The Grammar Logs
#520

We write reports at work. One of our associates insists on writing everything "...currently are more..." or "...also has remained..." or "...otherwise would be..."

I, on the other hand, find this very awkward to read. Everything I have found and read supports saying "...are currently more..." or "...has also remained..." or "...would otherwise be..." Not to mention that fact that noone I know speaks that way and the dictionary puts things in the order I like.

My question is, Is there any RULE I can show him that says he is wrong, or at least not as correct as the other way? He insists in writing this way, and when I read it, it is like hitting a road bump when I get to something that says, "The boys currently are more likely to like balogna than the girls." My mind automatically says, "What the hell...," and I change it in my mind to something that sounds more comfortable, like, "The boys are currently more likely to like balogna than the girls."

Anyway, I was wondering if you could please provide me with something to show him, other than my telling him noone in the world talks like that!

Thanks.

Adverbs are slippery little fellows and can appearly in many different places in a sentence. In the sentence you're objecting to, for example, you would prefer "are currently more likely" to "currently are more likely," but you probably wouldn't object to "Currently, boys are more likely. . . . ." It is generally, true, though, that an adverb is apt to be included within a verb string, usually between an auxiliary and a main verb, as in "The soldiers are currently stationed . . . ." and even after a string of auxiliaries, "The soldiers have been well trained." The problem with your friend's word order is that it leaves the adverb sort of flopping around loose, outside the verb structure it's supposed to be modifying. The adverb is definitely more comfortable couched within that verb structure — although there are, as we have seen, exceptions.

Is this sentence grammatically correct?

The Nevada Joint Union High School District mission is to provide every student educational opportunities that will empower them to reach their full potential and prepare them for work and lifelong learning.

It seems "them" and "their" should not be used because they refer to "every student." Am I right or wrong? Thanks

You're right. What is it about mission statements that causes those who write them to produce such prose? We can fix that part of the sentence by pluralizing "every student." The beginning, though, might improve with "The mission of the Nevada Joint Union High School District is to . . . ." Is that really the name of a governing body? the "joint union high school district"? What is the mascot for this high school, I wonder?

The phrase "the likes of" for example... we have clients the likes of IBM.... is this correct grammar?

Not really. It means that you have clients who are the equal of IBM, and you probably mean that you have IBM as a client and you have others who are similar to IBM (in some way). If that is true, then "such as IBM" would be more accurate.

How can I make this sentence grammatically correct? (More specifically: what do I replace "myself" with?):

He always managed to stir up a sense of fear amongst my mother, siblings and myself.

You can change "myself" to "me," but you might consider "stir up a sense of fear" to something like "He always managed to terrify [or just 'terrified'] the rest of the family."

I am naming a dog grooming business. I want to call it "Doggy Do's." I'm not sure how to properly use the dos part of hairdos. Please let me know how to write it out properly. I'm afraid if I don't use the apostrophe it will look like the Spanish form of the number 2, dos. Thank you.

The notion that people will confuse the "Dos" of "Doggy Dos" with the Spanish word for "two" is probably the least of the problems with this name. People are going to ask if you will call a second store Doggy Doo-Doo. The plural of "Do" is "Dos," as in Theodore Bernstein's Dos, Don'ts & Maybes of English Usage, but whatever is pluralized can be singularized, and do you really want people thinking "Doggy Do?" as they step gingerly into your store? I would urge another name. I hate cutesy spellings in store names, but if you must have Doggy Dos, spell it "Dooz"?? (Naah!)

• Individual and couples counseling is available.
• Individual and couples counseling are available.

Which is correct? Could you please provide me with a rule or resource I can use to support your response to my colleagues? Thank you.

"Counseling" is a non-count noun. You haven't pluralized it with the words "individual" and couples"; you've only modified it. It's the same as "Victorian and Edwardian furniture is available. . . ."

My friend and I are having a debate: is the correct sentence:

• Real men speak seldomly or
• Real men speak seldom

"Seldom" is one of those rare adverbs that won't take an "-ly" ending. Your second sentence is a great improvement, but why wouldn't we say "Real men seldom speak" (other than the fact that it probably isn't true?).

The sentence in question:

• I am a graduate of a community college, having recently completed Level II fieldwork.
Or

• I am a graduate of a community college, recently having completed Level II fieldwork.

Where would I look for this type of sentence structure? Many thanks.

It is customary to tuck the adverb between the auxiliary verb forms, so "having recently completed" is an improvement. However, that's not the real problem with the sentence. The participial construction wants to modify the community college, and that's not what you intend. Can we move the participial modifier to the beginning of the sentence so that it will properly modify the "I" of the sentence:

Recently having completed Level II fieldwork, I am a graduate of a community college.

(and maybe add where the community college is located or what you majored in, something like that?)

Which word would be more gramatically correct: enthused or enthusiastic?

Paul Garner says that the verb enthuse is widely criticized by writers and speakers and avoided by those who "care about their language." The adjective enthused, he adds, is "virtually always inferior to enthusiastic, but it is increasingly common."

Authority: A Dictionary of Modern American Usage by Bryan Garner Copyright 1995 by Bryan A. Garner. Published by Oxford University Press (New York: 1998).

We were in a discussion regarding the diagramming of the following sentence;

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

I said that these are two independent clauses and that the second try acts as a modifier. My partner claims that the second part is a subordinate clause. Which of us is correct?

I'm not sure what you mean by "these." "If at first you don't succeed" is a dependent clause, but you probably had that figured out. I would regard "try, try" as two parts of a compound verb, as if it read "try and try" but the "and" has been replaced by a comma. On the other hand, since the verbs are identical, I'd put them on the same line. I don't think there's any way we can regard that second verb "try" as either a modifier or a subordinate clause.

Previous Grammar Log

Next Grammar Log

Index of Grammar Logs

Guide to Grammar and Writing