The Grammar Logs -- Number Sixty-Five

The
Grammar
Logs
# 65

Question Dear Grammar,
Thanks very much for you help in advance. I hope you can tell me which of the below is/are correct, or any further suggestions:
Only with the battery can the machine function properly.
Only with the battery the machine can function properly.
Only with the battery, the machine can function properly. I always like to use the first structure but occasionally I feel confused. By the way, how do you name the above structure/usage in terms of English grammar? Thanks.
Source & Date
of Question Hong Kong
3 February 1998
Grammar's
Response Your instincts are right: the first version of that sentence is best. You call that a simple inversion of subject and verb and it is explained by Quirk by saying that "where a normally post-verbal element is so tied to the verb that when that element is 'marked' theme (the initial unit of a clause) the verb is 'attracted' to the subject position (as in "Here comes the bus" or "In goes the sun and down comes the rain.") I hope that makes more sense to you than it does to me. If you can get hold of Quirk's book, that section (Chapter 14) would prove quite useful to you.
Authority: A University Grammar of English by Randolph Quirk and Sidney Greenbaum. Longman Group: Essex, England. 1993.

Question What are past perfect, past participle?
Source & Date
of Question Cali, Colombia
3 February 1998
Grammar's
Response The past perfect indicates that an event has happened at some point in the past: "We had walked, We had swum." The "walked" is the past participle part of that verb string (the form the verb takes when linked to an auxiliary in the past tense). See our chapter on Verbs, especially the section on tense.

Question Do we spell organisation or organization when we write a letter to a company ?
Source & Date
of Question Malaysia
4 February 1998
Grammar's
Response In the United States, I know we'd spell it with a "z," but in places where British spelling patterns prevail, there may be some people who use the "s." Frankly, I don't know about that.

Question 1. What is the proper indentation for paragraphs?
2. What is the standard line justification?
3. How should the title page be constructed?
4. What is the proper arrangement of the pages?
Source & Date
of Question Mobile, Alabama
4 February 1998
Grammar's
Response Please visit the Guide to Writing Research Papers, which has these answers in the section on format, along with examples of title page, etc.

Question What's the difference between "die of" and "die from"? Are they exchangeable?
Source & Date
of Question Shenzhen, China
5 February 1998
Grammar's
Response There is hardly a phrasal verb that hasn't been formed with the verb "to die." I don't think there's much difference in the two you cite: He died from pneumonia, he died of boredom, he died of fright, he died from strangulation. I guess, literally and figuratively, it all amounts to the same thing.

Question I happened to write a sentence using the form 'one can not' instead of the usual 'one cannot'. That was considered to be a big mistake by the grader (Italian, by the way). Is it so? Looking upon the Webster dictionary I've seen this line: cannot: can not. How come that the natural 'can not' is not in use?
Thanks for the answer.
Source & Date
of Question Ferrara, Italy
5 February 1998
Grammar's
Response I have no idea how this has come to pass, but the preferred spelling of this construction is cannot (one word). (Although I would not regard this as a "big mistake.") You would use can not, though (two separate words), when you are seriously stressing the negative, as if you were shouting the NOT.

Question I, an international student, learned we have to put a object after verbs like amuse, surprise, scare, or frighten. But, actually, American people use "The horror movie is frightening to me." Why don't they say "The horror movie is frightening me"? Can I use "The horror movie is amusing to me, surprising to me, or scaring to me."? Would you tell me differences and which verb can use both way and why?
Thank you.
Source & Date
of Question Unknown
5 February 1998
Grammar's
Response You've pointed out an interesting idiomatic use of English. There is a difference in usage, though, I think. We would say "This movie is frightening to me" as a more objective, somewhat more removed observation. "This movie is frightening me" sounds a bit more involved, right-then-and-there (sitting in the theatre). But, frankly, that's a very subjective analysis on my part, and there's not much difference. Yes, both forms are acceptable.

