Topics

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You Asked Me This Question / Can a Possessive Pronoun "His" Serve as the Subject?

« on: July 14, 2023, 09:09:34 PM »

Sir Joe, could you clarify if a possessive pronoun can serve as the subject of a sentence in the following statement from a former senator: "I pray for Sec. Remulla's early recovery from his heart bypass surgery. Truly, his is a most stressful, perilous, and thankless job." Is it possible that the subject of the second sentence is implied based on the previous sentence?"

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You Asked Me This Question / Presence of a comma in the tourism slogan "Love the Philippines"

« on: July 01, 2023, 08:57:07 PM »

Hello, sir! How are you?

May I ask your thoughts about the new tourism slogan of the Department of Tourism. Does the presence of  a comma between "Love" and the "the Philippines" change the interpretation and sentiment of the slogan "Love the Philippines"?

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You Asked Me This Question / Differentiation between misinformation and disinformation

« on: June 07, 2022, 07:02:49 AM »

Sir, can you illustrate through examples the difference between "misinformation" and "disinformation"?

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You Asked Me This Question / Can articles be used as substitutes for pronoun?

« on: May 25, 2022, 10:56:54 AM »

Can articles (a, an, the) be used as substitutes for pronoun to promote gender-fair language? Below are the examples:

Within 15 days from receipt of the appellant's memorandum, the appellee may file his memorandum.

Within 15 days from receipt of the appellant's memorandum, the appellee may file a memorandum.

 

Merely testifying does not render the witness immune from prosecution notwithstanding his invocation of the right against self-incrimination.

Merely testifying does not render the witness immune from prosecution notwithstanding an invocation of the right against self-incrimination

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You Asked Me This Question / An idiomatic felicitation must fit the spirit of the occasion

« on: April 28, 2022, 06:33:49 AM »

How do you assess the use of idiomatic expressions of the Filipino? Why is there too much ado about the use of idiomatic expression "In a good place"  of certain presidential candidate. Did she use it correctly?
 

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You Asked Me This Question / Rules on Capitalization

« on: January 18, 2022, 05:36:37 PM »

Sir, what are the capitalization rules in using the words "Judge," "Prosecutor," and "Honorable Court"? Should the "Supreme Court" always be capitalized?

Do words "closed" and "terminated" have the same meaning as in "This case is closed and terminated." This question makes me remember that forum member who  asked if the words "plain" and "simple" carry the same meaning. But I cannot recall the term for that.

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You Asked Me This Question / Is this news headline confusing?

« on: December 16, 2021, 03:23:16 PM »

Sir, do this news headline confusing, "Hostage-taker, policeman killed"?

Source: https://www.msn.com/en-ph/news/national/hostage-taker-policeman-killed/ar-AARQsyZ?ocid=entnewsntp

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You Asked Me This Question / Use of "That" as subordinating conjunction and relative pronoun

« on: November 19, 2021, 06:55:35 AM »

Can "that" both act as relative pronoun and subordinating conjunction in this sentence:
"The negotiators ultimately worked out a peace treaty that was accepted by the warring countries."

Can the sentence "She doesn't want to marry her fiancé nor does she wish to give back their engagement ring." be written as "She doesn't want to marry her fiancé nor wishes to give back their engagement ring." I know the latter sentence construction sounds staid. I want to learn how to construct the first sentence.

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You Asked Me This Question / Going back not only to the future perfect

« on: September 10, 2021, 07:43:59 PM »

"By the end of September, only the Philippines and Venezuela will not have reopened schools since the pandemic began in 2020."

Sir, the reason why the future perfect tense is used in the sentence above, is because of the prepositional phrase, "By the end of September"?

Another question, do you consider "red herring" as logical fallacy?

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You Asked Me This Question / Do you agree?

« on: August 02, 2021, 11:49:47 PM »

1. Do you agree that “Yes.” cannot be considered as a sentence? I heard from an English professor, saying that a sentence should at least contain three words and that sentence should follow an S-V-O pattern.

2. Do you agree that a sentence must contain as much as possible 20 words to be clear, simple and direct?

3.What is your take on the thought that interjection should not be considered as part of the speech.  It is just “a noisy utterance like the cry of an animal” (F.J. Rahtz)

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You Asked Me This Question / Is there an English word for "malasakit"?

« on: May 01, 2021, 12:14:31 AM »

What is the Engish word for "malasakit"? Do you consider "discretionary effort" an equivalent of Filipino term "malasakit" especially as applied in the workplace?

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You Asked Me This Question / What is the origin of the word "gaslighting" and other questions

« on: April 29, 2021, 01:11:05 AM »

What is the origin of the word “gaslighting”?  I got interested in this word because of this issue between Bea Alonzo and a fellow film actor: “Apart from, of course, the whole infidelity thing and the whole ghosting thing, I think I am mad at him more because he gaslighted me.” I read the word “gaslighted”  nowadays, just to share.

Is the word “data” singular or plural as used in these sentences: “Data is a new natural resource. Data is the new oil. Data is the currency of the digital era.”

I always encounter this thing in reading court decisions: “Petitioner filed a motion for reconsideration but was denied. Hence, the instant recourse.” Does the underlined words constitute a sentence or phrase? What kind of construction is that, Sir?

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You Asked Me This Question / The use of "that of"

« on: February 27, 2021, 10:13:08 PM »

I read this old  Supreme Court Jurisprudence about consignation (G.R. No. L-8496, April 25, 1956) and I want to know the use of "that of" in the quoted portion of the decision.

"(T)he disagreement between a lessor and a lessee as to the amount of rent to be paid by a lessee cannot be decided in an action of consignation but in that of forcible entry and unlawful detainer that the lessor institutes when the lessee refuses to pay the lessor the rents that he has fixed for the property."

Also, can the phrase "one of" be omitted in this portion:

" In the case at bar, Plaintiff seeks to have the obligation determined and fixed, hence his action should not be one of consignation."

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You Asked Me This Question / A question on the use of "that"

« on: August 16, 2020, 02:03:47 AM »

1. I noticed the word "that" was used as introductory word for a opinion column in Philippine Daily Inquirer: "That the critics of Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 range from far left to far right in the political spectrum is a red flag which should cause to sit up and take notice." Did it function as demonstrative pronoun or relative pronoun? Is it a style in writing?

2. Is the phrase, "ways and means" redundant expression?

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You Asked Me This Question / Can the pronoun "his" be used as a subject?

« on: April 09, 2020, 02:03:28 PM »

Is it possible that a pronoun "his" can be used as a subject? I got confused in the usage of  pronoun "his" in the statement from a recent opinion column in a Philippine daily: "With  every speech, (the public official) seems ready to undermine the hard work of health care and other essential workers; with every impromptu remark, the best of his own appointees. His have not been words of wisdom. His has not been a steady hand."

Does the usage function as inverted sentence?