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The Grammar Logs # 226 |
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| QUESTION |
When you you use "of " and when do you use "'s".
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| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
Unknown  Thu, Oct 8, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| With people, it's pretty much a matter of "ear," how it sounds to you. Some writers insist that objects shouldn't use the 's (corner of the desk, windows of the Prudential Building); others say that's nonsense. |
| QUESTION |
| Cleft sentences: Is it right to say "It's me who's affected, not them "? or should I say "It's I who's affected, not they"? |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Somewhere, Argentina Thu, Oct 8, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| I suppose this is also a good example of why most writers avoid cleft sentences. We also have to change the verb to "am" in the perfectly correct version. "It is I who am affected, not they." But I don't know anyone who talks this way. Most people would say, and write: "It's me who's affected, not them." Incidentally, the word "affected" has different meanings when used this way, and you have probably said something you didn't mean at all. You're better off finding an entirely different way of saying this. |
| QUESTION |
| "I went skiing."
What is the tense used here? How does it differ in meaning from; 1)I skied. (simple past tense) and 2)I was skiing. (past continuous) Thank you. |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Unknown Thu, Oct 8, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| There's not much difference between the past continuous and "I went skiing." The act of going somewhere where skiing can happen is implied, of course. |
| QUESTION |
In high school, my teachers told me that a comma should not come before the word "and" because it is a double pause. For example: "We decided to take a walk down to the lake, and after two blocks, thought it wasn't a great idea."My high school teacher said that this was written wrong. My high school teacher said that this sentence should be like this, "We decided to take a walk down to the lake and after two blocks, thought it wasn't a great idea."Now my college professor is saying that I am wrong and that there should be a comma before "and" like the first one. Which way is the correct way? |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Milwuakee, Wisconsin Thu, Oct 8, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
I'm not sure where the notion comes from that you shouldn't use a comma before "and" because it's a double pause. You nearly always use a comma before "and" when it's connecting two independent clauses, for instance, and most people think it's appropriate in a series. But back to your sentence. Part of the problem is that "but" would be a more appropriate conjunction than "and," but that still won't solve your punctuation problem. If I had to choose between the two, I'd go along with your college professor. The comma + conjunction signals a "turn" or reversal in the thought of the sentence, and the comma after "blocks" signals the end of the parenthetical element "after two blocks." I would write it this way:We decided to take a walk down to the lake, but after two blocks, thought it wasn't a great idea. |
| QUESTION |
| What does it mean when you use two adjectives together that mean the same, i.e., "most unique"? I know there's a "double negative" - is there a term for this? Thanks. |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Dallas, Texas Thu, Oct 8, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
![[E-Mail Icon]](../gif/email.gif){kind=small} I don't know. A double superlative? I'll leave an e-mail icon here in case other users have a better idea.
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| QUESTION |
| Which is the proper term? "Outage in process" or "Outage in progress" |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Atlanta, Georgia Thu, Oct 8, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| Neither one sounds like a particularly happy event to me. An "outage in process" sounds like something has happened to your process, which isn't what you mean, and "outage in progress" seems like a contradiction in terms. What's wrong with "ongoing outage" or just plain "outage"? I had never considered before what a peculiar word "outage" is, and I'm afraid I haven't been much help here. |
| QUESTION |
| As a student, when I studied theses, I was told not to use first person. Ex. A thesis of "I believe capital punishment is murder" would be wrong, because no one can disagree with whether you believe it or not. A better thesis would be simply, "Capital punishment is murder." That's still a VAGUE thesis, but doesn't have first person. The new Harbrace College Handbook gives a vague thesis as "I have trouble making decisions." The better thesis is given as "Making decisions is difficult for me, especially when money is involved and most of all when such decisions affect other people." Now, I was taught this would still be bad, because no one can disagree with it and a thesis has to have a point of view. If the "for me" part were left out, it would be okay. What do you think? |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Harriman, Tennessee Thu, Oct 8, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| If we have to accept the premise that a thesis statement cannot be personal and will not use the I, then you're obviously correct. I'm not convinced, though, that having a "point of view" precludes the use of the personal "I." The point that the Harbrace authors are trying to make is that the thesis statement needs something that readers can grasp, a skeleton that the writer is going to hang some of his idea on. If you insist, remove the "for me," but I don't think the thesis statement will be much improved. |
| QUESTION |
Dear Grammar,
We are trying to properly structure the following sentence:
"Processing will occur next Saturday (as though / as if) the bank (were / was) open."Please help us to select the correct choices, and explain to us WHY they are correct. (Once upon a time, I could have diagrammed every word in the sentence in question. Now, High School is a memory fading worse than the paint on my house....) Thank you! |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| St. Paul, Minnesota Fri, Oct 9, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| I don't know if there's much difference between the "though" and the "if" in this sentence, at least in terms of meaning, but you do want the "were." We'd use the subjunctive in a clause that expresses a condition "improbable, doubtful, or contrary to fact." Authority: New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage HarperCollins: New York. 1994. Cited with permission. p. 154.
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| QUESTION |
Why are the subjects of gerunds in the possessive case? They are subjects; why not nominative case?
Example: John's enlisting made me unhappy. |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Mount Airy, Georgia Fri, Oct 9, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| The gerund is the word enlisting; the word John's is a possessive pronoun acting as an adjective, modifying enlisting. I don't think there is such a thing as the "subject of a gerund," although a gerund can certainly be a subject. |
| QUESTION |
| Could you please explain why infinitives cannot be indirect objects? |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF Rockford, Michigan |
| Unknown Fri, Oct 9, 1998
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| No, I guess I can't. Isn't an infinitive the direct object in "I don't like to be suspicious."? or "I hate to eat and run."? |
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