1. Trang Chủ
  2. Tiếng Anh phổ thông
  3. Penguin Dictionary of American English Usage and Style_7

Penguin Dictionary of American English Usage and Style_7

Tham khảo tài liệu 'penguin dictionary of american english usage and style_7', ngoại ngữ, anh ngữ phổ thông phục vụ nhu cầu học tập, nghiên cứu và làm việc hiệu quả plurals and singulars 293 in-law, consuls general, courts martial, foreign languages they were derived notaries public, sergeants major, and from. As in Latin, the singular words ad- tugs of war. The noun goes first in each dendum, alumnus, datum, genus, minu- of those; it goes second in these: judge tia, ovum, stimulus, and stratum c

Thể loại Tài liệu miễn phí Tiếng Anh phổ thông

Số trang 51

Ngày tạo 8/30/2018 12:06:25 AM +00:00

Loại tệp PDF

Kích thước 0.31 M

Tên tệp

Tải Penguin Dictionary of American English Usage and S... (.pdf)

Xem mẫu

  1. plurals and singulars 293 in-law, consuls general, courts martial, foreign languages they were derived notaries public, sergeants major, and from. As in Latin, the singular words ad- tugs of war. The noun goes first in each dendum, alumnus, datum, genus, minu- of those; it goes second in these: judge tia, ovum, stimulus, and stratum change advocates, lieutenant generals, major to the plural addenda, alumni, data, gen- generals. Many compounds that do not era, minutiae, ova, stimuli, and strata. As end in nouns get simple s endings, partic- in Greek, analysis, criterion, ellipsis, phe- ularly if they are single words: break- nomenon, and thesis change to analyses, throughs, forget-me-nots, knockouts, criteria, ellipses, phenomena, and theses. ne’er-do-wells, takeoffs, and words end- Other words adopted from foreign ing in -ful, like cupfuls and spoonfuls. languages present a choice between the original plural and an Anglicized plural. C. Creatures; peculiarities Beau may become either beaux (French) English has a variety of peculiar or beaus. Cactus: either cacti (Latin) or changes to perplex newcomers. Louse cactuses. Carcinoma: either carcinomata and mouse change to lice and mice. (Greek) or carcinomas. Cherub: either Blouse and house become blouses and cherubim (Hebrew) or cherubs. Curricu- houses, but the s sound in house changes lum: either curricula (Latin) or curricu- to a z sound in the plural. You have one lums. Formula: either formulae (Latin) goose or two geese, but mongoose be- or formulas. Index: either indices (Latin) comes mongooses, and moose remains or indexes. Libretto: either libretti (Ital- moose. ian) or librettos. Matrix: either matrices Fish remains fish for individual speci- (Latin) or matrixes. Nucleus: either nu- mens but becomes fishes for different clei (Latin) or, occasionally, nucleuses. types. Many fishes and beasts have sim- Opus: either opera (a possibly confusing ple s plurals, but sometimes the singular Latinism) or opuses. Radius: either radii is treated as a plural, particularly by fish- (Latin) or radiuses. Virtuoso: either vir- ermen and hunters: two flounders or tuosi (Italian) or virtuosos. flounder; three pheasants or pheasant. Other creatures are unchanged in the F. -F ending plural, except for different types or vari- Words that end in the f sound in the eties. John buys two salmon or studies singular may have a -ves ending in the the different salmons of North America. plural. Calf, half, knife, leaf, life, thief, I saw two deer and wondered which self, wife, and wolf become calves, deers inhabit this region. Coffee, fruit, halves, knives, leaves, lives, thieves, silk, steel, tea, wheat, and wool are selves, wives, and wolves. But wharf may treated as singular except when different become either wharfs or wharves and types or varieties are considered; then s is hoof either hoofs or hooves. Roof be- affixed and it becomes plural. An or- comes only roofs. And still life becomes chard produces lots of fruit and five dif- only still lifes. ferent fruits. G. -ICS ending D. -EN, -REN Words that end in -ics may be con- The -en and -ren forms are descended strued either as singular or as plural. It from Old English. They turn brother, depends on meaning. child, ox, man, and woman into Considered as sciences, subjects, or brethren (the archaic version of broth- occupations, acoustics, acrobatics, ath- ers), children, oxen, men, and women. letics, ethics, mathematics, physics, poli- E. Foreign derivations tics, statistics, tactics, and so on are Some words preserve the forms of the usually treated as singulars. Considered
  2. 294 plus as qualities or activities, they are usually in s add es: Barnes—the Barneses. treated as plurals. Thus “mathematics is Davis—the Davises. Jones—the Joneses. emphasized at that school” but “my mathematics are rusty.” / “Accoustics L. Other entries has become his business,” but “The ac- Among entries dealing with plural coustics here impress me.” and singular matters are these: BACTE- RIA and BACTERIUM; COHORT; H. Mr. and Mrs. CRITERIA and CRITERION; DATA; Mr. and Mrs. use the French in the EMERITUS; GRAFFITI and GRAF- plural: Messieurs and Mesdames respec- FITO; HEADQUARTERS; KUDOS; tively, abbreviated Messrs. and Mmes. MEDIA and MEDIUM; MEMO- and pronounced MESS-errs and may- RANDA and MEMORANDUM; DAM or may-DOM. Miss becomes NONE, 1; Nouns, 3; PHENOMENA Misses or misses (with no name). Ms. and PHENOMENON; Pronouns, 2; has no plural. (See Titles, 2.) Punctuation, 1H (apostrophe); RAVI- OLI; RUIN and RUINS; Verbs, 3; VER- I. No plurals TEBRA and VERTEBRAE; WAY and Most words that represent abstrac- “A WAYS”; -Y ending, 2. tions, generalizations, or qualities, rather See also Number (grammatical) with than concrete items, are singular only. a list of references. Examples are amazement, courage, eat- PLUS. Plus is not always a synonym ing, fondness, happiness, ignorance, learning, nonsense, and vindication. for and. The sentence “Talent plus luck accounts for his success” correctly has a J. -O ending singular verb. But “Talent and luck ac- Add s to any word ending in o after a count for his success” correctly has a vowel: patios, radios, stereos, studios plural verb. Plus, meaning added to or and tattoos. increased by, is a preposition, like with. Most words ending in o after a conso- It is not a conjunction, a connecting nant also take s (altos, egos, pianos), but word, like and. several take -es (echoes, heroes, pota- “Four plus three equals seven” is toes, tomatoes). Several others go either right. Each number is construed as sin- way: buffaloes or buffalos, cargoes or gular, so the total is singular. In that con- cargos, dominoes or dominos, zeroes or text and is synonymous with plus. “Four zeros. and three equals seven” is idiomatic. “The potato plus the apple costs fifty K. -S ending cents,” but “The potatoes plus the apple Some nouns that normally end in s cost a dollar.” In the latter sentence, the may be considered either plural or singu- verb, cost, is plural because potatoes is lar: alms, barracks, corps, forceps, plural, not because of the plus. means, scissors (also pair or pairs of scis- That brings us to an item about a fa- sors). Some other nouns that end in s are ther’s concern that his son is close to plural in form though singular in mean- driving age. ing: blues (music), checkers, overalls, measles, pants, remains, tongs, trousers. The Vice President’s Observatory Hill Chess, kudos, and news are singular mansion grounds have private roads only. The plural of lens is lenses. The on which the teen-ager can learn to plural of gallows is either the same or, drive. “Plus you have a police car in occasionally, gallowses. Names ending front,” Quayle said, “and a concrete
