The Grammar Logs -- Number Eighty

The
Grammar
Logs
# 80

Question Question marks go inside sometimes outside the quotation marks. For Example: Dad said, "What other kind of fish are there?" The question mark goes inside the quotation marks.
Did dad say, "I went fishing in Maine"? The question mark goes outside the quotation marks.
BUT WHAT IF YOU HAD THIS:
Did dad say, "What other kinds of fish are there"
WHERE DOES THE QUESTION MARK GO?
Source & Date
of Question Holmdel, New Jersey
3 March 1998
Grammar's
Response CONGRATULATIONS! You have submitted the 800th Question to ASK GRAMMAR. Your prize: a 1998 Jaguar, which I am sending to you through e-mail as soon as I can figure out how to get it into this floppy disc slot.
When the question mark can be considered part of the quoted language, it goes inside the quotation mark. Dad's sentence is a question: "What other kinds of fish are there?" And to make that evident, the question mark goes with his language. Then you close it off with a quotation mark:
Did Dad say, "What other kinds of fish are there?"
(Also, you want to capitalize old Dad's name there.)

Question We play WITH someone, but we play something (e.g. the guitar), not WITH something. So Statements 1 and 2 are correct, but Statement 3 is wrong, based on this proposition:

He was playing WITH her.
He was playing the ball/toy.
He was playing WITH the ball/toy.
Am I right?
Source & Date
of Question Singapore
4 March 1998
Grammar's
Response No, we "play the trumpet," but we "play with the basketball/toy." If we're talking about the sport itself, not the ball, we would say "we play basketball." If it's one of those video games, we'd say "we played Nintendo." We would also say "She played him along," meaning that she falsely encouraged him (but that's a different, phrasal verb).

Question I'd like a list of 25 short compound complex sentences
Source & Date
of Question Arroyo Grande, California
4 March 1998
Grammar's
Response Sorry. What do you think this is, a take-out counter? A compound-complex sentence, which amounts to a combination of a compound sentence and a complex sentence, has to contain at least two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause, so it can't be too short. There, I just wrote one for you. Now you're on your own.

Question I say........You are better than I........ My co-worker contends it is......You are better than me.... I believe than is a conjunction and therefore it is I.
Answer please and where can I look for info on this bit of controversy?
Source & Date
of Question Seal Beach, California
4 March 1998
Grammar's
Response Technically, you're right, although "than" might be better described as a subordinating conjunction that is connecting to the main clause a dependent elliptical clause (doesn't it sound as though I know what I'm talking about?) and the verb is understood: "You are better than I [am]." There are some writers, however, who will argue that "than" can act as a preposition and it is appropriate to use "me" in that sentence as the object of the preposition-like "than." (Just as you would say, "He is tall like me.")
Virtually every reference book will tell you "taller than I" is correct, but the argument is out there and alive and well.
P.S. The e-mail address you give can't possibly be right. There's no @_____ part.

Question 1. The family are going shopping. The family is going shopping.
2. One of the family members is ...... One of the family members are ......
Which of the above is correct?
Thank you very much.
Source & Date
of Question Besut,Terengganu, Malaysia
5 March 1998
Grammar's
Response The family is a singular unit, so it's "The family is. . . " In your second sentence, the subject is "one," which is clearly singular, so you want the singular verb. Don't be confused by plural nouns that come between the verb and the subject.

Question Which one is the best (meaning sounds OK to native speakers) in an official document?

"... as prescribed in item (2), paragraph 3, Article I of the law" ... (a)
"... as prescribed in item (2) of paragraph 3 of Article I of the law" ... (b) (I guess this one has too many "of's")
"... as prescribed in Article I, paragraph 3, item (2) of the law" ... (c)
Thank you for you help!
Source & Date
of Question Tama City, Tokyo, Japan
5 March 1998
Grammar's
Response I like the third way of doing it best. Are the parentheses necessary around the "2"? Your instincts about those "of's" seem correct. I think you should go to a document that does this kind of thing, though, to see how it's been done before. Such matters often have their own conventions.

Question I AM AN ENGLISH STUDENT AND I WANT MORE ABOUT MODAL VERBS ESPECIALLY CAN/COULD MAY/MIGHT. ACTUALLY, THAT WILL BE MY FINAL WORK. AS I FORGOT TO TELL YOU I'M IN THE LAST YEAR
Source & Date
of Question Somewhere, Romania
5 March 1998
Grammar's
Response Congratulations on reaching your last year. I hope that means your last year of school and not of life or of learning! Good luck. You might check out our section on verbs and verbals. As I recall, there is a special little section there on those modals. Also, there's a hyperlink to additional help.

Question Here is a sentence in one of my papers that was called a comma splice:
The environmentalists are wrong, the amount of land that God created for wildlife seems to stretch on and on forever.
How can I fix this to make a grammatically correct sentence?
Source & Date
of Question Maryville, Missouri
5 March 1998
Grammar's
Response Yep, that's a comma splice: you've got two independent clauses connected by only a comma. Where you've got the comma, a colon would work nicely in that sentence.

