Jose Carillo's Forum

STUDENTS’ SOUNDING BOARD

We’ll be glad to help clarify matters about English usage for you

This Students’ Sounding Board is a section created especially for college and high school students. On request, it will provide informal advice and entertain discussions on specific questions, concerns, doubts, and problems about English grammar and usage as taught or taken up in class. If a particular rule or aspect of English confuses you or remains fuzzy to you, the Students’ Sounding Board can help clarify it. Please keep in mind, though, that this section isn’t meant to be an editing facility, research resource, or clearing house for student essays, class reports, term papers, or dissertations. Submissions shouldn’t be longer than 100-150 words.

To post a question in the Students’ Sounding Board, the student must be a registered member of Jose Carillo’s English Forum. To register, simply click this link to the Forum’s registration page; membership is absolutely free. All you need to provide is your user name along with a password; you can choose to remain incognito and your e-mail address won’t be indicated in your postings.

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Should the noun “styrofoam” be spelled with an uppercase “S”?

Question from katrina90925, new Forum member (September 17, 2011):

Good day.

I am an editor of our school publication. I edited one of my co-editors’ articles, correcting the capital “S” of the word “styrofoam” to a lower case. Then he told me that “Styrofoam” is a patented name and should be capitalized. But again, I remember that this can be proper noun taken as common noun since it is used all the time. 

What is the real rule behind this? Thank you very much.

My reply to katrina90925:

Your editor is right in saying that “Styrofoam” is a patented name. It’s a 60-year-old trademark of The Dow Chemical Company for a light, resilient extruded polystyrene foam insulation, and as such should be treated as a proper name with the first letter in uppercase. However, that name is now commonly used in the generic sense, with the first letter in lower case, for disposable foam products such as coffee cups, coolers and packaging materials—a generic usage that Dow objects to on the ground that these materials are not made of Styrofoam but from expanded polystyrene (EPS), which doesn’t have the insulation value, compressive strength, or moisture-resistant properties of the Dow product.

So the question is: Should the word “Styrofoam” always be treated as a proper noun with the first letter in upper case? Three dictionaries I consulted, The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, the Oxford Dictionary, and Collins English Dictionary, acknowledge the generic, lower-case form as common usage in print. The Merriam-Webster’s 11th Collegiate Dictionary, on the other hand, recognizes only the proper noun form with uppercase first letter. That’s three against one, so I think it would be going against the grain of current usage to scrupulously treat that word as a proper name all the time. When using it as a modifier, for instance, it would look too commercial to write “We used Styrofoam picnic boxes”; it would be much more natural and unobtrusive to write that as “We used styrofoam picnic boxes,” particularly if you aren’t sure of the provenance of those boxes. (I must warn you, though, that if you use Microsoft Spellchecker, it would insist on “Styrofoam” as a proper noun. I would routinely countermand that prescription if I were you.)

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What are the reasons for considering English a universal language?

Question by forces20, Forum member (September 13, 2011):

What are the reasons why is English considered universal language? Just curious and amazed.

My reply to forces20:

I can’t answer your question because it’s a loaded one that demands acceptance of a debatable academic premise, which is that English is a universal language. I personally don’t think English is a universal language whether in the literal or figurative sense; to me, it’s a premise that’s in the same league as the rhetorical claim that “mathematics is the universal language” or that “music is the universal language.” All I can tell you without equivocation is that English is a global language in the sense that it has wide currency as today’s dominant language for knowledge acquisition, international business and diplomacy, as well as mass communication and entertainment. I’m afraid that to accept your premise that English is a universal language—or the universal language—and give the reasons to support it would just put me in the position of providing firepower to those who would like to write an academic paper arguing in favor of a premise that I don’t believe in. I’m sorry to say that I’m unwilling to do that in this Forum.

Rejoinder from forces20 (September 16, 2011):

Admittedly, I have been influenced by the people who continually say English is the universal language, but thank you for your enlightening reply.

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What’s the correct format for writing dates in scientific literature?

Question posted as a private message by Pipes, Forum member (August 24, 2011):

Dear Mr. Carillo,

I would just like to seek clarification with regard to writing dates in Scientific Literature. Which of the two formats is correct: 24th June 2011 or 24th June, 2011? Our professor also prescribes this format—June 24th, 2011. Is that format still acceptable? Thank you!

