The Grammar Logs -- Number Thirty-Three

The
Grammar
Logs
# 33

Question Sometimes I'm confused about when I have to use present tense and when I have to use past tense when I am writing an essay.
Source & Date
of Question Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
14 October 1997
Grammar's
Response For the most part, you're going to have to be the judge of what's logical in this situation. When you're writing about literature, however, we conventionally try to use the present tense. We would say that Robert Frost suggests something about nature, even though Frost is long gone. We would say that his phrase "lovely, dark and deep" suggests something. . . . all in the present tense. The main character in Raymond Carver's story "Fat" says and talks and is, etc. The present tense creates the happy illusion that we're talking about something that is going on now, which, when you're talking about literature, is true.

Question Today for English our assignment was subject complements and linking verbs. I have some directions but I am still not understanding it. Could possibly find some examples or a definition?
Source & Date
of Question Connecticut
16 October 1997
Grammar's
Response Think of a linking verb as a kind of equals mark. She is tall. She = tall. She is a professor. She = a professor. The linking verb connects the subject to the describing element that follows, whether that is an adjective like tall or a noun like professor. The noun (sometimes called a predicate noun) or adjective (sometimes called a predicate adjective) is called a subject complement. I hope that helps.

Question Hi. Could you please tell me if it is acceptable to use "they" or "their" as a gender neutral pronoun? When I was an English major(1988) the MLA deemed this acceptable. The reason I ask, is that I nominated my boss for an award, and the instructions said that the gender of the nominee must remain "neutral" After using terms like "this person", "individual", "nominee" I needed to use some pronouns!
Could you please respond to my question? Thank you.
Source & Date
of Question Lincoln, Nebraska
16 October 1997
Grammar's
Response There's a great deal of momentum for using "their" as the gender-free singular pronoun, although it hasn't exactly caught on universally. There are two web-sites (at least) devoted to it, one at the University of Texas and another at John Chao's Center for Not Doing Something Else. I hope the neutral pronoun they're looking for is not he/she, him/her, etc. I really don't like that if it occurs more than once or twice in a document. You're right; it becomes tedious after a while trying to avoid gender-specific singular pronouns. I don't know what the MLA's recent dictum is regarding this issue. They don't say much in the Fourth Edition of the Handbook. Good luck.

Question I am in a quandary. In a novel I'm writing, I wish to record the thoughts of my heroine. How do I properly present them? She is not actually speaking out loud; hence I do not feel I should enclose her words in quotation marks, using normal text. That might confuse the reader. I want her thoughts to stand out separately from her conversations. Yet, if I use italics, won't I be breaking the standard rule of italics usage? Please advise. I look forward to your answer.
Source & Date
of Question Austin, Texas
16 October 1997
Grammar's
Response The problem with italics is that they're just plain hard to read after a line or two. I'd avoid that trick. My best advice is to find a couple of writers who do what you want to do and copy their typography. I suggest Graham Swift's recent Last Orders, but there are surely hundreds of novels that incorporate characters "speaking" to themselves. Mostly, I think it's a matter of separating that kind of "speech" from the rest of your narrative with breaks of some kind -- without getting too gimmicky about it. After a while, your reader catches on to what you're doing. Good luck with your novel!

Question I would like to know if either "toward" or "towards" is considered more correct. Does it depend on the sentence/usage? Or, can I pick one and stay with it consistently?
Source & Date
of Question Sunderland, Massachusetts
16 October 1997
Grammar's
Response Either toward or towards is correct, although the toward is preferred in formal, academic prose. I would use toward unless your ear tells you otherwise; consistency is important, however. The British, I believe, lean untowardly toward towards.
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 Can I have a conjugation of a verb in the subjunctive mood in active and passive voice?
Source & Date
of Question Portsmouth, New Hampshire
16 October 1997
Grammar's
Response You can have subjunctive verbs in both passive and active constructions, but you can't have a conjugation, exactly, because the subjunctive is limited to distinctive forms. I think we can say that the subject, "it," is being acted upon in the following: "The college would attract more students if it were better supported by tax dollars." So we have a passive construction there, don't we? But we can't conjugate the verb in the sense that it does not have different forms for different persons and numbers: you're looking at it.