  3. possessive problems 295 wall around the place and an ambu- The Populist party nominated lance following behind. . . .” James Weaver of Iowa for president in 1892. . . . Four years later the Populist Usually “plus” does not start a sentence party fused with the Democratic or clause, except in the most casual party. . . . speech. Better: in addition, furthermore, or and. The party was the People’s Party. A sup- Plus can be also an adjective (“a plus porter of that party, but not the party it- sign” / “the plus side of the account” / “a self, was called Populist. Weaver, for grade of D plus”) and a noun (“This is a instance, was a Populist. The farmer’s plus: +” / “The contract is a plus for our movement of that era was known as the company”). Populist movement or Populism. P.M. See A.M., P.M., NOON, MID- PORE and POUR. See Homo- NIGHT. phones. PODIUM. See LECTERN and Positive degree. See Comparative and PODIUM. superlative degrees. POINT OUT. To point out is to di- Possessive problems. 1. Can a thing rect one’s attention to (certain informa- possess something? 2. Multiple posses- tion or a particular situation). The sives. 3. Possessive or not? 4. Possessive phrase is not impartial. It suggests that pronouns. 5. Various questions. what is pointed out is true. Unless the information is clearly fac- 1. Can a thing possess something? tual (“He pointed out a defective leg of A grammatical tradition has it that that chair”) or you are prepared to the possessive ending in ’s applies only to vouch for its truth (“Let me point out animate beings. An extreme view re- my client’s long record of altruism”), use serves the ’s possessive to human beings, a more neutral word or phrase. with few exceptions. Thus a grammarian A TV newscaster’s announcement holding that view rejects “Florida’s gov- that a utility company “points out that ernor.” It would have to be the governor Proposition 9 is not needed” in effect of Florida. Presumably the governor’s supported the company’s position. Re- signature would be acceptable. placing “points out” with says or con- But the exceptions that have become tends would have maintained the standard are many and getting more nu- impartiality of the television station. merous. They are in innumerable com- mon expressions: a day’s work; for POOL. See BILLIARDS and POOL. heaven’s sake; in harm’s way; my mind’s eye; my wit’s end; a stone’s throw; to- POPULIST. A minor factual error is day’s paper. Literary uses abound: A found in the following passage from a Midsummer Night’s Dream / “the book by a chief justice. The same error is dawn’s early light . . . the twilight’s last made by an encyclopedia and a dictio- gleaming” / “the pangs of despised love, nary. the law’s delay” / “the wheel’s kick and The Farmers’ Alliances joined to- the wind’s song” / “The world’s great gether with other splinter factions to age begins anew.” put the Populist party on a national The extreme view is not recom- basis in 1892. . . . mended here. Nevertheless, the use of ar-
  4. 296 possessive problems tificial possessives in the news business Building. Note that it is never “United has long been rampant. Some, like the State’s” or “General Motor’s.” nation’s capital in place of the national The names of organizations are highly capital, have become familiar. Others are variable in their use or nonuse of the unidiomatic combinations such as apostrophe. It is the Boys’ Clubs of “Spain’s King Juan Carlos” instead of America but the Girls Clubs of America; King Juan Carlos of Spain, designed to the International Backpackers’ Associa- save minute amounts of space. One typi- tion but the National Campers and Hik- cal paragraph in a news magazine con- ers Association; the Sheet Metal tains phrases like “the group’s new Workers’ International Association but leader . . . the group’s founder . . . Jihad’s the Transport Workers Union of Amer- representative in Tehran warning that ica; the National Sheriff’s Association Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Intelligence but the Music Teachers National Associ- believes. . . .” ation. Let inanimate objects or animals pos- The apostrophe is necessary in Chil- sess things, if they can do so gracefully. dren’s Aid Society and Women’s Chris- Few will complain about “The town’s tian Temperance Union. Without an only theater” / “The value of Apple’s apostrophe, it makes no sense to add an stocks” / “a dog’s age” / “horses’ hoofs.” s to children or women. The same is true But let no one speak of “the century’s for any other word that is plural without turn,” write that “I’m having my life’s an added s. time,” or wish anyone the “morning’s The apostrophe is traditional in top.” phrases like ten years’ imprisonment and thirty days’ notice. Some critics would 2. Multiple possessives omit the apostrophe in such phrases. No “Your and my boss are friends” and one would want possession in such vari- “My and her children play together” ations as a thirty-day notice or notice of sound strange, because in each instance thirty days. It would be a thousand dol- the first possessive pronoun is separated lars’ worth or, in figures, $1,000 worth. from the noun. Placing one possessive pronoun before the noun and the other 4. Possessive pronouns after the noun solves the problem: “Your Let nobody tamper with a word like boss and mine . . .” / “My children and hers, his, our, ours, your, or yours. It hers. . . .” If we have something in com- takes no ’s, no apostrophe. It is already mon, there is no problem: “our build- possessive. Sometimes “her’s” and ing” / “our country.” “our’s” and “your’s” are seen, and they How to make two nouns possessive are wrong (although they were deemed depends on whether possession is sepa- correct centuries back). So is “his’n” or rate (“The plaintiff’s and the defendant’s “hisn,” a dialectal version of his, which attorneys”) or joint (“Laurel and is heard or seen in some regions. Hardy’s films”). See Punctuation, 1E. A word like his, hers, etc. may be re- garded as a personal pronoun in the pos- 3. Possessive or not? sessive case. There are two types: Whether a noun is possessive or merely acting as a modifier can be a sub- • The type that goes before the noun tle distinction. One can write about the (e.g., “This is her house”). It takes in United States’ population and a new the singular words my, your, his, her, United States citizen or about General and its and the plural words our, Motors’ plants and the General Motors your, and their.
