The Grammar Logs -- Number Six

The
Grammar
Logs
# 6

Question What the heck is a Conjunctive Adverb anyway? Is it an adverb that desperately needs an eye doctor?
Source & Date
of Question Cincinnati, Ohio
26 April 1997
Grammar's
Response You've got it. Handle with rubber gloves! In one of my earlier lives, I used to refer to the "cute little conjunctions" (three letters or less -- and, but, for, nor yet, or, so) that combine independent clauses (among other things) as opposed to the "big ugly conjunctions" (such as however, moreover, nevertheless) that separate independent clauses and establish more complex relationships among ideas. They are adverbial in the sense that they establish connections (often showing how the verb parts of the independent clauses are related) and conjunctive in that they do join. You could also call them adverbial conjunctions or transitional expressions if that makes you less squeamish.

Question Is the word "clothes" a collective noun?
example: The clothes is on the floor.
That just sounds wrong to me.
Source & Date
of Question Unknown
27 April 1997
Grammar's
Response Well, I'm glad it sounds wrong, because it is wrong. Clothes is not a collective noun, though. Collective nouns are words like team and jury and committee that can act as singular subjects but incorporate more than one thing (or person). So you would say the jury delivers its verdict. On the other hand, the word clothes is simply a plural noun, always. (I suppose, in some way, it's the plural of cloth, huh?)

Question What is the official meaning of the word "Freebe?"
Why do quotations follow periods and question marks? I think we should all close the quote, then add the question mark.
Source & Date
of Question Reading, Massachusetts
27 April 1997
Grammar's
Response First of all, the word "Freebe" has no meaning whatsoever. It is also a word you should eschew in polite company.
Regarding quotation marks, you can (and should) put the quotation mark inside the question mark. You're probably trying to be logical about this. Forget it. Give yourself over to the Dark Side. Periods and commas go inside quotation marks, always; all other marks are used with logic. Thus I would say, What is a "Freebe"? or I hate "Freebes"! or I hate "Freebes"; however, I love "Freebies." Notice my last statement ends with a period which is inside the quotation mark. It doesn't make sense, but neither does predestination.

Question Please explain the difference between 'was' and 'were'. For instance, which of the following sentences is correct:
If it was raining out I'd get wet.
or,
If it were raining out I'd get wet.

Thanks
Source & Date
of Question New York, New York
28 April 1997
Grammar's
Response You're going to get wet in either case. In formal writing and speaking, however, one would use the subjunctive form of the to be verb here: were.
The subjunctive mood (as opposed to the indicative, which we use all the time, and the imperative, which we use when feeling bossish), has not entirely gone the way of the dodo and brontosauraus. It is used in dependent clauses which do the following: 1) express a wish; 2) express a condition that does not exist and beginning with if (which describes your example); 3) begin with as if and as though; and 4) begin with that and express a demand, requirement, request, or suggestion.
The present tense of the subjunctive uses only the base form of the verb.
He demanded that his students use two-inch margins.
She suggested that we be on time tomorrow.
The past tense of the indicative has the same forms as the indicative except (unfortunately) for the verb to be, which uses were regardless of the number of the subject.
If I were seven feet tall, I'd be a great basketball player.
He wishes he were a better student.

Authority: The St. Martin's Handbook by Andrea Lunsford, Robert Connors. 2nd ed. St. Martin's Press: New York. 1992.

Question Which is correct?

The team are going to the game.
The team is going to the game.
And what is the rule governing other group nouns?
Source & Date
of Question New York, New York
28 April 1997
Grammar's
Response I prefer the term collective noun for names of things that are singular in form but constitute groups. Team (your example) is one. Jury, committee, herd would be others. When the thing named acts as a group, as one thing, it takes a singular verb and pronouns referring to it are also singular: The team takes its position on the field. So #2 is correct.
MASS NOUNS, on the other hand, are things or qualities that aren't usually countable -- earth, water, courage -- and, therefore, are rarely pluralized. (Sugar, for example, is a mass noun; however, one does hear nutritionists and biologists speak of different sugars.)
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 you please give me the simplest way to remember the proper usage for whom versus who? I've heard several tricks to remember this and I never can. Thanks.
Source & Date
of Question Birmingham, Alabama
28 April 1997
Grammar's
Response Unfortunately, none of the tricks I remember (at least the ones about remembering who and whom) are all that easy. But if you regard making the correct choice as a kind of puzzle, then you'll start to make the right choice and, eventually, one can hope, it will carry over into speech as well.
Cover up the sentence up to that point where you have to make the choice. Then, instead of choosing between who and whom, re-word the sentence so you have to choose between they and them or he and him (the "m" endings will remind you of whom). If you choose they or he, that means you want who; if you choose them or him, that means you want whom.
Examples:

The teacher ____ won Math Teacher of the Year Award was very happy.
(We would say "HE won the award. . . ," which means we want WHO.)
The teacher _____ they wanted to win was disappointed.
(We would say "they wanted HIM to win" so we choose WHOM.)
Go to the Guide and take the two special quizzes on who/whom and see how you do. If that doesn't help, let me know. And if you ever remember the easy tricks, let me know that, too.

