QUESTION What is the difference between though and although? Are the two words entirely interchangeable? Are there nuance differences? Which word is more suitable for formal writing? SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE Boston, Massachusetts Fri, Nov 9, 2001 GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE I had to consult Burchfield for this difference. He says that in a clause which grants concession, these two words are virtually interchangeable. Though might be slightly less formal than although, he says, but it is far more commonplace, too. Although, of course, cannot be used in a terminal or medial position in a sentence: "He did his duty, though." "Didn't she though?" "He knew, though, that they'd never make it."
Authority: The New Fowler's Modern English Usage edited by R.W. Burchfield. Clarendon Press: Oxford, England. 1996. Used with the permission of Oxford University Press. (under "although")
QUESTION I need to write a letter to two people at two different business addresses. Can I write one letter and address it to both? How do I format this?
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE Lancaster, Pennsylvania Sun, Nov 11, 2001 GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE You can either type the individual address blocks one under the other (with one blank line between) or position the address blocks side by side.
Authority: The Gregg Reference Manual by William A. Sabin. 9th Edition. McGraw-Hill: New York. 2001. Used with the consent of Glencoe/McGraw-Hill. p. 357.
QUESTION When you have the word "versus" in a title, should the "v" be capitalized? It looks strange to me to capitalize it, but I can find no rule that says it should be lowercased. However, I have seen examples where it is lowercased and italicized in titles. Would this be acceptable? Quality of Products Versus Quantity of Products Quality of Products versus Quantity of Products SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE Laguna Niguel, California Mon, Nov 12, 2001 GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE I would capitalize it; prepositions longer than four or five letters are frequently capitalized in titles. You should be aware that legal documents will have their own set of rules regarding the abbreviation and capitalization of "versus." There is no reason to italicize it to set it off from the rest of the title, though.
QUESTION If I live in a small island (Lido) near Venice, do I have to say: I live in Lido of Venice or I live on the Lido from Venice or what else? SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE Venice, Italy Mon, Nov 12, 2001 GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE I'm not sure about the political relationship between Lido and Venice, so I don't know if you can say "Lido of Venice" or is it only "Lido near Venice." But you will definitely live ON the island, not in it. The only exceptions to this would be really, really big islands. You can live in England or Ireland, but in between, you're on the Isle of Mann.
QUESTION What is the difference between an English restrictive relative clause (The student who comes from Italy has got to take the Proficiency exam) and non- restrictive relative clause (The student, who comes from Italy, has got to take the Proficiency exam) in terms of form (intonation, punctuation, selection of pronouns, reduction) and function?
I am trying to think of how I might explain this to learners of English.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE Leeds, Yorkshire, England Mon, Nov 12, 2001 GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE I can't help you in terms of intonation; that would be very difficult on the Internet. I think the best way to explain whether a clause is restrictive or not is to show what happens when the clause is removed from the sentence. I'm not sure that "The student has got to take the proficiency exam" makes sense. It would, I suppose, as long as we know exactly who "the student" is. If we regard "who comes from Italy" as essential to the meaning of the sentence, we don't want commas; if it is "added information" and we can remove it from the sentence without changing the essential meaning of the sentence, then we need to surround it with a pair of commas.
The same sentence, with exactly the same words, can contain a restrictive clause or not, depending on what we know: "My sister, who is an engineer, teaches at the university." If you know I have only one sister, I don't need the information in the clause and I will use the pair of commas; if I have more than one sister (and needed to thus distinguish this sister from my other sisters, who are mathematicians and librarians), I would need the information in the relative clause and I would, therefore, have no commas in that sentence. I'll have to leave it to you to explain the difference in intonation.
QUESTION Hi, I have a question about adjectives? It's hard to explain in general, so I will use an example. Would it be correct to say "freshman dance" or "freshmen dance"? It seems like freshmen could apply because it's a dance for all the freshmen, but at the same time, you would say "clown show" and not "clowns show" and etc. My friends are having an argument about this, so I would really appreciate your help with this question. Thank you. SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE Washington, D.C. Tue, Nov 13, 2001 GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE I would go with your interesting analogy of "clowns show." Use the singular as an attributive (adjectival) noun. Otherwise, it will look as though you're talking about a habit of freshmen. Incidentally, many schools have forsaken the word "freshman," saying it is gender biased; they frequently use "frosh," instead, which sounds to me like a kind of sea animal, or the clumsy designation "first year student."