Question Dear Grammar,
What is the difference between past progressive and past perfect tense?
Source & Date
of Question Minneapolis, Minnesota
5 February 1998
Grammar's
Response See our section on Verbs and the tense chart. The past progressive (I was walking) describes an action that was going on, happening, in the past. The past perfect (I had walked) describes an action that was completed (finished, "perfected") at some point in the past.

Question When writing a research paper, is there any rule AGAINST using the first person point of view within the text? For example: the first person point of view in general essay writing can be used in the introduction of a paper when using a short story, anecdote, etc. as a lead-in device.
Source & Date
of Question Williamsport, Pennsylvania
5 February 1998
Grammar's
Response My writing manuals agree that the more objective your research paper is supposed to be (meaning, I guess, that this is supposed to be even more true when writing for the sciences than it is when writing for the humanities), the more you should avoid using the first-person. That restriction is probably not as strong today as it was, say, twenty years ago, but it still holds. In the humanities -- when writing about literature, especially -- it is often useful, even necessary, to talk about "our" experience of something, how "we" read it. (Using the plural, as opposed to the singular "I.") But even the first-person singular can be effective in a situation where you are attempting to establish a subjective but convincing argument (i.e., this is how many critics have regarded this; "I, on the other hand, feel that . . . .") It's best to please your instructor on this question.

Question Is it proper to use "a" or "an" before the acronym HHS. When pronouncing the letter H, it is a soft consonant. However, some words beginning with "h", such as house, are pronounced as a hard consonant. The same question arises when using the letter "S" in a sentence.
Example:
She is a HHS employee.
or
She wore an "S" on her school sweater.

Source & Date
of Question Unknown
5 February 1998
Grammar's
Response Let's deal with the "S" first because that's easy. You pronounce the letter "S" as if it were spelled "ess," so you would say "an S on her sweater." It's harder to show how you pronounce the letter "H." But you would say that the letter sound of "H" is pronounced with a vowel sound (something like "aitch"?). So we would say she's an HHS employee. Or at least I would. Sometimes the British do weird things with this because they leave the "h" sound entirely out of a word like "history," so they might say "an history" whereas Americans (and all right-thinking people) would say "a history."

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Question	Dear Grammar, Thanks very much for you help in advance. I hope you can tell me which of the below is/are correct, or any further suggestions: Only with the battery can the machine function properly. Only with the battery the machine can function properly. Only with the battery, the machine can function properly. I always like to use the first structure but occasionally I feel confused. By the way, how do you name the above structure/usage in terms of English grammar? Thanks.
Source & Date of Question	Hong Kong 3 February 1998
Grammar's Response	Your instincts are right: the first version of that sentence is best. You call that a simple inversion of subject and verb and it is explained by Quirk by saying that "where a normally post-verbal element is so tied to the verb that when that element is 'marked' theme (the initial unit of a clause) the verb is 'attracted' to the subject position (as in "Here comes the bus" or "In goes the sun and down comes the rain.") I hope that makes more sense to you than it does to me. If you can get hold of Quirk's book, that section (Chapter 14) would prove quite useful to you. Authority: A University Grammar of English by Randolph Quirk and Sidney Greenbaum. Longman Group: Essex, England. 1993.

Question	1. What is the proper indentation for paragraphs? 2. What is the standard line justification? 3. How should the title page be constructed? 4. What is the proper arrangement of the pages?
Source & Date of Question	Mobile, Alabama 4 February 1998
Grammar's Response	Please visit the Guide to Writing Research Papers, which has these answers in the section on format, along with examples of title page, etc.

Question	I happened to write a sentence using the form 'one can not' instead of the usual 'one cannot'. That was considered to be a big mistake by the grader (Italian, by the way). Is it so? Looking upon the Webster dictionary I've seen this line: cannot: can not. How come that the natural 'can not' is not in use? Thanks for the answer.
Source & Date of Question	Ferrara, Italy 5 February 1998
Grammar's Response	I have no idea how this has come to pass, but the preferred spelling of this construction is cannot (one word). (Although I would not regard this as a "big mistake.") You would use can not, though (two separate words), when you are seriously stressing the negative, as if you were shouting the NOT.

