The Grammar Logs
#543

In the phrase "two weeks notice", should there be an apostrophe in "weeks"? I don't think "weeks" is possessive in this case (can a notice belong to a week?). Rather, I think 'weeks' is just a plural noun and therefore an apostrophe is not appropriate.

The title of the Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock movie notwithstanding, the proper idiom for such expressions is the possessive: "two weeks' notice, four months' pay, four year's imprisonment," etc.

Is this correct grammar:

We, at JMS, value the opinions of our customers.

It isn't wrong, but wouldn't it be improved if we put the "at JMS" first: "At JMS, we value the opinions of our customers" or "At JMS, we value our customers' opinions"?

Is sloppily a word? For example "Isaiah, why are you writing so sloppily"?

Indeed. "Sloppily" is the adverb for "sloppy." Some people (like my father) have a serious aversion for any phrase containing any form of the word slop. It has a nasty association with chamberpots and outhouses.

My wife feels that the following sentence is correct grammar:

"I like to look at all."

I disagree. Could you say which of us is right and explain the rule to us. Thanks.

"All" is one of the so-called universal pronouns (because they can refer to either animate or inanimate objects). "All" is joined by the every compounds — everything, everyone, everybody — and the determiners each and every. "All" is almost always combined with "of the" or with "the" (in all's role as a predeterminer). Thus we would say "I like to look at all the trees" or "I like to look at all trees" or "I like to look at all of the trees." Your wife's sentence is not wrong, exactly, but it's idiomatically peculiar. Most people would say and write "everything," instead of "all" in that sentence.

Authority: A Grammar of Contemporary English by Randolph Quirk, Sidney Greenbaum, Geoffrey Leech, and Jan Svartvik. Longman Group: London. 1978.

What is the past tense of scuba dive?

I would recommend "went scuba diving." If you really want to use "scuba dive" as a verb, however, you could use either "scuba dived" or "scuba dove." "Dove" is more popular in the northeast and middle parts of the U.S.; "dived" is more popular in the west and the south.

Authority: Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Electronic Edition, Version 1.5. 1996. Used with permission.

Could you please tell me what the correct punctuation for the following sentence should be (a period or question mark) & why:

Suppose you were asked to prepare a presentation on how your department could contribute to your division's goals?

Thank you!!

That sentence is what we would call an indirect question. It takes a period, not a question mark. See the section on question marks for specific examples of indirect questions and (on the other hand) real questions embedded in statements.

Is this sentence correct?

This sentence might be seen in the context of a 'sale ad' in a store, like if the poster said '50 percent off' then in a sentence at the bottom 'Select items only.' Thank you

I have no idea why people leave out the "-ed" ending of "selected items only" — a bit of shorthand, I suppose. "Select," of course, can be used as an adjective, and often is, meaning "special by virtue of privilege or fitness" (as in a "select clientele"). But the ad in question means only selected items, items chosen to be sold at a discount.

One of my students stumped me today with this question: If the word "really" is an adverb, what word is it describing in the sentence:

"Is that REALLY Brian Urlacher?"

The way I presented the lesson was that "really" is an adverb (describes an action verb, adjective and other adverbs). Is this a case of an adverb describing a state-of-being verb?

We could describe "is" in this sentence as an existential assertion (giving it a bit more weight than a state of being verb, although it doesn't really make any difference). If we turn the sentence around to an indicative statement — "That is really Brian Urlacher" — it is perhaps more clear how "really" modifies (intensifies) the verb as an adverb.

I need your linguistic help … How do i explain why I would write: "at the University of XYZ" vs. "at ABC University"

1. Studied at the University of Toronto.
2. Studied at University of Toronto.
3. Attended Brown University.

Or is my use of the definite article more British/East African English? What is more common?

I'm not sure you can explain it. The article system in English has many mysteries that must be accepted on faith. One peculiarity is that when an institution has an "of phrase" in its title — e.g., the University of Connecticut, the College of Wooster — we usually put the definite article in front of it, at least in formal writing. So, as you point out, we would say "He attended the University of Connecticut and then Yale University (no "the")." This can get confusing when institutions have similar names: "He attended both the University of Pennsylvania (an Ivy League institution in Philadelphia) and Pennsylvania State University [or Penn State] (a public institution in the woods of central Pennsylvania)" or "She graduated from Washington University (private school in St. Louis) and the University of Washington (in Washington state)."

Is this sentence correct:

"All items have already been processed and none remains" or should it be … " and none remain"?

Thanks

"None" is usually regarded as a plural, especially when it's connected with an "of [plural]" construction, as in "None of the trees were harmed." However, if you regard the word as meaning "not a single one" (which is probably the case in your sentence), you can use the singular verb ("remains") with it. In short, either will do.

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