The Grammar Logs -- Number Seventy-One

The
Grammar
Logs
# 71

Question Can you please give me definitions, examples, when and where to use these words in a term paper (except for summary, I know what do do with that) :
direct quote
paraphrase
summary
Backing you up on my situation, as part of a term paper, I have to do bibliography cards and notecards. I research the necessary info from the books and write them down on index cards. It is also imperative that I write the type of statement they are. For instance, is the info a direct quote, paraphrase or a summary? I need your help to clear my mind of what exactly these words mean. Please respond back and thank you for your time and consideration.
Source & Date
of Question Dumont, New Jersey
16 February 1998
Grammar's
Response A "direct quote" is the use of the exact language of the source. It's the kind of thing you'd want to put quotation marks around, and make sure you have the words exactly right. A "paraphrase" is your rendering of the source's language. You have put that person's ideas into your own language. You still owe that person credit, of course. A "summary" is when you've read some material and you (obviously) sum up what that person has said, using primarily your own words for doing so. (Be careful not to use the resource's own language in a summary unless you enclose it within quotation marks.) Summaries are helpful reminders of what you've read and might be able to use later on.

Question In vs At
========
Size Preposition Example
==== =========== =======
v. small in He is IN the box.
small in He is IN the room.
moderate at He is AT the railway station/cinema.
large at/in He is IN/AT Beverly Hills/Disneyland.
v. large in He is IN Singapore.

Am I right? Also, are there grey cases whereby both IN and AT are acceptable?
Source & Date
of Question Singapore
16 February 1998
Grammar's
Response That's a very interesting distinction. It seems to work except (as you point out), if you get really large, you use "in": He is in Ohio. For your moderate-size areas, you can use both, really: "He's in the theater. He's at the theater." There's a slight difference in meaning: "In" means that the person is inside. "At" can mean that but it might also mean only that the person has gone to that place. He could be standing outside for all I know, but he is still "at" the theater. The same is true of an institution, I suppose: He is at college; he is in college. There's virtually no difference there that I can tell.

Question We sometime find inversion of verb in the sentence,though the sentence is not the tag question, like following sentence I have recently come across.
Only in trade terms, over America's extra-territorial edicts, have Europeans picked up the courage to challenge the United States.
Can you please inform where such type of verb inversion is used?
Source & Date
of Question Dubai, United Arab Emirates
16 February 1998
Grammar's
Response In certain situation, especially where the predicate of the sentence is complex and important, it will be brought to the beginning of the sentence where the kind of focus and attention that is normally reserved for the end of the thought will be brought to bear upon this complex predicate. The predicate brought to the beginning of the sentence will then "attract" the verb to its pre-subject position. I hope that isn't too complicated. It doesn't happen very often, and writers are wise to use this device sparingly.

Question According to your reply, 'you are wishing that something had been accomplished at some point in the past, so you want the past perfect, "had brought."'
But what about this, "I wish I were a doctor."? Why not "I wish I had been a doctor."? Thanks.
Source & Date
of Question Philippines
16 February 1998
Grammar's
Response There's a difference in meaning between these two sentences. In the first, we have the subjunctive mood, which implies that the speaker wishes -- now -- that he/she were a doctor but that is a contradiction to the facts. In the second, the speaker wishes that at some point in the past he/she had been a doctor. For instance, I might say the first: "I wish I were a doctor; they make a lot more money than teachers." and the second: "I wish I had been a doctor. I might have been able to save the man's life." (In the second example, the subjunctive would be possible; in the first example, you would not use "had been.")

Question I'm trying to find rules for numbering, specifically as used in dates.
March 4, is March 4th also an acceptable form? I always assumed it was proper to say March the 4th, but not March 4th.
I can't seem to find any references to describe acceptable useage. What are -st, -nd and -rd (as in 1st, 2nd and 3rd) called?
Thanks for your assistance.
Source & Date
of Question Sarasota, Florida
16 February 1998
Grammar's
Response I guess you'd call those things suffixes, but I don't see them called anything in the manuals I consult. Most of my resources now call for dates to be treated as cardinal numbers unless the date appears without the month. So you would write "We're leaving March 4," but then you could write "We're leaving on the 4th." In informal writing, I would think March 4th would be acceptable.
Authority: New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage HarperCollins: New York. 1994.