Question I need to know what an English professor would consider a great title for a paper on certain elements of two of the novels that I am to write about.
Should the title be long or should it just be to the point of what I am going to write about in the paper? The paper will be about two very different women who use basically the same means to escape the rigid mores of their respective societies by marrying men whom they do not really love.
Thanks.
Source & Date
of Question Cleveland, Ohio
5 March 1998
Grammar's
Response You can have it both ways. Start with a catchy little title, followed by a colon, followed by a longer, more descriptive title. There's a Ph.D. dissertation that I'm extremely fond of called "Giver of Due Regard": The Poetry of Richard Wilbur . See what I mean?

Question Infinitives and modals
Source & Date
of Question Brookline, Massachusetts
5 March 1998
Grammar's
Response What about them? We have a new, rather extensive section on infinitives that might be helpful. Click HERE and HERE .

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Question	We play WITH someone, but we play something (e.g. the guitar), not WITH something. So Statements 1 and 2 are correct, but Statement 3 is wrong, based on this proposition: He was playing WITH her. He was playing the ball/toy. He was playing WITH the ball/toy. Am I right?
Source & Date of Question	Singapore 4 March 1998
Grammar's Response	No, we "play the trumpet," but we "play with the basketball/toy." If we're talking about the sport itself, not the ball, we would say "we play basketball." If it's one of those video games, we'd say "we played Nintendo." We would also say "She played him along," meaning that she falsely encouraged him (but that's a different, phrasal verb).

Question	1. The family are going shopping. The family is going shopping. 2. One of the family members is ...... One of the family members are ...... Which of the above is correct? Thank you very much.
Source & Date of Question	Besut,Terengganu, Malaysia 5 March 1998
Grammar's Response	The family is a singular unit, so it's "The family is. . . " In your second sentence, the subject is "one," which is clearly singular, so you want the singular verb. Don't be confused by plural nouns that come between the verb and the subject.

Question	Which one is the best (meaning sounds OK to native speakers) in an official document? "... as prescribed in item (2), paragraph 3, Article I of the law" ... (a) "... as prescribed in item (2) of paragraph 3 of Article I of the law" ... (b) (I guess this one has too many "of's") "... as prescribed in Article I, paragraph 3, item (2) of the law" ... (c) Thank you for you help!
Source & Date of Question	Tama City, Tokyo, Japan 5 March 1998
Grammar's Response	I like the third way of doing it best. Are the parentheses necessary around the "2"? Your instincts about those "of's" seem correct. I think you should go to a document that does this kind of thing, though, to see how it's been done before. Such matters often have their own conventions.

Question	Here is a sentence in one of my papers that was called a comma splice: The environmentalists are wrong, the amount of land that God created for wildlife seems to stretch on and on forever. How can I fix this to make a grammatically correct sentence?
Source & Date of Question	Maryville, Missouri 5 March 1998
Grammar's Response	Yep, that's a comma splice: you've got two independent clauses connected by only a comma. Where you've got the comma, a colon would work nicely in that sentence.

Question	I need to know what an English professor would consider a great title for a paper on certain elements of two of the novels that I am to write about. Should the title be long or should it just be to the point of what I am going to write about in the paper? The paper will be about two very different women who use basically the same means to escape the rigid mores of their respective societies by marrying men whom they do not really love. Thanks.
Source & Date of Question	Cleveland, Ohio 5 March 1998
Grammar's Response	You can have it both ways. Start with a catchy little title, followed by a colon, followed by a longer, more descriptive title. There's a Ph.D. dissertation that I'm extremely fond of called "Giver of Due Regard": The Poetry of Richard Wilbur . See what I mean?

Question	I'd like a list of 25 short compound complex sentences
Source & Date of Question	Arroyo Grande, California 4 March 1998
Grammar's Response	Sorry. What do you think this is, a take-out counter? A compound-complex sentence, which amounts to a combination of a compound sentence and a complex sentence, has to contain at least two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause, so it can't be too short. There, I just wrote one for you. Now you're on your own.

Question	I AM AN ENGLISH STUDENT AND I WANT MORE ABOUT MODAL VERBS ESPECIALLY CAN/COULD MAY/MIGHT. ACTUALLY, THAT WILL BE MY FINAL WORK. AS I FORGOT TO TELL YOU I'M IN THE LAST YEAR
Source & Date of Question	Somewhere, Romania 5 March 1998
Grammar's Response	Congratulations on reaching your last year. I hope that means your last year of school and not of life or of learning! Good luck. You might check out our section on verbs and verbals. As I recall, there is a special little section there on those modals. Also, there's a hyperlink to additional help.

Question	Infinitives and modals
Source & Date of Question	Brookline, Massachusetts 5 March 1998
Grammar's Response	What about them? We have a new, rather extensive section on infinitives that might be helpful. Click HERE and HERE .