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The Grammar Logs # 316 |
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| QUESTION |
In this sentence which is correct to use "has or have"?
For those of you, who has or have not submitted your letters, do so now. |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
Washington, D.C.  Wed, May 5, 1999
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| The "who" refers to "those," which is plural, so we need a plural verb, "have." You should definitely consider removing the comma after "you," and you might consider a simpler sentence: "If you have not submitted your letters of ______, do so now." |
| QUESTION |
I'm creating invitations to a combined graduation party for two graduates. Which is correct:
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| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Westwood, Massachusetts Wed, May 5, 1999
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| It depends on your point of view. Let's say you're talking about a husband and wife, who own a car together: you would write "Bob and Carol's car." However, if it's something they own "severally" (usually a plural), we'd write something like "Bob's and Carol's degrees in woodworking." Since these two guys are graduating together and it's just one party, you could assign them corporate "ownership" of this party and say Erik and Phil's graduation party. |
| QUESTION |
I'm not a student, but know you will have the correct answer to my question. Our department is hosting a Citizen Police Academy. When using this name in our literature, which is correct?
Your response would be greatly appreciated. |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Aspen, Colorado Wed, May 5, 1999
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| I would think you'd want to pluralize "Citizen," first of all, by adding the "s." Whether you want to show ownership by then adding an apostrophe after the "s" is up to you. |
| QUESTION |
| Is it grammatically correct to say "aren't I"? If one was not using the contraction, it would certainly need to be "am I not"--and there is, of course, no such contraction as "amn't." I hear this phrase frequently in spoken usage, but I am wondering if it is ungrammatical. |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Santa Barbara, California Thu, May 6, 1999
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| That peculiar tag question, "aren't I?," has been around so long that it's regarded as quite acceptable. It's not used often, of course, in formal writing. The contraction amn't (shortened to ain't) has a long history in Scotland and Ireland, but it never made its way into British or American speech or writing. Authority: The New Fowler's Modern English Usage edited by R.W. Burchfield. Clarendon Press: Oxford, England. 1996.
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| QUESTION |
| "Who is this book for?" In this sentence, I know it should be whom since whom is the object of for. So book is the subject of is. However, what about this sentence: "Who are you going to call?" Since the verb "to be" does not take an object, it has to be Who. And therefore I would say that Who is the subject of are. But then how does the word you fit in? Thanks. |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Evanston, Illinois Thu, May 6, 1999
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| You're still looking for the object form in that sentence (with apologies to Ghostbusters). Put as a statement, it would read, "You are going to call whom." I hope that helps. |
| QUESTION |
| *It was not until April* that the energy departments shut down its classified computer systems to impose tighter security over their data. I don't what it means, "it was not until ....". |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Sacramento, California Thu, May 6, 1999
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| It means that the energy departments did not shut down its system until April. . . . That rather peculiar construction is called an expletive construction. There's nothing wrong with it; it's just a bit peculiar. |
| QUESTION |
| In the sentance "The objectives include significant reduction in the incidence of both property crimes and crimes of violence, increased recruitment of Oakland residents as police officers and the forging of close ties between the officers and the people of Oakland" what form of speach is "as"? |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Oakland, California Sat, May 8, 1999
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| The word "as," normally a subordinating conjunction, does sometimes function like a preposition—in fact, much like the preposition like when it means "in the capacity of" and refers to one's actual role. Thus there is a distinction between "He spoke like a lawyer" and "He spoke as a lawyer" (although only a lawyer might care about the difference). Authority: A University Grammar of English by Randolph Quirk and Sidney Greenbaum. Longman Group: Essex, England. 1993. Used with permission. p. 159.
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| QUESTION |
| What is the best preposition to use with the word "bored"? I have read in the New York Times "bored with..", "bored by...", and "bored of..." The last possibility sounds incorrect to me but I can't find any reason why it is incorrect stated in any of my grammar books. |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Moorestown, New Jersey Sat, May 8, 1999
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| I suppose you can also be bored out of your mind. I have never seen "bored of," and I can't imagine a situation in which that would be appropriate. Burchfield notes that a "regrettable tendency has emerged in recent years" (especially in British English) to use "bored of." (She would bore of fox hunting.) Authority: The New Fowler's Modern English Usage edited by R.W. Burchfield. Clarendon Press: Oxford, England. 1996.
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| QUESTION |
| Could you please explain "Complementation: That Clauses"? |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Brattleboro, Vermont Sat, May 8, 1999
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
When a nominal clause is introduced by the word that, the word is called a "complementizer" or "complementation that":
I guess that he must be a millionaire by now.The word "that" is frequently left out of such clauses in this position. Authority: Analyzing English Grammar by Thomas Klammer & Muriel Schulz. 2nd Edition. Allyn & Bacon: Needham, Massachusetts. 1996. p. 444.
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| QUESTION |
| So this summer while you're playing softball or mowing the lawn, remember how refreshing a glass of freshly squeezed lemonade rejuvinates and quenches your thirst. Can you please help me with puncuation of this sentence? This may be true, but once you have tasted a glass of fresh squeezed lemonade, the taste stays with you forever. Is there a comma between fresh and squeezed?? Thank you |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Camarillo, California Sat, May 8, 1999
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| With your first version, of course, the word "freshly" is an adverb modifying "squeezed." With the second version, the adjective is an adjective modifying "lemonade." These aren't really coordinate adjectives, however, so we wouldn't want a comma after the "fresh." |
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