Recently Added Articles Page #47

Subjects Joined by “or”

When you have a series joined disjunctively by the word or, the number of the verb is determined by the number of the noun closest to the verb, that is, the last in the series. One apple, one orange, or two bananas are then added to the blender. Two ...

Subjects Joined by Other Connectors

Watch OutWatch out for along with, as well as, together with, not to mention, and others. These are not conjunctions and do not form plural subjects.Writers often use other connecting words to join nouns to the subject of the sentence. If that subjec...

Group Nouns - “majority do” or “majority does”?

Another problem of subject-verb disagreement arises when the subject of the sentence is a group noun, also called a collective noun, that is, a word describing a bunch of people or things, such as group, team, majority, and many others.The question i...

British Approach to Group Nouns

As an interesting aside, the British always use plural verbs with collective nouns. On May 15, 2001, I was watching a BBC-produced documentary about a blues musician who made a comeback. Describing the musician’s band, the narrator said: The band a...

“None” - Singular or Plural?

The indefinite pronoun none requires some separate discussion. A myth has emerged that none always requires a singular verb.Not true.Singular or PluralThe word none can take the singular or the plural. In the words of New Fowler: It is a mistake to s...

“Each” - Singular or Plural?

Under the traditional rule, the indefinite pronoun each is always singular and takes a singular verb.Thus: Each of the golfers wants to win the PGA. Each of us wishes for success. The Views of Usage PanelsSome usage panels disagree. Consider this usa...

Now let’s fix the chapter title…

The chapter title "There's lots of these subject-verb disagreements" should read:There are lots of these subject-verb disagreements.The expression "there is" should always be followed by a singular noun. If the noun is plural, you must use "there are...

Chapter 2 - “Could of”

“We could of used the right helping verb.”We understand where this mistake came from. It came from speech. The word “have” when joined with “could” to form “could have” sounds a lot like “could of.” The latter, of course, is a gro...

We should fix the chapter title…

The chapter title reads: "We could of used the right helping verb."Let's fix it: We could have used the right helping verb.The words "could of" make no grammatical sense whatsoever. Sure, "could of" sounds like "could have," and you can get away with...

Chapter 3 - “Your” and “You’re”

“Your leaving out the word are.”Anyone who has ever joined a “thread” on the Internet has seen this mistake a thousand times. Of course, making the mistake on the Internet won’t harm your career, but if “your” instead of “you’re” ...

So our chapter title should read…

You are leaving out the word are.Or perhaps:You’re leaving out the word are. Previous: Chapter 3 - “Your” and “You’re”Next: Chapter 4 - Case of Pronouns...

Chapter 4 - Case of Pronouns

“You and him confuse the case of pronouns.”In this chapter, you’ll find a table showing all the personal pronouns in their various cases and numbers. We urge you to commit it to memory. Misuse of pronoun case marks one as intellectually challen...

Memorize the Various Personal Pronouns

Here are the same tables on personal pronouns you memorized in Grammar.com’s section on the Parts of Speech (Pronouns):Singular Personal Pronouns Person Subjective Case Objective Case Possessive Case First Person I me my-mine Second Person y...

Case of Pronouns - The Rule

In formal settings, you must follow the rules governing the case of pronouns.If your sentence calls for the subjective case, you must use I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they (see the subjective-case columns in the two tables above).If your sentence ca...

Pronoun as the Object of a Preposition

Object of a PrepositionA noun attached to a sentence by a preposition is the object of the preposition, which requires the objective case of a pronoun taking the place of the noun.Wrong: A Grammar Book for You and I . . . . Right: A Grammar Book f...

Shall we fix the chapter title?

The chapter title read: “You and him confuse the case of pronouns.” Let’s fix it:You and he confuse the case of pronouns.Remember, when a pronoun acts as a subject, you must use the subjective case (he, not him). Previous: Pronoun as the O...

Chapter 5 - Subjunctive Mood

“If I was you, I’d learn the subjunctive mood.”In this chapter, you’ll find that even best-selling novelists have trouble with the subjunctive mood. It pays to know the meaning of mood and to use the various moods—especially the subjunctive...

Forming the Subjunctive Mood

The English language provides another mood, the subjunctive mood. It was used far more frequently in the olden days. In modern times, we use it mainly to show:1. situations contrary to fact 2. wishes 3. suppositions 4. commands 5. suggestions 6. nece...

Situations Requiring the Subjunctive Mood

Let’s explore the modern uses of the subjunctive mood.1. situations contrary to fact 2. wishes 3. suppositions 4. commands1. Situations Contrary to FactLet’s look at the contrary-to-fact situation, which usually entails using the subjunctive mood...

Back to Our Robin Cook Examples

So why are the examples at the beginning of this chapter incorrect?Here are the examples from the best-selling Toxin: 1. Kelly regarded Tracy in an attempt to interpret her comment. Kelly couldn’t quite decide if it were [was] meant to be disdainfu...

Let’s now fix the chapter title…

The chapter title read: “If I was you, I’d learn the subjunctive mood.”Quite clearly, I am not you. To state a situation contrary to fact, you need the subjunctive mood. You form the subjunctive mood of the verb by using the plural “were” w...

Chapter 6 - Dangling Participles

“When writing, your participle might dangle.”Here’s a biggie. Many highly educated people write sentences with dangling participles in them. Careful and knowledgeable readers—as in your boss or professor—know all about danglers and avoid th...

Introductory Adjectival Phrases

Here’s Rule 11 in Strunk & White A participial phrase at the beginning of a sentence must refer to the grammatical subject. Strunk & White, p. 13. But many people seem to have trouble following this rule. The rule actually applies more broa...

The chapter title needs repair…

The chapter title read: “When writing, your participle might dangle.”You can see that the subject “your participle” doesn’t attach to “when writing.” The participle isn’t doing the writing. You are. So we fix it like this:When writing...

Examples of Nondangling Participles

Check out these examples. Notice that the introductory adjective points directly to the grammatical subject: Enacted in 1964, the Civil Rights Act transferred power to the federal government.Hoping to gain favorable relations with the media, the pres...