Submitted by sigurd • November 23, 2011
Since ‘of’ is possessive, is writing ‘the Ark of the Covenant’, ‘Book of Ezekiel’, ‘Robin of Locksley’ and ‘Joan of Arc’ respectively as ‘the Covenant’s Ark’, ‘Ezekiel’s Book’, ‘Locksley’s Robin’ and ‘Arc’s Joan’ correct? If not, why?
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Posted in Grammar
Submitted by sigurd • November 19, 2011
Is ‘Had he breakfast this morning?’ correct English?
Since ‘You have no idea where they live’’s and ‘You have nothing better to do’’s respective inquisitive forms—‘Have you no idea where they live?’ and ‘Have you nothing better to do?’, their past tense forms being ‘Had you no idea where they live?’ and ‘Had you nothing better to do?’—are correct, following the same logic, isn’t ‘He had breakfast this morning’’s inquisitive form, ‘Had he breakfast this morning?’, likewise correct?
Please read the full question. I’m looking for a logically (hopefully) justified answer. The more informative the answer is, the better.
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Posted in Grammar
Submitted by Mitsy • November 19, 2011
A question about time expressions with the past perfect tense: I realise “by the time” is a time expression used with the past perfect but in this sentence: “By the time he arrived at school, the lesson had finished” , why is “by the time” next to the verb in the past tense (arrived) as if it is refering to that verb rather than to the one in the past perfect (had finished)?
3 comments
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Posted in Grammar
Submitted by sigurd • November 10, 2011
In English, I know it’s perfectly correct/proper/formal to, for lack of a better word, ‘‘shorten’’ phrases and sentences in a certain way in some cases as in ‘Be that true, ...’ (= ‘If that is true, ...’), ‘if need be’ (= ‘if it is necessary’), ‘come what may’ (‘regardless of what may come/happen’) etc.
So, I’m wondering if similar rules apply to ‘Why be anonymous?’, ‘Why so excited/angry/etc?’ and ‘Why the question?’ as well as to ‘Haven’t you anything better to do?’ and ‘Have you any idea [...]?’, which I also hear a lot from seemingly formal English-speakers. Are they correct English?
7 comments
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Posted in Grammar
Submitted by cathyem • November 5, 2011
I did a search and came up with nothing relating to the use of “enamored”. I am seeing, more and more often, “enamored with” and “enamored by” when I was taught that it is correctly “enamored of”.
I just opened the latest issue of Cook’s Country magazine and this quote jumped out at me: “[...]Americans became enamored with international cooking.” Is this correct? Am I just a purist who needs to lighten up?
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Posted in Grammar
Submitted by John Colbourne • November 1, 2011
J.K .Rowling always wanted to be an author.
J.K. Rowling had always wanted to be an author.
J.K. Rowling has always wanted to be an author.
I assume “has always wanted” is incorrect because she became an author.
Please, which one is proper?
9 comments
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Posted in Grammar
Submitted by Margaret A Giordano • October 29, 2011
Is it “8 inches is” or “8 inches are”?
15 comments
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Posted in Grammar
Submitted by Tonto • October 25, 2011
Is there a grammatical difference between saying “I walked down the street backwards” and “I walked down the street backward” (without the “s”)? Is one of them incorrect, or are they interchangeable? Does the same go for “forward(s)” and “toward(s)”?
11 comments
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Posted in Grammar
Submitted by Astartes • October 7, 2011
I have an ear for when people use bad grammar, especially the use of prepositions at the end of a clause. I was recently watching a show, however, and a character said “Toys are meant to be played with.” What is the correct wording of this phrase? It is killing me.
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Posted in Grammar
Submitted by sigurd • September 20, 2011
Can “box turtles can live for 80 years” be written “box turtles can live 80 years”? What about “I ran 13 minutes” instead of “I ran for 13 minutes”?
Are the foregoing examples still proper English?
5 comments
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Posted in Grammar
Submitted by Carolyn Lunn • August 11, 2011
Which is correct :
My writing books proves I am an entrepreneur.
Me writing books proves I am an entrepreneur.
ME or MY ?
Both sentences are awkward, yes, but which sentence is grammatically correct?
27 comments
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Posted in Grammar
Submitted by Steph • March 20, 2011
In the sentence “Karen is the taller of her and Lin”, why is the pronoun ‘her’ used (as opposed to ‘she’)? I would have thought that, since Karen is the subject of the sentence, the appropriate pronoun would be ‘she’? This sentence comes out of the Institute of Professional Editors Accreditation Exam, so I can only assume that it is correct. Thanks to anyone who can help!
11 comments
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Posted in Grammar
Submitted by pebbles • March 9, 2011
The following sentence is taken from Advanced English CAE:
Within seconds Barry, who was wearing enormous rubber boots, had tied a rope to the front bumper of the car and was pulling it out with the tractor.
I’d say:
Within seconds Barry, who was wearing enormous rubber boots, tied a rope to the front bumper of the car and pulled it out with the tractor.
Any opinions?
22 comments
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Posted in Grammar
Submitted by joham • March 9, 2011
I recommend that you do not take this pill.
I recommend that your wife does not take this pill.
I recommend that you not take this pill.
I recommend that your wife not take this pill.
Are all four sentences correct English? Do many native American/British English speakers use verb forms like in the first two sentences?
7 comments
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Posted in Grammar
Submitted by Hairy Scot • January 30, 2011
I am sure most of us will agree that “from” is the only preposition which should follow the word “different”.
However it would be interesting to hear logical argument from those who favour others such as “to” and “than”.
49 comments
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Posted in Grammar
Submitted by sigurd • October 14, 2010
Shouldn’t “who are you?” be “whom are you?” and “who is this?” be “whom is this?”
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Posted in Grammar
Submitted by helen • September 22, 2010
My co workers and I are in disagreement over how a phrase should be worded using proper English in the legal documents we type into our computer system.
If one were to say (using proper English) that John Smith used to own a piece of property would one say:
“The current tenant states that John Smith IS the previous owner of 2400 Green Cir.”
OR would one say:
“The current tenant states that John Smith WAS the previous owner of 2400 Green Cir.”
Which way is correct? And WHY (please explain why the correct way is correct--what rules apply, etc.).
6 comments
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Posted in Grammar
Submitted by fred2 • August 30, 2010
In English, there are comparisons and superlatives for some colours. Take for example: black, blacker, blackest; blue, bluer, bluest.
How about other colours like silver and gold/golden?
6 comments
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Posted in Grammar
Submitted by donnahansen • July 24, 2010
I was talking with someone via Facebook. I thought she was wrong, and she wrote back to me: “No, Donna, it is you who are wrong”. Had she left out the word “who” then I believe “are” would be correct, but since she included the word “who” then it changes to singular “you” which would require the word “is”. I believe it shoud read “No, Donna, it is you who is wrong”. Please help me on this grammatical issue.
28 comments
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Posted in Grammar
Submitted by mike3 • July 20, 2010
Watching the World Cup recently has prompted me to ask: Why do the announcers refer to teams as if they are plural? For instance, “England are on the attack.” I think it should be “England is on the attack,” as we are referring to the English team which is a single unit and therefore singular?
20 comments
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Posted in Grammar