Question Two questions.
"an historic ..." or "a historic..." - Which is correct? I thought the rule was "a" unless followed by a word starting with a vowel, but I have seen "an historic" in different publications.
Second question.
"Your meeting with John and me ..." or "Your meeting with John and myself..." Which is correct? I thought "John and me" was correct but most of the people I work with use "John and myself.
Thank you for your assistance.
Source & Date
of Question Orchard Park, New York
16 February 1998
Grammar's
Response It's "a historic event" because you hear the consonantal "h" (at least as consonantal as "h" can get) in "historic" (as opposed, say, to the "h" in "hour," which you don't hear -- and thus we say, "an hour.")
See our new section on Articles and Determiners.
There is no reason to use the reflexive or intensive "myself" in that sentence. "Me" does the job just fine. We wouldn't say "Your meeting with myself," and there's no reason to change the form of the pronoun when you compound it ("me") with something else.

Question Where can I find extra material related to the study of the toefl? What would you recommend in the internet as learning material in order to expand my esl learning process, and what readings do you recommend to a student in low intermediate level of esl?
Source & Date
of Question Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
17 February 1998
Grammar's
Response There are two main resources for you, I think. The Online Journal for Teachers of Englsh as a Foreign Language and, while you're there, click on Dave's ESL Cafe. Both of these resources will offer an abundance of quizzes, articles, teaching and learning ideas, discussion areas, and links to other resources.

Question What is the correct way of using "in" and "on" before a date? I have read sentences using both "in (date)" and "on (date)."
I'm almost sure "I was born on January 12, 1971" is correct. Is "I will celebrate my birthday ON January 12" correct? Is "I will celebrate my 29th birthday ON the year 2000" right?
I will be very grateful if you could give me a clear answer on this. And could you please give me a list of Web sites which have tips on the correct use of prepositions? Almost all of the sites on correct English usage don't have tips on the use of prepositions.
Thank you very much.
Source & Date
of Question Paranaque, Philippines
17 February 1998
Grammar's
Response We would write "on" for the date, but use "in" when we're specifying just the year, so you would write that you turn 29 in the year 2000. As far as resources for learning prepositions go, I suggest you look at the the note above and check out what's available at the TOEFL site and Dave's ESL Cafe.

Question Plural form of the word menu
Source & Date
of Question Gothenburg, Sweden
17 February 1998
Grammar's
Response menus

Question In British English, the letter Z is read as "zag" whereas in American English, it is read as "zee".
I'm more interested in the pronunciation of the letter H in Singaporean English. Most Singaporeans pronounce it as "hage" instead of "age".
Is this pronunciation now accepted as an alternative way of reading H (since English has become multidomestic, as in the example above)?
If it is accepted, can we read "a HDB officer" instead of "an HDB officer"?
Source & Date
of Question Singapore
17 February 1998
Grammar's
Response It's kind of hard to see (or hear) how you we'd pronounce "h" as "hage," but yes, if you hear the "h" that way, you would say an HDB officer. But you certainly wouldn't hear it that way in the United States.

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Question	Can you please give me definitions, examples, when and where to use these words in a term paper (except for summary, I know what do do with that) : direct quote paraphrase summary Backing you up on my situation, as part of a term paper, I have to do bibliography cards and notecards. I research the necessary info from the books and write them down on index cards. It is also imperative that I write the type of statement they are. For instance, is the info a direct quote, paraphrase or a summary? I need your help to clear my mind of what exactly these words mean. Please respond back and thank you for your time and consideration.
Source & Date of Question	Dumont, New Jersey 16 February 1998
Grammar's Response	A "direct quote" is the use of the exact language of the source. It's the kind of thing you'd want to put quotation marks around, and make sure you have the words exactly right. A "paraphrase" is your rendering of the source's language. You have put that person's ideas into your own language. You still owe that person credit, of course. A "summary" is when you've read some material and you (obviously) sum up what that person has said, using primarily your own words for doing so. (Be careful not to use the resource's own language in a summary unless you enclose it within quotation marks.) Summaries are helpful reminders of what you've read and might be able to use later on.

