The Grammar Logs -- Number Fifty-Four

The
Grammar
Logs
# 54

Question Which of the following setences is more correct and why?

Some of the enclosed list of companies might be interested to be participants in the MCG conference to be held in Aug. 1998.
....................... may be .........................................
Thanks for your assistance!
Source & Date
of Question Taiwan
29 December 1997
Grammar's
Response When expressing possibility in the present and future tenses, may and might are interchangeable. So either sentence would be correct. Your sentence, however, would probably read better if we wrote something like:
"Some of the companies on the enclosed list might be interested in participating [or 'in becoming participants'] in the MCG conference to be held in August 1998."
Please visit the section on modal auxiliaries.

Question Hi! I am puzzled by the question" Has she never written to you, has she?" "Yes, never." Is the reply correct? If yes, would you please explain why? Thank you very much.
Source & Date
of Question Tainan, Taiwan
29 December 1997
Grammar's
Response I can't imagine someone asking the question quite that way. Maybe "She has never written to you, has she?" ? And then I think the appropriate answer would be "No, never." Another possibility would be, "Has she ever written to you?" But that doesn't address your question. In short, "Yes, never" is a confusing response because the question is badly phrased. The combination of the positive "yes" and the negative "never" is going to create confusion in just about any case, I would imagine.

Question Here is a muti-choice question. But I do not know which one of the answers is correct?
Question:Jean and Sue's brother is Tom.
Please tell me which one of the following is correct.

Tom is Jean's and Sue's brother.
Tom is Jean's brother and Sue is.
Jean is Tom's sister,and Sue is too.

Source & Date
of Question Somewhere, New Zealand
29 December 1997
Grammar's
Response I'm having a hard time figuring out what the question here is. I think it has to do with creating a possessive form when there is compound ownership. Tom is the brother of both Jean and Sue; Jean and Sue both "own" him, equally. So we put them together, Jean and Sue, before tacking on the apostrophe -s to show ownership. Thus, "Jean and Sue's brother is Tom." If, however, Jean and Sue were not sisters (somehow), but Tom was still their brother, you could say "Tom is Jean's and Sue's brother" in order to show that their ownership is separate, not "corporate." I can't make any sense out of #2 or #3.

Question Hi. Could you tell me if the following sentences are correct or not?

I sent you a letter earlier this year, but I don't know whether you have received it or not.
I sent you a letter earlier this year, but I don't know whether you received it or not.

Source & Date
of Question Unknown
30 December 1997
Grammar's
Response Yes, both sentences are correct. There isn't much difference between the present perfect and the simple past in this context.

Question envelope addressing - is Mr/Mrs or Mr./Mrs. appropriate when addressing an envelope
thank you
Source & Date
of Question Northampton, Pennsylvania
30 December 1997
Grammar's
Response I wouldn't use that device. If you want it to mean "and" -- well, it doesn't. It means "or," and that's kind of weird. If you don't know if this person is a man or a woman, like Mr. or Mrs. Chris Smith, I'd just leave out the Mr./Mrs. altogether and use the name by itself.

Question
Which of the following is true?
*What do you feel about Jane?
or
*How do you feel about Jane?
Also, please explain when "feel" takes an adjective or a noun. Like:
"She feels pain." but not "She feels painful."
Thanking you in advance.

Source & Date
of Question Tainan, Taiwan
30 December 1997
Grammar's
Response Either of those sentences about Jane is correct. Both of them are asking us to tell the speaker about our feelings about Jane.
"She feels painful" sounds strange to me. You can have a painful experience, but that doesn't make you painful. In fact, you can be full of pain and still not be painful. Nearly always (you point out an interesting exception), you're going to use an adjective there: She feels lost/strange/hurt/ugly/beautiful/etc. If you want to name the emotion that she feels, then you're going to use a noun: She feels pain/shame/pride/etc.