Yours,
Pipes

My reply to Pipes:

I don’t think any of the date formats you presented—including that of your professor—is acceptable in scientific literature. A telltale sign that they are nonstandard, unsystematic, and unsuitable for scientific purposes is the presence of the suffix “-th” after the day of the month, “24th.” You see, using serial endings for the day of the month—1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and all the way to 31st—entails a lot of spelling variation that’s anathema to the systematic approach demanded by science.

Although it’s by no means an internationally accepted full date format, what I think comes closest to the idea of writing dates scientifically is this popular format:

Full date: 24 June 2011
(without a comma after the day of the month)

Month and day only: 24 June
(also without a comma after the day of the month)

The above format, of course, differs from this conventional, nonscientific format that most of us have gotten used to:

June 24, 2011
(always with a comma after the day of the month)

Now, the international standard date and time notation prescribed by the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) actually differs greatly from all of the above formats.

The international standard date notation is: YYYY-MM-DD

where YYYY is the year in the usual Gregorian calendar, MM is the month of the year between 01 (January) and 12 (December), and DD is the day of the month between 01 and 31.

So, I would say that the more scientific format for “June 24, 2011” will be the ISO format, as follows:

2011-06-24

Obviously, though, such a format won’t look very good in nonscientific prose or exposition, so now that you ask me, I’d settle for the popular systematic format I presented earlier:

24 June 2011

For more details about the scientific format for dates, click this link to Markus Kuhn’s summary of the international standard date and time notation. I’m sure that your professor can learn a thing or two from it, and might just have a change of mind about the format he or she prescribes.

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Should we use “who” or “whom” for interrogative questions?

Question posted as a private message by Pipes, Forum member (August 24, 2011):

Which interrogative pronoun is appropriate if the sentence below is rendered into a question?

“You should see Mrs. Laker at the Laker School of English about classes.”

Should it be “who” or the objective form “whom”?

My reply to Pipes:

Formally, since “Mrs. Laker” functions as the direct object of the verb “see,” the question form of that sentence should use the objective interrogative pronoun “whom,” as follows:

Whom should I see at the Laker School of English about classes?”

In modern usage, however, the subjective “who” is increasingly preferred for such questions:

Who should I see at the Laker School of English about classes?”

My advice: Use “whom” for your formal written school requirements, but feel free to use the less stuffy “who” in your day-to-day English.

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How to use the “to have been” and “having been” in sentences

Question by forces20, Forum member (August 15, 2011):

Hello Sir!

How can we properly use the perfect infinitive “to have been” and perfect gerund “having been” in a sentence?

My reply to forces20:

Here are the proper uses of those grammatical forms:

USAGE OF THE PERFECT INFINITIVE “TO HAVE BEEN”:

The perfect infinitive “to have been” is used (1) as a noun form to denote a hypothetical state or condition in the past, or (2) as a noun form to denote a previous state or action that is no longer subsisting.

Usage 1. As noun form to denote a hypothetical state or condition in the past, or a state or condition in the past that has been determined to be true only now:
1.   “To have been her student would have done wonders for me.” (as subject of sentence)
2.   “It’s a nice thought to have been her student.” (as complement)
3.   “The ultra-savvy investment advisor was found to have been a fraud all along.” (as adverbial modifier)

Usage 2. As noun form to denote a state or action in the past that is no longer subsisting (used with the passive form of such telling verbs as “say,” “believe,” “consider,” “assume,” “suppose,” and “think”):
1.   “She is reputed to have been a great beauty in the 1960s.”
2.   “Houdini is believed to have been the greatest escape artist of all time.” 

USAGE OF THE PERFECT GERUND “HAVING BEEN”:
The perfect gerund “having been” denotes a state or condition that no longer subsists at the time of speaking, as in the following examples:
1.   “Having been a student journalist is a big advantage to mass communication majors.” (perfect gerund as subject of the sentence)
2.   “The former long-reigning monarch hated having been deposed.” (perfect gerund as direct object of the verb)
3.   “Edna seldom talked about having been a beauty queen.” (perfect gerund as object of the preposition “about”)

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Is a professor’s use of the word “anyways” acceptable in class?

Questions e-mailed by forces20, Forum member (July 23, 2011):

1. I often hear my professor saying “Anyways, let’s proceed to the topic...” Is her usage of “anyways” instead of “anyway” correct?

2. What do you think is the best substitute for the expression “at the end of the day”? It is the favorite tail end phrase in our classroom, but sometimes it gets so repetitive and awkward-sounding.

3. What is the meaning of “cutting edge” as used in this phrase: “Cutting Edge: The Politics of Reform in the Philippines.”

