The
Grammar
Logs
# 296

QUESTION
Too often lately I have heard people say "It is different than" instead of "It is different from." I thought "than" was only used with words that are quantitative such as "bigger than" or "shorter than." Is "then" now accepted as appropriate use after the word "different?"
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Carrolton, Texas Sat, Mar 6, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
Almost always, you're going to want "from" after "different." One exception is when an entire clause follows the word "different": "The Celtics' style of basketball is different now than when Auerbach was coach."

Authority: The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers by Chris M. Anson and Robert A. Schwegler. Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.: New York. 1997. p. G-15.
QUESTION
which is correct?
  • Harlem Globetrotters game or
  • Harlem Globetrotters' game or
  • Harlem Globetrotter's game or
if none of these are correct, what is the correct way?
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Somewhere, U.S.A. Sat, Mar 6, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
It depends on how you intend to use the phrase. You can use the name of the team as a modifier, as in "We went to the Harlem Globetrotters game." Or you can be talking about the game as it belongs to the Harlem Globetrotters, as in "The Harlem Globetrotters' game is a lot more serious than most people think." You would put the apostrophe before the "s" only if you're talking about the game of a single Globetrotter, which is rather unlikely.

QUESTION
It would be difficult for a man of his political affiliation, --------, to become a senator from the South.
  1. though charming and capable is he
  2. even with charm and so capable
  3. charming and having capability
  4. however charming and capable
Would you please tell me the correct answer? Besides, how to judge which one is correct in such kind of grammar test? Thank you very much.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Kaushung. Taiwan Sat, Mar 6, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
"D" is the correct answer, mostly because the others are wrong. We need the "however" to make the contradiction (reservation?) that we want to make, and the two modifiers, "capable" and the participial "charming," will suffice. It's a simple parenthetical, modifying phrase, somewhat complicated by the "however."

QUESTION
Is a comma appropriate before the word "or" in a sentence containing a series of elements? For example, "John could go to Florida, Texas, Hawaii, or Maine."

Also, is a comma needed in the following sentence after "wife?"

"I would like to thank my wife, Jean, for all of her patience."
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Milwaukee, Wisconsin Mon, Mar 8, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
Without that last comma (called the serial comma), Hawaii and Maine tend to go off together instead of being two elements of a series. I think it's always a good idea to include the serial comma. As for your wife, Jean, we need a comma on either side of her name if it's safe to assume you have only one wife. If you had more than one wife -- you don't, do you? -- her name would become essential to the meaning of the sentence and the commas would have to disappear.

Authority for second point: New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage HarperCollins: New York. 1994. p. 246. Cited with permission.


QUESTION
Hello.
Would you let me know which is correct?
  1. Most Japanese regard Christmas only as an event.
  2. Most Japanese regard Christmas as only an event.
If both are correct and there's a difference in meaning between the two, would you let me know the difference?

I'd appreciate your assistance.

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Sapporo, Japan Mon, Mar 8, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
When the word "only" immediately follows "Christmas," there is the possibility that it will try to modify Christmas, which could mean that the Japanese regard only that holiday as an event, which isn't what we mean. We want the word "only" to modify the word "event," so we move it closer to that word. The word only is a slippery one: it can appear almost anywhere in a sentence. That means, however, that we have to be careful that it ends up modifying exactly what it's supposed to modify and nothing else.

QUESTION
Can I say "I prefer you drove" instead of "I prefer you drive." If it is correct too, what is the difference in meaning or usage?
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Ness Ziona, Israel Mon, Mar 8, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
We frequently use the subjunctive after "prefer" or "prefer that." What that means is that we would say, "I would prefer that he drive" instead of "I prefer that he drives." However, I don't see any reason for using the past tense "drove" in the construction you give us.

QUESTION
My teacher says that "ingratiated" has a slightly sneaky sly quality to it. Do you agree? Thank-you.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Aptos, California Mon, Mar 8, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
Yes, in a way. It means to do what you have to do to get into someone else's good favors -- but usually with the ulterior motive of gaining some kind of advantage (that you wouldn't have gained just by being yourself).

QUESTION
I just submitted a question about the three options "Why do lonely men and women want to break each other's hearts?," "...each other's heart?," and "...each others' hearts?" When I looked through your website more carefully, I found this fourth option: "Why do lonely men and women want to break one another's hearts?" Is THIS the only correct one?
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Athens, Georgia Mon, Mar 8, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
"One another" is usually appropriate when dealing with more than two people. However, breaking hearts is usually something that two people do to one another; it's not a community event. I think what you want here -- since each person, presumably, has a heart -- is "each other's hearts." [E-Mail Icon] However, since everyone has an opinion on romantic matters, I will leave an e-mail icon here in case someone else wants to offer an opinion.

QUESTION
1.What's the difference between these two expressions? a cannon shooting... / a cannon that shoots...
According to United States Air Force officials, a cannon shooting/ that shoots dead chichens at airplanes has proved helpful in demonstrating what kind of damage can result when jets fly into a flock of large birds.
2.In a sentence below, "to include" is not correct. Why?
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, a late nineteenth-century feminist, called for urban apartment houses to include child-care facilities and for clustered suburban houses with communal eating and social facilities included.
If I replace the "to include" with " including", is the new sentence correct?
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Shanghai, China Mon, Mar 8, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
The thought of the American military shooting dead chickens at airplanes has made my day, and I thank you for this bit of information. I think we want "that shoots," but it's hard to say why. "That shoots" makes it seem more exact to me. It's not just any old dead-chicken-shooting cannon; it's a cannon that shoots dead chickens. It's perfectly wonderful in either case.

As for what Perkins Gilman called for, she wanted urban apartment houses which would include (including) child-care facilities. If you used "to include" instead, it would mean that the urban apartment houses were already there and these existing structures should be forced to incorporate child-care facilities.


QUESTION
I need to know whether or not the word "assistive" is a correct word. It came up on my spell check as not being "proper grammar", so I searched several dictionaries, none of which contained the word. I then searched the internet and came up with only one dictionary listing. Is is proper grammar? If so, why is it not listed in any of my English Dictionaries?
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Virginia Beach, Virginia Wed, Mar 10, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
I have heard that word before, but I didn't know what it meant them, and I still don't know. It's not in any of the three dictionaries I own. If I were you, I'd steer clear of the word until it's more established as a legitimate word. How is it used? Would a physical therapist have a roomful of assistive devices? There are probably better words at hand.

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