The
Grammar
Logs
# 357

QUESTION
1. Is it correct to say:
  • "Two thirds of the crop WAS destroyed."
    or:
  • "Two thirds of the crop WERE destroyed."
ie what should the verb agree with, the "two thirds" or "the crop?

2. Is there a rule associated with this? what is it?
3. Where can i learn more? (under what topic in grammar?)

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Chalkidiki, Greece Fri, Oct 29, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
Fractional (or percentage) expressions will be singular or plural depending on whether you're talking about something countable or not. Since the noun "crop," in this construction anyway, is a non-count noun, we would use a singular verb. This is a question of Subject-Verb Agreement.

QUESTION
We're having a debate here at the office regarding the following question:
  • Would you like for me to call Mr. Smith?
    or
  • Would you like me to call Mr. Smith?
Is it incorrect to use the word "for" in this sentence?
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Winston-Salem, North Carolina Fri, Oct 29, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
That expression, "like for," used to be strictly a southern American regionalism, according to Burchfield, but it is now widely spread throughout the United States. It has never been accepted outside the United States and is never heard (according to Burchfield, again), in the UK. The "for" is certainly not necessary, but it's not wrong to use it.

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
Which is correct:
  • Approximately 15 minutes is allowed for questions and comments.
  • Approximately 15 minutes are allowed for questions and comments.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Rochester, Minnesota Thu, Nov 4, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
I would regard "fifteen minutes" as a lump quantity of time here and treat it as a singular entity, which means I'd want a singular verb, "is." (as in "Fifteen minutes is a long time.")

QUESTION
What does the term block quotation mean?
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Tampa, Florida Thu, Nov 4, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
I think what you have in mind is the "block quote," which refers to the practice of setting off from the rest of your text with a left and right indent (of approximately half an inch) an extensive quotation (of forty words or more — with the "forty," again, being approximate). A block quote will also, sometimes, be set in single-spaced text, although that is not regarded as appropriate (for reasons I don't understand) in academic writing where everything is double-spaced.

QUESTION
  • The disability or optional life insurance is added to the company benefits...
    or
  • The disability or optional life insurance are added to the company benefits...
Is or Are, in this case? And what's the plural of insurance? Help us out here, we've stirred a debate in the office over a rather important letter.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Boston, Massachusetts Fri, Nov 5, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
There is no plural of insurance; it's sort of like furniture in this regard (although that's probably where the resemblance ends). As for the verb, when subjects are connected by or, the number of the subject closer to the verb determines the number of the verb. Since "life insurance" is singular, you want "is."

QUESTION
When you are referring to Washington, D.C. as the Nation's Capitol, should you use the word "Capital" or "Capitol"? I have seen it both ways. Thanks!
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Washington, D.C. Fri, Nov 5, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
The word capitol should be used when referring to the capitol building itself; it resides in the capital, Washington, D.C. (The word "capitol" can also be used to refer to a cluster of legislative/governmental buildings, however, which might confuse the issue a bit.)

QUESTION
Is the usage 'in that' a grammatical usage? for example, "The web site was excellent in that it was easy to follow."

When is it proper to use it in a sentence?

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada Sun, Nov 7, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
"In that" is a perfectly acceptable subordinating conjunction, but it's very hard to find the combination in a dictionary — probably because of the zillions of ways that both "in" and "that" are used. It can be mean several things: "in the fact that," "in its being the ase that," in consequence of the fact that," "seeing that," "as," and "because." You give a perfectly good example of its use.

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
How can I say this sentence appropriately? I have misplaced "while at a conference"
After learning of complaints of employees in other organizations while at a conference, I have become very concerned about the health and happiness of our employees.
Where should I put it instead?
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Vancouver, BC, Canada Sun, Nov 7, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
The problem with the sentence as you've written it is that it appears that the employees were complaining while they were at a conference — and you were the person at a conference. Maybe something like
Having learned at the Constant Complainers Conference about the complaints of employees in other organizations, I have become very concerned about the health and happiness of our employees.
Or you could try breaking these two thoughts into two separate sentences.

QUESTION
How ought I capitalize hyphenated words in a title?

title examples for a graph: ABC's Start-up Expenses or should it be ABC's Start-Up Expenses I know that "up" is one of those words one shouldn't capitalize, but how does the hyphen affect its status?

title example in a report: Mission-critical Operations and Contingency Plans or Mission-Critical Operations and Contingency Plans

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Avondale, Pennsylvania Sun, Nov 7, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
According to the Chicago Manual of Style, "in hyphenated compounds the second and subsequent elements are capitalized unless they are articles, prepositions, coordinating conjunctions, or such modifiers as flat, sharp, and natural following musical key symbols; second elements attached to prefixes are not capitalized unless they are proper nouns or proper adjectives.

In "Start-Up Exercises," I think you could argue that "start up" is a modifier based on a phrasal verb, and that the preposition "up" is not acting as a regular preposition. I'd go with "Start-Up Exercises" and, obviously, with "Mission-Critical."

Authority: Chicago Manual of Style 14th ed. U of Chicago P: Chicago. 1993. p. 537.


QUESTION
I am confused about capitalizing common names of whales. For example: if I say "That is a minke (or blue, or right, or sei) whale" should "minke" (or other common name) be capitalized? (I assume this would apply to other animals too, like the loggerhead turtle, harp seal, basking shark.)
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Plymouth, Massachusetts Sun, Nov 7, 1999
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
We don't capitalize such names unless they're directly connected to a proper noun — like a Massachusetts sparrow (not that there is such a thing, but you get the idea).

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