  5. possible, possibly, possibility 297 • The type that goes after the noun when the possessive is a pronoun: “a col- (“This house is hers”): the singulars league of mine.” See Double possessive. mine, yours, his, hers, and its and What is the genitive case? It is the pos- the plurals ours, yours, and theirs. sessive case, the form of a noun or pro- noun that indicates someone’s or (Words of the first type are known something’s possession, characteristic, also as possessive adjectives. Some gram- product, etc. See also Pronouns, 10A. marians assign that name to my, your See Punctuation, 1, the apostrophe, his, her, etc. because they go before for problems such as the confusion of nouns, as adjectives do: “This is a fra- possessive forms and contractions (B), grant flower.” But adjectives too follow omitted and superfluous apostrophes (C nouns: “This flower is fragrant.”) and D), possessives of possessives (F) The indefinite pronoun is a class of and sibilant endings (G). pronoun that can be made possessive, See also Gerund, 4; Pronouns, 1, 2, 9. e.g., anybody’s, anyone’s, either’s, every- POSSIBLE, POSSIBLY, POSSIBIL- body’s, everyone’s, nobody’s, one’s, ITY. 1. Meaning of POSSIBLE. 2. somebody’s, and someone’s. Preposition with POSSIBILITY. 5. Various questions 1. Meaning of POSSIBLE Is this correct? “I have Elisabeth Possible (adjective) means capable of Schwarzkopf, the soprano’s, records.” being, doing, or happening. It is possible What is made possessive when an appos- for an imprisoned burglar to be elected itive, or an explanatory word or phrase, president on a platform of legalized follows a person’s name? The appositive crime; not likely, highly improbable, just is. That example is correct, and so is this possible. Were broadcasters talking one: “They showed Douglas Fairbanks, about the realm of possibility when they Jr.’s, first film.” But “records of Elisabeth made the following statements? Schwarzkopf, the soprano” and “the first film by Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.” are [Woman:] Public TV stations need smoother ways to express the same your support. thoughts. [Man:] Support that makes pro- How is a compound noun like broth- grams like Nightly Business Report ers-in-law and attorneys general made possible. possessive when it already has a plural s? Add an apostrophe and another s. The Fresh Grocer is made possible “Guess what my brothers-in-law’s occu- by Lunardi’s Market. pations are.” / “He spoke at the attor- neys general’s meeting.” Express Traffic [is] made possible Which is right, “They ask for our first by the California Lottery. name” or “names”? The latter; we have Monetary contributions finance the separate names. But “John and Agnes public TV programs. The radio pro- are selling their house,” if they own it grams are sponsored by the market and jointly. See Nouns, 3. the lottery. All of those programs were Is it “the painting of my daughter” or possible before the stations went seeking “the painting of my daughter’s”? It is the contributions or sponsorship. The con- first if the picture shows her; the second tributors and sponsors help materialize if it was painted by her. Some critics find or make feasible or sustain that which is the double negative illogical, however possible. old and established. Nobody objects to it
  6. 298 pour and pore Journalists often misuse possible in earlier in the same capacity. The oppo- this way: “He suffered a possible broken site word was needed: successor, one leg.” If it were impossible, no one would who succeeds another. “My successor” suffer it. Better: “He may have suffered is the person who will take my job when a . . .” or “It is possible that he suffered I leave. a . . .” or “He possibly [adverb] suffered Predicate. See Clause; Complement; a. . . .” A less frequent journalistic misuse ap- Nouns, 4; Prepositions, 4; Sentence frag- pears in crime stories. “Police arrested a ment, 1; Verbs, 1D. possible suspect. . . .” Omit “possible.” Predicate adjective. See Adjectives They arrested a suspect. A suspect is pos- sibly the culprit. and adverbs, 2; Complement. See also APPARENT, APPARENTLY. Predicate noun (predicate nomina- tive). See Complement; Nouns, 1. 2. Preposition with POSSIBILITY When possibility (noun) is followed Prediction. See EXPECTED; NOT by a preposition, it is of. Then comes a gerund, an -ing word used as a noun. ABOUT TO; Reversal of meaning, 1. This sentence was part of a statement to PREFER. See THAN, 2D. the voters of a city from its legislative body: Prefix. See BACK(-) prefix and pairs; Every time San Franciscans face the BI- and SEMI- prefixes; CIRCUM- pre- possibility to enact candidate spend- fix; FACT- words; NANO- prefix; PRE- ing reform, hired gun campaign con- prefix; Punctuation, 4D (hyphenated sultants and weak-willed candidates forms); SELF- prefix; Spelling, 3; UP, 3. try to snow the voters. PREJUDICE. See WITH PREJU- “The possibility to enact” is not id- DICE and WITHOUT PREJUDICE. iomatic. Make it “the possibility of en- Prepositions. 1. The ABC’s of prepo- acting. . . .” (And insert a hyphen after “candidate.”) See Gerund, 3. sitions. 2. Ambiguity. 3. Ending with a preposition. 4. Insufficient prepositions. POUR and PORE. See Homo- 5. Misplacement. 6. Omission. 7. Selec- phones. tion of a preposition. 8. Superfluous preposition. PRACTICABLE and PRACTI- CAL. See Confusing pairs. 1. The ABC’s of prepositions The preposition is a deceptive part of PRECEDE and PROCEED. See speech, simple on the surface while trou- Confusing pairs. bling to learners of English and some- times to native speakers as well. It is PREDECESSOR and SUCCES- everywhere; it appeared in the last sen- SOR. A magazine publisher, leaving to tence five times. It includes some of the take another job, wrote to his readers, shortest words—at, by, in, of, on, to, “I . . . know you will be as kind and up—but properly choosing and using it thoughtful to my predecessor as you can be illogical, dictated by idiom. were to me.” Someone’s predecessor is A preposition shows the relation of a one who preceded him, one who served word or phrase in a sentence to a noun
  7. prepositions 299 or pronoun in that sentence. In the sen- sound.” / Under that tree is a good place tence “She lives in Providence,” the to rest.” The phrases are acting as ad- preposition in relates the verb lives to the verb, adjective, and noun respectively. noun Providence. In “The cat came to me,” the preposition to relates the verb 2. Ambiguity came to the pronoun me. One might expect the little preposi- A preposition may relate an adjective tions of and for to be clear in meaning, to a noun (“young at heart”), one noun and usually they are. But each has many to another (“the sound of music”), one meanings and can become cloudy in cer- pronoun to another (“Are you with tain contexts. him?”), and so on. “ ‘They have a valid complaint,’ said The choice of a preposition can deter- Dawis of the squatters.” Was Dawis one mine the meaning of a sentence. “He ran of the squatters? “Of” could mean from into the building” and “He ran from the or belonging to. However, the context (a building,” though differing by only one news story) indicates that about was word, have opposite meanings. meant; it would have been a more suit- In many cases idiom, not meaning, able preposition. dictates which preposition to use. “Visi- A book on words mentions tors are forbidden to enter” but “prohib- “achthronym, a word H. L. Mencken ited from entering.” (See FORBID, used for an ethnic slur. . . .” Those unfa- PROHIBIT, and BAN; Gerund, 3.) miliar with the combining form -onym, Depending on how it is used, the same used in classifying words and names, word may go with different preposi- could get the idea that the writer tions. “Twelve is equivalent [adjective] Mencken used the word as a slur against to a dozen” but “Twelve is the equiva- an ethnic group. “For” could give that lent [noun] of a dozen.” / “I agree to the impression. To mean or to denote, a deal” but “I agree with you.” (The first verb, would be more precise. agree means to give approval; the second An almanac says that Boris Yeltsin means to concur.) More examples ap- urged fast reform and “championed the pear in 7. cause for national reconstruction. . . .” Prepositions are not all tiny words; Was “the cause” reform? It was proba- they include against, around, between, bly “national reconstruction,” but the during, through, toward, without, and for is ambiguous; it could mean in the in- some that comprise more than one terest of. “. . . The cause of” would be word, such as according to, because of, clearer and more idiomatic. by means of, in regard to, and on ac- The headline “Guards Use Rifles in count of. Quentin Killing” suggests that prison The noun or pronoun (or other sub- guards shot someone to death. Actually, stantive) that the preposition pertains to one inmate stabbed another, whereupon is called the object of the preposition. A a guard fired at and wounded the at- pronoun that serves as the object takes tacker. The copy editor evidently had a the objective case. “The town stood be- peripheral role for “in” in mind; instead, hind him,” not “he.” (See Pronouns, it drags the using of rifles smack into the 10.) “Killing.” He probably avoided any- The preposition plus the object (and thing as straightforward as “San any modifier of it) is a prepositional Quentin Inmate Is Fatally Stabbed” be- phrase, e.g., behind him in the last exam- cause a competing paper got the news ple and the following emphasized words: first. “Violin with guitar makes a pleasant See also 6.
