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Thanks for those comments, and I have in fact gotten around the problem by recasting the statements for the job I'm doing.What puzzles me is whether it can possibly be correct to use the apostrophe s after also saying 'of'. I think the statements sound okay - they're definitely what anybody would say in informal speech.
But, for instance, "The Queen's corgis" = "the corgis of the Queen". "The owners of the paper were accused..." is the same as "The paper's owners were accused...". It would be wrong to use both forms. But I haven't been able to find any source of grammar to tell me whether something like "This drive of John's for perfection." is technically correct or not.
If Bill owns the interest in the dogs, then "Bill's interest in dogs" would = "Dogs have been an interst of Bill". Sounds awful, does it not?
Logan wrote: "The sentences you give are somewhat awkward, and I would try to reword them. But the original sentences are entirely grammatically sound."By the way, you were right, Logan. I found a reference and the original sentences were grammatically sound.
ilnyb wrote: "Logan wrote: "The sentences you give are somewhat awkward, and I would try to reword them. But the original sentences are entirely grammatically sound."
By the way, you were right, Logan. I foun..."
It's a remnant of the original pairing of the genitive with the preposition 'of' that's stayed alive all these centuries.
By the way, you were right, Logan. I foun..."
It's a remnant of the original pairing of the genitive with the preposition 'of' that's stayed alive all these centuries.
Hello,I'm not sure if this question has already been answered. I'm looking to improve my grammar, since it's always been a weak point in my writing, and I'm searching for a book or books that are more than a grammar reference book and hopefully have exercises that are more than "memorize these rules."
Thanks so much!
Not sure about exercises as I've never really looked for any. However St. Cloud State University's Literacy Education Online website is a good resource for you to check out. http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/index.html
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Pietra wrote: "Hello,I'm not sure if this question has already been answered. I'm looking to improve my grammar, since it's always been a weak point in my writing, and I'm searching for a book or books that ar..."
You might subscribe to About.com Language and Grammar newsletter. I enjoy it although some of it is pretty basic.
We teach Parsing of Nouns,Pronouns,Verbs,Adverbs, Adjectives in class 6 to 11/12 year olds.A new teacher today asked me what part of speech was 'please' and I was flummoxed.Is it Interjection?
Sonali wrote: "A new teacher today asked me what part of speech was 'please' and I was flummoxed.Is it Interjection?"I guess almost anything can be an interjection in the right circumstances. My guess would be that Please is actually a verb. In more conventional sentences like "You please me." That's pretty obvious and one could argue that "Please" by itself is really a shortened form of the phrase "If you please." In that construction it appears to be more of a verb.
In that case, would "Pretty Please" be an instance of Pretty as an adverb?
Of course what do I know of English? I was born an American. According to a few of my British friends, English hasn't been spoken here in years!
Thank you Stephen, but I think it was my mistake not to have been more clear about my question..'please' as in 'May I have glass of water,please?'Yes I suppose since it is a shortened form of the phrase,it should be a verb.
I'm sticking with my original response. It should generally be considered a verb. But it can be an interjection, particularly when spelled Puhleese!
Verbs and interjections are not mutually exclusive. Many interjections are verbs: stop, look, listen!
Stephen wrote: "I'm sticking with my original response. It should generally be considered a verb. But it can be an interjection, particularly when spelled Puhleese!":-)Thank you.
Actually, having researched this before out of curiosity, 'please' is an adverb. It is, of course, an adverb derived from the adverbial phrase 'If you please', where it is a verb. In the case of 'pretty please', both are adverbs.
It can be an adverb, but it can also be a verb. It depends on the sentence.
Well, yes, but that's true of many, many words. I can please someone, be pleased, or ask for something please. Verb and adverb.
I'm not a native speaker and sometimes native speakers correct my texts but cannot explain why it is wrong.Hopefully someone can help me with this:
When the pronoun "which" is followed by a subject?
I never used a subject (for example: This book, which is the last one I read...) but someone added a subject to this sentence I wrote: "They make Florence seem like the Italian Ibiza, which it is not".
Why "it"?
Give them time Anna-Maria, they will respond. I can't answer, because I am not an expert.
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I know this may sound stupid, but for a non-native speaker it makes sense, just like in the sentence above "which" refers to "book" and a subject is not needed.
It has something to do with defining and non-defining clauses, and subject vs. object, but the exact reason why is eluding me (age, dontcha know...). I'm doing a little research, and I'll get back to you.
This book, which is the last one I read, is very good.
which is the last one I read is a non-defining or extra information relative clause, and you correctly placed it between two commas. In this clause you cant put 'it' after which because which=book and it=book, and you would have too many objects of the verb read.
ETA: If it were 2 sentences you would use 'it'.
The book is very good. It is the last one I read.
In the second sentence it's like Ruth said, it=Florence, but which does not equal Florence, so you have to put 'it' in.
And if anyone can give a better explanation to the second part, please help out... it's not completely convincing me.
which is the last one I read is a non-defining or extra information relative clause, and you correctly placed it between two commas. In this clause you cant put 'it' after which because which=book and it=book, and you would have too many objects of the verb read.
