The
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# 432
QUESTION What is the difference between 'burnt' and 'burned?' When do we use each? SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE Melbourne, VIC, Australia Fri, May 25, 2001
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE As a past participle form — burnt toast, burnt offerings — "burnt" is more common. As a simple past tense form — "She burned the toast" — "burned" is more common. Burchfield says they're pretty much interchangeable, though. You'll have to rely on your ear for this one. Authority: The New Fowler's Modern English Usage edited by R.W. Burchfield. Clarendon Press: Oxford, England. 1996. Used with the permission of Oxford University Press.
QUESTION This is a capitalization question. I have been struggling for some time to pinpoint the correct or most accepted version of the following: Is it "Web page" "web page" "Webpage" "webpage"? What is preferred?
Along the same line, is it "Web site" "web site" "Website" "website"?
Your help is appreciated!
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE Santa Ana, California GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE For questions like this, I refer to the Yale University Web Style Guide. The authors very consistently capitalize "Web" and break the words, as in Web page, Web site. I have to admit that I've been anything but consistent in this practice; also, I have a feeling that these spellings will change over time and the capitalized Web will disappear, along with the capital "I" for Internet. In the meantime, go with Yale and God. Boolah-Boolah, and all that.
QUESTION What are differences between direct and directly in the following sentences ?
- We flew direct to Paris.
- We flew directly to Paris.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE Hong Kong GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE There's really no difference in meaning. The word "direct" can function as an adverb. In certain contexts, you'd want to be careful that other meanings for "directly" — "promptly," "immediately" — don't make your sentence ambiguous.
QUESTION I teach my eighth grade English students that demonstrative pronouns are adjectives if they come directly before a noun or pronoun and answer the question "Which one?" I have noted that some teachers would disagree with me for the first example sentence. They would label these in the first example as a demonstrative pronoun as well.
- Example - These tools belong to John. (These is an adjective.)
- Example - These belong to John. (These is a demonstrative pronoun.)
I'm just wondering what you would consider these to be in the first example.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE York, Pennsylvania GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE I prefer to think of these words (such as this, that, these, those) as demonstratives first and then as either determiners or pronouns, depending on their function within a given sentence. In your first sentence, these is a determiner; in the second, it's a pronoun. See the section on demonstratives by clicking HERE.
QUESTION Which form of verb is correct: "is" or "are" To possess an understanding of people's cultures, religions, and reasoning [is/are] significant for a future physician.SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE Chattanooga, Tennessee GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE "To possess an understanding" is the subject of the sentence, and it is a singular idea regardless of how many things are to be understood. You want "is." Do you need to pluralize "culture" and "religion"? (Maybe even convert "people's" to the singular "person's"?)
QUESTION Is using the possessive noun (ex. The sheep's {one} food) in the singular sense, differently written when using the plural case (ex. The sheeps' {more than one} food? Thank you in advance for your response.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE Philadelphia, Pennsylvania GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE Generally, you form the possessive of irregular verbs simply by adding an apostrophe + "s," as in "children's clothing," "geese's food." However, when a noun does not change form when it becomes plural, you have to add either an "s" or "es" ending to show the possessive: "sheeps' food." You might be better off showing possession with an "of" phrase ("of the sheep") and showing plurality through context.
QUESTION I'm trying to find out when to use a capital letter after a colon and when to use lower case. My English teacher taught me that a lower case letter should always follow a colon, but I have seen capitals following colons frequently. For example, in today's Wall Street Journal I read: "Fine, replied the Bush administration: We'll call it global missile defence and include Europe under its umbrella. But that still didn't do the trick: At yesterday's NATO summit..."
It looks in this example as if the colon is also acting as a period, but I'm not quite clear on when it should and when it should not take on this role. Can you help me out?
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE London, UK GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE According to the NYPL Writer's Guide to Style and Usage, This is a style issue: Most authorities state if the words following the colon form a complete sentence, the first word following the colon is capitalized. If not, the first word is lowercased.I have to agree with you, though, in your sense that the WSJ is going overboard in its use of the colon. In fact, I wouldn't use a colon where the NYPL Guide used one in its explanation. A colon should come at that point where it is very clear that an explanation or an amplification of an idea is going to come next. That certainly is not the case with "But that still didn't do the trick:" If you can use a colon there, you can use it virtually anywhere.Authority: New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage HarperCollins: New York. 1994. Cited with permission. p. 262.
QUESTION I have a confusing sentence. I know that a singular subject needs a singular verb, but I can't figure this one out. Please help? here is the sentence... "Located within the setback for well #4 (is or are) an asphalt road, a vehicle turn-around area and a water treatment facility."I think the verb should be "is" because the "road", "area" and "facility" area all singular.What if the sentence read...
"Located within the setback for well #4 (is or are) two roads and a vehicle turn-around area"Would the verb then be "are" because "roads is plural?SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE Indianapolis, Indiana GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE The road, the turn-around area, and the facility are, indeed, all singular, but together they form a compounded subject, and you want a plural verb there, "are." It sounds a bit odd because of the inversion, but if you re-inverted your sentence, the "are" would be your obvious choice: An asphalt road, a vehicle turn-around area, and a water treatment facility are located within the setback for well #4.
If you had a choice in the matter, putting a plural word next to the verb (as you suggested in your sentence with "two roads") would make it sound better, more "natural."
QUESTION I would like to know information about the following sentence: In addition to jogging, I also bike.Is this correct? In class, a teacher said this sentence and I wondered about mixing present continuous with present simple.Thanks for any help you provide.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE Somewhere, Germany GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE The redundancy of "also" (following "in addition to") bothers me more than a lack of parallel form here, but I see what you mean. "Jogging" is not really a present continuous verb here; it's a gerund, a verb form used as a noun. There's nothing really wrong with mixing a noun form and a verb, although the sentence might be improved with parallel forms: "I enjoy biking and/as well as jogging," "I like to bike and jog," although neither one means the same as the original sentence, in which the speaker implies a priority of activities.
QUESTION What is the correct way to express this statement: You can terminate the lease by giving at least 30 days written notice.To show possession, do you use an appostrophe after the s in days or do you not use one at all. Please help. I would like to know the right answer.SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE Heidelberg, Germany GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE The non-personal genitive is often used with expressions of time: "a day's routine," "four days' worth," "a week's pay," "an hour's drive," "thirty days' written notice." Authority: The New Fowler's Modern English Usage edited by R.W. Burchfield. Clarendon Press: Oxford, England. 1996. Used with the permission of Oxford University Press. (under "'s and of-possessive")
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