The Grammar Logs
#541

What is the correct way to write phone numbers? Years ago you put the area code in parentheses. Now, you usually don't. But what is considered correct format? nnn-nnn-nnnn? nnn nnn-nnnn? or some other format? We're having a bit of a style dispute here or display of phone numbers on internal and external web sites, as well as business cards. Thanks.

There's nothing wrong with enclosing the area code in parentheses except that you sometimes come to grief when the phone number itself is within parentheses, and it becomes cumbersome in lists of numbers. Most people nowadays are using a simple hyphen all the way across, as in 860-906-5000; however, the European style of using periods instead of hyphens — 860.906.5000 — is also becoming popular, and its similarity to e-mail addresses and Web addresses creates a nice consistent look.

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. 127.

Which of the following sentences is correct?

• A total of 300 interviews WAS completed among primary grocery shoppers.
OR

• A total of 300 interviews WERE completed among primary grocery shoppers.

I think it's the second one, where were refers to interviews and not total, but am not sure. Thank you for your help,

Generally, "a total of _____" leads us to a plural verb (like "were"); "the total of _____" leads us to a singular verb. Consider if your sentence would be better with "Three hundred interviews were completed…"

Authority: The Penguin Dictionary of American English Usage and Style by Paul W. Lovinger. Published by Penguin Reference (New York: 2000).

Which is correct and why is it correct?

I got it free.

I got it for free.

Thanks.

The New York Times stylebook looks down its nose at "for free" and calls it "colloquial." I guess that's good enough for me.

Authority: The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage. by Allan M. Siegal and William G. Connolly. Times books: New York. 1999.

In the sport of achery there are several types of competition. One of these consists of shooting arrows at a 3-D target. Frequently, this type of competition is advertised as a "3-D shoot." A common use might be to say, "here is a schedule of our 3-D shoots." My question is: Is the phrase "3-D shoot" the correct use of the word "shoot." It seems incorrect to me to use a verb (shoot) as a noun. I'll be anxiously awaiting your answer,

It's been a very long time since I went around an archery range with my 35 lb. bow and arrow, terrifying every right-thinking human and other animal for miles around, but the answer to this question probably has to be decided by archers. If "shoot" is part of the argot of archery, then go with it. I've heard of "skeet shoots" and "turkey shoots," so I think you're entitled to your 3-D shoots.

Separating an adverb from the verb — is this a split infinitive. She is also excited about the trip. OR She also is excited about the trip.

This is actually a fairly common question, and a common misconception about verb strings. It has nothing to do with infinitives, though, split or otherwise. The adverb frequently (and quite acceptably) finds itself between the auxiliary verb and the main verb, as in "She is also excited …" In this case, your two sentences mean two different things. In the first sentence, she is excited about the trip, but she might also be excited about something else — or be both excited and worried. The second sentence suggests that someone else (in addition to our subject) might be excited about this trip.

I have finally gotten my co-workers to accept that if a comma is used before "Inc." it should also be used after. (For example: XYZ, Inc., is a fictional company.) We are now having a similar discussion regarding "Jr." in a name. Which of the following would be correct?

• John Smith, Jr. is waiting outside.
• John Smith, Jr., is waiting outside.

Because titles such as "M.D.", "Esq.", etc. are offset with commas, it seems that it would also be proper to offset "Jr.", "Sr.", etc.

Follow the same inclination for these degrees and things like "Esq." that you follow for Jr., Sr., and III. It's no longer considered necessary to set them off with a comma, but if you do separate the name from the Jr. or the Inc., then it requires a pair of commas when that element appears within normal text. So your second example is correct. Or you could write "John Smith Jr. is waiting outside" (unless you know that Johnny Smith really likes that comma).

And if you and your officemates run into this kind of thing all the time, get at least one copy of the Gregg Reference Manual to have on hand at all times.

Authority: The Gregg Reference Manual by William A. Sabin. 9th Edition. McGraw-Hill: New York. 2001. Used with the consent of Glencoe/McGraw-Hill.

You would underscore the period, question mark, or exclamation mark at the end of a sentence only if that mark were an integral part of the final word(s) in your sentence (like when you end with a title that has an exclamation mark in it):

I just love Oklahoma!"

The "orientated" version of that word is more common in England than it is in the U.S. "Oriented" will do the job quite nicely. For some reason, people will mispronounce sherbet by sticking in an unwanted second r — and thus they say it that way, also. Say and write it sherbet. If you order "sherbert" in any kind of restaurant, you'll probably get what you want, but in finer restaurants the waiter will make fun of you behind your back.

Which is correct, "Fewer mistakes MEANS better quality" or "Fewer mistakes MEAN better quality?" Thanks for your help.

On the face of things, it would appear that "fewer mistakes" is a plural subject, so you'd want "mean." However, "fewer mistakes" is really a singular notion here: it actually stands for the idea of making fewer mistakes or the policy of reducing the number of mistakes. I'd go with the singular "means."

In the sentence — The team and their coaches were honored by the banquet. — is the pronoun "their " used properly? Team is singular and their is a plural pronoun.

In England, we'd have no problem here: words like staff and team are regularly regarded as plurals. In the U.S., though, they're normally singular. You can avoid the problem and use "its coaches," and no one could ever say you were wrong, no one on this side of the Atlantic, anyway. You could also argue that you're thinking of the team as a group of individuals and you want to emphasize that by using the plural "their" (but that's a bit shaky, actually). Or you could write, "The team the team's coaches … " or "the coaches and members of the team … ," but that's cheating. I'd use its.

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