The Grammar Logs -- Number Eighty-Six

The
Grammar
Logs
# 86

Question Can you give me a definition of accusative and unaccusative verbs?
Source & Date
of Question Sevierville, Tennessee
16 March 1998
Grammar's
Response In Latin, accusative would describe nouns and pronouns in what we call (in English) the objective form. For instance, in the sentences "He hit me" and "He ran over me," the word "me" is the objective form of the first person singular pronoun. So it's actually pronouns that take the objective (accusative) form in English. In other languages, some verbs and prepositions would be followed by the accusative form and some verbs and prepositions would be followed by other forms (like the dative) and you might hear of accusative verbs (or verbs that "take" the accusastive) in other languages, but not in English.

Question When do I have to make the inversion of verb and subject in the main clauses?
Source & Date
of Question Unknown
16 March 1998
Grammar's
Response You will have to invert the normal order of subject and verb whenever you ask questions (the auxiliary comes before the subject) and whenever you use what are called expletive constructions.

Do you know this man?
There are five paragraphs in this essay.

Question In which situations do we use "must" or "have to" ?
Source & Date
of Question Unknown
16 March 1998
Grammar's
Response In expressing compulsion or obligation, these words are nearly interchangeable, except that "must" is somewhat more formal and therefore more appropriate for academic prose. One other difference: except in reported speech, there is no use of "must" in the past tense.

I have to do my homework before the good TV shows start.
I must finish my homework before I turn on the television.
We had to go to church every Sunday.
He said that he must/had to attend church regularly.

Authority: A University Grammar of English by Randolph Quirk and Sidney Greenbaum. Longman Group: Essex, England. 1993.

Question What do I do with titles of books? Should they be underlined or written in italics?
Source & Date
of Question Cincinnati, Ohio
16 March 1998
Grammar's
Response The APA Publication Manual requires underlining, but I think that's nonsense. Today's word-processors and inexpensive printers can make italics look professionally neat, so why not take advantage of it? In most other reference books, italics and underlines are regarded as equivalent. Consistency, of course, is important.

Question What's the difference between "Then" and "So"? I mean, how do I know when to use 'then' and when I use 'so'?
Let's go then. Why not: let's go so. (?)

Source & Date
of Question Recife/PE - Brazil
15 March 1998
Grammar's
Response There is not much difference in meaning, if any, between the two examples you give us. As a conjunction, however, the word "so" almost always appears in the initial position (in the same way that "and" or "but" would appear in the initial position of a clause). "Then," however, does not function as a simple conjunction, and its position in the clause is more problematic (in the same way that "however" can appear in a number of places in a given clause). In other words, we could have said "So let's go," and the meaning would have been virtually the same as "Let's go then" or "Then let's go."

Question In class today, we had an argument about the type of this sentence, "Give that to me, but don't drop it." Please help us out. Is it compound, complex, or simple? Thanks!
Source & Date
of Question Cincinnati, Ohio
16 March 1998
Grammar's
Response To determine the type of a sentence, look for the subject-verb relationships within that sentence. The trouble with this sentence is that it's impossible to tell if you have one understood subject or understood subjects (plural). I think it's the former: the understood "you" of the first verb is also the subject of the second verb. The "but" is connecting two verbs, not two clauses. So it's a simple sentence. If you argue that it's a compound sentence sentence, however, that the "but" is connecting two clauses (both with an understood "you" as subject) I would find that argument interesting. It's not a complex sentence, though.
You must have a great English class!

Question I was wondering what one would call the following sentence structure:
There shall be exempt from tax certain medicines.
if you could let me know what specifically this type of sentence is called I would really appreciate it.
Source & Date
of Question Goleta, California
17 March 1998
Grammar's
Response I would call it horrible, first of all. The writer has inverted the normal word order: "Certain medicines shall be exempt from tax." Don't ask me why -- perhaps a desire to sound biblical, legalistic, hifalutin? I think it's just silly.

Question What type of punctuation should be used when stating a movie such as -
In the movie, "Grease," there were five characters.
Question: Should the movie title be underlined or in Quotes as shown above?
Source & Date
of Question Valencia, California
17 March 1998
Grammar's
Response Use either italics or underlining for the titles of movies and television programs. (For the latter, that means the name of a series, not the title you often see at the beginning of a segment. For instance: "Dr. Green to the Rescue" is the title of tonight's segment of ER. So we would write your sentence:
In the movie Grease, there were five major characters.

Question How would one cite within a research text a quotation from a diary (unpublished diary)? And how would it appear on the Works Cited page?
We are using the MLA style of documentation. If the quotation is more than 5 lines in length, how would that appear in the text of the paper? Thanks for all your help!
Source & Date
of Question West Melbourne, Florida
17 March 1998
Grammar's
Response I can't find any reference to using an unpublished diary in the MLA Handbook. I think I'd handle it the same way as I'd treat a bit of unpublished personal correspondence:
Darling, Charles W. Personal Diary. 17 March 1998.
If the diary is in a collection, you could cite that resource, also:
Darling, Charles W. Personal Diary. 17 March 1998. Marylynn
Darling Papers. Hartford Historical Association Lib.,
Hartford, CT.
In terms of laying it out on the page, I don't think there's any reason for treating this differently from any other quotation. This is my interpretation of what I see in the MLA Handbook and your instructor's interpretation might be quite different. What you say in your text about this resource can substantiate its scholarly integrity.