Question I was wondering about the construction of several sentences.

He is running. (It's the present continous, meaning now.)
He is busy working at the office every day, but he should have time to meet you at the factory next week.
(Since every day is in the sentence, it's not present continuous. Is working a gerund being used as a noun to mean the action of work? What's the diagram or parts of the first half of the sentence, 'He is busy working at the office every day'?)
Source & Date
of Question Taiwan
29 April 1997
Grammar's
Response The words busy and working are both predicate adjectives describing the subject. Working, then, would not be a gerund (a verb working as a noun), but a present participle (a verb working as an adjective). The rest of the clause contains a prepositional phrase (at the office) and a noun (day) preceded by an adjective.
Incidentally, I don't think there's anything in that adverbial phrase every day that would mean you can't use present continuous verb forms with it.

Question I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT MY SONS THIRD GRADE GRAMMER WORKBOOK. THE WORKBOOK HAS A QUESTION ABOUT SINGULAR/PLURAL VERBS. THE SENTENCE STATES: THE RABBIT (HOPS, HOP). I SAY IT SHOULD BE HOPS AND THE NOUN IS SINGULAR. THE ANSWER KEY STATES THAT IT SHOULD BE HOPS AND THE NOUN IS SINGULAR. THE VERB IS PLURAL. CORRECT? IF I FOLLOW THE RULES FOR THE SINGULAR/PLURAL VERBS IT IS NOT CORRECT. IT SEEMS SO SILLY TO ASK, HOWEVER I COULD NOT FIND THIS INFORMATION ANYWHERE ELSE ON THE INTERNET.
Source & Date
of Question Collierville, Tennessee
30 April 1997
Grammar's
Response English verbs, for some perverse reason, behave just the opposite of English nouns. When you want to pluralize a noun, you add an s ending, right? On the other hand, the only verbs with added s endings are singular (third-person, present tense), such as The rabbit hops. So both the subject and its verb are singular and all is right with the world -- at least among the rabbits.

Question I am confused about pronouns. When should I use I and Me?
Example: (I, Me) really like the sound of the trumpet.
(Elena and I, Elena and me) have a favorite uncle.
Uncle Dan visited (Ann and me, me and Ann).

Source & Date
of Question Memphis, Tennessee
30 April 1997
Grammar's
Response First of all, English dictates that we put other people first when we're compounding a pronoun with something else. "He and I will go to the movies after school," for instance. Or "He gave jobs to Julio and me." That's one of the few ways that English is polite.
The rest of your question has to do with the form that pronouns take when compounding with something else. Have you checked out the Guide and taken the Quiz on Pronoun Usage?
To repeat, the rule is actually quite simple: when compounding a pronoun with something else, don't change its form: "I have a favorite uncle." Throw in Elena and it becomes "Elena and I have a favorite uncle." "Uncle left his money to me." Throw in Elena again and it becomes "Uncle left his money to Elena and me."

Question Is is proper to put a comma after a title?

Jane Doe, Deputy County Attorney hereby moves the Court for an Order of Dismissal.
or
Jane Doe, Deputy County Attorney hereby moves the Court for an Order of Dismissal.

Source & Date
of Question Lincoln, Nebraska
30 April 1997
Grammar's
Response Usually, when the title comes after the name, it's going to be a parenthetical element, that is, something that can be removed from the sentence without changing its essential meaning. Thus, the title would be surrounded by commas: "Jane Doe, Deputy County Attorney, moved . . . "
However, when the title comes before the name, the name becomes essential and there are no commas: "Deputy County Attorney Jane Doe moved . . . . " Notice, furthermore, that if I say "THE Deputy County Attorney," the name becomes parenthetical, and I would set it off with commas: "The Deputy County Attorney, Jane Doe, moved . . . ." Clear??

