explain the Concept of the Fortunate Fall. Like sink-sank-sunk (but whatever happened to think-thank-thunk?), drink-drank-drunk are irregular forms of the verb. I drink a lot of water. Yesterday I drank a lot of water. I have drunk a lot of water. See our brief section on Irregular Verbs.

Question	I need an elementary grammar book. Tips or grammar class plans. I also need verb class plans
Source & Date of Question	Tandil, Argentina 21 September 1997
Grammar's Response	I think your best bet, on the internet anyway, is to go to DAVE'S ESL CAFE. There are addtional resources listed at our colleges' ESL page. If you don't find a direct answer at Dave's ESL Cafe, there are several spots there for submitting queries that will get answers from the Cafe's bright and generous users.

Question	What is the definition of simile and metaphor? Is there a worksheet?
Source & Date of Question	Leonia, New Jersey 23 September 1997
Grammar's Response	I don't know about any worksheet, but there is an entire web-page devoted to literary devices at the University of Victoria, Canada. A metaphor is a way of saying that something is like something else. A simile is a way of doing the same thing, but using like or as in the process. "The road is a ribbon of moonlight," then, is a metaphor; "The road is like a ribbon of moonlight" is a simile. All similes are metaphors, but not all metaphors are similes.

Question	Is it "friendlier" or "more friendly"? It seems that I have read and/or heard both. Which is correct?
Source & Date of Question	Somewhere 16 September 1997
Grammar's Response	I like questions like this: either way is correct. Depend on your ear here.