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The Grammar Logs # 342 |
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| QUESTION |
| Topic: The use of the verb suffix "-ize" and noun suffix "-zation." My co-workers have come up with new flavors on a variety of words by using the above suffixes, for example:
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| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
Broomfield, Colorado  Thu, Aug 19, 1999
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| Why would anyone want to use such words instead of "production" and "produce"? Although violence in the workplace has become unfashionable, your co-workers must be stopped. I guess I'm not sure what you mean by using the suffixes "correctly." The words are spelled right; they're just horrid, unnecessary creations. |
| QUESTION |
My question is on quiz #35, question #8:
Not one of the performers ____________ at the party after the concert.The correct response is "WAS". If the question was "One of the performers _____ ...", then the subject would be singular and "was" would be the appropriate choice. However, using "Not" at the start of the sentence, NEGATES the singularity of the subject. Doing so makes the subject plural, and thus "were" would be the appropriate choice. Right? |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Fremont, California Thu, Aug 19, 1999
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| An interesting argument, but I'm not buying it. "Not" at the beginning of the sentence does not negate the singularity of the subject. What the sentence means is that not a single one of the performers _____. And there's no way you can come up with a plural verb for that construction (with or without the addition of "a single"). |
| QUESTION |
Which is correct........
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| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
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Washington, D.C. Fri, Aug 20, 1999
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| At first glance, it would seem that the plural "factors" calls for a plural "these," but the expression means "this quantity/number of factors," so stick with "This many factors. . . ." |
| QUESTION |
I'm a bit confused with
the word "each." I would like you to evaluate the following short
sentence and tell me if the pronoun following "each" is correct: "He built a house for each to protect it from the weather.""Each" represents a countable plural noun introduced in the previous sentence. The antecedent of "it" is "each," but "each" represents the word "seeds," which was introduced in the previous sentence. My question is whether to use "it" or "them." I feel that "it" would be the answer grammatically, but "them" would make more sense and would also be clearer. I'm looking forward to hearing from you. Thank you. |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| San Francisco, California Fri, Aug 20, 1999
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| Actually, "each" doesn't refer to (or represent) "seeds," except indirectly. It is its own pronoun and is singular. If you said "each of them," the "them" would clearly refer to "seeds." To be grammatically correct (if you want to use "each"), you'll have to write the line as you did. You could try something like "He built them houses to protect them from the rain," but you lose the charming specificity of "each." So I think you're going to have to choose between how the line sounds to you in your poem and how it works grammatically—and exercise a little poetic license. |
| QUESTION |
| My co-worker and I are trying to resolve the following: Which is correct and why?
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| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Menlo Park, California Fri, Aug 20, 1999
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| The source of confusion is probably that the past participle of bite can be either bitten (preferred) or bit (acceptable). In the U.S., at least (probably not in the U.K.), you could use either "bitten" or "bit" in any of those sentences (and all three would be passive constructions). "Bit" is the only acceptable form for the simple past. |
| QUESTION |
Which is correct: "the following is what you
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| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Virginia Beach, Virginia Fri, Aug 20, 1999
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| Altogether, that phrase won't make much sense regardless of how you phrase it, but if you're asking if one should pay "less taxes" or "fewer taxes," it will depend, in part, on what you're talking about. If you're talking about the number of taxes, the different kinds of tax, you pay, then you're talking about something countable, and you want to say "fewer taxes." If you're talking about the sheer amount of tax you pay, you probably want to rephrase the whole thing and say "less in taxes." |
| QUESTION |
I am told that I use the word "the" more often than necessary. e.g.
'Take the LIRR from "the" Penn Station to "the" New Hyde Park station.'Is the usage of "the" before Penn Station and New Hyde Park wrong? Thank you |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Chicago, Illinois Fri, Aug 20, 1999
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| I have to be honest and tell you I don't think there is a good explanation for why some public places have an article in front of them and others don't. We don't need (or want) either of the the's you put in quotation marks. But we would say "The accident happened somewhere between the Sheraton and the Presbyterian Church." What can I say except that you have to pay careful attention to such things—for years—before it comes naturally to you. English learners whose native tongues do not have an article system can spend the rest of their life trying to master these little words and still make mistakes from time to time. Don't worry about it too much, read and write a lot, and it will all fall in to place eventually. |
| QUESTION |
| Dear Grammar: I came upon a Far Side cartoon in which the devil is castigating five of the damned because they ordered a pizza and had it delivered to their cell. The devil is holding the pizza box ("Jerry's Pizza--We Deliver Anywhere" stamped on it) and the caption has the devil saying: "First of all, this is going straight back--and I'll just have a little chat with whoever placed the order." Is 'whoever' correct? Using the he/him substitution and rearranging the sentence, it seems as if it should be 'whom' as in '...I'll have a little chat with him.' But since 'who' is doing the action, rather than having the action done to it, the sentence appears correct as it stands. Could you clear this up for me? Thank you. |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| San Diego, California Wed, Aug 25, 1999
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| Yes, Gary Larson had it right—and you correctly state the reason: the "whoever" is (properly) the subject of the clause (with the verb "placed"), and then that entire clause becomes the object of the preposition "with." |
| QUESTION |
| Can a number be a subject? Ex., Three of my friends are taking singing lessons. Of my friends is a prepositional phrase so is three the subject? it doesn't seem right. Thanks |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Birmingham, Alabama Wed, Aug 25, 1999
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| If want a fancy word for it, you can say that the number is behaving "pronominally" (like a pronoun). Numbers can be modifiers—three butchers—and they can behave pronominally. Yes, "three" is the subject (just as "a few" would be the subject in "A few of my friends are taking singing lessons."). |
| QUESTION |
| According to the American Heritage Dictionary, the word "laurels" can mean "a wreath of laurel conferred upon poets...." Thus, in this sense, "laurels" means a laurel wreath, or it could also mean "honor and glory." My question is whether "laurels" used in this sense should be followed by singular or plural verbs. Once I spotted a sentence that read "the laurels go to...." Shouldn't that be "goes"? |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| San Francisco, California Thu, Aug 26, 1999
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| Apparently the usage of "laurels" depends on the sense of "sprigs of laurel" because the plural verb prevails: "The laurels go to Elizabeth Bishop." Authority for this note: WWWebster Dictionary, the World Wide Web edition of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, Tenth Edition. Used with permission. |
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