  8. 300 prepositions 3. Ending with a preposition wife’s alleged unfaithfulness.” The next The word preposition, a relative of one, from a telecast, has one correct the Latin praepositus, meaning placed in preposition but lacks a second: front, should not be taken literally. Sometimes a preposition goes at the end He was treated and released from a of a sentence. nearby hospital. A newspaper quotes an eyewitness as saying on Israeli radio: “Everybody was Released goes with from but “treated” hysterical, and nobody knew where the does not. A person is treated at or in a bullets would come from.” There is hospital, not “from” a hospital. This is nothing wrong with the quoted sentence one possible correction: “He was treated (as long as it was quoted and translated at and released from a nearby hospital.” correctly). Better: “He was treated at a nearby hos- Anyone who says you cannot end any pital and released.” sentence with a preposition does not Two similar sentences, from newspa- know what he is talking about. He pers, are likewise inadequate: would probably change the foregoing to “. . . does not know about what he is Another victim was transported to St. talking.” Francis Memorial Hospital, where he The notion was called by H. W. was treated and released for minor in- Fowler a once “cherished superstition” juries. and by Winston Churchill “an arrant pedantry up with which I will not put.” Mike K——, 38, was treated and It originates in the Latin language. released from Marin General Hospital Placing a preposition at the end may for smoke inhalation and first- and weaken a sentence, strengthen it, or do second-degree burns on his head. . . . neither. It depends on the sentence. “. . . Nobody knew from where the bul- The first sentence of that pair says the lets would come” is a weakened version victim was “released for” injuries, an ab- of the opening sample. surd juxtaposition. Here is a correction: Many great writers have ended sen- “Another victim was transported to St. tences with prepositions. Shakespeare Francis Memorial Hospital, treated there wrote: “It is an honor that I dream not for minor injuries, and released.” of” (Romeo and Juliet) and “It would be In the second of the pair, “treated” spoke to” (Hamlet). does not go with “from” and, again, “re- Prepositions end various common ex- leased” does not go with “for.” Try this: pressions, such as to have or not have “a “Mike . . . suffered from smoke inhala- leg to stand on” / “to be reckoned with” tion [etc.]. . . . He was treated at Marin / “that’s what ——— are for” / “where I General Hospital and released.” come from.” H. W. Fowler called attention to what he labeled “CANNIBALISM,” a sad 4. Insufficient prepositions practice in which “words devour their One preposition may or may not be own kind.” For instance: enough for a compound predicate; that is, a predicate with more than one verb. (The predicate is the part of a sentence The most vital problem in the etymo- that expresses the action.) One preposi- logical study of English place-names is tion is enough in this compound sen- the question as to what extent per- tence: “He ranted and raved about his sonal names occur in place-names.
  9. prepositions 301 “As to” and “to what” need separate second, somewhat in the manner of a to’s, but one to is missing—swallowed mathematical equation. See also BOTH, by the other one, as Fowler would say. 1; EITHER, 1; NEITHER, 1; NOT A sentence by Fowler himself evi- ONLY. dences a swallowed preposition: 6. Omission . . . It means, beyond a doubt, a cus- The casual speaker or writer some- tom that one deserves more honour times omits on and of when they are for breaking than for keeping. . . . needed and sticks them in when they are not needed. “On the first day” and “a A for has been swallowed, so to speak, couple of kids” are typical phrases in immediately after honour (the British which prepositions are subject to omis- spelling of honor). If for for is not to sion, contrary to idiom. See ON, 1; one’s liking, an alternative correction is COUPLE, 4. to change “that” to for which. (See also This sentence, from a book of travel HONORABLE [etc.] 3.) adventure, omits another idiomatic More examples appear in TO, 1. preposition: 5. Misplacement Mid-afternoon we passed a ruined An adjective and a preposition that hamlet of stone and shortly after it commonly go together, like similar to or reached an ancient and revered different from, should not be split apart. mosque. This sentence, from a computer book, splits them apart: It would improve the sentence to start it with In. Adverbs representing times of . . . The Toolbox has its own title day do not usually open sentences. (An- bar and System menu, with similar other improvement would be to drop properties to the publication title bar “it,” which tends to fuse with and System menu. “reached.”) A similar omission impairs a sentence A correction is “properties similar to the by a food critic: publication. . . .” (The sentence needs more fixing, for it compares unlike Multiply your weight times 13 to get a things. Make it “properties similar to rough idea of how many calories you those of the publication. . . .”) can consume a day. Divide the total Prepositions are liable to be misplaced by 4, and that’s how many fat calories in sentences containing correlative con- you can handle. junctions like both . . . and and ei- ther . . . or. “The bill has been passed You can “consume a day” repairing both by the Senate and the House of your house or operating your computer. Representatives.” Make it by both. “He As for the sample sentence, it would be has no faith either in the Democrats or improved either by “how many calories the Republicans.” Make it in either. you can consume in a day” or by “how Now in each sentence the preposition many calories a day you can consume.” (by or in) affects both nouns, not just the An a or an may be enough when sand- first; and we uphold the rule of correla- wiched between the nouns denoting tive conjunctions: The same grammati- units and time. But the preposition in cal form that follows the first should precede a when units and time conjunction of the pair must follow the are further apart. The statistical preposi-
  10. 302 prepositions tion per fits either context: “calories per tude for; capacity of means the most that day” or “calories you can consume per can be contained in. Compare to means day.” to liken to; compare with means to con- Prepositions, especially of, are often trast with. (See COMPARED TO and omitted in efforts to be concise. The re- COMPARED WITH, 1.) Concur in sult can be ambiguity. “A small sculpture means to express approval of (an opin- collection” could mean either “a collec- ion or joint action); concur with means tion of small sculptures” or “a small col- to agree with (someone). Correspond to lection of sculptures.” A more means to match; correspond with means complicated example: “The curbing of to exchange letters with. Differ from public meetings and the publication of means to be unlike; differ with means to newspapers eliminated most opposition disagree with. In behalf of means in the to the regime.” As it stands, “the curbing interest of; on behalf of means as the of public meetings” and “the publication agent of. Liable for means responsible of newspapers” may appear to be paral- for; liable to means apt to. (In) sympathy lel factors. But if “curbing” controls the with means in agreement with; sympa- latter phrase (a more likely assumption), thy for means compassion for. Wait for is precede the phrase by of: “The curbing to be inactive and in anticipation of; wait of public meetings and of the publication on is to serve (someone food or drink). of newspapers . . .” (See WAIT FOR and WAIT ON.) If the meaning is clear, omission of Even when the meaning does not prepositions is tolerable in headlines, change much, the preposition may vary such as the following, which appeared in with context. A conversation between one newspaper edition: “Police seek Ne- two people is a conversation among tanyahu indictment” / “Oil industry three. (See BETWEEN, 1.) A patient is fights gas additive ban” / “Group urges cured of a disease but cured by a treat- tough rules for hydrofluoric acid use” / ment. One is grateful for a benefit but “Panel OKs flood aid package.” In texts, grateful to a person. One may intervene clarity and grace call for “. . . indictment