Question No Question About It!
Source & Date
of Question Hartford, Connecticut
1 January 1998
Grammar's
Response

Question Regarding the use of gerunds:
Q1a.) Could I transfer the word "Crave" as a Gerund, i.e. Using it to begin a sentence: Craving for somebody,...
b.) if I could also use "Crave for"/"Craving for" as a article title, like "Crave for Cats"/"Craving for animals"
Q2.) What's the difference between "search for someone" and "searching for someone"?
Thanks for your answering my questions.
Hoping you have a Happy New Year!!!!!
Source & Date
of Question Hong Kong
1 January 1998
Grammar's
Response It's rather an odd use of the word "craving," but, yes, you could begin a sentence with a gerund phrase like that: "Craving for somene like that is not good for your mental health." As a title for an article, the word itself seems peculiar, but, again, you could use it: "Craving for Animals," an article by . . . (What does it mean, though, to crave for an animal? I can almost understand craving the company of animals, but even that seems peculiar.) "Search for someone," when it's not a command, must be part of an infinitive phrase or verb string. "I am trying to search for someone in the basement." or "We will search for someone in the woods when it gets light outside." ?? "Searching for someone" would be your gerund phrase: "Searching for someone in this darkness is useless."

Question How do you know when to use "Who" and when to use "Whom"? I am very confused about that concept. My language workbook [6th grade] gives an example, but I'm still not sure about the rule. Can you help me?
Source & Date
of Question Long Beach, New York
1 January 1998
Grammar's
Response Check out the brief section we have on who and whom and be sure to take the quizzes on pronoun choice. The explanations of the correct choices are perhaps more important than whether you get the answers right or not. If you're still having trouble after that, please write again.

Question Isn't there a rule of thumb wich we can use to learn the correct usage of the expressions "neither" and "either"? Last night I heard from a movie the expression: "I don't have guts to do that". The partner's answer: "Me neither". Wouldn't be the correct answer "Neither I"?
Could you please comment and give some examples? Thank you very much.
Source & Date
of Question Sao Paulo, Brazil
2 January 1998
Grammar's
Response I suppose what the person should have said is "Neither do I" or "Neither would I." The response "me neither" is certainly not uncommon in casual speech (which I assume you were listening to in the movie), but it has no place in writing.
Both either and neither can act as indefinite pronouns and as correlative conjunctions (with or and nor, respectively). Check out our sections on pronouns and subject-verb agreement, and, if you still have questions (preferably more specific questions), please write back.

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Question	Which of the following setences is more correct and why? Some of the enclosed list of companies might be interested to be participants in the MCG conference to be held in Aug. 1998. ....................... may be ......................................... Thanks for your assistance!
Source & Date of Question	Taiwan 29 December 1997
Grammar's Response	When expressing possibility in the present and future tenses, may and might are interchangeable. So either sentence would be correct. Your sentence, however, would probably read better if we wrote something like: "Some of the companies on the enclosed list might be interested in participating [or 'in becoming participants'] in the MCG conference to be held in August 1998." Please visit the section on modal auxiliaries.

Question	Here is a muti-choice question. But I do not know which one of the answers is correct? Question:Jean and Sue's brother is Tom. Please tell me which one of the following is correct. Tom is Jean's and Sue's brother. Tom is Jean's brother and Sue is. Jean is Tom's sister,and Sue is too.
Source & Date of Question	Somewhere, New Zealand 29 December 1997
Grammar's Response	I'm having a hard time figuring out what the question here is. I think it has to do with creating a possessive form when there is compound ownership. Tom is the brother of both Jean and Sue; Jean and Sue both "own" him, equally. So we put them together, Jean and Sue, before tacking on the apostrophe -s to show ownership. Thus, "Jean and Sue's brother is Tom." If, however, Jean and Sue were not sisters (somehow), but Tom was still their brother, you could say "Tom is Jean's and Sue's brother" in order to show that their ownership is separate, not "corporate." I can't make any sense out of #2 or #3.

Question	Hi. Could you tell me if the following sentences are correct or not? I sent you a letter earlier this year, but I don't know whether you have received it or not. I sent you a letter earlier this year, but I don't know whether you received it or not.
Source & Date of Question	Unknown 30 December 1997
Grammar's Response	Yes, both sentences are correct. There isn't much difference between the present perfect and the simple past in this context.

