The
Grammar
Logs
# 274

QUESTION
Would you please let me know if there is any difference between 'accountability' and 'responsibility'?

Merry Christmas and Happy 1999!

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Hong Kong Sat, Dec 26, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
There's not much difference. I suppose the word accountability suggests the notion that there is a ledger of what one is responsible for -- and how well one lives up to those commitments, etc.

QUESTION
In a sentence how do I say this:
  • "Thank you for your kind words of congratulation."
    or,
  • "Thank you for your kind words of congratulations."
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada Sat, Dec 26, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
I would use the singular form of the word there -- to describe the act of congratulating. As an expression to express congratulation, we always say "Congratulations!"

QUESTION
Which is correct:
  • I want to be like him.
    or
  • I want to be like he.
What is the rule? He's polite like I, or He's polite like me?

Who wants pancakes?
Me? or I?

Thanks

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Sacramento, California Mon, Dec 28, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
The word "like" can act as a preposition, so we want the object form of the preposition in these constructions: "I want to be like him" and "He's polite like me."

When it comes to pancakes, probably the best response is "I do." Otherwise, it sounds dumb when you say "I." I think it's entirely appropriate in this contest to name yourself by saying (or shouting) "Me!"


QUESTION
Could you tell me where we need commas in the following sentence (partial), or whether em dashes would be better and if we then need any commas at all:
"He calmly no serenely explained (serenely will be italicized) . . . "
A speedy answer would be very much appreciated. It's for a magazine article getting ready to go to press.

Thanks very much indeed.

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Unknown Mon, Dec 28, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
I think that's a substantial enough break in the sentence to warrant the use of the dashes -- and then we need a comma to set off the interjection "no." "He calmly -- no, serenely -- explained . . . ."

QUESTION
Hi. One of my friends in the chat told me about your site. I am just discovering it. Here's my question:
"she was addressing" and "she kept repeating"
They said that the first verb is the past progressive, and the second one is the simple past. But they are in the same construction: kept and was are in the past and addressing and repeating are in the progressive form. So could you tell me the differences between the simple past and past progressive?

Could tell me please where I can find the list of irregular verbs in the web? and also lessons for verb tenses, because I want to know when we use past perfect, present perfect and present perfect progressive in the sentence. Please answer me.

Thank you and happy holidays.

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Washington, D.C. Mon, Dec 28, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
This may be more information than you want, but "keep" is one of those verbs (called catenative verbs) that take other verb forms as an object -- some of them take infinitives (we prefer to drink coffee in the morning) and some of them take gerunds (we admitted taking the tools). And so "repeating" is not really part of the verb in your sentence. (At least not in the same sense that "addressing" is part of the past progressive "was addressing" in your first sentence.) See the page on gerunds and catenative verbs for further help.

We have a list of irregular verbs. Click HERE. There are also links there to even more extensive lists.


QUESTION
Is it proper to turn a gerund into an adverb by adding 'ly'? I don't recall seeing a rule that says this shouldn't be done, but words like "broodingly" and "consideringly" sound wrong to me -- "John was leaning against the counter and watching him broodingly." "Mary looked at him consideringly." They're doing what adverbs do, modifying the verbs watching and looked, respectively, but it "sounds wrong." Am I all wet or is there a rule about this someplace that I've missed?

Thanks! I love your page. It's on my personal toolbar

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Costa Mesa, California Mon, Dec 28, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
I don't remember seeing a rule about this either, but it seems like a really bad idea. For one thing, it's not clear what this "adverb" is trying to modify. It has to modify the verb, of course, but it's also trying to modify the "him." You'd be much better off with something like "John leaned against the counter, moodily watching his brother." where the adverb clearly modifies the subsequent verb. One further point: I'm not sure those words you've turned into adverbs are gerunds. They seem like participles to me -- and they probably ought to remain that way but they need to be placed elsewhere in the sentence.

QUESTION
Is it appropriate to spell out the word "percent" in a sentence or to use the symbol (%)? Example:
  • Income can increase as much as 19%.
    or
  • Income can increase as much as 19 percent.
Thanks.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Marietta, Georgia Mon, Dec 28, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
In text belonging to statistical or scientific copy, use the % symbol. In other text, use the word percent.

Authority: Chicago Manual of Style 14th ed. U of Chicago P: Chicago. 1993. p. 299.


QUESTION
Another quick question regarding proper nouns! If the name of an institution already has a possessive "s" at the end -- "St. Paul's," for example -- how would you write something like "I am writing to inquire about St. Paul's participation in the event . . . "? It's certainly not "St. Paul's' participation," but is it correct to leave it simply as "St. Paul's"?

Thanks enormously for your feedback

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Hamilton, New York Mon, Dec 28, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
I can't find any reference material to back me up on this, but I'm sure it's inappropriate (as you point out) to add another 's to your already possessive word. St. John's, for instance, actually means "the University/Cathedral of St. John," right? We just call it "St. John's" as a kind of shorthand. When talk about the participation of St. John's, I think we would write something like "the University of St. John's participation" or, in shortened form, "St. John's participation." (That runs the slight risk of making someone think that St. John himself might be in attendance, but I don't think it's a real problem.) At any rate, the construction "St. John's's" is a monstrosity and we'd be much better off with an "of" construction of some kind.

I thought I'd seen every possible twist on possessives questions -- but I hadn't.

[E-Mail Icon]I'll leave an e-mail icon here and maybe someone else (from St. John's or St. Paul's) will send in a clarifying note.


QUESTION
Hello.
Would you take a look at the following?
  1. In the process, 2 million gallons of oil washed up on the beach, killing thousands of birds and animals.
  2. 2 million gallons of oil "was washed up" ...
  3. 2 million gallons of oil "were washed up" ...
I'd appreciate your help. Thank you very much in advance.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Sapporo, Japan Tue, Dec 29, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
I suppose that technically you are correct, the oil "was washed up" because it's something that the sea or the waves did to the oil; it didn't do the washing up on its own. However, one will hear that expression in the active voice, "the oil washed up on the shore," and it does make sense, in a way. As to the was/were question, the oil has become a singular entity, one mass of oil, and we need the singular verb "was."

QUESTION
Hello!
I would like to ask a thing that has been bothering me for a while. It is a question about adverbs and adjectives. If I want to describe how a person feels (not about the thing he/she does, just how the person feels) can I write like:
Sad she wrote for her uncle... (I mean feeling sad, but not about writing) Can I use an adjective here?
or do I have to write like:
Sadly she wrote for her uncle...
I know the difference between adjectives and adverbs, but can I use an adjective in these sorts of sentences to describe a person's mood?

Thank you!

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Somewhere, Sweden Tue, Dec 29, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
It appears that you are trying to use an adjective as an absolute construction, letting it stand at the beginning of a sentence and expecting it to modify the entire rest of the sentence. That's kind of tough for an adjective, all by itself, to do. You might get away with it if you placed a comma after the "Sad, she wrote for her uncle." The adverb is definitely better, but it's still not clear whether she wrote because she was sad or she wrote sadly. You're much better off with a participial phrase "Saddened by the death of her aunt, she wrote for her uncle." or an absolute phrase, "Her spirits dampened by recent events, she wrote for her uncle."

Incidentally, it's not clear why you write "for her uncle." He's not able to write for himself? Do you mean "to her uncle"? And watch the spelling of "write."


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