in a dispute but intervene between those of Netanyahu / “. . . ban on gas addi- disputing. A buyer is in the market for a tives” (or, better, “gasoline additives”) / product; a product is on the market. “. . . use of hydrofluoric acid” / Someone gains mastery of a skill or sub- “. . . package of flood aid.” ject; a ruler or regime gains mastery over a country or people. A report of an acci- 7. Selection of a preposition dent appears in the paper; the govern- Learning which preposition goes with ment submits a report on the economy. each verb, adjective, noun, or pronoun is One may speak on a subject but speak to a daunting task for the foreign student of a person. (See SPEAK TO, TALK TO.) English, sometimes for the native In the press on often assumes func- speaker too. The choice of preposition tions that would be better served by often depends on idiom, rather than other prepositions. (See ON, 3.) In news logic. The same word may go with two items about arrests, for can be prejudi- prepositions, depending on meaning: cial. (See Guilt and Innocence, 5.) Agree to means to consent to or ap- An occasional error in the choice of prove something; agree with means to be prepositions goes like this (numbers of the same opinion as, or to be suitable added): “He will be in the best possible for. Belong to means to be a member of; position for [1] getting the most out of belong with means to deserve being clas- the land and of [2] using it to the best sified among. Capacity for means apti- possible advantage.” Although for
  11. prerequisite and perquisite 303 would apply to both 1 and 2, the writer See also ADVOCATE; FREE, 1; OFF chose to precede the second phrase with and “OFF OF”; ON, 2; WHENCE and an extra preposition to be clearer; but in- “FROM WHENCE”; WISH; WITH. stead of repeating for, which would PRE- prefix. The prefix pre- means make sense, he carelessly copied “of,” the last preposition he saw. before, beforehand, early, in advance of, See also 1, 2; DIFFERENT, 1; or in front of. An example appears in the Gerund, 3B; INTO, 1; RALLY; WITH noun prefix itself (originating in the PREJUDICE (etc.). Latin prae-, before, and figere, to fix). Other examples are adjectives, such as 8. Superfluous preposition preadolescent (youngsters), precancer- A newspaper ran the headline “Regu- ous (lesions), prefabricated (houses); lators’ beef with selling milk for cheap.” verbs, to predominate, to prejudge; and The “for” was unnecessary and unid- more nouns, prescription, preview. iomatic. “. . . Selling milk cheap” (or If such a meaning is obvious without cheaply) is enough. You do not say it, pre- is probably unnecessary. These “moving for quick” or “coming for sentences are redundant: “Advance pay- soon.” ment of the initiation fee and the first That is an example of a superfluous year’s dues is a precondition of member- preposition, one that is used unnecessar- ship.” / “We won’t begin operations ily with a particular word. Some promi- without careful preplanning.” / “On nent examples include “for” before free, January 2 all students must preregister “of” after off, and “from” before for courses.” / “Before buying the car, whence. have a mechanic pretest it.” A series may be marred by an extra Radio commercials for two respected preposition, as in this extract from a automotive brands have offered “pre- news story: owned models” and “certified preowned automobiles.” The merchandise is what Its history has been reconstructed most Americans call used cars. A sign at from ticket stubs found on the floor, a bookstore: “PREVIOUSLY READ dressing room graffiti and from inter- BOOKS & MAGAZINES.” views with older black residents of When the prefix pre- is followed by e, Athens. . . . many publications separate the two e’s The first “from” covers all the three with a hyphen. It indicates that the long items enumerated. The other “from” is vowel sound in pre- (PREE) is followed superfluous, inasmuch as no preposition by a short vowel sound: pre-eminent, precedes the second item, “dressing pre-emption, pre-existing. (Pre- has a room graffiti.” See also Series errors, 9. short vowel in some words, including In numerical ranges, prepositions are preliminary and preserve.) A hyphen is liable to pile up: “A high temperature of necessary when the second element from 70 to 75 degrees is forecast.” Omit starts with a capital letter: pre- from. “The gadget is priced at between Columbian. The Associated Press hy- $40 and $50.” Omit at. phenates pre-convention, pre-dawn, and This example is similar in its causes to any combinations that are not in a cer- the one at the end of 7: “It could be done tain dictionary. without unduly raising the price of coal PREREQUISITE and PERQUI- or of jeopardizing new trade.” Omit the SITE. See PERQUISITE and PRE- second of; no preposition belongs there at all. REQUISITE.
  12. 304 prescribe and proscribe PRESCRIBE and PROSCRIBE. Even now or a synonym is often un- An article says a federal law “proscribed necessary in sentences that are in the pre- that the tax on capital gains be the same sent tense. Delete “presently” from the as the top rate on incomes.” The sen- three press quotations and it remains ob- tence says the opposite of what its writer vious that the time is the present. intended. “Proscribed” should be pre- Now or a synonym is useful for em- scribed. To prescribe something is to es- phasis or for contrasting the present tablish it as a rule. To proscribe with the past or the future. “Now she something is to outlaw it. The law estab- tells me!” / “He’s sorry now, but what of lished that tax rule; it did not outlaw it. the future?” / “I used to be married, but I’m not at present.” PRESENTLY. The meaning of Present tense. See Tense. presently seemed to slow down over the centuries. It used to mean now until that PRESS (verb). See ADVOCATE. meaning became obsolete, except for di- alects, some three hundred years ago. PRESUMPTIVE and PRESUMP- Later it came to mean immediately; still TUOUS. See Confusing pairs. later, soon. “The queen is expected to ar- rive presently.” / “The small gathering Preterit, preterite (past tense). See presently grew into a huge crowd.” The original meaning, now, has been Tense. revived. But several authorities prefer to PREVENT. To prevent (verb, transi- restrict presently to the meaning of soon, before long, or in a short time, so as to tive) is to avert or thwart; to keep (some- avoid any confusion from a second one or something) from doing meaning. They would not look with fa- something; or to keep (something) from vor on these press uses: “[His] yearly happening. salary is . . . presently the highest in the All of these constructions are id- country. . . .” / “. . . The group is iomatic: (1) “Run the water slowly to presently about $30,000 in debt.” / prevent overflowing”; (2) “. . . prevent it “Presently, a few Monterey from overflowing”; (3) “. . . prevent its pines . . . grow on the block-long site.” overflowing.” In those sentences “presently” plainly What is unidiomatic is “to prevent it means now, but the meaning can be overflowing.” From or a possessive form blurred: “I believe presently the venture (see Gerund, 4) should precede the -ing will be profitable.” Does “presently” re- word. Neither of them does in this press fer to the speaker’s belief or to the fu- sentence: ture? One can sidestep the issue, saving two The challenge facing the two sides syllables at the same time, by replacing in South Africa is to find a formula “presently” with now when that is the which incorporates some of these ele- meaning. Those who scorn now because ments into a constitution which will a little monosyllable does not seem im- prevent South Africa going the same portant enough can draw upon cur- way as the rest of Africa. rently, at present, or at this time. For those wishing to drag it out still further, It should be “prevent South Africa from a phrase associated with Watergate is going . . .” or “prevent South Africa’s available: See “AT THIS POINT IN going. . . .” (For more clarity, the first TIME.” “which” should be that; it is used restric-
