Topics

1

You Asked Me This Question / A Ways To Go

« on: November 06, 2010, 08:34:32 AM »

Hi Joe,


    One of my friends likes using this term  "a ways to go", (i.e. "My painting is still far from over, I still have a ways to go.") I Googled it and found that a lot of people use this line as well. What baffles my ears is the singular and plural words used one right after the other, unless it was originally meant to be used or said with some poetic ring to it.

    Is saying "I have ways to go" awkward or also acceptable?


Thanks,

Curiuos Cat

2

You Asked Me This Question / Both of our attention is /are

« on: November 06, 2010, 08:07:06 AM »

Hi Joe,

   I encountered this sentence structure yesterday and I keep coming back to it.

   "Both of our attention is on our child".

    The word "both" is plural in construction.
    Attention on the other hand is singular and using "attentions" which would mean something entirely different anyway, sounds very awkward.
    What is your ruling on "Both of our attention"? Is it singular or plural?

Thanks!
Curious Cat

3

You Asked Me This Question / More Observations

« on: June 26, 2010, 12:29:50 PM »

Hi Joe,

   here are some more observations of what I heard other people say and what I found myself saying:

   1) "I want to work nearer to our house"  (I checked m-w.com and near is used to denote a short distance or time. It seems that this is grammatically correct. But in terms of usage, I would say "closer" instead. Can either way be used without raising any eyebrows?)

   2) I was walking in asupermarket one day looking for bottled-water. I asked myself: "Now where is that bottled-wa...where are those bottled-watersssswait a minute. Neither sounds right." Do we restructure the entire sentence and say, "Where is the bottled-water section?" or "Where is the cheese section?" instead of saying "Where is that cheese?" (which sounds like you're part of a witch-hunt with a pitch-fork in hand) or "Where are the cheese?"

   3) I usually see signs saying "Inquire Inside". I saw "Inquire Within" in one American sitcom. Is "Inquire Within" acceptable usage? I only ask since I haven't heard it said or written this way.

   4) Do we say "On my free time, I like to play the guitar." or "In my free time, I like to play the guitar"?

   5) I hear a lot of people say:

   a)  I graduated with the degree of Bachelor
        of Science in accounting.
       

   b) "I studied AB Political Science."
       Does one study Political Science or does one study Bachelor of Arts Political Science?

     
   c)  Other observations that have their words clearly mixed-up would be:
       "I am a bachelor of Mascommunication"
       "I had a degree in Bachelor of Science, Accounting" - I'm guessing they still do, otherwise it wouldn't make any sense "undoing" a degree that they had earned even if we consider the fact that they had taken a graduate course of a different specialization right?

6) "I am fond of facebook"; "I am fond of Tennis"; "I am fond of on-line games"

     To me this sounds off since I usually hear the word "fond" being used for animate objects like people or pets, like "she has grown fond of him" or "I am fond of her 3 month old puppy".

That's all for now!

Thanks!

4

Students’ Sounding Board / GIVE YOUR ENGLISH THE WINNING EDGE CHAPTER 11 and 13

« on: June 22, 2010, 09:39:23 PM »

Hi Joe,

    I have a few inquiries about connectives for Chapter 11:

1) If connectives is the general term for
    a) coordinating conjunctions
    b) subordinating conjunctions
    c) conjunctive adverbs

    what class does the following, for lack of a better term, sequential markers fall under?
    First, Second, Third

2) Could you help shed light to the correct structure of the following:
    First of all, second of all, third of all... (Is it acceptable to continue counting with "of all"? At what number can we do without? How would you end this sequence? Do we say "And Lastly"?

3) What about this sequence of connectives:
    Firstly, secondly, thirdly...(Is it acceptable to continue counting with the suffix "ly"? Do we also end it with "Lastly"? It sounds weird. I usually read or hear people start out with "First of all" then they say their first piece. Their second piece just goes on and on without any connective to follow up on the logical structure they started with.

    Some questions about conjunctive adverbs for Chapter 13:

1) Is there a way to remember what markers belong to subordinating conjunctions and conjunctive adverbs, or does it just trickle in one's long term memory through usage and time?
2) What difference, in reading and writing, does a comma make as opposed to a semi-colon?
3) Does Language Register immediately translate to forcefulness of expression?
    ex.
                   So - casual and agreeable
            Because - formal and explicit
          Therefore - Extremely Formal and hard-lined

4) Is there any reason behind the specific punctuation marks used for the type of connectives, like, why a comma must be used for coordinating conjunctions and why a semi-colon is used before and a comma after a conjunctive adverb?


