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The Grammar Logs # 487 |
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| QUESTION |
What is the correct word in the following
sentence?
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| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
Warren, New Jersey  Wed, Mar 27, 2002
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| "Continuous" means unbroken, which is probably what you want. ("Continual" means over and over again, so you wouldn't want that.) Frankly, I'd get rid of the klutzy phrase altogether and say that "the telecommunications industry is constantly changing." And since that is so obvious, anyway, I might avoid writing that sentiment altogether and start with something a bit more illuminating. |
| QUESTION |
I have been sleeping.Is the above sentence correct grammatically and logically (Assuming a person cannot speak while he is sleeping) Using tense can you categorize this sentence. |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Chennai, India Wed, Mar 27, 2002
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| That's a present perfect participle. It's possible because the present perfect might include up to the present time, but doesn't necessarily include the present moment. For instance, I might say that "I've been working on this report all morning," and I could still be working on my report when I say that. On the other hand, I could say, "Joe has been president of this club for three years," and Joe might have resigned just yesterday. For more help with the present perfect, click HERE. |
| QUESTION |
| I worked with a woman who insisted that soonest
was a proper word. From everything I can find, it does appear to have one or
two specific uses but I have not been able to verify that her structure was
correct. She used it in this context... "I need this back soonest" I always thought one would need to say "I need this back as soon as possible" or "I need this back at your earliest convenience" What is the correct usage? |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Lodi, California Wed, Mar 27, 2002
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| We usually reserve that word for constructions such as "What is the soonest I can register for classes?" or "October is the soonest we can expect a decision." (In other words, there is a "the" in front of it, as in "The sooner, the better.") There's a neat old expression, "Least said, soonest mended," but again, it's probably just shorthand for "the soonest . . . " (and probably isn't true anyway). I don't think we can say your friend is breaking any rules, but it certainly goes against common usage, and I would recommend the options you propose. |
| QUESTION |
| I did the quiz 12 (BASIC SENTENCE PARTS - USING ARTICLES) just now. I had a problem in getting the right article in front of 'herbal'. Actually the right one is 'an' (an herbal...). I am rather confused about this: in my opinion it should be 'a herbal...'. I looked the word up in a dictionary and there it is pronounced with an 'h' at the beginning (as in 'here'). I am aware of the fact that the 'h' at the beginning of some words is not pronounced (as in 'hour'). So my question is: is it really true that the right article for 'herbal' is 'an'? And, if yes, why? |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Vienna, Austria Wed, Mar 27, 2002
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| According to Burchfield, in the UK, "herbal" retains the "h" sound (as in "a horse"), but in the U.S. "herb" and "herbal" have dropped the "h" (to sound like "urb" or "urbal"). So we say "an herbal garden" in the U.S., but "a" would be correct on the other side of the Atlantic. 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 do we use word "something" and when "anything"
Which one is correct?
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| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Norwalk, Connecticut Wed, Mar 27, 2002
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| In that context, there is no difference. If you say "He'll eat anything," though, that suggests that he has a random appetite and you're apt to find leftover crumbs of furniture, small dogs, and Republicans in his wake. "Let's eat something," on the other hand, is more particular and is more or less restricted to things you'll find in the vegetable garden or refrigerator. |
| QUESTION |
I need some help with prepositional phrases. In the following excerpt, what
does the phrase, "in the crowd" modify-- "lost"? What if I wrote, "He lost sight
of the woman in the crowd." How would the function (modify) of "in the crowd"
be different? Is "on the other side of the depot" two prepositional phrases or
one? If it is one, does it modify bus. If it is two, does "on the other side" modify
"bus" and "of the depot" modify "side" ?
The entrance to the depot and the interior were filled with travelers, however, and in the crowd he lost sight of the woman. She, meanwhile, had boarded a bus on the other side of the depot and was riding across town. |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Somewhere in Pennsylvania Fri, Mar 29, 2002
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| In the version of the sentence(s) as you give them to us, "in the crowd" tells us where he lost sight of someone, so it's adverbial. If you move "in the crowd" to the end of the sentence, it still modifies the verb, because you're not trying to say that the woman he lost sight of was in the crowd; you're trying to say where this happened. "On the other side of the depot" is two prepositional phrases, yes. "Of the depot" modifies "side," and the two prepositional phrases, together, do modify "bus." Prepositional phrases are often linked in this fashion. I suppose you could think of one of them as nesting inside the other. |
| QUESTION |
| Is the sentence "In which country are the Victoria Falls?" correct? I am not sure if it should be "are" or "is." "Victoria Falls" is a place and therefore a noun, but is the "Falls" part part of the noun or does it make it plural and therefore "are" would be the correct usage? Help! |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Edmonton, Canada Fri, Mar 29, 2002
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| That article "the" makes a difference in which verb you'll use. In the U.S., for example, we don't usually speak of the Niagara Falls; we speak of Niagara Falls, and we say that Niagara Falls is a great place for honeymooners. Victoria Falls, on the other hand, constitutes more than one cascade of water—several, in fact— and we usually use the plural when referring to the falls themselves. (Niagara Falls is actually two falls, also, but we usually think of it as one.) If you're referring to the place itself (or to the park), you'll use the singular, but "the Victora Falls" are fantastic. This is what I gather from reading about this natural wonder, anyway. So use "are" in your sentence. |
| QUESTION |
| For whom does one use the salutation, The
Honorable? Is it used only for judges or is it also used for senate and house of
representative members? Thank you for your help. |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Naperville, Illinois Fri, Mar 29, 2002
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| We can use "the Honorable" for the vice president of the United States, for cabinet members, for senators and representatives (at both the state and national level), for judges at the federal, state, or local court, and for mayors. Also, you can use the term for "ministers" to the United States (a level of ambassador) and for American ambassadors to other countries. Authority: The Gregg Reference Manual by William A. Sabin. 9th Edition. McGraw-Hill: New York. 2001. Used with the consent of Glencoe/McGraw-Hill. p. 548. |
| QUESTION |
What is the difference between the use of "his and
her" and "his and hers"? The specific question involves real estate listings:
"his and her closets" as a listing term.
I understand that we should say, "The first closet is his and the second closet is
hers"— and that is the possessive use.
But in a descriptive nominatave case instance, what do you say?
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| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Houston, Texas Fri, Mar 29, 2002
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
| A phrase like "his and her towels" is such a part of our everyday vocabulary that I'm surprised I don't find the compound "his and her" in the dictionary. Go with the "her" — if for no other reason than it's easier to say. |
| QUESTION |
| Although I know how to use "that" and "how" correctly, I'm having a hard time explaining it to my students. How do you explain that, "She told us HOW she had a lot of work to do," is not the same as, "She told us THAT she had a lot of work to do"? The dictionary explains that in informal English, "how" can be used as a conjunction in place of "that," but it also says that (not "how"!) the strictest rules of grammar forbid that usage. I've consulted Fowler and Strunk and White among others, and I can't find an explanation of that "strictest rule of grammar"! Any suggestions? |
| SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE |
| Durham, North Carolina Fri, Mar 29, 2002
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| GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE |
According to Theodore Bernstein, it is standard usage to say "He told us how he had spent his vacation," when we mean he related his experiences. Bernstein then goes on to say it is not standard written usage to say "He told us how he had gone on a vacation during the heat wave."
Unless the vacationist described the packing of his luggage, the trip to the airport, the charm of the plane stewardess, and his arrival at his destination, that sentence is substandard casual usage. What is meant is not how but that. Authority: The Careful Writer by Theodore Bernstein. The Free Press: New York. 1998. p. 217. |
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