The
Grammar
Logs
# 255

QUESTION
Is it correct to write "swim a lake" without any preposition between the verb "swim" and "a lake"? Is it the same meaning as "swim across a lake"?
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Hong Kong Mon, Nov 16, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
I think it would be strange to say "He swims a lake." If we know what lake we're talking about, we can say something like "He swims the lake every morning," meaning that he swims from one side of this particular lake to the other.

QUESTION
Dear Grammar:

Please which is the correct for a doctor:

Mr. So and So, M.D. OR Mr. So and So, MD
Thank you very much.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Guarulhos, Sao Paulo, Brazil Mon, Nov 16, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
Drop the Mr. and just write So and So, M.D.

Authority: Chicago Manual of Style 14th ed. U of Chicago P: Chicago. 1993. p. 463.


QUESTION
A woman called bearing a gift' by identifying the gift, should one write 'A woman called bearing A gift of a pheasant' or 'A woman called bearing THE gift of a pheasant'?
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Ushiku City, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan Mon, Nov 16, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
I would definitely use the definite article the in this sentence. I think I would also put a comma after "called."

QUESTION
Do you still use a comma between Washington, D.C. and have the periods been eliminated between DC? Thank you...I have seen it printed without a comma between Washington and DC. Please advise.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Antioch, California Mon, Nov 16, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
The U.S. Post Office now prefers us to leave out the comma between city and state and to use the two-letter, all caps, abbreviation. (It has something to do with machine readability.) This also counts for Washington DC. But that's for what we write on envelopes. The rest of the time, in normal text, we would still use the comma and the periods in the abbreviation: Washington, D.C. I suppose the citizens of Washington, D.C., will have the final say in this matter.

QUESTION
Please comment on usage of term " egg" in the following :-
  • Question : What do you like to eat?
  • Answer : I like to eat egg.
If the answer "egg" is acceptable, please explain why. Thank you.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Mon, Nov 16, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
No, we never use "egg" as an uncountable noun in this way. (We could say, for instance, "I like to eat cake.") Even when the eggs are uncountable (as in scrambled eggs), we still treat it as plural. (Although it is possible, I suppose, to eat one scrambled egg.) We would say, "I like to eat eggs."

QUESTION
1.What is 'end focus' and 'end weight'?

2.What is the meaning differences between these following two sentences?
1) a.Everybody in this room speaks two languages.
b.Two languages are spoken by everybody in this room.
2) a.John gave the books to my brother.
b.John gave my brother the books.
3) a.John smeared paint on the wall.
b.John smeared the wall with paint.

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Pusan, Korea Mon, Nov 16, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
See the section on Sentence Variety for a brief description of sentence styles. "End focus" means building the sentence in such a way that the end of the sentence carries the most weight, the main idea or effect.

As for your sentences, the pairs mean the same. In #1, sentence "a" would be preferred by most writers over the passive construction in "b."


QUESTION
Jennie was going to the store.
  1. The reason is because she needed milk.
  2. The reason is that she needed milk.
I made this question up, but I have a serious situation here. In 12th grade, my English teacher of my Expository Writing class told me the rule was "the reason is because (letter a)," but my College English teacher marked it wrong in my paper. When I confronted my current teacher about it, she replied, "It is a redundancy." I can see how it would be a redundancy, but I vividly remember my 12th grade English teacher telling my class and showing support that the correct answer is letter a. My English class is on Wednesday and I really would like some proof that the answer is letter a, if it is. If it isn't, I would still like proof, preferably that I could print out. A higher grade is at stake. Thank you so much for your time, and I hope someone can answer this for me.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Santee, California Mon, Nov 16, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
I regard "the reason is because" as a redundancy (but it's not nearly as bad as "the reason why is because"). I prefer "the reason is that." However, that, too, is somewhat redundant, and you're better off if you can avoid this construction completely.
She went to the store because she needed milk.
On the other hand, I don't know if I'd lower someone's grade because she used "the reason is because."

Authority: The St. Martin's Handbook by Andrea Lunsford, Robert Connors. 2nd ed. St. Martin's Press: New York. 1992.
QUESTION
First of all, I want to thank you for answering a question I recently submitted. Now, as usual, I have another question. In this sentence:
"For him to go is ridiculous."
Is the object of the preposition "For" the whole clause "him to go" or only the pronoun "him." Someone tells me it's the whole clause, but my guess is the pronoun "him" alone. Please help again. And, thanks again.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Las Vegas, Nevada Mon, Nov 16, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
"For him to go" is a phrase, not a clause. It's really unusual to use a prepositional phrase as a noun and subject in this way -- but not impossible. [E-Mail Icon] I would think that "him" is the object of the preposition, and the infinitive "to go" modifies the object of the preposition. And then the whole prepositional phrase becomes the subject of the verb "is." I will leave an e-mail icon in this response in case someone has a better idea.

QUESTION
What are the semantic differences between BEGIN and START?

Thank You

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Muncie, Indiana Mon, Nov 16, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
There is not a lot of difference between these two words. "Begin" is a bit more general; we would use "start" to refer to the beginning of the first steps of a process.

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


QUESTION
Can I end a sentence with "that" ? sentence I want to write....
It wasn't unusual to have 30 mile an hour winds on the high plains in springtime, but it seemed to be gusting much higher than that.
if this is incorrect, what would you suggest?

thanks

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Holland, Michigan Mon, Nov 16, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
Of course you can end a sentence with that. In fact, I just did. Or -- What about that? But I don't think I'd end your example sentence with "than that." Delete those last two words; you don't need them. (The sentence is OK with "higher than that," but isn't the "than that" a bit redundant?)

QUESTION
In the sentence, "There are at least 30,000 species of spiders in the world", can you tell me what parts of speech 30,000 and species are?
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Jacksonville Beach, Florida Mon, Nov 16, 1998
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
Species is a noun, the subject of the sentence. The number 30,000 modifies that noun; it's acting as an adjective in this sentence. (Is it a bit more clear if you write out thirty thousand?)

Previous Grammar Log

Next Grammar Log

Index of Grammar Logs

Guide to Grammar and Writing