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The Grammar Logs # 203 |
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| QUESTION |
When to use I or me.
In my family there is my father.., and me (or I?)Can you tell me why? |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
Shaoguan, Guangdong, China  Sunday, September 13, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| I'm not sure what you mean by the ". . ,"? In any case, though, you want "I" because you're looking for the subject of the sentence. With an expletive construction, "there is," the subject follows the verb ("is"). So you're saying, "My father and I." It is not uncommon, however, (and it is acceptable) to use the singular "is" in an expletive construction even when the subject following the verb ends up being plural. |
| QUESTION |
Which is correct? (this is the simpler part)
I recently had an e-mail argument with the CEO of a kayak company that advertises on the internet over what I thought was incorrect usage in their company motto: FROM BAGS TO BOATS IN LESS THAN TWENTY MINUTES.I complained, he checked with the head of the Eng. dept. at a nearby University, etc. You can have LESS COMPASSION but fewer DOLLARS or LESS money. If you can count it, the correct usage should be FEWER. He finally agreed that he had the same lesson with his high school age son over MUCH OR MANY.. we signed off, him and the professor thinking that twenty minutes is an AMOUNT OF TIME and therefore one could use LESS. What do you think, gramma?? ha. |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Brier, Washington Sunday, September 13, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| First, I'm amazed that the grocery stores are putting "Ten Items or Fewer" on the express lanes. Grocery stores are not exactly where one starts looking for people who care about grammar. I do agree, however, with the CEO of the kayak company. Twenty minutes is a lump of time, and you can have less than twenty minutes. I'm more worried about boats that come in bags. |
| QUESTION |
| I would like to know about the difference between "LIKE" and "AS". Thanks a lot |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Managua, Nicaragua Sunday, September 13, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| Probably the most important distinction between these two words is that we use as as a subordinating conjunction, but it's not a good idea to use like as a subordinating conjunction. There's an old cigarette ad that illustrates this nicely: "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should" it said. It should have said "as a cigarette should" because the word introduces a dependent clause. This anti-smoker is going to have to find a less offensive example. |
| QUESTION |
| What are the correct uses of a semi-colon? |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Birmingham, Alabama Sunday, September 13, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| Be sure to check out Punctuation Marks Besides the Comma, especially the "poor man's slide show on the semicolon." Take the quizzes on punctuation on the Quiz List, and write back if you still have questions. |
| QUESTION |
What is the simple subject of this sentence?
Do you use a road map on a trip? |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Somewhere, Illinois Sunday, September 13, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| You. To find a subject, find the verb first -- "do use." What or who do use? You do use.. |
| QUESTION |
| I have to give an oral presentation on the book "The Metamorphosis." One of the things I have to explain is the author's style of writing. Can you tell me what exactly is an author's style of writing? |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Sunday, September 13, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| The short answer to that is no, I can't. That's a very hard thing to describe. Compare the style of a Hemingway story, say, to the style of a D.H. Lawerence story. One is the heart of simplicity, the bare bones of a story; the other is nearly ornate, the author seeming to delight in his fancy footwork. Where Toni Morrison is sometimes accused of being rather "purple," overwrought (but often to lovely effect), Raymond Carver is spare, economical, terse, minimalist. (One comes from on high; the other comes from a guy sitting next to you at a bar or your neighbor sitting at the kitchen table.) I suppose what impresses us about Kafka's style is that at those moments where one would expect excitement, if not hysteria, his prose is reserved, cautious, understated, spare in ornamentation. What details one gets -- the dust under the bed, the apple sticking in his back -- stand out, sometimes shockingly, because of this spareness, the lean-ness of his style. |
| QUESTION |
| Hello, I am writing because I have doubts about some grammar reading I have done. I I read that collective nouns usually take singular verbs. On the other hand, I read that collective nouns take plural verbs, such "police". When does a collective noun take either singular or plural verb? I appreciate your help. |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Somewhere, Brazil Monday, September 14, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
You're right. Collective nouns are nearly always singular and require singular verbs. (Click on the hyperlink for a list and a brief explanation.) The word "police," however, although a collective noun, is always treated as a plural. The police are interested in this case.Although the word can stand for the singular notion of "the police force" ("He joined the police.") as well as the plural notion of police officers ("The police are here."), the noun itself is always treated as plural. |
| QUESTION |
| When a question is posed that may have several answers, should answers begin with CAPS or LOWER CASE? For example, Who are the lost? those who disobey God. those who fall short of God's demands. The two statements beginning with "those" are answers not questions. Should they begin with CAPS or lower case? |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Bull Shoals, Arizona Monday, September 14, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
Since those answers aren't really sentences but a series of fragments, it would be acceptable to begin the answers with lower case, but also to connect them with commas, not periods. It would also be appropriate to create a vertical list, especially if the answers were to go on for a while. In that case, I wouldn't use periods at all, although you can, if you wish, use a period after the last one.
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| QUESTION |
I am confused by the usage of "posed" versus "poised;" viz.:
"The field of financial services is one of the fastest-growing career opportunities today, and is posed to continue so into the foreseeable future." -- should this be, "poised"?Checking various sources has not helped to resolve the issue. It seems that one hears the word in various media, but dictionary definitions, as well as style guides, don't resolve the "close call" between the two. Thank you for your assistance. |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Warwick, Rhode Island Mon, Sep 14, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| When something is "posed," it's simply been put in position; when something's been "poised," it's in a position of readiness. If you're poised to attack, that means you're ready to go; if you're posed for attack, that means you're just sitting there like a lummock, but you're in a position where, if you had to get ready, at least you're in the right neighborhood. If you want to stress the readiness of the financial service area to take off, you want the word poised. Authority for this note: WWWebster Dictionary, the World Wide Web edition of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, Tenth Edition. Used with permission. |
| QUESTION |
| Dear Grammer, I noticed in Log #191 (a question from Baltimore, dated 8/26/98) that you responded to the name for nouns such as sheep and fish. You mentioned, "zero plurals" as one possibility. I have heard in several fora that such words are called, "mass nouns." They are particularly important when using the partitive, so-called, in French. Is that something you've heard of? Thanks for the great service you provide! |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Warwick, Rhode Island Mon, Sep 14, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| What? mass nouns? (It took a long time, but I have systematically destroyed all memories of my two years of college French.) Yes, there's a section in the guide about Count and Non-Count Nouns. Mass nouns is another term for non-count nouns. However, a mass noun is something that is not countable -- such as wood, wool, aluminum, dancing. And sheep are countable; it's just that the singular and the plural happen to have exactly the same form. We still don't have a word for words that are like that -- at least I don't. |
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