ETA: If it were 2 sentences you would use 'it'.
The book is very good. It is the last one I read.
In the second sentence it's like Ruth said, it=Florence, but which does not equal Florence, so you have to put 'it' in.
And if anyone can give a better explanation to the second part, please help out... it's not completely convincing me.
If the "it" is left out, the "which is not" could refer to They, Italian Ibiza, or Florence. If I were editing, I would use "she" instead of "it." In my experience "...which it is not." is a common end of sentence phrase in spoken American English and sounds correct to my native speaker ears. It may be one of those things that technically may not be logical.
I'm not a language expert. I just have my opinions.
I think I understand it now. Sometimes "which" replaces a subject but sometimes an object? So, in my example:"They make Florence seem like the Italian Ibiza,
which (=an Italian Ibiza) it (=Florence)is not"
While when which subsitutes a subject (such as in the book example) we would repeat the same word if we added a subject?
Richard wrote: "What is the proper way to punctuate book titles? I seem to remember from my college days using the MLA guide that underlining was the appropriate method, but I've also read that book titles should ..."
this confuses me too - the rules I was told in elementary school seemed to change by the time I got to my more mature essay-writing classes
this confuses me too - the rules I was told in elementary school seemed to change by the time I got to my more mature essay-writing classes
Dear Dr. Grammar,
I don't understand the phrase: "same difference" - like I think it's supposed to compare two separate things and say that they both make about the same amount of difference - but I think that those two opposite words: same/different - sound funny together
I don't understand the phrase: "same difference" - like I think it's supposed to compare two separate things and say that they both make about the same amount of difference - but I think that those two opposite words: same/different - sound funny together
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Just how improper is it to use a double space between sentences? My boss always uses them, and when I pointed out that it is better in this day and age to use a single space after a period, she said she doesn't like that look. Are two spaces after a period a real error, or is just a matter of taste?BTW, I'm not going to make a big deal about it with her because, well, she's the boss. But if we're sending out letters to clients, then we should be getting it right (IMHO).
Thanks.
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I don't think it is wrong, I just think it marks you as "old" in the same way, say, bubbles mark Lawrence Welk as a sign of advanced years. Maybe that would move her off the extra space.
Actually two spaces after a period is a good convention. It does give the eye a chance to "process" a bit. Sort of like the way serifs drew the eye to the next letter. But in these electronic san-serif days no one should be TOO concerned one way or the other. I have heard that double spacing at the end of sentences is easier for OCR (optical character recognition) algorithms to process as well. Of course each typeface designer has some say as well in how single and double spaces will appear in documents. If they are really bothered by the double spaces they can elect to shrink multiple spaces when displayed. Of course all that is moot if the document is left and right justified (displayed so as to have flush left and right margins) as are most books.
In my elementary school typing class, we were taught to use two spaces, and I've done that ever since. In fact, I was a bit baffled the first time I heard of people doing it differently. I just thought it was something everyone was taught.
You actually took a typing class? I've always relied on "the bible method"... Seek and ye shall find. I now find at about 45 wpm on a good day
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I learned it that way in typing class, too. That was because typewriter font is not proportional. Every letter gets the same space, whether it's an I or a W.
Now, with computers, most of the fonts are proportional. An m takes up more space that an l. And a period gets a proper amount of space after it.
But I still have a hard time getting those hard-wired double spaces after a period out of my fingers.
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I was "liberal arts" in high school, the college bound track. While there was a personal typing class we could sign up for, it conflicted with my elctronics classes (those were vocational arts but I liked them) But after two decades programming computers (mostly in COBOL) my keyboarding got pretty fast. And the double space thing after a full stop (period) may be an amercian thing. I first heard about it in college from the AP style guide.
Course my favorite entry in that book was
Burro/Burrow - One is an ass the other is a hole in the ground; as a journalist you're supposed to know the difference.
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Once I realized my mistake (and rec'd a Smith-Corona typewriter for college), I made like a quick red fox and bought the book.
I learned everything except for how to use the numbers on the top row. I still have to stop and look to peck those. Typing words, though, I can do blind as Beethoven. Calm and composed.
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Stephen--love the burro/burrow
Hello dear grammar experts. I'm having trouble with an expression "on the side" vs. "at the side." I like to say, "I want to relax and do a bit of work (at, on) the side." Is "on the side" an idiom? I'm confused because sometimes, I hear "at the side" used in this context.
"On the side" sounds best to me, but the statement will be understood either way.
Clif wrote: ""On the side" sounds best to me, but the statement will be understood either way."Oh, okay. I was worried because I already said "at the side." Thank you!
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Language & Grammar
Books mentioned in this topic
Little Women (other topics)A Tale of Two Cities (other topics)
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On a related note just finished reading Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You
I recall hearing of a news story with the heading along the lines of "Nearly one in three U.S. high school students fail to locate the Pacific Ocean on unmarked globe" ...at the time I was more concerned with Geography and Education rather than Grammar.