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The Grammar Logs # 354 |
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| QUESTION |
I have some problem with the phrase --- reckon with. I looked it up in the dictionary and the explanaton is as follows:
If you say that you had* not reckoned with something, you mean that you had not expected it and so were not prepared for it.* Do we need to use Had instead of Have when using this phrase? And, can You give me an example for it? |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
Hong Kong, China  Sun, Oct 10, 1999
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| I had never thought of this before, but I think you're right. We don't use this phrase except in some past tense. Even the present perfect feels odd: "He hasn't reckoned with the age of the car." And "he reckons with the age of the car." just doesn't work at all. The notion of "reckoning with" apparently is something relegated to the past. In other tenses, we "take into consideration" or "deal with" or "cope with." |
| QUESTION |
Which is correct:
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| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Concord, California Sun, Oct 10, 1999
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| Assuming you cannot be persuaded to adopt a less politically incorrect and gender insensitive moniker, I would recommend "Minuteman." Being a member of the Minuteman Band makes you one of the Minutemen, I suppose, as in "The Minutemen are on the field." |
| QUESTION |
| "Who to contact" or "Whom to contact"? I'm told that "Whom" was correct in the "old" days, but now our language has changed, so "Who" is ok. Is that true, or are we just becoming a nation of careless communicators? |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Kirkland, Washington Sun, Oct 10, 1999
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| "Whom to contact" is correct. I'm sure you will hear "who to contact" in informal settings and from careless writers. I don't think the distinction between "who" and "whom" has lost its usefulness any more than the distinction between "he" and "him" has lost its usefulness. |
| QUESTION |
| While i typing in Microsoft Word, the phrase like
'.....the one which.....' always been underlined by a green line
& the program wants me to use
'.....the one that.....' or '..... the one, which.....' Is it correct ? |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Singapore Sun, Oct 10, 1999
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| Most of the time — but not always — the word which, when used as a relative pronoun, will introduce a restrictive clause and, indeed, a comma should be supplied to set it off from the rest of the sentence. That's probably what Word is reacting to: it sees a which without a preceding comma and it goes nuts. It is not impossible, however, to use which to introduce an essential clause, in which case it would not be preceded by a comma — in which case, Word would be wrong. Almost all the time, though, it's correct. See the section on that/which in the Notorious Confusables section, especially Michael Quinion's article on these words. |
| QUESTION |
| What is the current status of Latin-derived words with plural endings in -a? "Data" and "media" are prominent examples. Should they be treated as the plurals they are ("The media are in a tormentÖ" or "The data are clearÖ"), or are we relaxing and permitting use of singular verbs now? |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Santa Rose, California Sun, Oct 10, 1999
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| Most dictionaries nowadays provide for the singular use of "data," as in a singular grouping of information: "My data is lost!" (Most textbooks continue to use "data" as a plural word, however.) "Media" will get treated as a singular word in informal situations, and some dictionaries will provide for examples of it as a singular: "The media has not done a good job covering this story." but careful writers still seem to make the distinction. These things take time to change. I suppose opera must have been exclusively plural at some time when people first coined it (for opus), but I don't know of anyone who treats it that way. Authority for this note: WWWebster Dictionary, the World Wide Web edition of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, Tenth Edition. Used with permission. |
| QUESTION |
| The city of New York is less than 320 km farther north than the city of Lisbon, Portugal, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.
I would like to know whether the above sentence is grammatically correct and if it is not correct , please let me know what is wrong with this sentence and if it is correct, Can you explain its meaning in easier English? |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Ulsan, Korea Sun, Oct 10, 1999
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| As a way of comparing the relative latitudes of two these two cities, we might say something like "New York is 300 km farther north than Lisbon." It can get a bit confusing when we throw in yet another comparison with "less than": "New York is less than 320 km farther north than Liston." It still makes sense, but there is probably an easier way of saying it -- like actually stating the relative positions. |
| QUESTION |
My daughter and I recently did a pronoun grammar exercise where we were supposed to identify proper nouns, nouns, and pronouns. We were given the sentence: Mr. Smith purchased a bicycle for her birthday.My question has to do with the word "her." My daughter's teacher insists that the word "her" is a possessive pronoun. I explained to my daughter that the word "her" is a possessive adjective, more specifically possessive pronominal adjective. All three dictionaries in our house support my contention that "her" is NOT a possessive pronoun IN THIS CASE. Who is correct, I or my daughter's teacher? Thanks. |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| West Bend, Wisconsin Tue, Oct 12, 1999
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
I prefer not to take sides against teachers; we're in the same union. Quirk and Greenbaum describe the possessive pronouns this way:
The possessive pronouns combine genitive functions with pronominal functions.. . . . [and the example they give is "John has cut his finger; apparently there was a broken glass on his desk."]I don't know what your dictionaries are saying that would lead you to your conclusions. I think the possessive pronouns function as you say they do (and as Quirk and Greenbaum describe), but they're still possessive pronouns. Authority: A University Grammar of English by Randolph Quirk and Sidney Greenbaum. Longman Group: Essex, England. 1993. p. 105. Used with permission.
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| QUESTION |
| In the sentence "He takes care of the cats" is the word "care" a noun or verb, and why? |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Los Angeles, California Wed, Oct 13, 1999
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| Merriam-Webster's lists "take care" as a verb — in a list that contains such idiomatic phrases as "take a bath," "take sick," and "take into account." It's really a verb phrase that contains a verb and a noun meaning something like "responsibility." I suppose you could regard it as a kind of phrasal verb. |
| QUESTION |
How do I reword this sentence??
We the students of Robinson Hill High School have the right to a safe, enjoyable education and athletic opportunity. |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Closter, New Jersey Thu, Oct 14, 1999
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| Does the education have to be safe and enjoyable or does the environment in which the education happens have to be safe and enjoyable? Lots of good education is neither particularly safe nor enjoyable. And frankly, I would put that "athletic opportunity" in another sentence. It feels rather tacked on to me. |
| QUESTION |
Do the following sentences need a commas?
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| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| New York, New York Thu, Oct 14, 1999
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| I would certainly put a comma after "ago," although I don't think it's really wrong not to put one there. I don't know what the second sentence means, but I wouldn't use a comma in it. |
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