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# 308

QUESTION
In a family with only two brothers (as opposed to three or more), should the second-born be referred to as the "youngest" brother, or the "younger" brother?

In other words, does the comparative/superlative degree apply? And, if not, why not?

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
New York, New York Sat, Apr 10, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
When the comparison is between two things or people or whatever, it is appropriate to use the comparative form of the adjective: the younger brother. In informal prose, the superlative is sometimes used in a construction like the one you mention, but most writers regard that as being too casual.

Authority: A University Grammar of English by Randolph Quirk and Sidney Greenbaum. Longman Group: Essex, England. 1993. p. 130. Used with permission.
QUESTION
Is a comma required in a sequence when the last item is preceeded by "and"?
Example: Protect birds, reptiles, and other living things.
I was taught (many years ago) to use the comma. Now, I'm hearing No.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Salinas, California Sat, Apr 10, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
If anything, the writing manuals (the ones I use anyway) seem to be reasserting the need for a comma before the "and" in a series of things. In fact, it's often given a special name: the serial comma. This is not true, however, in newspaper writing, where the serial comma seems to have gone the way of the dodo. (But newspaper editors have their own set of rules on such matters and we can safely disregard them in this instance.)

QUESTION
Can you tell me when and if you are to capitalize the following words: Sun, Moon and Earth?

Thank you

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Somewhere, Virginia Sun, Apr 11, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
According to the NYPL Writer's Guide, we don't capitalize those words unless they're used in connection with other such words. So we would say, for instance, "Jupiter is much farther from the sun than Earth is." However, according to that guide, we never capitalize the word earth when it is preceded by "the":
The moon came between the earth and the sun.
I hope this note doesn't confuse you more than it helps.

Authority: New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage HarperCollins: New York. 1994. p. 226. Cited with permission.


QUESTION
Is the phrase, "Bill is accountable to ensure the following has been completed" grammatically incorrect? I realize that it may be preferable to say, "Bill is accountable for ensuring that the following..." but need to know which is technically correct.

Thank you.

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Fairfield, California Sun, Apr 11, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
If "accountable" makes sense there, we'd want to say that he is "accountable for ensuring." Frankly, though, I think "responsible" would be a much better word choice. To hold someone accountable for something means that there will be some kind of retribution called for if the person doesn't live up to his or her responsibility. In another sense, we know, simply by definition of Bill's role, that Bill is responsible for something, but we don't know if he is accountable (in the sense of being trustworthy) until we see if he lives up to his responsibility or not.

Authority: The New Fowler's Modern English Usage edited by R.W. Burchfield. Clarendon Press: Oxford, England. 1996.


QUESTION
I would like to know whether the following sentence is correct or not.
"It had been months since we last talked."
As far as I know, the past perfect tense occurs before the past tense, but in the above sentence,that grammar rule is not applied to the sentence. In my opinion, "It has been months since we last talked" is correct. I would like to know if the above sentence is right or wrong and if wrong,then what other expression is possible except "It has been months since we last talked". I think "it has been months since we last talked" is perfectly correct, but the sentence before the question sentence is like this, "When I arrived home yesterday, I received your letter". In a situation like this, the above questioned sentence seems to be correct partly. If the question sentence is not right, then what other sentence is the correct sentence in this situation?
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Ulsan, Korea Sun, Apr 11, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
Given the context of "When I arrived home yesterday, I received your letter," the past perfect of your last sentence "It had been months since we last talked" makes sense -- assuming that the "I" of the sentence is not actually talking directly to the "you" of the sentence. If the writer is creating a kind of fictional report of events, the "had" is appropriate because it refers to a time frame that was finished before the receipt of the letter. However, if the writer (or speaker) is addressing the "you" of the sentence directly, only the present perfect would make sense: "When I arrived home yesteday, I received your letter. It has been months since we last talked."

QUESTION
On the topic of possession, is it correct to say "a friend of my mother" or "a friend of my mother's"? It seems that the "of" takes care of the apostrophe.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Annville, Pennsylvania Sun, Apr 11, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
You're right, it does seem that the "of" takes care of the notion of possession there, doesn't it? However, all the writing manuals I own say that "a friend of my mother's" is idiomatically acceptable. Probably in formal writing we would avoid the problem by writing "my mother's friend," but there's nothing wrong with "a friend of my mother's." The NYPL Writer's Guide (which calls this situation a "double possessive") notes that we wouldn't say, "I'm a friend of her"; we'd say, "I'm a friend of hers."