  13. pristine 305 tively. Whether the reporter meant to use mary, primal. (Note the -al ending in the second “which” in the same way is both primal and principal.) uncertain. See THAT and WHICH.) PRIORITIZE. See -IZE ending. PRIMATES. A caption under a pho- PRIOR, PRIOR TO. Using “prior tograph of two chimpanzees says, “Pri- mates are much more vegetarian in their to” as a genteel synonym for before, in diet than humans,” which is something the manner of this press example, serves like saying that rodents run faster than no useful purpose: “Officer Malcom mice. M—— said prior to last month, the last Humans are primates. Primates is an vehicle to go over the cliff was in order of animals, the most highly devel- 1978. . . .” oped order. It comprises man, ape, mon- In formal writing, prior to (adverb) key, lemur, loris, and tarsier. As a may be used to emphasize that one event taxonomic order, Primates is capitalized, is a prerequisite to the other: “Citizens singular though ending in s, and pro- must register prior to voting.” nounced pry-MAY-tease. A member of Prior (adjective) without the to is the order is a primate, pronounced PRY- more useful. It can mean preceding in mate. importance, in order, or in time: “a prior An item deals with a “toddler who fell consideration” / “his prior choice” / “my into a Chicago zoo’s gorilla pit and was prior appointment.” rescued by a 160-pound primate. . . .” (As for the press sentence: “said that” The last word is neither wrong nor pre- would be clearer, unless the officer said it cise (I have been a 160-pound primate “prior to last month.” See THAT, 2. The myself) but a synonym obviously chosen month should have been stated; the story to avoid repeating gorilla. appeared on the first.) See also APE and MONKEY. PRISTINE. A television screen de- PRINCIPAL and PRINCIPLE. A picted a suburban park. Now it is “pris- political consultant was quoted as say- tine” wilderness, but it used to be the site ing, “It was a credible message, based on of explosives manufacturing, the narra- very broad philosophical principal.” The tor said. He was nearly contradicting last word amounted to a misquotation. himself. If it was an industrial site, it is A newspaper reporter had heard it right no longer “pristine,” although it could but spelled it wrong. have returned to a state of wilderness. One speaks of a philosophical princi- Pristine (adjective) describes an early ple (except in some rare instance of a period, predating the touch of man; or school principal who is a philosopher). an original, unspoiled condition. It This noun denotes a law of nature, a ba- comes from the Latin pristinus, former. sic truth or postulate, a cause to which On a radio talk show, a commentator one is dedicated, an essential element or on popular culture spoke of television’s quality, or a rule of conduct. (It might “very pristine image” of the police and aid one’s memory to note the -le ending “pristine image of doctors.” Perhaps he in both rule and principle.) thought it meant pure. A TV newscaster The noun principal denotes the head may have had that idea too; he said the of a school, or a main participant, or the study of Lake Tahoe began four decades amount of a debt or investment without ago when the water was “relatively pris- the interest. As an adjective, principal tine.” To qualify pristine with “very” or means first in rank or importance, pri- “relatively” is dubious; something either
  14. 306 probability is pristine or it is not. In each instance it At The New York Times, a creditable was not. standing rule has been “Do not use [probe] for inquiry, investigation or in- Probability. See Numbers, 10C. vestigate.” The rule does not prevent specialized use, as in space probe. PROBABLE, PROBABLY. See AP- PARENT, APPARENTLY. PROCEED and PRECEDE. See Confusing pairs. PROBATION. See PAROLE and PROBATION. PROFANITY. See OBSCENE, OB- PROBE. A probe is an instrument SCENITY. used by physicians in examining PROFESSION. See “OLDEST PRO- wounds, cavities, or sinuses. Often made of silver, usually thin and flexible with a FESSION.” blunt end, it serves to determine the PROGNOSIS. See CONDITION. depth and direction of those depressions. To probe (verb, transitive and intransi- Progressive tenses. See Tense, 1. tive) is literally to examine with a probe. Originating in the Latin probare, to PROHIBIT. See FORBID, PRO- test (the origin of prove), the English noun dates at least to the sixteenth cen- HIBIT, and BAN. tury; the verb, to the seventeenth. A figu- PROLIXITY, PROLIX. See Ver- rative meaning of the verb, to search into with the aim of exploring or discovering, bosity. developed almost at the same time as the Pronouns. 1. Ambiguity. 2. Disagree- literal. The sense of interrogating closely came out of the nineteenth century. ment in number. 3. Lack of reflexive. 4. In the mid-twentieth, probe became Needless use of -SELF. 5. Nonstandard associated with congressional hearings. -SELF or -SELVES words. 6. Omission. Headlines used it freely, as both verb and 7. Shift in person. 8. Superfluous apos- noun; the thirteen letters of investigation trophe. 9. Superfluous pronoun. 10. could not compete with the five letters of Wrong case. probe. Though inquiry was not much longer, it never caught on. Writers and 1. Ambiguity speakers too adopted that headline word A pronoun is a word used in place of for general use. a noun. For instance, “Stand beside her Within several days, the national TV and guide her” substitutes for “Stand be- audience heard on a newscast that the side America and guide America” in a Senate planned “to launch a widespread famous song. Pronouns are handy de- probe of voter fraud” in Louisiana; on a vices, enabling us to avoid having to re- news feature program that a “task force peat names, words, or whole phrases all conducted a lengthy probe” into cus- the time. (See also Pronouns’ classifica- toms corruption; on one discussion pro- tion.) gram that the Louisiana election was Usually, if a pronoun is not to do “now being probed” and an indepen- more harm than good, it must be clear dent counsel was needed “to probe the just what it is replacing. Because of de- White House scandal”; and on another fective phrasing or organization, it can discussion program that “Hillary was be unclear which noun a given pronoun the central figure in a probe. . . .” represents (i.e., which is its antecedent)
  15. pronouns 307 or the pronoun can literally apply to the A report on the origin of Arabian aid wrong noun. Sometimes it is better to for the Nicaraguan Contras quoted the use no pronoun and repeat the noun. president, described a congressional in- The first sample statement is by a vestigation into the matter, and followed well-known reporter on a TV “maga- with excerpts from the testimony of zine” program. It is not clear which per- Robert C. McFarlane. Emphasis is son was “he.” added to the questionable pronoun, at the end. When P—— was hired by H——, he had a criminal record. Sen. William S. Cohen (R-Me.) said he was troubled by “the definition of The following sentence, a paragraph solicitation” of funds. in itself, is from a news agency’s dis- Although he has talked of Reagan’s patch. meeting with Fahd, McFarlane on Wednesday refused to term any dis- Another witness, Drazen E——, cussion of the contras’ needs a solici- testified that he had participated in tation of aid. the slaughter of up to 1,200 Sre- “It seems to me that we have been brenica Muslims in one day. engaged in this exercise of trying to define how many foreign leaders can It seems to say that the witness admitted be made to dance on the head of the participating in the crime. But the con- President’s contra program without text indicates that “he” was meant to calling it a solicitation,” he said. apply to someone else, an army general identified earlier in the story. Read in iso- Who said? Since McFarlane was the last lation, the sentence defames the witness. name mentioned, a reader can reason- Its only subjects are the proper noun and ably assume that McFarlane is the man the personal pronoun. Hence it is rea- now being quoted. But the essence of the sonable for a reader to assume that the message has changed. Actually “he” is pronoun represents the noun. Instead of Senator Cohen. (I wrote to him and he “he,” the general or the general’s name confirmed that he made the statement.) should have been used. It would have avoided confusion to in- The succeeding illustrations come terchange the first and second para- from newspapers in five cities. graphs. The existing order presents a confusing “he” in the second paragraph Rules were changed to open up the too: A reader may at first take it to be nominating process after the 1968 Senator Cohen, the person last men- convention, in which Chicago Mayor tioned, but that “he” is McFarlane. Richard Daley and other bosses deliv- Here is an excerpt from a news story ered the nomination to Hubert about speeches made by Jesse Jackson Humphrey while his police beat heads during his second campaign for the outside the convention. Democratic presidential nomination: In “his police,” to whom does “his” re- He termed Mr. Dukakis’s proposals fer? The meaning suggests that it refers “very conservative, very cautious, to Daley, but the “his” tends to cling to very inadequate.” “Humphrey” because they are so close. Today Mr. Jackson said, in refer- The sentence would be improved by ence to Mr. Dukakis, “a cautious ap- changing “his” to the mayor’s. proach without commitment will not
