17. Can you offer some guidance on using comparatives and superlatives?
The positive form of an adjective or adverb is the basic form listed in a dictionary, e.g." "red," "awful" (adjectives); "soon," "quickly" (adverbs). Adjectives and adverbs can show degrees of quality or amount with the endings -er and -est or with the words more and most or less and least. The comparative form is the greater or lesser degree of the quality named, e.g., "redder," "more/less awful," "sooner," "more/less quickly." The superlative form is the greatest or least degree of the quality named, e.g., "reddest," "most-least awful," "soonest," "most/least quickly." Without knowing for sure (i.e., looking in a dictionary), you can often tell by sound whether to use -er/-est or more/most. Double-check in a dictionary. If the endings -er/-est can be used, a dictionary will usually list them. Otherwise, use more or most. There are a few irregular adjectives and adverbs. For those, you must memorize how these change the spelling of their positive form to show comparative and superlative degrees. The adjectives are: "good>better>best," "bad>worse>worst," "little>littler,less>littlest,least;" "many, some, much>more>most." The adverbs are: "well>better>best," "badly>worse>worst."
18. What is litotes?
Litotes (Greek for 'smooth, plain; small, meager') is a figure of speech in which an affirmative is expressed by a contrary negative. Emphasis is given to a deliberate understatement by denying its opposite. To do this, you would say something like: He's not a bad singer; That's no ordinary automobile; I am not unfamiliar with organizing a household; That is not a bad idea; That is no small problem; She is not the friendliest person I know. The opposite of litotes is hyperbole. There are more than sixty different figures of speech, which are various forms of expression that are different from the "normal" arrangement or use of words and which lend beauty, force, or variety to writing. Some of the figures of speech are: alliteration, amphiboly, analogy, antanaclasis, antiphrasis, antithesis, aposiopesis, apostrophe, diallage, dissimilitude, enantiosis, epistrophe, euphemism, hendiadys, henopoeia, heterosis, hypallage, hyperbation, hyperbole, hysteron proteron, irony, meiosis, metaphor, metonymy, mimesis, onomatopoeia, oxymoron, periphrasis, personification, simile, synecdoche, and trope.
19. What is a malapropism?
This funny term takes its name from Mrs. Malaprop, a character in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's play The Rivals (London: Printed for John Wilkie, 1775), who habitually confused long words. (Sheridan patterned her name after the French mal à propos, 'inappropriate'.) Malapropism is the ludicrous but unintentional misuse of words, especially mistaking a word for another that looks or sounds much like it (also an instance of this). The sounds of the word actually used strongly resemble those of the intended word, but there is no similarity in meaning (e.g., horoscope / stethoscope, physical / fiscal, parakeet / parquet, enormity / enormousness). You will find many malapropisms pop up in the speeches of politicians and the chatter of children. Reader's Digest offers this one from a little girl saying the Pledge of Allegiance: "I pledge a lesson to the frog of the United States of America, and to the wee puppet for witches hands. One Asian, in the vestibule, with little tea and just rice for all." Charles Schulz, the creator of the Peanuts comic strip, loved to use malapropisms, especially by Charlie Brown's sister, Sally, e.g., "I'm writing a story about some cave men. They're sitting around a campfire, see, when all of a sudden they're attacked by a huge thesaurus!"