QUESTION Which alternative is correct in the following sentence, and why?"It'll give you something to do besides baste/basting the turkey."If it's "basting" (because "besides" is a preposition), does the same rule hold for"Do something besides watch/watching TV!"And what would be correct if we replaced "besides" with "other than"?
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE Boston, Massachusetts Tue, Nov 13, 2001 GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE We use an infinitive form, rather than the gerund form, with that construction. Actually, we use the bare infinitive form (without the particle "to"), which amounts to the base form of the verb, so we'd use "baste" and "watch" in your example sentences. The same would be true with "other than": "Now you can do something other than watch TV."
From a review of The Gilded Age in Atlantic Monthly:Although the association of hot air and Washington seems fitting, it is not clear that Twain and Warner meant to do anything other than refer to the temperature of the atmosphere.
QUESTION Is it correct to use cardinal numbers to write the date? I see this more frequently in the last ten years but I was taught to use ordinal numbers when writing the date and learning to speak German reinforced this habit.
I begin letters, particularly personal letters, with "Virginia, the 14th of October, 2001". However, I receive business letters with dates written like "October 14, 2001".
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE Falls Church, Virginia Tue, Nov 13, 2001 GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE According to Sabin, you can use ordinal figures (1st, 2d, 3d, 4th, etc.) or ordinal words (the first, the twelfth, the thirtieth, etc.) when the day precedes the month or stands alone (as it does in "the 13th of November, 2001" or "Tuesday, the 13th"). In the typical American format November 13, 2001 we would not use ordinal designation even though you might add that "-th" when you say the date out loud. Sabin also recommends that we avoid the form "the sixth of March, 2003."
Authority: The Gregg Reference Manual by William A. Sabin. 9th Edition. McGraw-Hill: New York. 2001. Used with the consent of Glencoe/McGraw-Hill. p. 114.
QUESTION Warriner's has two sentences which they claim are compound, but which I (and others in my department) believe to be simple.
Please advise. Are these compound with an understood subject in the second independent clause, or are they simple? Thanks!
- Cliff swung wildly at the golf ball but missed it completely.
- Lauren is extremely tired and is going to bed.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE Portland, Oregon Tue, Nov 13, 2001 GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE My understanding is that a compound sentence consists of two or more independent clauses. In both those sentence, you've got one subject with a compounded verb (swung but missed, is and is going), but you've got only one clausea simple sentence. Perhaps Warriner's definition of a compound sentence is different from just about everyone else's.
QUESTION I and a co-worker have read the "Less versus Fewer" explanation on this website, but we still disagree on how a sentence in our specifications should be written. Which of the following sentences is written correctly?
- A minimum of 3 bolts, but not less than 5% of bolts, should be tested.
- A minimum of 3 bolts, but no less than 5% of bolts, should be tested.
- A minimum of 3 bolts, but not fewer than 5% of bolts, should be tested.
- A minimum of 3 bolts, but no fewer than 5% of bolts, should be tested.
SOURCE OF QUESTION & DATE OF RESPONSE Sacramento, California Tue, Nov 13, 2001 GRAMMAR'S RESPONSE Generally, "fewer" refers to number and is used with plural nouns; "less" refers to degree or amount and is used with singular nouns. However, "less than" precedes plural nouns referring to period of time, distance, amounts of money, and quantities. (Manchester is less than ten miles from here. She makes less than $20,000 a year. The concert is less than thirty minutes long.) And you've got with "5% of bolts" is a quantity. (But don't you mean "5% of all the bolts" or some such expression that spells out 5% of something?) Because "5% of all the bolts" is a lump sum, a quantity, I would use either "not less than" or "no less than."
Authority: The Gregg Reference Manual by William A. Sabin. 9th Edition. McGraw-Hill: New York. 2001. Used with the consent of Glencoe/McGraw-Hill. p. 293.
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