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Question	Is the word "clothes" a collective noun? example: The clothes is on the floor. That just sounds wrong to me.
Source & Date of Question	Unknown 27 April 1997
Grammar's Response	Well, I'm glad it sounds wrong, because it is wrong. Clothes is not a collective noun, though. Collective nouns are words like team and jury and committee that can act as singular subjects but incorporate more than one thing (or person). So you would say the jury delivers its verdict. On the other hand, the word clothes is simply a plural noun, always. (I suppose, in some way, it's the plural of cloth, huh?)

Question	What is the official meaning of the word "Freebe?" Why do quotations follow periods and question marks? I think we should all close the quote, then add the question mark.
Source & Date of Question	Reading, Massachusetts 27 April 1997
Grammar's Response	First of all, the word "Freebe" has no meaning whatsoever. It is also a word you should eschew in polite company. Regarding quotation marks, you can (and should) put the quotation mark inside the question mark. You're probably trying to be logical about this. Forget it. Give yourself over to the Dark Side. Periods and commas go inside quotation marks, always; all other marks are used with logic. Thus I would say, What is a "Freebe"? or I hate "Freebes"! or I hate "Freebes"; however, I love "Freebies." Notice my last statement ends with a period which is inside the quotation mark. It doesn't make sense, but neither does predestination.

Question	I was wondering about the construction of several sentences. He is running. (It's the present continous, meaning now.) He is busy working at the office every day, but he should have time to meet you at the factory next week. (Since every day is in the sentence, it's not present continuous. Is working a gerund being used as a noun to mean the action of work? What's the diagram or parts of the first half of the sentence, 'He is busy working at the office every day'?)
Source & Date of Question	Taiwan 29 April 1997
Grammar's Response	The words busy and working are both predicate adjectives describing the subject. Working, then, would not be a gerund (a verb working as a noun), but a present participle (a verb working as an adjective). The rest of the clause contains a prepositional phrase (at the office) and a noun (day) preceded by an adjective. Incidentally, I don't think there's anything in that adverbial phrase every day that would mean you can't use present continuous verb forms with it.

Question	Is is proper to put a comma after a title? Jane Doe, Deputy County Attorney hereby moves the Court for an Order of Dismissal. or Jane Doe, Deputy County Attorney hereby moves the Court for an Order of Dismissal.
Source & Date of Question	Lincoln, Nebraska 30 April 1997
Grammar's Response	Usually, when the title comes after the name, it's going to be a parenthetical element, that is, something that can be removed from the sentence without changing its essential meaning. Thus, the title would be surrounded by commas: "Jane Doe, Deputy County Attorney, moved . . . " However, when the title comes before the name, the name becomes essential and there are no commas: "Deputy County Attorney Jane Doe moved . . . . " Notice, furthermore, that if I say "THE Deputy County Attorney," the name becomes parenthetical, and I would set it off with commas: "The Deputy County Attorney, Jane Doe, moved . . . ." Clear??

Question	What the heck is a Conjunctive Adverb anyway? Is it an adverb that desperately needs an eye doctor?
Source & Date of Question	Cincinnati, Ohio 26 April 1997
Grammar's Response	You've got it. Handle with rubber gloves! In one of my earlier lives, I used to refer to the "cute little conjunctions" (three letters or less -- and, but, for, nor yet, or, so) that combine independent clauses (among other things) as opposed to the "big ugly conjunctions" (such as however, moreover, nevertheless) that separate independent clauses and establish more complex relationships among ideas. They are adverbial in the sense that they establish connections (often showing how the verb parts of the independent clauses are related) and conjunctive in that they do join. You could also call them adverbial conjunctions or transitional expressions if that makes you less squeamish.

Question	I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT MY SONS THIRD GRADE GRAMMER WORKBOOK. THE WORKBOOK HAS A QUESTION ABOUT SINGULAR/PLURAL VERBS. THE SENTENCE STATES: THE RABBIT (HOPS, HOP). I SAY IT SHOULD BE HOPS AND THE NOUN IS SINGULAR. THE ANSWER KEY STATES THAT IT SHOULD BE HOPS AND THE NOUN IS SINGULAR. THE VERB IS PLURAL. CORRECT? IF I FOLLOW THE RULES FOR THE SINGULAR/PLURAL VERBS IT IS NOT CORRECT. IT SEEMS SO SILLY TO ASK, HOWEVER I COULD NOT FIND THIS INFORMATION ANYWHERE ELSE ON THE INTERNET.
Source & Date of Question	Collierville, Tennessee 30 April 1997
Grammar's Response	English verbs, for some perverse reason, behave just the opposite of English nouns. When you want to pluralize a noun, you add an s ending, right? On the other hand, the only verbs with added s endings are singular (third-person, present tense), such as The rabbit hops. So both the subject and its verb are singular and all is right with the world -- at least among the rabbits.