Comments on: Five Lessons in Grammar

By: Michelle

Michelle — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 23:24:36 +0000

I have a grammar question. My trouble is with whether to use “affect” or “effect.” My dad explained it as “‘affect’ comes first, and ‘effect’ follows.” Is that accurate?

By: Leslie

Leslie — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 18:07:46 +0000

Gmsc, the rule on “or” is that you have to look at the two subjects separately. In your example both of the subjects (“you” and “your child”) are singular, and therefore they receive a singular verb–in this case “doesn’t.” If one of both of the subjects are plural on the other hand, then you would use a plural verb, and it would say something like “you or your children don’t” or “they or their children don’t.”

If any of the subjects in an “or” statement require a plural verb, you use the plural; if not, you use a singular verb.

By: noemealasaas

noemealasaas — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:10:12 +0000

plz can u have my all question

By: morphail

morphail — Wed, 28 May 2008 18:37:51 +0000

The prescription that you cannot use “which” to head a restrictive relative clause is just as much a myth as the prescription against using “that” to refer to people or the prescription against split infinitives.

It’s not “which” that marks a nonrestrictive clause, it’s the comma. Open any novel, and you can find examples of “which” heading a restrictive clause. Many usage books accept this.

By: Dixie

Dixie — Fri, 09 May 2008 06:33:57 +0000

It seems to me that it’s best to take into account that “couple” has multiple definitions, one being an associated pair (collective) while the other refers to an indefinite small number (plural).

With your definite/indefinite article technique, should I say “For this vote, a two-third majority rule” or “A football team are staying in this hotel”? No.

I would make the collective noun singular or plural by the activity expressed by the verb. “At each mention of the candidate’s name, the audience applauds” would be singular because the members of the group are engaged in a collective behavior. “The poll shows that the audience disagree among themselves” is plural because the verb indicates the individual differences within the group. Therefore, I disagree that your example sentences beginning with “A” should be plural, since the majority and the group are both acting collectively.

By: Fruppi

Fruppi — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:13:59 +0000

Christine-

Thanks! I just wrote that down so I can look it up as soon as I get a chance!

Justin-

If you don’t like it, don’t read it! You had plenty of warning from the title. Some of us find grammar fascinating!

By: Rob

Rob — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:49:06 +0000

Love the post and your blog!

As for the last one though, that on drives me crazy. The English/Irish refer to a team as a plural thing (“England are playing great football this season”). I realize the English invented English but this drives me nuts! To me it is a non-issue. A team was is and always will be ONE team, no matter if there are 2 people or 2000 people. A couple is always two but it is still just one couple. And certainly not to argue with you but I dont like your example “A couple of tenants own geckos”. I think the only reason it sounds acceptable is because the word tenants is plural. But you always have to ignore prepositional phrases. Anyway, just my two cents

By: Jane B

Jane B — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:18:19 +0000

Oh, I am so relieved to find there are others!

It’s like finding living beings after a megadisaster!

I have tried to start a society for the preservation of the objective case of the pronouns, but it is so hard to fight television.

For those with long memories (another way of saying senior citizens), this was a topic on a Dick Cavett show years ago! Already in the 70s it was a problem.

Thank you so much!

By: That Sports Writer Guy

That Sports Writer Guy — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:51:26 +0000

The one that really gets me is sports teams who have names (mascots) that do NOT end with ‘S’ (Avalanche, Wild, Jazz, etc) and sports writers conjugate verbs to the singular. Here is an example: “The Colorado Avalanche is disappointed with this season.” That just doesn’t sound right! If it was the Stars or Sharks or any other team ending with ‘S’, the sentence would use “are”. So what is right? I say when referring to a team name, you should use plural.

By: Keith

Keith — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:59:37 +0000

Quick question regarding whoever/whomever. If we shorten your example sentence to “Hermione gives help to whoever”, should “whoever” change to “whomever”? Since nothing follows the pronoun in question, it seems that it should change to “whomever”; however, I’d argue that the clause is implied by context and it should remain “whoever”. I’m not entirely certain of this, and would appreciate your input.