Question	envelope addressing - is Mr/Mrs or Mr./Mrs. appropriate when addressing an envelope thank you
Source & Date of Question	Northampton, Pennsylvania 30 December 1997
Grammar's Response	I wouldn't use that device. If you want it to mean "and" -- well, it doesn't. It means "or," and that's kind of weird. If you don't know if this person is a man or a woman, like Mr. or Mrs. Chris Smith, I'd just leave out the Mr./Mrs. altogether and use the name by itself.

Question	Which of the following is true? What do you feel about Jane? or How do you feel about Jane? Also, please explain when "feel" takes an adjective or a noun. Like: "She feels pain." but not "She feels painful." Thanking you in advance.
Source & Date of Question	Tainan, Taiwan 30 December 1997
Grammar's Response	Either of those sentences about Jane is correct. Both of them are asking us to tell the speaker about our feelings about Jane. "She feels painful" sounds strange to me. You can have a painful experience, but that doesn't make you painful. In fact, you can be full of pain and still not be painful. Nearly always (you point out an interesting exception), you're going to use an adjective there: She feels lost/strange/hurt/ugly/beautiful/etc. If you want to name the emotion that she feels, then you're going to use a noun: She feels pain/shame/pride/etc.

Question	Hi! I am puzzled by the question" Has she never written to you, has she?" "Yes, never." Is the reply correct? If yes, would you please explain why? Thank you very much.
Source & Date of Question	Tainan, Taiwan 29 December 1997
Grammar's Response	I can't imagine someone asking the question quite that way. Maybe "She has never written to you, has she?" ? And then I think the appropriate answer would be "No, never." Another possibility would be, "Has she ever written to you?" But that doesn't address your question. In short, "Yes, never" is a confusing response because the question is badly phrased. The combination of the positive "yes" and the negative "never" is going to create confusion in just about any case, I would imagine.

Question	No Question About It!
Source & Date of Question	Hartford, Connecticut 1 January 1998
Grammar's Response

Question	Regarding the use of gerunds: Q1a.) Could I transfer the word "Crave" as a Gerund, i.e. Using it to begin a sentence: Craving for somebody,... b.) if I could also use "Crave for"/"Craving for" as a article title, like "Crave for Cats"/"Craving for animals" Q2.) What's the difference between "search for someone" and "searching for someone"? Thanks for your answering my questions. Hoping you have a Happy New Year!!!!!
Source & Date of Question	Hong Kong 1 January 1998
Grammar's Response	It's rather an odd use of the word "craving," but, yes, you could begin a sentence with a gerund phrase like that: "Craving for somene like that is not good for your mental health." As a title for an article, the word itself seems peculiar, but, again, you could use it: "Craving for Animals," an article by . . . (What does it mean, though, to crave for an animal? I can almost understand craving the company of animals, but even that seems peculiar.) "Search for someone," when it's not a command, must be part of an infinitive phrase or verb string. "I am trying to search for someone in the basement." or "We will search for someone in the woods when it gets light outside." ?? "Searching for someone" would be your gerund phrase: "Searching for someone in this darkness is useless."

Question	How do you know when to use "Who" and when to use "Whom"? I am very confused about that concept. My language workbook [6th grade] gives an example, but I'm still not sure about the rule. Can you help me?
Source & Date of Question	Long Beach, New York 1 January 1998
Grammar's Response	Check out the brief section we have on who and whom and be sure to take the quizzes on pronoun choice. The explanations of the correct choices are perhaps more important than whether you get the answers right or not. If you're still having trouble after that, please write again.

Question	Isn't there a rule of thumb wich we can use to learn the correct usage of the expressions "neither" and "either"? Last night I heard from a movie the expression: "I don't have guts to do that". The partner's answer: "Me neither". Wouldn't be the correct answer "Neither I"? Could you please comment and give some examples? Thank you very much.
Source & Date of Question	Sao Paulo, Brazil 2 January 1998
Grammar's Response	I suppose what the person should have said is "Neither do I" or "Neither would I." The response "me neither" is certainly not uncommon in casual speech (which I assume you were listening to in the movie), but it has no place in writing. Both either and neither can act as indefinite pronouns and as correlative conjunctions (with or and nor, respectively). Check out our sections on pronouns and subject-verb agreement, and, if you still have questions (preferably more specific questions), please write back.