The
Grammar
Logs
# 216

QUESTION
Which of the following makes the sentence correct and why?
In the United States, an increasing number of commuters that believe their families to be immune from the perils of city life.
  1. that believe their families to be
  2. that believe their families are
  3. believes their families are
  4. who believe their families to be
  5. believe their families to be
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Unknown Sun, Sep 27, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
"E" is correct. We need a verb for "an increasing number" (the subject of this sentence), and "a number" (as opposed to "the number") is always plural (so we need "believe," not "believes").

QUESTION
Please explain the differences in usage of "may" and "might." I've always believed that use of "may" is asking permission, and use of "might" is reflecting possibility or probability. Thanks!
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Phoenix, Arizona Sun, Sep 27, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
There's more crossover between these two words than you might think. When you're being quite tentative, "might" can be used to ask permission: "If I've done all my homework, might I leave the study hall early?" And we sometimes use "may" to express possibility: "His leg may be broken." (although most writers would use might in that last sentence)

Authority for this note: WWWebster Dictionary, the World Wide Web edition of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, Tenth Edition. Used with permission.

Authority: A University Grammar of English by Randolph Quirk and Sidney Greenbaum. Longman Group: Essex, England. 1993. p. 52. Used with permission. p. 52.
QUESTION
In the sentence, "Men, women and children are playing more softball today and using very expensive bats to do so", is a comma necessary after "today"?
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Fort Smith, Arkansas Sun, Sep 27, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
I would put a comma after today to stress that last phrase. It is not strictly necessary, since the "and" is connecting two parts of the verb, not two independent clauses, but if you want to put additional stress on that last part of the sentence, you can set it apart as you would an afterthought. You might even try using a dash after "today."

QUESTION
Where can I get a list of TRANSITIVE VERBS? I need to print one out for my screenwriting class.

THANKS!

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
New York, New York Mon, Sep 28, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
Most reference books don't include a list of transitive verbs because there are so many of them. Just imagine any activity and see if the verb you come up with can take an object. If it can, you've got another transitive verb. Here's a brief list from Hairston's book: attend, bring, choose, do, have, hit, hold, keep, lay, need, raise, say, spend, use want, watch, wear.

Authority: The Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writers by Maxine Hairston and John J. Ruszkiewicz. 4th ed. HarperCollins: New York. 1996. p. 486.


QUESTION
I am taking a college level grammar course. The question I have is about subclasses. I understand the difference between them, such as countable/noncount, proper/common, predicative/attributive, etc... My homework assignment is asking me to come up with:
A noun, proper, noncount, inanimate.
This is nearly impossible. I have come up with Godliness, but I am not sure if that is correct. Please tell me if I have a case to argue if my professor thinks I am wrong! Thank you
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Downey, California Mon, Sep 28, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
Unless I'm misunderstanding things, this shouldn't be so hard, really. I'm not familiar with animate/inanimate distinctions, but I assume it means something that lives versus something that doesn't? So a panther is animate, but a rock isn't? Proper nouns are usually noncount nouns and a lot of them are inanimate. Texas, for instance. There's only one of them, thank God; it's a proper noun; and it's not going anywhere, so I assume it's inanimate. I'm not sure that Godliness is a proper noun; one could just as well spell it godliness. The names of all your -ism's (Catholicism, Presbyterianism), on the other hand, would probably fit your description.

QUESTION
Please help me to learn how to use the word too. Is it correct to say I too, you too, she too, they too.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Unknown Tue, Sep 29, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
I take it you mean in a sentence such as "They, too, will soon understand"? Yes, the word "too" can be used in that way, meaning "as well." It often follows immediately the word it is meant to focus on and it is often set apart as a parenthetical element by a pair of commas.

Incidentally, practice putting a space after every comma.


QUESTION
My daughter's fifth grade homework asks:
Which word is a compound word?
  • abruptly
  • arrayed
  • emerged
  • improbable
  • rigid
  • walrus mustache
I'm not sure what a compound word is. Thought it was two words combined to make one. I don't see that in any of these words. Can you help us?
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Monroe, Michigan Tue, Sep 29, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
"Walrus mustache" would be what's called an open compound word (not closed typographically or by a hyphen). Other kinds of compound words are hyphenated (daughter-in-law, mayor-elect) and closed (toothache, firefly). The two words, walrus and mustache, act together as one unit and thus can be regarded as a compound word.

QUESTION
I had to write a sentence using the word "elope" at school. I wrote the following sentence:
When I get married, I will not elope.
My teacher said told me that the sentence was incorrect and did not make any sense at all. Can you tell me where I went wrong?

Thank you very much

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Calgary, Alberta, Canada Tue, Sep 29, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
That sentence seems perfectly acceptable to me. Perhaps your instructor is thinking that "when I get married" implies that you will no longer be in a position to elope, but I think your sentence is quite clear. Or perhaps your instructor is thinking that getting married implies going through the marriage ceremony and all that -- which "elopement" tends to skip altogether, but that's putting a rather strict interpretation on events. In short, I'm not sure what your teacher has in mind, and you need to ask.

QUESTION
I found your web site on a Yahoo search -- can't quite figure out the category for my question -- but I hope you might be able to help. I am re-designing the letterhead stationery for my school. Our secretary says that the U.S. Postal SErvice prefers that in an address, the city and state should NOT be separated by a comma, and that the state abbreviation is not followed by a period. I checked the U.S. Postal SErvice web site, and while there is no specific reference to this as the "correct" was to address an envelope, there ARE examples given, and indeed, this appears to be the case. I also checked through several items of mail that I received today and it seems that mail that has been formatted electronically uses this format also (city, no comma, state abbreviation, no period.

SO, if I accept that this is the proper format for addressing an envelope, when I write the school's address at the top of the stationery, do I follow the OLD rules (comma and period) or the "new?"

thanks for any help you can offer

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Tue, Sep 29, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
Yes, the postal service prefers that we use the two-letter abbreviation for a state and not to separate the city from the state's abbreviation with a comma. (It has something to do with the machine's ability to read the address.) So on your address, you would write Hartford CT 06105-1234. But your letterhead is a different matter. There, you can be a bit more formal and write the address in the more traditional manner, using a comma, and even spelling out the state's name: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. But use the entire zip code with it.

QUESTION
How should non-hyphenated double names be alphebetized?
For example: Sarah Chappell Armentrout.
(If hyphenated, her name would be alphabetized under "C.") As written, without a hyphen, does it follow the same rule? thanks for your help!
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Portland, Oregon Tue, Sep 29, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
Her last name is still Chappell Armentrout, isn't it? (I ask, not to be a wise guy, but because I don't know.) If it is, then yes, alphabetize it under "C." The Chicago Manual of Style has an entire chapter (Chapter Seven) devoted to such matters, which I recommend if you're really getting into situations where these decisions matter.

Authority: Chicago Manual of Style 14th ed. U of Chicago P: Chicago. 1993. p. 739.


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