The Grammar Logs -- Number Thirty-Six

The
Grammar
Logs
# 36

Question Which of the following sentences is/are right ? why?

No one but I saw him.
No one but him could tell that I was the foreigner.
No one but he could tell that I was the foreigner.
How can I use "as" and "like" correctly when they are both used as conj.?
Source & Date
of Question Columbus, Ohio
24 October 1997
Grammar's
Response
You are connecting two pronouns with a conjunction -- no one and someone else -- and they are both the subject of the verb. We wouldn't have the question you raise if the conjunction were "and." This means you need the subject form of the pronoun here: "I" or "he" (definitely not "him").

Use as for the subordinating conjunction to introduce a clause, always. Remember the old Winston ad: "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should." Well, not only did it encourage a bad habit, but also it encouraged the use of "like" where "as" was the appropriate conjunction. When making a comparison, it is sometimes appropriate to use like but like will probably function as a preposition in that case:
I am tall like my father.
I am as tall as my father [is tall].

Question I have been trying to find information on correct date formats for business usage. Within Microsoft Word, they give several options in choosing a format. However, I have faith in accepting these formats without first verifying them. My interest is i English (US) date formats as related to business documents and correspondence.

April 1, 1997
1 April, 1997
1 April 1997
#1 I know is widely accepted. I was always instructed to use form #2, inserting the comma between the month and year. However, recently there has been controversy within my office between forms #2 and #3.
Could you please assist us in clarifying this issue?
Source & Date
of Question Washington, D.C.
24 October 1997
Grammar's
Response The first option you give us is, of course, the standard American way of doing things. It doesn't make a lot of sense to have the date before the month, but that's standard Yankee format. The other format, without the comma, is accepted internationally.

Question Dear Grammar,

Can 'have not increased' and 'do not increase' be used interchangeably, as shown below?
The college will probably close its doors next summer if enrollments have not increased.
The college will probably close its doors next summer if enrollments do not increase.

Source & Date
of Question Albany, New York
24 October 1997
Grammar's
Response As long as the tense of the verb in the main clause is neither past nor past perfect, the tense in the subordinate clause need only reflect your meaning.
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.
However, you have to be logical, too. Can you say that something will happen because of something in the past ("have increased")? Well, yes, but you're probably on more solid logical ground to say that the future event is contingent upon something happening in the present tense ("do increase"). I'd go with the "do not increase," but I don't think the "have not increased" is wrong.

Question What is the definitive source on proofreading and proofreading marks? I have looked at several books with lists of marks and abbreviations and each has its own set of marks and abbreviations.
Source & Date
of Question Fort Smith, Arkansas
24 October 1997
Grammar's
Response Our Guide to Grammar and Writing has a list of proofreading symbols and abbreviations that are based on the MLA Handbook. But, no, there probably isn't a single, authoritative guide on such matters. The closest thing I've found is Laura Killen Anderson's Handbook for Proofreading. Lincolnwood, Illinois: NTC Business Books, 1990. I don't even know if it's still in print.

Question When should you use "say", and when should you use "tell"?
Source & Date
of Question Margate, Florida
26 October 1997
Grammar's
Response
They are sometimes synonyms, say and tell, but they do have different uses. You would never have an indirect object with "say," but you can have an indirect object with "tell":
I will tell you one thing.
Tell me a story.
Tell often means to relate in detail, whereas say is a simpler kind of utterance.
Does that help?

Question
I'm not sure how to write the punctuation in the following question and your help would be appreciated. Are there such things as double full stops in a sentence?
Which sentence in the text tells you so?
If this type of question appears during the exam, how then should the student answer it? Can the student write in the following ways?
1. The sentence is " He is a boy.".
2. The sentence is "He is a boy."

Source & Date
of Question Singapore
26 October 1997
Grammar's
Response No, in those constructions the period inside the quotation mark will suffice to end the sentence. (That is the standard American way of doing it; the British way of doing it, which might well prevail in Singapore, would place the period after the quotation mark.)

Question What is the name for the suffix found at the end of a surname? Abbreviations such as Jr., Sr., and III?
Source & Date
of Question Charlotte, North Carolina
October 26 1997
Grammar's
Response Those are not exactly suffixes because they're not really part of the word, but they must have a name (besides abbreviations). I'll post this response and your question and maybe we'll get a better answer.

Question
In a article I was asked to edit, I came upon the expression below:
The British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, is quoted as saying:"The secret of success is to be ready for opportunity when it comes."
Am I right in thinking that the commas either side of Benjamin Disraeli are incorrect here? My feeling is that they would be correct only if Disraeli was the current British PM or the only one.
Many thanks in anticipation for your assistance.

Source & Date
of Question Wolverhampton, UK
27 October 1997
Grammar's
Response You're right about those commas; they're unnecessary, not wanted, in that construction. It would, perhaps, be easier to see this if the sentence began with "British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli is quoted. . . ." or if we just left out the "The." In the sentence you give us, however, the name is essential information, so commas would be inappropriate, as you point out.

Question Can you explain to me about relative clauses and show me how they work?
Source & Date
of Question Washington, D.C.
27 October 1997
Grammar's
Response Very briefly, relative clauses are dependent clauses that are related to the main clause by the dependent words (relative pronouns) who, which, that. They usually define something within the main clause and may do so either by adding essential information ("The man who lives on the corner is moving away.") or inessential information ("George Governby, who lives on the corner, is moving away.") Does that help?

