Jose Carillo's English Forum
English Grammar and Usage Problems => Use and Misuse => Topic started by: alykxia913 on March 27, 2011, 01:11:23 AM
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Dear Sir,
I'm proofreading a book and it would be great if you can help me with
grammar and sentence construction.
Which is correct?
a. Which sports do you like better? Soccer or basketball?
b. Which sports is better, soccer or basketball?
c. Which sports is better soccer or basketball?
Also, is this sentence correct?
Where don't John and Ana check the ball? <----how can i improve this question?
Thank you in advance!
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Sentence b is the correct construction: "Which sports is better, soccer or basketball?"
Sentence a is passable but it can be improved by using punctuation, either a comma before the alternatives, "Which sports do you like better, soccer or basketball?", or a colon before the alternatives, " Which sports do you like better: soccer or basketball?"
Sentence c is incorrect because it's a run-on sentence; it needs a comma before the alternatives: "Which sports is better, soccer or basketball?"
As to this question, "Where don't John and Ana check the ball?", it's in the wrong grammatical form. "Shouldn't" should be used instead of "don't" in such sentence constructions, as follows: "Where shouldn't John and Ana check the ball?"