Question I'd appreciate your kind answer.
My question is this: Which sentence of the two is right?

Who do you think is the girl coming there?
Who do you think the girl coming there is?
In my opinion, (B) is a right expression. But others say (A) is right. (I learned in grammar class that in indirect questions the subject should be placed before the verb.)
Thank you for your reading.
Source & Date
of Question Seoul, Korea
17 March 1998
Grammar's
Response First, that's not an indirect question. An indirect question is a statement whose embedded clause asks a question:
The professor asked what the students were doing.
(It ends in a period, not a question mark, and the subject does come before the verb, as you see.) Your example is a regular question with a clause stuck in the middle of it. If you put commas around that clause (not that you should, but just for the experiment), you'll see how the question works, with the normal inversion of subject and verb: "Who [, do you think,] is the girl coming there?"

Previous Grammar Log
Next Grammar Log
Index of Grammar Logs
Guide to Grammar and Writing

Question	When do I have to make the inversion of verb and subject in the main clauses?
Source & Date of Question	Unknown 16 March 1998
Grammar's Response	You will have to invert the normal order of subject and verb whenever you ask questions (the auxiliary comes before the subject) and whenever you use what are called expletive constructions. Do you know this man? There are five paragraphs in this essay.

Question	What's the difference between "Then" and "So"? I mean, how do I know when to use 'then' and when I use 'so'? Let's go then. Why not: let's go so. (?)
Source & Date of Question	Recife/PE - Brazil 15 March 1998
Grammar's Response	There is not much difference in meaning, if any, between the two examples you give us. As a conjunction, however, the word "so" almost always appears in the initial position (in the same way that "and" or "but" would appear in the initial position of a clause). "Then," however, does not function as a simple conjunction, and its position in the clause is more problematic (in the same way that "however" can appear in a number of places in a given clause). In other words, we could have said "So let's go," and the meaning would have been virtually the same as "Let's go then" or "Then let's go."

Question	In class today, we had an argument about the type of this sentence, "Give that to me, but don't drop it." Please help us out. Is it compound, complex, or simple? Thanks!
Source & Date of Question	Cincinnati, Ohio 16 March 1998
Grammar's Response	To determine the type of a sentence, look for the subject-verb relationships within that sentence. The trouble with this sentence is that it's impossible to tell if you have one understood subject or understood subjects (plural). I think it's the former: the understood "you" of the first verb is also the subject of the second verb. The "but" is connecting two verbs, not two clauses. So it's a simple sentence. If you argue that it's a compound sentence sentence, however, that the "but" is connecting two clauses (both with an understood "you" as subject) I would find that argument interesting. It's not a complex sentence, though. You must have a great English class!

Question	I was wondering what one would call the following sentence structure: There shall be exempt from tax certain medicines. if you could let me know what specifically this type of sentence is called I would really appreciate it.
Source & Date of Question	Goleta, California 17 March 1998
Grammar's Response	I would call it horrible, first of all. The writer has inverted the normal word order: "Certain medicines shall be exempt from tax." Don't ask me why -- perhaps a desire to sound biblical, legalistic, hifalutin? I think it's just silly.

Question	What type of punctuation should be used when stating a movie such as - In the movie, "Grease," there were five characters. Question: Should the movie title be underlined or in Quotes as shown above?
Source & Date of Question	Valencia, California 17 March 1998
Grammar's Response	Use either italics or underlining for the titles of movies and television programs. (For the latter, that means the name of a series, not the title you often see at the beginning of a segment. For instance: "Dr. Green to the Rescue" is the title of tonight's segment of ER. So we would write your sentence: In the movie Grease, there were five major characters.

Question	Can you give me a definition of accusative and unaccusative verbs?
Source & Date of Question	Sevierville, Tennessee 16 March 1998
Grammar's Response	In Latin, accusative would describe nouns and pronouns in what we call (in English) the objective form. For instance, in the sentences "He hit me" and "He ran over me," the word "me" is the objective form of the first person singular pronoun. So it's actually pronouns that take the objective (accusative) form in English. In other languages, some verbs and prepositions would be followed by the accusative form and some verbs and prepositions would be followed by other forms (like the dative) and you might hear of accusative verbs (or verbs that "take" the accusastive) in other languages, but not in English.

Question	What do I do with titles of books? Should they be underlined or written in italics?
Source & Date of Question	Cincinnati, Ohio 16 March 1998
Grammar's Response	The APA Publication Manual requires underlining, but I think that's nonsense. Today's word-processors and inexpensive printers can make italics look professionally neat, so why not take advantage of it? In most other reference books, italics and underlines are regarded as equivalent. Consistency, of course, is important.

Question	I'd appreciate your kind answer. My question is this: Which sentence of the two is right? Who do you think is the girl coming there? Who do you think the girl coming there is? In my opinion, (B) is a right expression. But others say (A) is right. (I learned in grammar class that in indirect questions the subject should be placed before the verb.) Thank you for your reading.
Source & Date of Question	Seoul, Korea 17 March 1998
Grammar's Response	First, that's not an indirect question. An indirect question is a statement whose embedded clause asks a question: The professor asked what the students were doing. (It ends in a period, not a question mark, and the subject does come before the verb, as you see.) Your example is a regular question with a clause stuck in the middle of it. If you put commas around that clause (not that you should, but just for the experiment), you'll see how the question works, with the normal inversion of subject and verb: "Who [, do you think,] is the girl coming there?"