Authority: New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage HarperCollins: New York. 1994. p. 120. Cited with permission.


QUESTION
I would like to know what are faulty modifers, and fused modifiers. Please give an example of each and how to correct them.

Thank you.

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
St. Charles, Missouri Mon, Apr 12, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
I'm not sure what these terms refer to. There is a section on Misplaced Modifiers, and those, of course, are faulty modifiers, one way or the other. The term "fused modifier" might refer to the tendency among writers to to blend a possessive noun or pronoun with a gerund into a non-possessive form plus the participle form into some kind of phrase. For instance, many writers nowadays would say "You don't mind me smoking, do you?" instead of "You don't mind my smoking, do you?" or they would writer "Henderson stealing another base is something we take for granted." instead of "Henderson's stealing another base is something we take for granted." This is especially true among the indefinite pronouns: "We weren't aware of anyone tampering with the evidence." instead of "We weren't aware of anyone's tampering with the evidence." Burchfield notes that the possessive with the gerund is on the retreat although "it persists in good writing." [E-Mail Icon]Fowler called the noun plus the participle form (which he thought should always be a possessive plus the gerund form) a fused participle. That might be what you're referring to as a "fused modifier" -- but frankly (having said all this), I doubt it. I'll leave an e-mail icon here in case someone has a better idea.

Authority: The New Fowler's Modern English Usage edited by R.W. Burchfield. Clarendon Press: Oxford, England. 1996.


QUESTION
Energetic, customer-focused sales professional with proved/proven record of achievement in highly competitive markets.
(I had proven, grammar check told me to use proved. I asked an English instructor and she said grammar checks are not good indicators for resumes. I have sent in the resume with proved. But it doesn't sound as fluid as proven. Looking at the irregular section on verbs, it seems that proved is fine. If this sentence is considered third person past tense, or if it is past participle, then the guide says either proved/proved is acceptable. I am probably making a big deal over nothing, but this bothers me. Please give any feedback.

Thanks

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Leawood, Kansas Mon, Apr 12, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
I think most writers nowadays would use "proven" in that sentence, but "proved" is certainly not wrong. "Proven" is much more popular in the United States than it is in Britain, but as a pre-noun modifier, "proven" has been gaining ground on "proved" for a long time now. Perhaps your grammar-checker has a decidedly British sense of what is correct. (In the UK, it used to be acceptable only in Scotland or in legal circles, but that is rapidly changing.) Next time, if I were you, I'd go with "proven." But not to worry: I'm sure you'll get the job.

Authority: The New Fowler's Modern English Usage edited by R.W. Burchfield. Clarendon Press: Oxford, England. 1996.

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


QUESTION
When discussing works of art, what is the correct usage for the collective form of the word "medium", for instance:
"The collection was comprised of works using many different _________"
I believe the correct word would be 'mediums', though an argument might be made for 'media'.

Thanks

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Huntsville, Alabama Mon, Apr 12, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
When you're talking about those folks who are our connections to the world of spirits, you can call them mediums. Otherwise, the plural of medium is always media.

Incidentally, I think you'd be much better off saying the "collection comprised works of several media." ("Was comprised of" is not a good combination; it violates the basic sense of "comprise," which means "to include.")

Authority: The New Fowler's Modern English Usage edited by R.W. Burchfield. Clarendon Press: Oxford, England. 1996.


QUESTION
Which verb would I use in the following case:
.....our success demands that each and every one of us (look or looks?) for ways to improve the way we meet our customers' expectations...
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Providence, Rhode Island Mon, Apr 12, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
That idiomatic expression is always singular because the subject is still "one." However, you will use the Subjunctive Mood here ("look") because of the fact that you're making a demand. ("I demand that he appear before me at once.")

It might be replaced by "each of us" or "every one of us" or "we all look" to good effect. You might even write "Our success demands that we each look for ways. . . ." (When the word "each" follows a plural subject, the verb is plural -- but that doesn't happen very often, and I think it sounds clumsy.)


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