Question
Are either of these examples correct? Please explain.
"Enclosed are two original sets of Bill's background WHICH Fred e-mailed you."
"Enclosed are two original sets of Bill's background THAT Fred e-mailed you."
Should the "e-mail" be "E-mail"?
What usage manual do you consider to be the absolute best reference?
Thank you for your anticipated feedback.
Source & Date
of Question Chicago, Illinois
16 October 1997
Grammar's
Response Either of those sentences are acceptable. Let me refer you to our section called Notorious Confusables, and the section on which and that. If you do use "which" in this sentence, you still won't use a comma because the information in the dependent clause is essential to the meaning of the sentence.
I used to prefer email, but I've been convinced that e-mail is better, though I'm not sure why. Eventually, I think people will just write email. My favorite usage manual is the Little, Brown Handbook, although the Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers is a good one, too. I doubt if there is an "absolute best." I don't own a Chicago Style Manual, unfortunately, and I understand that the New York Public Library's Style Manual is first rate. Then, of course, there's the sentimental and still solid favorite Elements of Style. Most bookstores will also carry Lynn Troyka's Quick Access, which is thorough and kind of handy to use with its tabbed pages, as is Ann Raimes's Keys for Writers. Trouble is, I've got a shelf of them, and I like them all.

Question I can`t understand the difference between "when" and "while" as a conjunction. When should I use them?
Source & Date
of Question Geneva, Switzerland
17 October 1997
Grammar's
Response The problem a lot of people have with while is that they use it in ambiguous situations when they probably should have used because or although or another conjunction. While should be reserved for indicating events happening at the same time and to signal a concession.

I often read while my wife watches television.
While she loves to watch sitcoms, I think they're silly.
When you might have meant when or although, using while can get you in trouble:
While the police officers caught their suspect, the detectives seemed confused.
(What does the word while mean in that sentence? Substitute although or when for a clearer sentence.)

Question
I'd like you to explain to me clearly how to present a sentence like this. I'm still confused about sentence pattern.
These systems store spatial data describing location as geometric objects in graphics files managed by a file management system.

Source & Date
of Question Bangkok, Thailand
17 October 1997
Grammar's
Response There's nothing inherently wrong with that sentence. It does try to do an awful lot, however, and it might be a better sentence if it were broken into two shorter sentences. The problem is that the end of the sentence sort of runs off into a series of modifying phrases. If the order of the phrases is exactly what you want, then fine, but it's still sort of hard to follow. Does the data, in fact, describe location as geometric objects? Are those objects in grahics files and are the files managed by a file management system? Maybe the problem is that "spatial data" and "data describing location" are the same thing (i.e., it's redundant)? In short, it's hard to tell even if there is a problem because it's hard to tell what it means (or it's trying to mean too much). I think you're better off with shorter sentences or a subordination of one of the phrases:

These systems store spatial data as geometric objects in graphics files which are sorted out by a file management system.
These systems store spatial data as geometric objects. The objects can be sorted into graphics files by a file management system.

Question I want to ask you about the past perfect continuous tense.
Source & Date
of Question Stirling, Scotland
17 October 1997
Grammar's
Response
The past perfect progressive (continuous?) tense describes something that was going on in the past:
We had been working on the railroad.
He had been studying biology when he suddenly realized he wanted to go into religious studies.

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Question	Hi. Could you please tell me if it is acceptable to use "they" or "their" as a gender neutral pronoun? When I was an English major(1988) the MLA deemed this acceptable. The reason I ask, is that I nominated my boss for an award, and the instructions said that the gender of the nominee must remain "neutral" After using terms like "this person", "individual", "nominee" I needed to use some pronouns! Could you please respond to my question? Thank you.
Source & Date of Question	Lincoln, Nebraska 16 October 1997
Grammar's Response	There's a great deal of momentum for using "their" as the gender-free singular pronoun, although it hasn't exactly caught on universally. There are two web-sites (at least) devoted to it, one at the University of Texas and another at John Chao's Center for Not Doing Something Else. I hope the neutral pronoun they're looking for is not he/she, him/her, etc. I really don't like that if it occurs more than once or twice in a document. You're right; it becomes tedious after a while trying to avoid gender-specific singular pronouns. I don't know what the MLA's recent dictum is regarding this issue. They don't say much in the Fourth Edition of the Handbook. Good luck.

Question	Are either of these examples correct? Please explain. "Enclosed are two original sets of Bill's background WHICH Fred e-mailed you." "Enclosed are two original sets of Bill's background THAT Fred e-mailed you." Should the "e-mail" be "E-mail"? What usage manual do you consider to be the absolute best reference? Thank you for your anticipated feedback.
Source & Date of Question	Chicago, Illinois 16 October 1997
Grammar's Response	Either of those sentences are acceptable. Let me refer you to our section called Notorious Confusables, and the section on which and that. If you do use "which" in this sentence, you still won't use a comma because the information in the dependent clause is essential to the meaning of the sentence. I used to prefer email, but I've been convinced that e-mail is better, though I'm not sure why. Eventually, I think people will just write email. My favorite usage manual is the Little, Brown Handbook, although the Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers is a good one, too. I doubt if there is an "absolute best." I don't own a Chicago Style Manual, unfortunately, and I understand that the New York Public Library's Style Manual is first rate. Then, of course, there's the sentimental and still solid favorite Elements of Style. Most bookstores will also carry Lynn Troyka's Quick Access, which is thorough and kind of handy to use with its tabbed pages, as is Ann Raimes's Keys for Writers. Trouble is, I've got a shelf of them, and I like them all.