  16. 308 pronouns satisfy our basic needs.” About his The writer should have discarded the proposals, he added, “Democrats in first two pronouns and used nouns, per- Atlanta will rejoice at this budget.” haps in this manner: “And while the lob- byists insist that the statutes were Whose proposals are “his” proposals? designed to protect Christian Scientists Since “Mr. Dukakis’s proposals” were from. . . .” mentioned just two sentences ago and since the story says Mr. Jackson is speak- The W——s are the Long Island ing “in reference to Mr. Dukakis,” it is couple cited by Eugene police last plausible to assume that “his” refers to month after they offered University of Mr. Dukakis. Yet it would not make Oregon students money to engage in sense for a candidate to predict rejoicing sex with Nancy W——, 44. over a rival’s proposals, unless the candi- date is speaking ironically. The context Because “they” soon follows “police,” a indicates that “his” probably means reader may think that “they” represents Mr. Jackson’s. If so, the confusion could “police,” although further reading of the have been avoided by the insertion of a article will correct such an interpreta- three-letter word: “About his own pro- tion. Instead of a muddy pronoun, the posals. . . .” couple’s surname should have been re- This is from an article on the prosecu- peated. tion of parents who depend on faith healing for their children: Meeting reporters later after chang- ing out of her prison clothes, Morgan Over the years, Christian Science said her daughter was better off than lobbyists have succeeded in either she was when her mother started the drafting or playing a significant role in jail term. the wording of religious exemption statutes in the child welfare codes of Was “Morgan” imprisoned along with 47 states. her mother? The parallel phrasing of And while they insist that the “her daughter” and “her mother” seems statutes were designed to protect them to suggest that. However, the full story from exactly the legal nightmare they says nothing about a grandmother being now face, prosecutors argue that the locked up. Probably “her mother” laws do not cover manslaughter or means “Morgan,” but another “Mor- other serious crimes. gan” would be awkward. The best solu- tion is to rephrase part of the sentence: Who are “them” and “they”? If the sec- “. . . better off than she had been when ond paragraph is considered alone, those the jail term began.” pronouns seem to stand for “prosecu- tors,” but such an interpretation would By noon, Rosie—surrounded by not be reasonable. The first “they” could her mom and dad . . . —had her mare. reasonably apply to the “lobbyists” And this morning when she wakes up, mentioned in the previous paragraph, she can run out to her own corral and but “them” and the second “they” could watch her own horse in her new not; the lobbyists would not be likely to home. argue that the statutes were designed to protect the lobbyists. “Them” and the In “her new home,” who or what is second “they” probably apply to no- “her,” Rosie or the horse? “Her” evi- body mentioned in either paragraph. dently is Rosie the first four times, so no
  17. pronouns 309 reader can be blamed for assuming that is you” would be grammatically correct. it is Rosie the fifth time. Nothing is said Yet the excerpt is part of a paragraph in the article about Rosie’s moving, how- that uses we, us, or our twenty-one ever, so the fifth “her” seems to be the times; a version consistent with all the horse. It would have forestalled the con- plurality is this: “But the only persons fusion to put the horse in the neuter gen- [or “the only ones”] who can give us der: “its new home.” that permission are ourselves.” (Still Ambiguity in the use of relative pro- more proper: “are we.” See 10D.) nouns comes up in THAT and WHICH; Further examples are taken from a WHICH, 1; WHO, 1. How misunder- book about English words, a state’s tax standing can occur when such a pronoun form, and two news articles: (that) is not placed immediately after its antecedent is illustrated in Modifiers, 3B For the dedicated dictionary (end). browser a new edition is a great joy, but sometimes their pleasure in dis- 2. Disagreement in number covering new words is tempered by the loss of the old. A. An individual gets a singular pronoun Did you live with any other person This is all about grammar. A who claimed you as a dependent on spokesman for a group supporting what their income tax return? it called a woman’s right to choose (abortion) was quoted in the press as The study . . . found that the older saying, “This is all about an individual’s a person is, the faster their infection right to make a choice about their indi- progresses to AIDS diseases. vidual lives.” Plainly “an individual” is singular. What can be more singular? It . . . if a suggestion is made to an does not agree with “their . . . lives,” anesthetized patient to make a specific which is plural. It would, however, agree gesture in an interview days later, they with her . . . life, which is singular. Hav- will probably make the gesture, al- ing erroneously associated “individual” though they will not be aware what with “their,” the speaker proceeded to they have done or why they have done give that individual a number of “lives.” it. Disagreement between a noun (such as “individual”) and a pronoun pertain- Changing “their” to his would correct ing to it (such as “their”) is a common the first three examples. In the fourth, mistake in grammar. Usually the mis- change “they” to he four times and taker tries to represent a singular noun “have” to has twice. Singulars will then by means of a plural pronoun. A book of match singulars. popular psychology says: A browser, a person, or a patient is singular, as is an aviator, the dentist, It’s as if we’re waiting for permis- Aunt Fifi, an infant, the president, Cap- sion to start living fully. But the only tain John Smith, a thespian, a zoo person who can give us that permis- keeper, or anyone else. sion is ourselves. Their is plural. So is they or them. Each of those th words pertains to more A “person” is not “ourselves.” One is than one person or thing. singular, the other plural. “But the only It is a long-standing rule of grammar person who can give you that permission that a pronoun referring to a singular
  18. 310 pronouns noun must be singular; a pronoun refer- The alternative to night school: Week- ring to a plural noun must be plural. end College. The least disruptive way Personal pronouns referring to one for a working man or woman to re- person, aside from you and me, are he turn for their degree. and she (in the subjective case); him and her (in the objective case); and his, her, A “man or woman” is singular. (See and hers (in the possessive case). It and OR.) Thus “their” should be his or her its are considered in B. See also ONE as or simply a. (We will overlook the lack pronoun. of a complete sentence.) What if we do not know if the person While English has riches, it has some is male or female, or what if the sex does shortcomings; it lacks, for instance, a not matter? He, him, or his then repre- multipurpose possessive pronoun like sents a person of either sex. the Spanish su. (In Britain, as Shake- The editor and grammarian Patricia speare indicates, some used an unac- T. O’Conner writes in Woe Is I that she cented a or a’ in lieu of he, she, they, it, cringes when she hears a sentence like or I.) Nevertheless, for anyone who in- “Somebody forgot to pay their bill” in- sists on reading sexual significance into stead of “pay his bill.” She perceives his pronouns, there is always the option