Topics

16

Use and Misuse / After death - what?

« on: August 29, 2009, 12:53:15 PM »

However, if the question is asked about a particular person who’s no longer your friend (you might have parted ways) or about a friend who has died, then the two tenses in that sentence need to be changed to the past tense and past perfect, respectively: ‘What was the best thing you had ever done for [name of friend]?’

Joe, in the par above from your Times column, you use the phrase "a friend who has died".   Have you noticed that English speakers almost always use "has died" instead of the more accurate - and more blunt - "is dead"?

The purists among us will argue that "had died" is a present perfect, i.e. describing an action that took place in the immediate past but with the expectation of further action on the part of the subject.   Since there will be no further action on his part, the final question would be better expressed as "What was the best thing you ever did for [name of friend]?"

(It would seem that the finer aspects of the present perfect are being lost in favour of its use as simply an indicator of recent action.)

17

My Media English Watch / Stating the obvious

« on: August 17, 2009, 04:27:21 PM »

Here is an item of internet news from Australia:


Three bitten by snake in Gold Coast bush
August 16, 2009

Three people suspected of being bitten by a snake while bushwalking have been winched out of a forest on the Gold Coast hinterland.

The Queensland Department of Community Safety (DCS) said a 47-year-old woman, a 14-year-old girl and another person had been winched out by rescue helicopter late Sunday.

The trio and one other person were about 10km along a walking track from Binna Burra when they were bitten at about 12.30pm (AEDT).

The snake species is unknown.

All three are breathing, conscious and in a stable condition and are being airlifted to Tweed Heads hospital, a DCS spokesperson said.


(Most of us expect that someone who is conscious and stable would likely be breathing!)

18

Use and Misuse / VERBeration!

« on: August 16, 2009, 02:55:40 PM »

Last week, i was conversing with my Filipina ward on the internet when she stated (about her son), "He want his dinner".

I pointed out that the pronoun was singular and therefore the verb should be likewise, giving "He wants his dinner".

A couple of minutes later, she stated, "Now he don't wants his dinner".   

I was temporarily thrown.

Is there any other language where the form of the verb changes as much as it does in English?

19

Use and Misuse / Pos s

« on: August 15, 2009, 04:42:07 PM »

"...To clarify this usage to those who may have the same doubts about it, I am sharing my reply to Mr. Sims’ comment:..."

Please.....Mr Sims's......!

20

Use and Misuse / Should vs. Would

« on: June 13, 2009, 07:52:26 AM »

We would like to apologize for the unexpected three-day unavailability of Jose Carillo's English Forum.

Joe,

What is your stance on the shall/will should/would argument?

21

Tech Support / Re-logging in (grrrr)

« on: June 10, 2009, 12:15:57 PM »

Joe often directs his readers to other sites, and provides links thereto.     The trouble is, when I log off these linked sites, I lose connection to Joe's site, too, and have to log in again.    This happens on other sites, so is it a function of those sites or is it me?

22

Use and Misuse / Which and that

« on: June 10, 2009, 09:21:24 AM »

...an autographed copy of Give Your English the Winning Edge, the third book in my English-usage trilogy that's scheduled to roll off the press this month.

I may be old-fashioned, clinging as I do to the convention that non-defining phrases employ which and defining phrases employ that.    I interpret the above sentence to mean that your trilogy will roll off the presses this month.

23

Use and Misuse / Misplaced modifiers

« on: June 10, 2009, 09:00:14 AM »

Joe,

I've just returned from a flying visit to your country.    While there, I was helping my ward with her English studies.    A sample answer to one of the questions included the phrase "the synthetic production of silk".

This sample answer was contained in....wait for it...an IELTS study guide!

24

Use and Misuse / A "be" in my bonnet

« on: May 27, 2009, 09:56:53 AM »

Joe,

I just opened EP&S at random and lighted upon Ch 15 - English for Export.    On p. 436, there is the sentence: "If it is our national destiny to be a primary supplier of professionals, health workers, housemaids, and laborers - even English teachers - to the world market, then we better be the best there is."

Did you mean "we had better be..."

Also, you have separated 'health workers' and 'professionals'.     Do you not consider nurses to be professionals?

25

Use and Misuse / Aaaargh!

« on: May 25, 2009, 06:08:28 PM »

Joe,

From "The Ten Most Annoying etc..."

Nonnative English speakers....?

26

Use and Misuse / English - how do I love thee?

« on: May 20, 2009, 11:45:59 AM »

On the cover of "English Plain and Simple", Julia Kirby's commendation ends with the sentence, If you love the English language as I do, Carillo's is just the type of book you'll love having at hand.

Is not Julia telling us that she loves the English language in a particular but unspecified manner?   If she is telling us that she merely loves the language, is not as I do parenthetic (a non-restrictive clause) and therefore should have commas fore and aft?

27

Use and Misuse / For free

« on: May 19, 2009, 08:14:50 AM »

Joe,

Your objection to "off of" is well stated.    It's a phrase that is not only ungrammatical but one that grates.     Strangely, while it is accepted widely in the USA as a spoken phrase, it is rare to see it in print.    I have seen is written but once, and then as dialogue.

What concerns me lately is another "standard" Americanism - "for free".    This regrettable utterance has become widespread in Australia over the past two years, initially and continually by the advertising fraternity (surprise! surprise!) and now increasingly by the general population.

When the Americans won their independence, there was a nationalistic move to adopt their own (not English) language.    That moved was knocked on the head - or was it?

28

Use and Misuse / Whoops!

« on: May 17, 2009, 08:39:02 AM »

In “Give Your English the Winning Edge”, you write:
“Many people discover to their dismay that their many years of formal study of English has not given them the proficiency level demanded by the job market, by the various professions, or by higher academic studies.”
Although “many years of study” has a sense of singularity, it is still undeniably a plural subject and therefore demands “have”.
And, in a list of attributes, should not there be a comma after each, except the second last?

In the same vein,
“In this exciting new volume, the National Book Award-winning author of English Plain and Simple unravels the various mechanisms and tools of English for combining words and ideas into clear, logical, and engaging writing.”
There is a comma after the second-last adjective.    In my brief squiz at the excerpt from GYETWE, I noted that you do this all the time.    Has some authority changed convention?