The
Grammar
Logs
# 418

QUESTION
I know of only one instance — Over the fence is out. — where a prepositional phrase acts as the subject in a sentence. Are there more?
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Unknown Thu, Feb 22, 2001
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
In our section on prepositions, we note two others
  • During a church service is not a good time to discuss picnic plans.
  • In the South Pacific is where I long to be.
But we also note that this construction is seldom appropriate in formal or academic writing.

QUESTION
In the sentence,
"His work of art was but a shadow of things to come."
what is the function of "but a shadow"? Is this a prepositional phrase functioning as a predicate adjective? Can a prepositional phrase be a predicate adjective?

Thanks for any help you can offer.

SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Collegeville, Pennsylvania Thu, Feb 22, 2001
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
According to Burchfield, the word "but" is working adverbially there — meaning "everything short of" or "almost." It is modifying, then, the verb, and "a shadow" is the predicate nominative of "he."

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
When refering to multiple proper nouns, is the modifier capitalized?

For example:

  • Berrien and Cass Counties
    or
  • Berrien and Cass counties
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Kalamazoo, Michigan Thu, Feb 22, 2001
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
When the "name" part of the entity precedes the actual noun, we don't capitalize the noun, as in Berrien and Cass counties. On the other hand, if the noun precedes the "names," we would capitalize everything: "We lived along the shores of Lakes Erie and Ontario."

Authority: New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage HarperCollins: New York. 1994. Cited with permission. p. 214.
QUESTION
I am confused! If a linking verb is always followed by a predicate adjective or predicate noun, what type of verb is "is" in the following sentences? "The United States is close to Canada." "The cat is under the bed." Are "close to C anada" and "under the bed" predicate adverbs? I appreciate any help you can give me.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Chapel Hill, Tennessee Sat, Feb 24, 2001
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
"Close" is a simple predicate adjective linked to the subject. The prepositional phrase "to Canada," in turn, modifies the adjective "close." "Under the bed" is behaving as a predicate adjective in that sentence (just as "under the bed" would be adjectival in a sentence like "The cat under the bed is having kittens" — not a very likely sentence, but you get the idea).

QUESTION
Please settle an argument Is it correct to write -
"new designs printed in bright neon that also glows in the dark."
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Miami, Florida Sat, Feb 24, 2001
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
It's not immediately clear to me whether it's the designs or the neon that glows in the dark. (Grammatically, it is clear enough, but the word "also" throws us off because the neon hasn't done anything but glow.) Can you add an "a" and get rid of the "also"?:
new designs printed in a bright neon that glows in the dark
QUESTION
Please settle a dispute between my supervisor and me. Would you use a comma in the following sentence? If so, where would it be placed?
George W. Bush is a skilled business man and a dedicated leader whose standards of integrity and professionalism are of the highest caliber.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Great Lakes, Illinois Sat, Feb 24, 2001
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
I wouldn't use any commas in that sentence. I would spell businessman as one word, and I would wonder about the phrase "standards of integrity." (Isn't that redundant? "whose integrity and professionalism are of. . . .")

QUESTION
When using the word inconvenience, should one say for example:
  • "We know that not having your call answered was an inconvenience"
    or
  • "We know that not having your call answered was a source of inconvenience"
Please let me know which one is correct. Thank you for your assistance.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Montreal, Canada Sat, Feb 24, 2001
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
I'd go with the first version if I had to choose. But aren't you telling someone something he/she already knows? Can't you say something like "We apologize for not answering your call [and for the inconvenience we have caused]" (even leaving off the last part?)?

QUESTION
Which is preferred?
More than one is/are?
As in: More than one item was/were selected.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Bucoda, Washington Sat, Feb 24, 2001
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
"More than one" (like most mathematical entities) is always accompanied by a singular verb (even though it certainly appears that the subject refers to more than one thing). You want "is." If "one" is replaced by a number greater than one, however, the verb is pluralized: "More than two [or "more than a few"] students are waiting outside your door."

QUESTION
Which is enquire and inquire, British and/or American? Is there any other distinction in their use?
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Tokyo, Japan Sun, Feb 25, 2001
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
The words are pretty much interchangeable in meaning, but enquire is rapidly disappearing. You will very seldom see enquire used in the U.S.; in England, it's used in the general sense of "to ask a question," as in "She enquired about her brother's health."

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
I am having some doubts about the effectiveness of the grammar-check function of Microsoft Word. I had written two sentences in which the second sentence used the word "some" as a pronoun. [e.g. "Many students learn visually. Some (understood antecedent is "students") learn through music."] The antecedent to that particular pronoun was used in the first sentence. Word pooh-poohed the second sentence, claiming it was a sentence fragment. I have always considered myself a Queen of Good Grammar; now, I am beginning to wonder. Word seems to question my style frequently. Have I been filled with grammatical bravado all along?
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE
Cincinnati, Ohio Sun, Feb 25, 2001
GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE
The grammar-checker in Word is useful, no doubt about it. But you need to think of it as a slightly befuddled uncle, who means well but is easily confused. You might have joined those two sentences with a semicolon; in fact, some writers might have connected those two clauses with only a comma, they're so nicely balanced. I cannot imagine, though, why Word thinks that "Some learn through music" is a fragment. (Perhaps it's thinking that "learn" demands an object? which is not always true, of course.) Even if you didn't have a proper antecedent for some, the sentence is still not a fragment. I wouldn't turn off the grammar-checker entirely if I were you, but there are many occasions on which you should regard its suggestions with queenly indifference.

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