Also, may I follow-up on my "follow-up question" in my previous post: GIVE YOUR ENGLISH THE WINNING EDGE CHAPTER 8?

Thank you,
Curious Cat

5

Students’ Sounding Board / GIVE YOUR ENGLISH THE WINNING EDGE CHAPTER 8

« on: June 16, 2010, 08:40:50 PM »

Hi Joe,

    the following questions are based on the examples you used in your book.

    1) A dependent clause can take on the following parts of speech section:
       
        Object: "The dazed woman went whichever way the crowd ahead of her went."

        The dependent clause here, functioning as the direct object, is supposed to be "whichever way the crowd ahead of her went" right?
   
        a) Could you help me see the subject and predicate that makes "whichever way the crowd
            ahead of her went" a complete sentence? It seems like an adverbial phrase for some reason.
        b) If that's the dependent clause, then "The dazed woman went", the remaining part of the
            sentence should be independent, but is not a complete thought without the rest of the
            sentence. So do we have two dependent clauses that make up one independent clause?

      2) Object of Preposition: "You have to remind me every time where we must take a turn if you
          don't want us to get lost."

          a) "remind me every time where we must take a turn" is the object of the preposition "to". At first glance this looks like an infinitive. But i'm not sure if there's such a thing as an infinitive clause to begin with.
          b) if an object is the receiver of an action, "remind me every time where we must take a turn" receives "have to", which is more likely an auxiliary than an action verb. How do auxiliaries figure in?
         
      3)
         a) After she appeared in the award-winning movie, the young actress started receiving many offers for plum roles. (The dependent clause acts as an adverbial clause)
         b) Because the volume of his business had dropped so low, the entrepreneur decided to invest more in radio advertising. (The dependent clause starts with an conjunction, Because, but the rest of the clause acts as a noun?)
         c) I will have to let her go as my executive secretary, unless she changes her careless ways.
         (The dependent clause starts with a conjunction, unless, and the rest of the clause "she changes her careless ways" seems to be dangling though. I'm not sure about this.
         d) When the general manager returns from his foreign trip this Sunday, meet him at the airport unless you get a call from me by seven that morning not to do so. (The first dependent clause starts with When, which makes this an adverbial clause, the second starts with unless, and again, i am at a loss with what this clause is supposed to be)

         4) I noticed that you switched the dependency clauses from the head, to the tail end of the examples (mentioned above) in your book. Was that just to show the acceptable placements for dependent clauses?
 
         5) What did you mean by "motivation and limitation" in this passage:

          In example D, we have 2 subordinate clauses flanking the independent clause "meet him at the airport" giving the statement both it's motivation and it's limitation.

That's all for now,
Thanks!
Curious Cat

6

You Asked Me This Question / Observations

« on: June 16, 2010, 08:12:41 PM »

Hi Joe,

    I didn't know how else to title this entry so I hope it's not too ambiguous enough since this is based on my observations really.

    1) "James heard Tom yell"
    This is obviously correct structure, but to explain Why "yell" isn't inflected to make the entire sentence consistent in the past tense leaves me at a loss. I'm thinking that yell doesn't take any tense as it is an infinitive, without "to".

     2) "Wild accusations  spewed forth from the plaintiff, charges that couldn't have been proved with the aid of a thousand FBI agents."
     To deconstruct the sentence:
     a) "Wild accusations  spewed forth from the plaintiff" : Independent clause.
     b) charges that couldn't have been proved with the aid of a thousand FBI agents." : An appositive phrase, modifying accusations.
     c) couldn't have been proved : Why is proved in it's past form still? I always thought we use the past participle when "have" is used along side it: "couldn't have been proven". Either one though sounds awkward, only because I don't usually hear this particular structure being said this way.

     3) "His supporters, by far the majority but whose loyalty could vanish in an instant, whooped and hollered until the magistrate slammed his plastic gavel and got them quiet."
       To deconstruct the sentence:
       
       a) This is an example of two dependent phrases inside one independent clause, so that makes it
           a complex clause right?
       b) "His supporters hollered until the magistrate slammed his plastic gavel and got them quiet":
           This is the essence of the statement, a 14-word independent clause.
       c) by far the majority: Is this as an appositive phrase modifying supporters, with an adverb at the start, or is this an adverbial phrase?
       d) whose loyalty could vanish in an instant: Adjectival phrase modifying supporters
       e) but: this is one of the "fanboys" that, technically speaking and based on what I had learned, can only join two independent clauses. But in this case, it joins two dependent phrases. Is this perfectly fine as well?
       f)  whose: a pronoun that modifies supporters. I didn't know "whose" can modify a plural noun/subject. Could you confirm if this is so? I couldn't rephrase it in any way, plus it sounds right. I just thought I'd ask about it.