good intentions but bad grammar. “The of rephrasing a thought, e.g.: for dedi- pronouns he and his have been used cated dictionary browsers / on an in- since time immemorial to refer to people come tax return / the faster an infection in general.” progresses / the patient will probably That a pronoun in the masculine gen- make the gesture, without being aware der can represent any person when sex is of it / pay the bill. It is a better answer to immaterial or unknown has been long the limitations of our language than established in law as well as grammar. childish barbarism. Black’s Law Dictionary says he is “usu- The errors can be droll. A book on ally used . . . to include both sexes as first aid warns of danger from the black well as corporations” and his too “may widow spider, brown recluse spider, and refer to a person of either sex.” Oxford’s scorpion, and it says: A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage says: If a person is bitten by any of the three, have them lie down and not walk. . . . The traditional view, still to be ob- served in the most formal contexts, is But what if the creatures don’t want to that the masculine pronouns are lie down? generic, comprehending both male and female. Thus cumbersome pairs B. IT, ITS: pronoun in the neuter such as he or she and his or her are gender usually unnecessary. A book of travel adventure says: Such a pair can be unwieldy in a sen- If one has never seen a grand African tence with several pronouns (like the one river their beauty comes as a wonder- about the anesthetized patient). And it ful surprise. can be conspicuous unless the matter of sex is pertinent or, as in the example be- River is singular. “Their” is plural; it low, both male and female are men- should be its (preceded by a comma). tioned. A college advertised: As a rule, an inanimate, nonliving, or
  19. pronouns 311 abstract thing takes the singular, neuter An alternative correction would start out plural: “11⁄2-year-olds know a lot. . . .” pronoun it or its. Traditionally she and her have been applied to a ship or coun- (In either case, change “or” to and; that try—“Aye, tear her tattered ensign will produce a plural to agree with down”—but it and its will do for either. words. See OR.) In an article, quoted below, a com- It or its applies also to an animal, un- pany is regarded, correctly, as singular. less its sex is known and material. Five paragraphs later, it becomes plural A radio physician advised a caller, and then turns singular again. (Emphasis “Take the dog to the doctor and give is added.) them the penicillin.” The dog has no choice, but what if the doctor resists? Procter & Gamble Co., the Cincin- nati-based consumer products con- C. (-)ONE words and phrases; -BODY cern, has begun shipping diamonds words; EACH; EVERY with its soap powder. . . . A school principal might be expected The promotion is unusual for to know the grammatical rules that are P&G, although the company may taught to children. One principal said, in have put pearls in their bottles of Prell a speech acknowledging his winning of shampoo once. . . . The company ex- the title of “educator of the year,” it is pects this promotion to do very well. the job of educators to insure “that every one of those children know more than In American usage, company is singular. they knew the year before.” This educa- Do not speak of “their” bottles instead tor may not be up to the job, unless he of its bottles—if you are not prepared to knows more than he knew at the time of say “The company expect. . . .” that speech. Here is an example of the singular in- Obviously one is singular. So is any correctly used instead of the plural: a can phrase ending in one, including any one, labeled “PINEAPPLE CHUNKS IN ITS each one, every one, and no one. So is OWN JUICE.” The chunks have their any word ending in -one, including any- own juice. (The possessive cannot apply one, everyone, and someone. So are the to “PINEAPPLE,” which is serving as an -body pronouns: anybody, everybody, adjective. If the label said “CHUNKS nobody, and somebody. We say “Every- OF PINEAPPLE,” then “PINEAPPLE” body knows,” not “know”; and “Every- as a noun could possess “ITS OWN one is here,” not “are.” Each also is JUICE.”) singular, particularly as a subject. (See It or its may be used for a baby, par- EACH, EACH OF.) A possessive that ticularly if it represents babies in general: refers to any of the pronouns just men- “A newborn needs its mother.” tioned should be singular, just as the re- An article about children’s learning of lated verb should be singular. Similarly language quotes a linguist: the adjective every makes what it modi- fies singular. Dr. C—— concludes that “a 11⁄2- Examples: “Is anyone missing his year-old knows a lot about containers keys?” / “Everyone must buy her own and surfaces, but they don’t know the dress.” / “I see everybody brought his or words ‘on’ or ‘in.’ ” her spouse.” / “Somebody sends her re- “A 11⁄2-year-old” is singular and conflicts gards.” / “Every man for himself.” / “To with “they,” which is plural. The final each his own.” (Nobody sings “To each clause may be corrected this way: their own.”) “. . . but it doesn’t know the words. . . .” Two news stories and a book about
  20. 312 pronouns English (quoted earlier) display the same offending “their” in place of his or was kind of mistake: he afraid to correct the boss? (The pub- lisher added a pledge that the paper The state Elections Code requires would continue to adhere to its tradi- anyone who raises more than $500 to tional “high standards of journalism and disclose their finances. business.” Its standards of grammar used to be high too.) Everybody had their moment. . . . See also EVERYBODY, EVERYONE, 4; EVERY ONE and EVERYONE; ONE To quiz someone was to make fun as pronoun. of them. . . . 3. Lack of reflexive Change “their” to his in the first two A pronoun misses the mark in each of sentences. Change “them” to him in the these passages (by a lawyer, an anchor third. man, and two journalists respectively): A congressman being interviewed on television was partly right and partly “I ultimately refused to go, thereby wrong: depriving me of the ability to partici- pate. . . .” Each candidate has to make his or her own decision on how they play this What did one man do to land him in [the issue of impeachment]. court? He recognized the singularness of “each Mr. McCain, for example, must stand candidate” by correctly saying “his or for re-election . . . giving him less time her own decision” but failed to follow to recover. through: “on how he or she plays this.” If he wanted to express the same mes- A . . . motorist . . . lost control of her sage more concisely, he could have said car and slammed into two oncoming “his own decision on how he plays this.” cars, killing her instantly. . . . Sometimes there is disagreement in number even when the subject is plainly Change “me” to myself, each “him” to female or male. In an editorial column, a himself, and the second “her” to herself. sentence appeared that should have been Each of the emphasized words is a re- deemed unfit to print. A new publisher flexive pronoun. The action that the sub- had just taken over the newspaper, and ject performs is done to the subject; it here was his first statement. Referring to reflects back onto him or her. The suffix his predecessors—his grandfather, uncle, -self or -selves indicates reflexiveness. and father—he wrote: Other pronouns of that type are the singular words itself, oneself, and your- Each of these men, in their message self and the plural words ourselves, upon being named Publisher, quoted themselves, and yourselves. the pledge Mr. Ochs made when he Often a -self pronoun is used when it took the helm of the Times: To give should not be. “Myself,” in place of me, the news impartially, without fear or is the most common one. See 4. Some- favor, regardless of any party, sect or times a nonstandard form, like “their- interest involved. selves,” is used. See 5. (In the third Had the copy gone unedited? If it had example, “stand” is dubious. See RUN been edited, did the copy editor miss the and STAND.)
nguon tai.lieu . vn
Tiếng Anh thương mại TOEFL - IELTS - TOEIC Kỹ năng viết tiếng Anh Ngữ pháp tiếng Anh Tiếng Anh phổ thông Tiếng Anh thông dụng Chứng chỉ A Nhật - Pháp - Hoa - Others Kỹ năng đọc tiếng Anh Tiếng Anh trẻ em Kỹ năng nghe tiếng Anh Giáo dục học