My reply to forces20:

Here are my thoughts regarding your three questions:

1. The usage of “anyways” instead of “anyway”

The expression “anyways” is nonstandard usage for “anyway” in the United States and Canada. That means it’s a dialect or informal speech, or what may be considered a colloquialism. For this reason, I think it's bad form for your professor to be bandying that word in class. I suspect he or she just wants to show off that he or she had lived for some time or had been educated in North America. Or, if your professor isn’t even aware that this usage of “anyways” is very unseemly, he or she had probably acquired it unconsciously from watching too many Hollywood movies on cable TV or video. This is because “anyways” is part of the American slang commonly used in movie dialogue involving not very well educated characters. In any case, in the context of the classroom situation you described, “anyways” sounds to me a tasteless affectation.

2. The best substitute for the expression “at the end of the day”   

I’m glad that you feel the same way as I do about “at the end of the day.” What’s the best substitute for this deceptively flamboyant but empty-headed expression? Well, that idiom really means “when everything else has been taken into consideration,” so, depending on the drift of the statement that comes with it, that expression can be said more simply as “ultimately,” “in the end,” or “after all.” 

Did you know that in 2004, “at the end of the day” was voted as “the most irritating phrase in the English language” in a worldwide survey conducted by the London-based Plain English Campaign? I’ve been fighting the overuse of this unnerving cliché for almost eight years now, and have written no less than six columns against it and a few other dreadful clichés. I thought I had made at least a small dent in the propensity of Filipinos to use those clichés (“Doing battle with the most irritating phrases in English”). This past year or so, however, there has been a frightening resurgence of “at the end of the day” in the airwaves and public forums because of the habitual use of it by some people in high places. Alas, now we also have to contend with the power of incorrigible bad example!

3. The meaning of the idiom “cutting edge”

Strictly speaking, the title “Cutting Edge: The Politics of Reform in the Philippines” is using the words “cutting edge” in the sense of a metaphor for “the vanguard” or “foremost part” of something. When “cutting edge” is used in the phrase “on the cutting edge,” however, it becomes an idiomatic expression that means “to be trendy and very up-to-date” in something, as in this example: “The equipment installed in the new hospital is on the cutting edge of medical technology.” At any rate, I have a feeling that whoever came up with the “cutting edge” kicker for that title had also intended to make this idiomatic meaning rub off on that title for effect—and successfully at that, I must say!

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Is “spending much of their time” a gerund phrase?

Question posted as a private message by Pipes, Forum member (June 30, 2011):

Good day!

I would just like to bring up with you a grammar question I am currently dealing with.

Am I right that “spending much of their time” is a gerund phrase?

Does the verb “spend” only take a gerund? For example: “I usually spend my day off watching T.V.”

I look forward to hearing from you.

My reply to Pipes:

You are not necessarily right in calling “spending much of their time” a gerund phrase.

By definition, a gerund is an English verbal ending in “-ing” that functions as a noun in a sentence; as such, it can take on the role of subject, object, or object of the preposition. By extension, a gerund phrase is a gerund followed by its object or any modifier that pertains to that gerund, as in this sentence: “Holding two jobs simultaneously requires a lot of discipline.” Here, the gerund is “holding” and the gerund phrase is “holding two jobs simultaneously,” and the role of that gerund phrase is as subject—and doer of the action—of the  sentence.

Based on this definition, we could be sure that a phrase like “spending much of their time” is functioning as a gerund phrase only if is actually used in a sentence. It will be a gerund phrase in this sentence, “Spending much of their time on Facebook is a preoccupation of many teenagers these days,” where “spending much of their time”—modified by the phrase “on Facebook”—serves as the subject of the sentence. It will also be a gerund phrase in this other sentence, “Many teenagers these days find themselves spending much of their time on Facebook,” where “spending much of their time”—modified by the phrase “on Facebook”—serves as a noun complement of the verb phrase “find themselves.” In contrast, it isn’t a gerund phrase in this sentence, “Many teenagers are spending much of their time on Facebook,” where it’s actually a regular part of the verb phrase “are spending much of their time,” and where “are spending” is the present progressive form of the verb “spend.”

As to your second question: “Does the verb ‘spend’ only take a gerund?” I don’t understand what you mean by that question, but if what you meant is, “Does the verb ‘spend” take only the gerund form,” the answer is no. It can be a regular verb, as in the sentence you provided, “I usually spend my day off watching T.V.,” or it can take the infinitive form, “I like to spend my day off watching T.V.”, where to spend is the direct object of the verb “like.” It can also take the past participle form, as in “The spent bullets were recovered from the crime scene,” where “spent” functions as an adjective modifying the noun “bullets,” or the present participle form, as in “My father gave me spending  money for my weekend outing,” where “spending” functions as an adjective modifying the noun “money.”