That's all for now!
Thanks,
Curious Cat

7

Students’ Sounding Board / GIVE YOUR ENGLISH THE WINNING EDGE CHAPTER 7

« on: June 07, 2010, 11:31:08 PM »

Hi Joe,

    i liked how you discussed about grammatical devices to connect independent clauses. As one who is still learning what others would consider basic, there were many invaluable lessons I could keep in mind, such as the use of semi-colons and the difference between coordinating conjunctions and conjunctive adverbs.

    I thought of two statements that I tried to break down applying what I had learned. Could you help me with some of the gaps?

a) "She likes spaghetti more than I do."

    1) "She likes spaghetti" is an independent clause
    2) "I do" is an elliptical clause
    3) "more than" joins the two clauses together. Since coordinating conjunctions are limited to the
        fanboys mnemonic, does it follow that this is a conjunctive adverb?
    4) Do elliptical clauses inherit all the rules an independent clause would have? (e.g. it must
        contain a subject and predicate, a coordinating conjunction to link it with another independent
        clause)

b) "She is quite happy where she is, as am I."   

    1) "She is quite happy where she is" is an independent clause
    2) "as" is a subordinate conjunction
    3) "am I" is, well, I'm not sure but is this also an elliptical clause (I am quite happy as well) since
        it is preceded by the subordinate conjunction "as", a conjunction that makes an independent
        clause dependent?
    4) Should there be a comma in the statement?
    5) Can a comma also be a grammatical device that joins two clauses together?


Thanks!

8

Students’ Sounding Board / GIVE YOUR ENGLISH THE WINNING EDGE CHAPTER 6

« on: June 02, 2010, 12:13:10 AM »

Before reading this chapter, I had some idea about what a phrase is, but didn't know there were so many and what purpose they serve. If I understood it correctly, the many types of phrases are there to simply modify something else. This chapter served as a spring board for me to search on further. Very interesting stuff.

I have a few questions I'd like to ask regarding these phrases.

1) Prepositional Phrase - The woman, although uncomfortable with the idea, wore a starkly red dress and red high-heels to the costume party last nigh.

I initially thought the prepositional phrase was: "although uncomfortable with the idea" but although is a conjunction right? Does that make it a conjunction phrase if such exists?

2) I had gathered some examples (on the net) of an Absolute Phrase, (at least that's what the source claims to be as an absolute phrase) and then started thinking, "What makes an absolute phrase different from the other phrases that it bears resemblance to?"

a) The question still unanswered, , the teacher decided to address the confusion of her students more closely. (looks like a noun phrase)

b) There are many industries in California vital to its economy, with technology being one of the most important. (looks like a prepositional phrase)

c) Chosen to head the committee, Angus Ng thought about how he could help raise money for his chess club at Harvard. (looks like a participial phrase)


3) One website says that an appositive phrase is a noun-phrase that renames another noun.
If that is so, the following example should be correct:

#  I took a cookie from Gretel, who is the woodcutter's daughter.
The author said that this isn't an appositive, but an adjectival phrase.
a) My basis for knowing if it is an adjectival phrase is to first look at the start of the phrase, if it starts with an adjective. If it's not that apparent, then I ask the subject: Which? (eg. Which Gretel?) or what kind. The phrase doesn't fit.
b) This looks like a noun phrase to me, since it begins with a pronoun, "who" as noun phrases can have pronouns at the head of the phrase right?
c) If this is so, then can this also be considered an appositive? if not, what kind of phrase is this?

# I took a cookie from Gretel, the woodcutter's daughter.
The website said that this is the correct answer, and based on other examples I gathered from other websites, they all followed a similar structure with the example you shared (The woman, a stunning beauty with a rebellious streak, wore a starkly red dress and red hihg-heels to the costume party last night).

Other examples:
a) The insect, a cockroach, is crawling across the table.
b) Reliable, Diane's eleven-year-old beagle, chews holes in the living room carpeting as if he were still a puppy.
c) Upset by the bad call, the crowd cheered Robbie, a hot-tempered tennis player who charged the umpire and tried to crack the poor man's skull with a racket.

So in this case, this is an appositive, modifying Gretel as an adjective, and not an adjectival phrase. Am i right or am i just confusing myself?

4) How do we differentiate a Participial from a Gerund phrase? The Gerund phrase looks very similar to the present participle of a verb.

Example for Participial Phrase:
Feeling uncomfortable about the whole thing, the woman wore a starkly red dress and red high-heels to the party last night.

