The Grammar Logs
#535

Is this sentence considered bad grammar?

How many is that?

It might seem so at first. "How many" is nearly always plural, as in "He ate half the apples. How many were left? However, in this sentence, "how many" is asking for a lump sum. You've got ten apples in one bowl and five in another: how many is that? I think this is what they call notional agreement.

In a sentence,

"A baby's cry is designed to get adult attention, which it does,"

what do 'which,' 'it,' and 'does' mean or refer to? It seems to me that these should be:

which = attention (?)
it = a baby's cry
does = gets

thus – and a baby's cry does [really] get adult attention. Am I right? This structure is new (actually strange) to me, while

"A baby's cry is designed to get adult attention, which is true,"

looks OK to me.

The "which" of your ending clause refers to the entire infinitive phrase that ends the first clause: "to get adult attention." The "it" must refer back to the "baby's cry." I suppose we could think of this construction as a kind of summative modifier.

Grammatically, what is the difference between "organization development" and "organizational development"? I am wondering what the suffix "al" in organizational provides.

The "-al" sometimes doesn't provide anything at all, and some grammarians have objected to its use when the "-al" suffix creates a word in competition with an already existing word: accusal for accusation, for example. Sometimes, though, there is a subtle difference that makes the "-al" worthwhile. For instance, the education building on campus houses the faculty and courses in the area of education. However, we can hope that all the programs on campus are educational. On the other hand, an organization chart describes the lines of authority in an institution just as well as an organizational chart.

In regards to apiece vs. a piece, which is correct? Or, can either be used?

• Each pizza will cost $6.00 apiece.
• Each pizza will cost $6.00 a piece

If you had three boys and you were going to give them six dollars apiece, they would all be happy. If you were going to give them six dollars a piece (two words), they would ask you "six dollars for a piece of what?" "Apiece" is standard usage for what you want.

Which is the proper way to use the word behavior in this sentence?

• "Being honest and trustworthy are acceptable behaviors.
OR

• "Being honest and trustworthy are acceptable behavior.

Thank you.

I'm not convinced that we've described more than one kind of behavior here. I would write this: "Being honest and trustworthy is acceptable behavior." Or I'd get rid of the word "behavior" altogether.

In this sentence:

___________ is committed to providing the best sources of ___________ and offering new and innovative products.

Would you use providing, or provide? Offering or Offer? Of or For?

You want to commit to providing, but then things get awfully wordy. What if we just said

___________ is committed to providing innovative products …

and then actually say something about these innovative products.

Many people I am acquainted with, including newscasters and daily paper writers/editors use the expression "we're at" as in:

Where we're at. Where we are going.

Please tell me this is incorrect and why so I may correct some of these people with a reference that states so. Thank you.

The tautologous "at" is often heard in that construction in casual speech: "Where is he at?" The "at" is completely superfluous, although I suppose it is added in an effort to make the sentence sound more specific or demanding. The trendy, jargonish "where he's at" or "where it's at" (meaning the true essence of something or someone), according to Burchfield, swept into our language in the 60s and seems intent on staying.

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. (under "at")

What type of sentence is: "Over the hill, and through the woods to grandmother's house we go."

There's nothing really unusual about it, really, except that the modifying (prepositional) phrases are piled up in front of the subject. The normal order would be "We're going over the hill and through the woods to Grandmother's house." It's still a simple sentence, if that's what you mean.

Which is correct...

• The two and one-half story dwelling...
OR

• The two-and-one-half story dwelling...

Thank you for your attention to this matter

Based on how the Chicago Manual of style writes "four and one-eighth inches," I would write "two and one-half story dwelling." In mixed fractions, says the CMOS, whole numbers are not joined to the fraction by hyphens.

Authority: Chicago Manual of Style 14th ed. U of Chicago P: Chicago. 1993. p. 223.

The correct use of "owing to"

According to Garner, "owing to" is almost exclusively a British device. You have to be very careful of it, as it is apt to create a dangling modifier. "Owing to their tendency to emit excessive emissions, the California legislature is considering banning SUVs from California highways ."

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