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The usage of the form that combines prepositions with “which”

Question by forces20, Forum member (June 1, 2011):

Good morning, Sir Carillo,

I feel the nostalgic eagernesss of posting grammar questions and other pecularities, so here I am again!

Sir, what do you call the combination of preposition and relative pronoun “which” such as “in which,” “on which,” “with which,” etc.? I am confident that I can use some of these forms in written composition and oral communication, but I know you can give a comprehensive explanation to give me a deeper understanding of them, as follows:

1. “on which”
2. “in which”
3. “of which”
4. “from which”
5. “with which”
6. “into which”
7. “for which”

Below are some sentences using them:

1. “Equilibrium is a situation in which the quantity of supply equals that of demand.”
2. “Price floor is the lowest price set by the government at which a producer can sell a good or service.”
3. “A reservoir of psychic from which they draw a positive outlook in life.”
4. “Words are pegs upon which we hang ideas.”
5. “Some writers base their fiction on actual events to which they add up invented characters, dialogue, settings, and plots.”

My reply to forces20:

I am not aware of a specific term for the combination of prepositions and relative pronouns that you are asking about. Such grammatical structures as “on which,” “from which,” and “with which” are a formal way in written English for introducing a defining relative clause and linking it efficiently to a main clause that typically ends in a noun. This noun becomes the antecedent of the pronoun “which,” which then becomes the object of the preposition in the defining relative clause.

Making a preposition and the relative pronoun “which” in this manner is a powerful grammatical device for combining ideas that would otherwise need to be said in two sentences. Consider the following sentences:

“Boracay is a white-sand beach. The hotel chain built a five-start resort-hotel on it.”

These two sentences can be combined into a single sentence using the prepositional form “on which,” as follows:

“Boracay is a white-sand beach on which the hotel chain built a five-start resort-hotel.”

When the relative clause after the noun refers to a place, of course, a perfectly acceptable alternative to “on which” as a combiner is the relative pronoun “where”:

“Boracay is a white-sand beach where the hotel chain built a five-start resort-hotel.”

In contrast, a misshapen, awkward-sounding sentence results when we attempt to combine those two sentences using the subordinating conjunction “that” instead:

“Boracay is a white-sand beach that the hotel chain built a five-start resort-hotel on.”

This grammatical construction with the preposition “on” at the tail end of the sentence is an example of what’s called preposition-stranding, which is frowned upon in formal written English. (Combining prepositions and pronouns in such forms as “in which” and “from which” is, in fact, meant to avoid such preposition-stranding in sentences.) Nowadays, however, preposition-stranding is widely used by native English speakers in colloquial situations, as in the following sentence:

Stranded preposition: “This is the chapter that passage was taken from.”
(Preposition not stranded: “This is the chapter from which that passage was taken.”)

Now, following the same pattern for the “on which” sentence that we analyzed above, the relative pronoun “which” can also be used in tandem with the prepositions “in,” “of,” “from,” “with,” “into,” or “for” to combine sentences, as follows:

Two-sentence construction: “That is the precise place. They found my missing engagement ring there.”

One-sentence construction: “That’s the precise place in which they found my missing engagement ring.”

(Alternative “where” construction: “That’s the precise place where they found my missing engagement ring.”)

Two-sentence construction: “They have chosen a law office. Atty. Cruz is a managing partner of it.”

One-sentence construction: “They have chosen a law office of which Atty. Cruz is a managing partner.”

 (Alternative “where” construction: “They have chosen a law office where Atty. Cruz is a managing partner.”)

Now let’s reverse the process and analyze the two sentences you gave as examples for “at which” and “upon which” usage:

Your one-sentence construction: “Price floor is the lowest price set by the government at which a producer can sell a good or service.”

Its two-sentence equivalent: “Price floor is the lowest price set by the government for producers of a good or service. The producers can sell at that lowest set price.”

Your one-sentence construction: “Words are pegs upon which we hang ideas.”
Its two-sentence construction: “Words are pegs. We hang ideas upon them.”

At this point, of course, it would be logical to ask: Why bother using such combinations of preposition and relative pronoun as “in which” and “with which” when we could very well use simpler sentence-combining forms like “that,” “where,” and “when”? The reason is, of course, to find the most suitable and best-sounding ways to combine two or more ideas in one sentence—and the more grammatically correct ways to choose from, the better for both our written and spoken English.

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