The
Grammar
Logs
# 350

QUESTION
I heard a sentence from a radio commentator that included the phrase "in a more easily digestible form". This sounded incorrect to me, but I'm quite rusty on grammar and usage rules and could not "put my finger" on why it might be incorrect. Would you be so kind as to advise me on whether this construction is incorrect or simply clumsy and ugly sounding. Thank you.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Richmond, Virginia Tue, Sep 21, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
As repulsive as this phrase might be — like a recommendation for roughage — its real problem is probably in the combination of "more" and "easily." I can see how something can be "more digestible," of course, but the idea of something being "more easily anything" strikes us as odd.

QUESTION
I am trying to locate activities, or worksheets that help third grade students understand how to paraphrase a paragraph. I need them to understand how to put things in their own words, and not copy straight from the text. I have tried almost every search engine without success. I hope you can give me resource to help my students.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Delaware, Ohio Tue, Sep 21, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
[E-Mail Icon]I really don't have such a resource, but I'll put your question here in case someone else can share such information. You might try my college's list of resources for Early Childhood Education. One resource not listed there is the BBC ONLINE's Education Section and the BBC's Learning Zone. There is a lot of information there for students (of all ages, really) to work on paraphrasing, but you'd have to sort through it, of course, to find material appropriate for third-graders.

QUESTION
"Peanuts," a famous American cartoon strip, was created by Charles Schulz over fifteen years ago. Schulz, called "Sparky" by his friends, has created many characters for his internationally-known cartoon strip.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Bell Gardens, California Tue, Sep 21, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
As a general rule, you don't want to put a hyphen between an adverb (like "internationally") and the word it modifies. I'm sure there are exceptions, but this wouldn't be one of them. No hyphen.

QUESTION
Jack walked over, almost stumbling, and stood over Jill.
Is this correct? I was told it needed an adverb to modify the verb. I don't know what that means.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Trussville, Alabama Tue, Sep 21, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
And so you inserted "almost"? The sentence is correct with "almost," but it was OK without it. I think I would have put "stumbling" first, though: "Stumbling, Jacked walked over and stood over Jill." Or "Jack stumbled over and stood [precariously/threateningly/clumsily] over Jill." I don't know what that means either, when someone said the sentence needed an adverb.

QUESTION
Which of the following two terms is acceptable to denote a category of research?
  • education research
  • educational research
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Unknown Wed, Sep 22, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
"Education research" mean research in the general area of education — pedagogy, learning habits, training, intelligence, schooling, literacy, etc. "Educational research" means (simply) research that is instructive or informational in some way. People in the field of education are sometimes careless about this useful distinction.

QUESTION
I recently learned that "myriad" is both a noun and an adjective with similar root meaning. Therefore, the following sentences are identical, are they not?
  • "Our neighborhood has a myriad of dogs."
  • "Our neighborhood has myriad dogs."
The latter seems awkward. I'm unaccustomed to myriad as an adjective. Is this really proper, and if so, how common/conventional is it?

Thanks. This is a great website!

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Chicago, Illinois Thu, Sep 23, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
According to the NYPL Writer's Guide, the proper usage of this word is only as an adjective — "the project was bedeviled by myriad complications." Merriam-Webster's (which tends to be rather liberally descriptive about usage) allows its use as a noun: "a myriad of complications." The word originally meant "ten thousand," which suggests it ought to be used as an adjective, but it is also said to mean "a great number of," which also suggests that it would be redundant in the phrase, "a myriad of."

Authority: New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage HarperCollins: New York. 1994. Cited with permission.

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


QUESTION
Is it not incorrect to use the word "as" in the following manner?
  • The following foods should be avoided, as they are high in fat.
  • He bought a new briefcase, as his old one had been stolen.
I always maintain that the correct word is "since." If that's so, can you tell me how to explain why?
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Burlington, Vermont Thu, Sep 23, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
The NYPL Writer's Guide has a good description of our options among as, since, and because:
When the causal conjunctions because and since are used to mean "for the reason that," they are grammatically interchangeable. Careful writers, however, avoid using since when it may logically mean both "because of" and "from the time of."
The Writer's Guide then goes on to say that as can sound stilted when used to mean "because," and it can often be confusing when it can mean either "because" or "during the time."

In short, your use of since would be preferred — as long as there is no confusion between two possible meanings: "because of" and "since the time of." (I see no such possible confusion in the examples you give us.)

Authority: New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage HarperCollins: New York. 1994. p. 40. Cited with permission.


QUESTION
What are the rules for using "historic"and "historical". I've seen them used indiscriminately—or so it appears! Many Thanks!
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Wilmington, Delaware Tue, Sep 28, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
The primary meaning of "historic" is important in history—or potentially so. The word "historical" has a more general kind of meaning: "of or concerning history; from the historian's point of view, etc." Thus "the first of Shakespeare's plays based on historical themes was presented on an auspicioius, historic occasion." These words are really not as interchangeable as some writers think, although the dictionaries are apt to list each in the definition of the other.

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
Is there anything grammatically incorrect about the following sentence:
What is your soup du jour today?
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Papillion, Nebraska Tue, Sep 28, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
The soup "of the day" can only be the soup "of the day" today, so "soup du jour today" is a bit redundant, isn't it? In that movie Mickey Blue Eyes, there's a restaurant called "The La Trattoria." You want to be careful in using foreign modifiers not to create redundant phrasing.

QUESTION
I received this sentence to incorporate into a letter:
One of the standards is that all procurement transactions, regardless of whether by sealed bids or by negotiation and without regard to dollar value, are to be conducted in a manner that provides maximum open and free competition.
I rewrote the sentence: Applicants must conduct all procurement transactions, whether by sealed bid or negotiation and regardless of the dollar value, in a manner that provides maximum open and free competition. It still seems strange and incorrect. Is there a simpler way to write this? Are there simpler phrases for "regardless of whether" and "without regard to?"
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Oak Hill, Virginia Tue, Sep 28, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
Your changes are a great improvement. Certainly the "regardless of whether" is a waste of breath. I don't think it's very clear what the information set off within commas refers to. I realize it doesn't make the sentence shorter, but if we tried something like
Applicants must conduct all procurement transactions — whether such transactions are submitted through sealed bids or through negotiation and regardless of their dollar value — in a manner that provides open and free competition.
(I think that "free and open competition" is probably good enough. I also think the dashes set off the parenthetical element more clearly and make the sentence [which is chock-full with information] a bit easier to take.)

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