The
Grammar
Logs
# 228

QUESTION
Steve, did you do your homework?

In the above sentence how is "Steve" used? How would you diagram the sentence? Is Steve an indirect object?

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Bartow,Florida Mon, Oct 12, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
No, "Steve" is not an indirect object in that sentence. It's what is called a Vocative. Because diagramming is so difficult to demonstrate on the WWW (and because I'm so bad at it), I don't get into diagramming in this Guide. I recommend Kolln's book for help with diagramming.

Authority: Understanding English Grammar by Martha Kolln. 4rth Edition. MacMillan Publishing Company: New York. 1994.


QUESTION
I'd like to know the usage of one.
  1. Is it correct to use "ones" in (a)?
  2. Can I use "one" after "they" in (b)? Or should I somehow change the sentence?
  1. These first orders would be commemorative ones. It is one of the landmarks for our business.
  2. These first orders would be commemorative. They are one of the landmarks for our business.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Yokohama, Japan Mon, Oct 12, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
Sentence "b" is an improvement over sentence "a." In "a," it is unclear whether "it" refers to "ones," which is definitely strange, or the practice of making first orders commemorative. You might have said, in "b," that "they are the initial landmark(s ?) of our business" (to avoid that "they are one" business).

QUESTION
Is it grammatically correct to say "I will" and "They will"? I was taught that it was proper to say " I shall " and "We shall". I was recently told that that form is considered antiquated.

My second question is : Is "irregardless" acceptable? Again, I was taught that it is not a word. Regardless is the correct usage. Someone said that I was not correct. Right or wrong?

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Bartow, Florida Mon, Oct 12, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
Traditionally, "shall" was used with first person I and we instead of "will." Today, no one pays much attention to that distinction, and "will" is used instead of "shall." The word "shall" is now reserved for situations implying mandatory action: "The students shall come to the front of the classroom." and to invite or offer: "Shall I call a cab for you?"

Authority: New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage HarperCollins: New York. 1994. p. 150. Cited with permission.


QUESTION
I was just wondering if you could tell me what the third person was, and what words I would use for the third person.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Unknown Mon, Oct 12, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
The third-person pronouns are he, she, and it (in the singular) and they (plural). Any sentence in which those words are the subject are written in the third person.

QUESTION
This question came up in class:
  • "Jack thinks that longer classes IS a good idea."
  • or "Jack thinks that longer classes ARE a good idea."
Somehow I thought that "is" sounded better (because of the word IDEA), but I talked to some other teachers (not ESL teachers, which is what I am) and they thought that "are" was right.

Here's another one:

When do you use "in our life" and when do you use "in our lives?" I tend to go for the plural form...my students always use it in singular.
Along those same lines, would it be correct to say, "Many kids out there never go to know their DAD..." or would one use "dads" there. Again, I go for the plural, but I'm not sure which is right. Thanks for your time!
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Brooklyn, New York Mon, Oct 12, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
It sometimes happens that a linking verb will connect a plural subject (classes, in this case) to a singular predicate (idea), but the subject determines the number of the verb, so we want are in that sentence. "In our life/lives" is going to depend on context, I would think. If we're talking about the life we share in common or or lifetime, I think "life" would be appropriate; if we're talking about our separate lives, then "our lives" would be appropriate. In the final example you give, I would use "Dad"; "dads" makes it sound as if they have more than one father, which is possible legally and literarily, I suppose, but not biologically (to the best of my knowledge).

QUESTION
My question is this: is irregardless a word? I was taught that it was not, but now I am told that it is. Anxious to know. Thank you so much for your help. This is a wonderful web site.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Bartow, Florida Tue, Oct 13, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
Sorry, I forgot to answer that part of your question. Irregardless is a word, of course -- a nonstandard variant of regardless. You'll hear it in speech and you might even find it in informal writing, but I would certainly avoid it in formal or academic prose. In fact, I'd avoid it altogether, because it's one of those words that people who love English like to use against you in a court of grammar.

QUESTION
I have been having an argument with some co-workers about the color gray.

They are saying that grey and gray are the same thing and it does not matter which spelling is used for the color. I say gray is proper. At least, that is the way it used to be. Who is right?

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Kalamazoo, Michigan Tue, Oct 13, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
My dictionaries suggest that gray is preferred over grey but either is acceptable. I had thought that grey was more British and gray was more American, but I don't see any evidence of that in my dictionaries.

QUESTION
1. What's the difference between the following two sentences? Which one is better?
  1. I use scissors to cut some paper.
  2. I use scissors for cutting some paper.
2. Which one is correct?
  1. I write on the blackboard with some chalk.
  2. I write on the blackboard with some chalks
Should we put "the" in the following sentence?
  1. I need tissue paper to clean "the" hands and the faces in the birthday party.
Thank you for your help!
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Hong Kong Tue, Oct 13, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
There is no difference between "a" and "b"; probably "a," with the infinitive, would be slightly preferred. We would not pluralize "chalk" that way. (We might say "pieces of chalk," but not "chalks." I don't think this applies to artists' use of colored chalk; they might, in fact, use "chalks.") We don't need the in the birthday party sentence, but it still sounds strange. We could write the following ("tissue paper," which we often use as a soft wrapping paper, and "tissues" are not the same thing):
I need tissues to clean the children's hands and faces at the birthday party.
QUESTION
Referring to the question from Gainesville, Florida in Log#225.

Is it still correct to use "two of them" instead of "two of whom"? Thanks!

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Bangkok, Thailand Tue, Oct 13, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
[Refers to Grammar 125, #9] Yes, in fact that would probably be a better sentence. However, with "two of them," a separate independent clause (or sentence) will be required:
John Doe and his wife, Betty, have five children; two of them have attended the university.
QUESTION
This is a capitalization question. Should "the" in the following sentence be capitalized?
Some say the Framers intended....
If so, why? Thanks
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Richmond, Virginia Tue, Oct 13, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
What are the Framers? If you're talking about the "framers of the constitution," I'm not sure why you'd capitalize anything in that sentence. In any case, I wouldn't capitalize the.

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