Question	I, an international student, learned we have to put a object after verbs like amuse, surprise, scare, or frighten. But, actually, American people use "The horror movie is frightening to me." Why don't they say "The horror movie is frightening me"? Can I use "The horror movie is amusing to me, surprising to me, or scaring to me."? Would you tell me differences and which verb can use both way and why? Thank you.
Source & Date of Question	Unknown 5 February 1998
Grammar's Response	You've pointed out an interesting idiomatic use of English. There is a difference in usage, though, I think. We would say "This movie is frightening to me" as a more objective, somewhat more removed observation. "This movie is frightening me" sounds a bit more involved, right-then-and-there (sitting in the theatre). But, frankly, that's a very subjective analysis on my part, and there's not much difference. Yes, both forms are acceptable.

Question	Dear Grammar, What is the difference between past progressive and past perfect tense?
Source & Date of Question	Minneapolis, Minnesota 5 February 1998
Grammar's Response	See our section on Verbs and the tense chart. The past progressive (I was walking) describes an action that was going on, happening, in the past. The past perfect (I had walked) describes an action that was completed (finished, "perfected") at some point in the past.

Question	What are past perfect, past participle?
Source & Date of Question	Cali, Colombia 3 February 1998
Grammar's Response	The past perfect indicates that an event has happened at some point in the past: "We had walked, We had swum." The "walked" is the past participle part of that verb string (the form the verb takes when linked to an auxiliary in the past tense). See our chapter on Verbs, especially the section on tense.

Question	Do we spell organisation or organization when we write a letter to a company ?
Source & Date of Question	Malaysia 4 February 1998
Grammar's Response	In the United States, I know we'd spell it with a "z," but in places where British spelling patterns prevail, there may be some people who use the "s." Frankly, I don't know about that.

Question	What's the difference between "die of" and "die from"? Are they exchangeable?
Source & Date of Question	Shenzhen, China 5 February 1998
Grammar's Response	There is hardly a phrasal verb that hasn't been formed with the verb "to die." I don't think there's much difference in the two you cite: He died from pneumonia, he died of boredom, he died of fright, he died from strangulation. I guess, literally and figuratively, it all amounts to the same thing.

Question	When writing a research paper, is there any rule AGAINST using the first person point of view within the text? For example: the first person point of view in general essay writing can be used in the introduction of a paper when using a short story, anecdote, etc. as a lead-in device.
Source & Date of Question	Williamsport, Pennsylvania 5 February 1998
Grammar's Response	My writing manuals agree that the more objective your research paper is supposed to be (meaning, I guess, that this is supposed to be even more true when writing for the sciences than it is when writing for the humanities), the more you should avoid using the first-person. That restriction is probably not as strong today as it was, say, twenty years ago, but it still holds. In the humanities -- when writing about literature, especially -- it is often useful, even necessary, to talk about "our" experience of something, how "we" read it. (Using the plural, as opposed to the singular "I.") But even the first-person singular can be effective in a situation where you are attempting to establish a subjective but convincing argument (i.e., this is how many critics have regarded this; "I, on the other hand, feel that . . . .") It's best to please your instructor on this question.

Question	Is it proper to use "a" or "an" before the acronym HHS. When pronouncing the letter H, it is a soft consonant. However, some words beginning with "h", such as house, are pronounced as a hard consonant. The same question arises when using the letter "S" in a sentence. Example: She is a HHS employee. or She wore an "S" on her school sweater.
Source & Date of Question	Unknown 5 February 1998
Grammar's Response	Let's deal with the "S" first because that's easy. You pronounce the letter "S" as if it were spelled "ess," so you would say "an S on her sweater." It's harder to show how you pronounce the letter "H." But you would say that the letter sound of "H" is pronounced with a vowel sound (something like "aitch"?). So we would say she's an HHS employee. Or at least I would. Sometimes the British do weird things with this because they leave the "h" sound entirely out of a word like "history," so they might say "an history" whereas Americans (and all right-thinking people) would say "a history."