Example for Gerund Phrase:
Wearing a starkly red dress and red high-heels was the woman's idea of getting attention during the costume part last night.

5) Since the phrases serve to put the emotional texture into an otherwise non-descript narrative or extemporaneous speech, as far as knowing the "technical names" for the phrases, is it the kind of information that is --good to know from a teaching standpoint or should we try to keep the technical names in mind as we formulate our thoughts even in free speech?


 

9

Students’ Sounding Board / GIVE YOUR ENGLISH THE WINNING EDGE CHAPTER 4

« on: June 01, 2010, 10:57:40 PM »

Hi Joe,

    Do other nonnative English countries pidginize their mother tongue with English as well? Based on what media allows us to see, I can't say that I've seen say an Italian, French, Indian, Russian etc. speak with hints of English in their speech.

10

Students’ Sounding Board / GIVE YOUR ENGLISH THE WINNING EDGE CHAPTER 1-3 Part 2

« on: May 30, 2010, 11:41:18 AM »

1) I liked the line "He was blissfully unaware to the gaffe", I imagine a newscaster still smiling confidently after a blunder. After a few minutes, I tried to recall the line, and I found myself saying: "He was blissfully unaware of his own gaffe."  Can gaffe be used this way?

2) Can one also say Compounded with instead of Compounded by dangling prepositions?

3) Can one also say "Most of them are clueless about how to write a decent letter", instead of saying "Most of them are clueless on how to write a decent letter".

4) Is the word muddle commonly used to pertain to confusion of action or speech?

11

Students’ Sounding Board / GIVE YOUR ENGLISH THE WINNING EDGE CHAPTER 1-3 Part 1

« on: May 30, 2010, 11:38:59 AM »

Hi Joe,

   i've purchased a copy of your book and so far I like how it is structured and presented. Each chapter is just enough for one to read and take in before moving on to the next. I have a few questions, for my own clarification really than anything else. Much of them if not all, are by-products of digesting some of the thoughts or word-play in the first 3 chapters of the book.

There are two parts to this. The first part has to do with your analysis of the excerpt in Chapter 1. The second part, I will include in a new post instead.

1) You mentioned that the writer used ill-chosen metaphors. Is it preferable that when writing, we must stick to one metaphor and work around that one theme? (i.e. currency for medium of exchange in finance, so all other allusions must have something to do with finance as well?)

2) How does we know if a word is already debased or over-used?

3) What do you mean by language registers?

In this statement: It is a dubious claim from both utility and semantics standpoints--that state of affairs is hardly relevant to our specific need to find out what ails our educational system."

What do you mean by utility and semantics standpoint?
What does "state of affairs" mean in this passage? My mind keeps going back to society and politics.

12

You Asked Me This Question / Present or Past Conditional?

« on: May 25, 2010, 10:26:45 PM »

Hi,

    Here's the situation:

    A buyer hands a large bill to two old folks selling xmas trees by the road side. Husband realizes he left his fanny pack inside the trailer, says that he'll be getting it, comes back out with it in hand, finds out that the the buyer had already left, the sale was lost, wife was upset, to which she says to him:

"If you had had your fanny pack around your waist where it belonged, they wouldn't have enough time to change their mind."


    1) Does the second phrase sound awkward?
    2) Since he now has a fanny pack with him, does the Present Conditonal apply or Because he didn't have his fanny pack with him then, the Past Conditional should work?

13

You Asked Me This Question / Who vs. AS

« on: May 22, 2010, 11:05:29 PM »

Hi Joe,

i I came across this sentence along with it's correction:


Wrong: Such persons who are diligent, achieve success in life.

Right:    Such persons as are diligient, achieve success in life.


This raises three questions:


1) When adding "s" to person, when do we use people and when do we use "persons"?

2) Why is "as" better than "who"?

3) What does "as are diligent" actually mean? I mean, essentially it's trying to say diligent people, but the word combination sounds a bit awkward, unless of course, people from other countries say it and i'm just not used to hearing it said this way.


Would appreciate any feedback!

Thanks!

14

You Asked Me This Question / Is it Past Perfect?

« on: May 22, 2010, 11:02:19 PM »

Hi Joe,


    i was watching Britain's Got Talent the other day, after Janey Cutler's performance, host 1 goes out on stage to usher her back, and on their way out, Janey gives a bow, host 1 bows to the crowd as well.

    Host 2 waiting backstage sees this and says:


    "What's he bowing for? He hadn't done anything?"


Is hadn't done considered past perfect? I mean, it's usually used prior to another past action right? or is this a grammatical exception of some sort?


Thanks!