Question	I'd like you to explain to me clearly how to present a sentence like this. I'm still confused about sentence pattern. These systems store spatial data describing location as geometric objects in graphics files managed by a file management system.
Source & Date of Question	Bangkok, Thailand 17 October 1997
Grammar's Response	There's nothing inherently wrong with that sentence. It does try to do an awful lot, however, and it might be a better sentence if it were broken into two shorter sentences. The problem is that the end of the sentence sort of runs off into a series of modifying phrases. If the order of the phrases is exactly what you want, then fine, but it's still sort of hard to follow. Does the data, in fact, describe location as geometric objects? Are those objects in grahics files and are the files managed by a file management system? Maybe the problem is that "spatial data" and "data describing location" are the same thing (i.e., it's redundant)? In short, it's hard to tell even if there is a problem because it's hard to tell what it means (or it's trying to mean too much). I think you're better off with shorter sentences or a subordination of one of the phrases: These systems store spatial data as geometric objects in graphics files which are sorted out by a file management system. These systems store spatial data as geometric objects. The objects can be sorted into graphics files by a file management system.

Question	I want to ask you about the past perfect continuous tense.
Source & Date of Question	Stirling, Scotland 17 October 1997
Grammar's Response	The past perfect progressive (continuous?) tense describes something that was going on in the past: We had been working on the railroad. He had been studying biology when he suddenly realized he wanted to go into religious studies.

Question	Sometimes I'm confused about when I have to use present tense and when I have to use past tense when I am writing an essay.
Source & Date of Question	Victoria, British Columbia, Canada 14 October 1997
Grammar's Response	For the most part, you're going to have to be the judge of what's logical in this situation. When you're writing about literature, however, we conventionally try to use the present tense. We would say that Robert Frost suggests something about nature, even though Frost is long gone. We would say that his phrase "lovely, dark and deep" suggests something. . . . all in the present tense. The main character in Raymond Carver's story "Fat" says and talks and is, etc. The present tense creates the happy illusion that we're talking about something that is going on now, which, when you're talking about literature, is true.

Question	Today for English our assignment was subject complements and linking verbs. I have some directions but I am still not understanding it. Could possibly find some examples or a definition?
Source & Date of Question	Connecticut 16 October 1997
Grammar's Response	Think of a linking verb as a kind of equals mark. She is tall. She = tall. She is a professor. She = a professor. The linking verb connects the subject to the describing element that follows, whether that is an adjective like tall or a noun like professor. The noun (sometimes called a predicate noun) or adjective (sometimes called a predicate adjective) is called a subject complement. I hope that helps.

Question	I am in a quandary. In a novel I'm writing, I wish to record the thoughts of my heroine. How do I properly present them? She is not actually speaking out loud; hence I do not feel I should enclose her words in quotation marks, using normal text. That might confuse the reader. I want her thoughts to stand out separately from her conversations. Yet, if I use italics, won't I be breaking the standard rule of italics usage? Please advise. I look forward to your answer.
Source & Date of Question	Austin, Texas 16 October 1997
Grammar's Response	The problem with italics is that they're just plain hard to read after a line or two. I'd avoid that trick. My best advice is to find a couple of writers who do what you want to do and copy their typography. I suggest Graham Swift's recent Last Orders, but there are surely hundreds of novels that incorporate characters "speaking" to themselves. Mostly, I think it's a matter of separating that kind of "speech" from the rest of your narrative with breaks of some kind -- without getting too gimmicky about it. After a while, your reader catches on to what you're doing. Good luck with your novel!

Question	Can I have a conjugation of a verb in the subjunctive mood in active and passive voice?
Source & Date of Question	Portsmouth, New Hampshire 16 October 1997
Grammar's Response	You can have subjunctive verbs in both passive and active constructions, but you can't have a conjugation, exactly, because the subjunctive is limited to distinctive forms. I think we can say that the subject, "it," is being acted upon in the following: "The college would attract more students if it were better supported by tax dollars." So we have a passive construction there, don't we? But we can't conjugate the verb in the sense that it does not have different forms for different persons and numbers: you're looking at it.