Question
I found the following sentence in an English conversation textbook.
"No matter how careful you are, there is always someone out there who is an accident waiting to happen."
Could you tell me how it differs from "No matter how careful you are, there is always someone out there who is waiting an accident to happen." This seems to me grammatically correct.

Source & Date
of Question Yokohama, Japan
28 October 1997
Grammar's
Response Your sentence is, indeed, grammatically correct, except that "waiting for" is the phrasal verb you want here: "who is waiting for an accident to happen."
However, you might well miss the joke that is in the first sentence. I'm not sure whether we should call it a joke or an idiom or a cliché, but "an accident waiting to happen" means that that person, that "somebody" is always on the verge of causing or becoming involved in an accident. You've probably met that kind of person. This phrase is often meant humorously: "This couple is a divorce waiting to happen." "That bridge is a catastrophe waiting to happen."
I hope this helps.

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Question	Which of the following sentences is/are right ? why? No one but I saw him. No one but him could tell that I was the foreigner. No one but he could tell that I was the foreigner. How can I use "as" and "like" correctly when they are both used as conj.?
Source & Date of Question	Columbus, Ohio 24 October 1997
Grammar's Response	You are connecting two pronouns with a conjunction -- no one and someone else -- and they are both the subject of the verb. We wouldn't have the question you raise if the conjunction were "and." This means you need the subject form of the pronoun here: "I" or "he" (definitely not "him"). Use as for the subordinating conjunction to introduce a clause, always. Remember the old Winston ad: "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should." Well, not only did it encourage a bad habit, but also it encouraged the use of "like" where "as" was the appropriate conjunction. When making a comparison, it is sometimes appropriate to use like but like will probably function as a preposition in that case: I am tall like my father. I am as tall as my father [is tall].

Question	I have been trying to find information on correct date formats for business usage. Within Microsoft Word, they give several options in choosing a format. However, I have faith in accepting these formats without first verifying them. My interest is i English (US) date formats as related to business documents and correspondence. April 1, 1997 1 April, 1997 1 April 1997 #1 I know is widely accepted. I was always instructed to use form #2, inserting the comma between the month and year. However, recently there has been controversy within my office between forms #2 and #3. Could you please assist us in clarifying this issue?
Source & Date of Question	Washington, D.C. 24 October 1997
Grammar's Response	The first option you give us is, of course, the standard American way of doing things. It doesn't make a lot of sense to have the date before the month, but that's standard Yankee format. The other format, without the comma, is accepted internationally.

Question	When should you use "say", and when should you use "tell"?
Source & Date of Question	Margate, Florida 26 October 1997
Grammar's Response	They are sometimes synonyms, say and tell, but they do have different uses. You would never have an indirect object with "say," but you can have an indirect object with "tell": I will tell you one thing. Tell me a story. Tell often means to relate in detail, whereas say is a simpler kind of utterance. Does that help?

Question	I'm not sure how to write the punctuation in the following question and your help would be appreciated. Are there such things as double full stops in a sentence? Which sentence in the text tells you so? If this type of question appears during the exam, how then should the student answer it? Can the student write in the following ways? 1. The sentence is " He is a boy.". 2. The sentence is "He is a boy."
Source & Date of Question	Singapore 26 October 1997
Grammar's Response	No, in those constructions the period inside the quotation mark will suffice to end the sentence. (That is the standard American way of doing it; the British way of doing it, which might well prevail in Singapore, would place the period after the quotation mark.)

Question	In a article I was asked to edit, I came upon the expression below: The British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, is quoted as saying:"The secret of success is to be ready for opportunity when it comes." Am I right in thinking that the commas either side of Benjamin Disraeli are incorrect here? My feeling is that they would be correct only if Disraeli was the current British PM or the only one. Many thanks in anticipation for your assistance.
Source & Date of Question	Wolverhampton, UK 27 October 1997
Grammar's Response	You're right about those commas; they're unnecessary, not wanted, in that construction. It would, perhaps, be easier to see this if the sentence began with "British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli is quoted. . . ." or if we just left out the "The." In the sentence you give us, however, the name is essential information, so commas would be inappropriate, as you point out.

Question	What is the definitive source on proofreading and proofreading marks? I have looked at several books with lists of marks and abbreviations and each has its own set of marks and abbreviations.
Source & Date of Question	Fort Smith, Arkansas 24 October 1997
Grammar's Response	Our Guide to Grammar and Writing has a list of proofreading symbols and abbreviations that are based on the MLA Handbook. But, no, there probably isn't a single, authoritative guide on such matters. The closest thing I've found is Laura Killen Anderson's Handbook for Proofreading. Lincolnwood, Illinois: NTC Business Books, 1990. I don't even know if it's still in print.

Question	What is the name for the suffix found at the end of a surname? Abbreviations such as Jr., Sr., and III?
Source & Date of Question	Charlotte, North Carolina October 26 1997
Grammar's Response	Those are not exactly suffixes because they're not really part of the word, but they must have a name (besides abbreviations). I'll post this response and your question and maybe we'll get a better answer.

Question	Can you explain to me about relative clauses and show me how they work?
Source & Date of Question	Washington, D.C. 27 October 1997
Grammar's Response	Very briefly, relative clauses are dependent clauses that are related to the main clause by the dependent words (relative pronouns) who, which, that. They usually define something within the main clause and may do so either by adding essential information ("The man who lives on the corner is moving away.") or inessential information ("George Governby, who lives on the corner, is moving away.") Does that help?