Question	In vs At ======== Size Preposition Example ==== =========== ======= v. small in He is IN the box. small in He is IN the room. moderate at He is AT the railway station/cinema. large at/in He is IN/AT Beverly Hills/Disneyland. v. large in He is IN Singapore. Am I right? Also, are there grey cases whereby both IN and AT are acceptable?
Source & Date of Question	Singapore 16 February 1998
Grammar's Response	That's a very interesting distinction. It seems to work except (as you point out), if you get really large, you use "in": He is in Ohio. For your moderate-size areas, you can use both, really: "He's in the theater. He's at the theater." There's a slight difference in meaning: "In" means that the person is inside. "At" can mean that but it might also mean only that the person has gone to that place. He could be standing outside for all I know, but he is still "at" the theater. The same is true of an institution, I suppose: He is at college; he is in college. There's virtually no difference there that I can tell.

Question	We sometime find inversion of verb in the sentence,though the sentence is not the tag question, like following sentence I have recently come across. Only in trade terms, over America's extra-territorial edicts, have Europeans picked up the courage to challenge the United States. Can you please inform where such type of verb inversion is used?
Source & Date of Question	Dubai, United Arab Emirates 16 February 1998
Grammar's Response	In certain situation, especially where the predicate of the sentence is complex and important, it will be brought to the beginning of the sentence where the kind of focus and attention that is normally reserved for the end of the thought will be brought to bear upon this complex predicate. The predicate brought to the beginning of the sentence will then "attract" the verb to its pre-subject position. I hope that isn't too complicated. It doesn't happen very often, and writers are wise to use this device sparingly.

Question	According to your reply, 'you are wishing that something had been accomplished at some point in the past, so you want the past perfect, "had brought."' But what about this, "I wish I were a doctor."? Why not "I wish I had been a doctor."? Thanks.
Source & Date of Question	Philippines 16 February 1998
Grammar's Response	There's a difference in meaning between these two sentences. In the first, we have the subjunctive mood, which implies that the speaker wishes -- now -- that he/she were a doctor but that is a contradiction to the facts. In the second, the speaker wishes that at some point in the past he/she had been a doctor. For instance, I might say the first: "I wish I were a doctor; they make a lot more money than teachers." and the second: "I wish I had been a doctor. I might have been able to save the man's life." (In the second example, the subjunctive would be possible; in the first example, you would not use "had been.")

Question	What is the correct way of using "in" and "on" before a date? I have read sentences using both "in (date)" and "on (date)." I'm almost sure "I was born on January 12, 1971" is correct. Is "I will celebrate my birthday ON January 12" correct? Is "I will celebrate my 29th birthday ON the year 2000" right? I will be very grateful if you could give me a clear answer on this. And could you please give me a list of Web sites which have tips on the correct use of prepositions? Almost all of the sites on correct English usage don't have tips on the use of prepositions. Thank you very much.
Source & Date of Question	Paranaque, Philippines 17 February 1998
Grammar's Response	We would write "on" for the date, but use "in" when we're specifying just the year, so you would write that you turn 29 in the year 2000. As far as resources for learning prepositions go, I suggest you look at the the note above and check out what's available at the TOEFL site and Dave's ESL Cafe.

Question	Where can I find extra material related to the study of the toefl? What would you recommend in the internet as learning material in order to expand my esl learning process, and what readings do you recommend to a student in low intermediate level of esl?
Source & Date of Question	Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 17 February 1998
Grammar's Response	There are two main resources for you, I think. The Online Journal for Teachers of Englsh as a Foreign Language and, while you're there, click on Dave's ESL Cafe. Both of these resources will offer an abundance of quizzes, articles, teaching and learning ideas, discussion areas, and links to other resources.

Question	Plural form of the word menu
Source & Date of Question	Gothenburg, Sweden 17 February 1998
Grammar's Response	menus

Question	In British English, the letter Z is read as "zag" whereas in American English, it is read as "zee". I'm more interested in the pronunciation of the letter H in Singaporean English. Most Singaporeans pronounce it as "hage" instead of "age". Is this pronunciation now accepted as an alternative way of reading H (since English has become multidomestic, as in the example above)? If it is accepted, can we read "a HDB officer" instead of "an HDB officer"?
Source & Date of Question	Singapore 17 February 1998
Grammar's Response	It's kind of hard to see (or hear) how you we'd pronounce "h" as "hage," but yes, if you hear the "h" that way, you would say an HDB officer. But you certainly wouldn't hear it that way in the United States.