20. What is an indirect object? What is a direct object?
In a sentence, when the predicate consists of a verb followed by a noun that identifies who or what receives the action of the verb, that noun is the direct object. So, in "The earthquake destroyed the city," the city is the direct object. The direct object is the noun 'governed' by a transitive verb. In a sentence, when the predicate consists of a verb followed by two nouns, then one is the indirect object, identifying to or for whom the action of the verb is performed. So, in "The government sent the city aid," the city is the indirect object and aid is the direct object. The indirect object is related to either a transitive or intransitive verb. The indirect object is the person (or place or thing) affected by the occurrence of an action, although not directly or primarily acted on. The direct object and indirect object refer to different people, places, or things. Other examples are: Businesses gave the museum money. / One company offered its employees bonuses. The indirect objects in these are the museum, its employees. The direct objects are money, bonuses. A number of verbs can take indirect objects (such as allow, bring, buy, deny, find, get, give, leave, make, offer, pay , read, sell, send, show, teach, and write). With some verbs, the indirect object must be turned into a phrase beginning with to or for, as in: admit, announce, demonstrate, explain, introduce, mention, prove, recommend, say, and suggest. Examples are: The booklet explains the new system to workers. / The workshop recommended journal-keeping for participants.
21. When should I use whom instead of who?
Use who when a nominative pronoun is appropriate, and whom when an objective pronoun is appropriate. Who is a nominative pronoun (meaning it acts as a subject) and is used: 1) as the subject of a verb, as in "It was Paul who rescued the dog."; 2) as the complement of a linking verb, as in "They know who you are." Whom is an objective pronoun (meaning it serves as an object) and is used: 1) as the object of a verb, as in "Whom did you see?" and 2) as the object of a preposition, as in "That is the group to whom the credit belongs." Who and whom seem to cause more difficulty than other pronouns. Thus, when in doubt, substitute him and see if that sounds right. If him is OK, then whom is OK. For example: "You talked to whom? You talked to him." It would be incorrect to say "You talked to he," and few native English speakers would make that mistake.
22. When do you use lie and lay?
To lay is to place something; to lie is to recline (though there are other meanings). Lay is followed by an object, the thing being placed. For example: He lays the book down to eat. To lie is to recline, as in: She lies quietly on the chaise lounge. The best way to explain it is that lie in the sense of 'to recline' or 'be situated' is intransitive and cannot take a direct object. But lay meaning 'to place something' or 'put down' or 'arrange' is always transitive and requires a direct object. Because lie is intransitive, it has only an active voice, while lay can be active or passive because it is transitive. Part of the source of the confusion is the past tense of lie, which is lay: She lay on the chaise all day. The past participle of lie is lain, as in: She has lain there since yesterday, as a matter of fact. The past tense of lay is laid, as is the past participle.
23. Can I use and (or but, etc.) at the start of a sentence?
Yes. The old "rule" that you cannot begin a sentence with a conjunction has actually gone by the wayside. In casual writing or speech, a sentence can start with and or but. Though these words are mainly used to join elements within a sentence, they have been used to start sentences since the 10th century. Many style guides even say that but is more effective than however at the beginning of a sentence. But, in any case, do use variety in the way you start sentences and try to start consecutive sentences with different words. The groundless suggestion that it is incorrect to begin a sentence with but or and is as silly as saying it is incorrect to end a sentence with a preposition.
24. Should I put a comma before and in a series of items?
The use of a serial comma in a series such as: bread, butter, and beer) is a matter of taste. You can either leave it in or take it out: (bread, butter and beer) works as well. It is important that you choose your style and be consistent in using it. Remember, though, that a serial comma's absence can sometimes change the meaning, so do read your sentence carefully. The
http://alt-usage-english.org/ cites the example of an author who dedicated his novel thus: To my parents, Ayn Rand and God. Clearly the author should not have omitted the serial comma in this case. Use commas in a compound sentence to clarify meaning or add emphasis. Use a comma to separate clauses of a sentence which have and between them. If there's no and, use a semicolon instead: She hadn't left the computer all week; by Friday she was climbing the walls.
25. What is a linking verb?
A linking verb is usually a form of "be," "become," or "seem" that identifies or links the predicate complement (either a nominative or adjective) of a sentence with the subject. Example: Achilles is a lion. Is links Achilles with lion or identifies Achilles with a lion. Achilles is the subject of the sentence and is a lion is the predicate. Other verbs that can serve as linking verbs include: come, feel, get, go, grow, lie, look, prove, remain, sound, stay, and turn. A linking verb is also called a copula or copulative verb.