The
Grammar
Logs
# 253

QUESTION
Hello. Would you take a look at the following?
1. She can't know the truth. Nobody told it to her.
Isn't it possible for you to use "cannot" instead of "can't" in #1? According to an English-Japanese dictionary, "cannot" is very formal and, in most cases, it isn't used even in written sentences. Is this explanation right? How about the following?
2. He cannot have told you a lie. He is a very honest person.
In this case, can you use "can't" instead of "cannot"? According to the same dictionary, there's no example sentences with "can't" in this meaning.

I'd greatly appreciate your help. Thank you very much.

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Sapporo, Japan Thu, Nov 12, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
In your first example, I would say that not only is cannot possible, it's preferred. I think your dictionary quite overstates the formality of cannot. Yes, it is more formal, but certainly not to the extent that we don't hear it in speech. And, no, I wouldn't use can't at all in that second sentence. I think most writers would have used "could not have" in that sentence, although the "cannot" works nicely as a modal negation.

Authority: A University Grammar of English by Randolph Quirk and Sidney Greenbaum. Longman Group: Essex, England. 1993. p. 189. Used with permission.
QUESTION
Affixes and Suffixes
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Somewhere, Spain Thu, Nov 12, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
The process of affixation can mean adding a suffix to the base of a word, sometimes changing the class of a word and sometimes not changing its class. For instance, adding -ness to kind changes it from an adjective, kind, to a noun, kindness; adding -er turns it into another kind of adjective, but it's still an adjective. I suggest you look at Appendix One in Quirk's book for additional information.

Authority: A University Grammar of English by Randolph Quirk and Sidney Greenbaum. Longman Group: Essex, England. 1993. Used with permission.
QUESTION
The rules on using let and leave (leave the book there, let the book there, etc)
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Alexandria, Virginia Thu, Nov 12, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
I suggest you look up these words in a dictionary. I don't know if confusing them is a regionalism or what, but it shouldn't be done. We want to leave the book there.

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


QUESTION
If you are talking about the Museum of Natural Art, is the capitalized?
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Schenectady, New York Thu, Nov 12, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
No. If you have only a list of museums, it might be capitalized, but not in the normal flow of text.

Authority: New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage HarperCollins: New York. 1994. Cited with permission. p. 215.
QUESTION
I would like to know when to use this instead of that or it. For exemple do I say (i am showing something or asking about something) :
  1. What is it ?
  2. What is that ?
  3. What is this ?
Thanks a lot for your consideration of my request.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Raleigh, North Carolina Thu, Nov 12, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
In the context of your questions, the choice is a matter of distance, only. With something that you have right at hand, you would use "this"; with something on the other side of the room, say, you would use "that." It's a relative matter.

QUESTION
Is it necessary to use 'got' in statements such as:
I have a car. I have got a car. He has a new job. He has got a new job.
If so, what is the grammatical basis for doing so?
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Somewhere, Australia Thu, Nov 12, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
No, it's not necessary, and many writers would consider it quite incorrect. It sometimes seems useful, at least in speech, when stressing the idea of ownership, but it's really quite unnecessary.

QUESTION
Can you tell me about fragments, please?
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Port Charlotte, Florida Thu, Nov 12, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
There's a whole section on sentence fragments. Review that material and then write back if you have a question. You might want to look at the Index first.

QUESTION
What is future conditional tense? Is it the same as present progressive tense?

Could you please give me an example of a sentence written in the future conditional tense.

Please Help! Thank you

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Brooklyn, New York Thu, Nov 12, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
No, the present progressive is "He is running for political office" and describes something that is going on now. The future conditional, however, does use the present tense. "If he wins the election, I will be surprised." See the section on the Conditional Verb Forms, and then write back if you still have questions.

QUESTION
In the following sentence, should the verb in the dependent clause be singular or plural? Please cite the rule.
"My English class has not gone well so far with all the talking and testing that (take or takes) place in class."
Thank you.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Fort Valley, Georgia Thu, Nov 12, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
The relative pronoun "that" is referring to the indefinite pronoun "all" in that sentence. All can be either singular or plural depending on what it's talking about. Here I think it's plural because it's talking about two things that are not being glommed together like macaroni and cheese, talking and testing. (Even though they are both distracting, they are separate distractions, I believe.)

QUESTION
1.Which of the sentences below, if either, is correct?
  1. Of the 372 patients, 86% were less than 5 years of age.
  2. Of the 372 patients, 86% was less than 5 years of age.
2. Should the qualifier "less than" even be used, and is "younger" better given the context?
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Calgary, Alberta, Canada Thu, Nov 12, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
A percentage like that will be either singular or plural depending on what you're talking about. Here you're talking about countable patients, so we want a plural verb: 86% were . . .

I don't think less than is wrong (because you're referring to the sum of five years), but I would certainly use "younger than five.".


Previous Grammar Log

Next Grammar Log

Index of Grammar Logs

Guide to Grammar and Writing