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  #11  
Old Thursday, October 09, 2008
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Conditional
Verb Forms


If I had a hammer, I'd hammer in the morning,
I'd hammer in the evening, all over this land.
I'd hammer out danger, I'd hammer out warning,
I'd hammer out love between my brothers and my sisters
Oh, oh, all over this land.

If I had a bell, I'd ring it in the morning,
I'd ring it in the evening, all over this land.
I'd ring out danger, I'd ring out warning,
I'd ring out love between my brothers and my sisters
Oh, oh, all over this land.

So go the first two stanzas of Lee Hays and Pete Seeger's folk tune, "If I had a hammer," one of the most famous tunes and lyrics in the history of American song. The grammar of the lyrics uses what is called the conditional. The writer expresses an action or an idea (hammering out danger and warning and love) that is dependent on a condition, on something that is only imagined (having a hammer or a bell — or, in the next stanza, a song). In this situation, the lyricist imagines what he would do if he "had a hammer" — now, in the present. He might also have imagined what he would have done if he "had had a hammer," in the past, prior to something else happening:

"If I had had a hammer, I would have hammered a warning."
The conditional is possible also in the future tense:

"If I have a hammer tomorrow, I might hammer out warning.
OR
. . . I will hammer out warning."
OR
"If I were to have a hammer tomorrow, I would hammer out warning."
And, finally, he could imagine what is called the habitual present conditional:

"If/when I have a hammer, I hammer out warning." [I do it all the time, whenever I have a hammer.]



The Factual versus the Unreal or Hypothetical

In expressing a conditional situation, we must be able to distinguish between what is a factual statement and what is a hypothetical statement. (Other terms for hypothetical could be unreal, imagined, wished for, only possible, etc.) For instance, if we say

"The dog is always happy when Dad stays home,"
that's a simple statement of present habitual fact. A general truth is expressed in the same way:

"If the sun shines all day, it gets hot."
Statements of habitual fact can also be made in the past:

"If we ate out at all, it was always in a cheap restaurant."
And conditional or hypothetical statements can be made about the future:

"I will give you a call, if I fly to Phoenix tomorrow.
(In the future, we could combine the base form of the verb ("give," in this case) with other modal verbs: may, might, could.)

HYPOTHETICAL STATEMENTS
When we express the hypothetical in English in the present tense, we end up using the past tense in an interesting way.

If you liked tennis, we could go play on the new courts.
(Instead of could, we could have used would or might in that sentence.) The speaker of that sentence is not talking about something in the past tense, even though he uses the past tense "liked." The speaker implies, in fact, that you don't like to play tennis (in the present), so there's no point, now, in going to the new tennis courts.

When we use the hypothetical in this conditional mode, we accommodate our need to speculate on how things could have been different, how we wish things were different, how we imagine that things could be different in the future, etc. In order to express the unreal, the hypothetical, the speculative, or imagined (all those being the same in this case), English has adopted an interesting habit of moving time one step backward. Two verbs are involved: one in the clause stating the condition (the "if" clause) and one in the result clause. Watch how the verbs change.

If the hypothetical result is in the future, we put the verb in the condition clause one step back — into the present:

If the Bulls win the game tomorrow, they will be champs again.
For present unreal events, we put the verb in the condition clause one step back — into the past:

If the Bulls won another championship, Roberto would drive into Chicago for the celebration.
I wish I had tickets.
If they were available anywhere, I would pay any price for them.
If he were a good friend, he would buy them for me.
Note that wishing is always an unreal condition. Note, too, that the verb to be uses the form were in an unreal condition. More about this in a moment.

For past unreal events — things that didn't happen, but we can imagine — we put the verb in the condition clause a further step back — into the past perfect:

If the Pacers had won, Aunt Glad would have been rich.
If she had bet that much money on the Bulls, she and Uncle Chester could have retired.
I wish I had lived in Los Angeles when the Lakers had Magic Johnson.
If I had known you were coming, I would have baked a cake.
In this last sentence, note the conditional clause in the past perfect (had known) and the result clause that uses the conditional modal + have + the past participle of the main verb (would have baked).

Some writers seem to think that the subjunctive mood is disappearing from English, but that's probably not true. We use the subjunctive all the time to accommodate this human urge to express possibility, the hypothetical, the imagined. (You can review the Verbs and Verbals section for further help understanding the Subjunctive Mood.) Frequently, conditional expressions require that we use were where we would otherwise have used another form of to be. The switch to were is not the only manifestation of the subjunctive in expressing the conditional, but it is the most common.

If my brother were my boss, I wouldn't have a job today.
If I were to lose my job, I wouldn't be able to pay my bills. [Notice how this is more uncertain, more "iffey," than "If I lose my job, I won't be able to pay my bills."]
If I were eight feet tall, I'd be one heck of a basketball player. [The subjunctive is sometimes to express purely imaginary situation.]
If I should grow to be eight feet tall, I'd be a great basketball player. [This statement seems even more imaginary and unlikely.]


Using Would and Could
When expressing the unreal, the result clauses need would, could or will. The condition clauses do not use those verbs; the condition clauses, instead, use verbs moved one step back in time from the result (as we will see in the tables below).

Future Conditionals versus Hypothetical Conditionals
When we want to predict something conditional about the future (what we think might happen), we can use the present tense in the if clause and will or be going + the base form of the verb in the result clause.

If Jeffrey grows any taller, the basketball coach is going to recruit him for the team.
If he doesn't grow more, the coach will ignore him.
On the other hand, the hypothetical conditional allows us to express quite unlikely situations or situations that are downright impossible.

If I boxed against Evander Holyfield, he would kill me.
If my dad had been seven feet tall instead of less than six feet tall, he would have been a great athlete.
Other Forms of Conditional Statements
The conditional can also be signaled by means of a subject-verb inversion. This inversion replaces the word "if"; it is inappropriate to use both the word "if" and the subject-verb inversion in the same sentence.

Were Judita a better student, she would have a better relationship with her instructors.
Had Judita studied harder last fall, she would not have to take so many courses this spring.

Various Tenses in the Conditional
The following tables divide the uses of the conditional into three types, according to the time expressed in the if clause: (1) true in the present or future or possibly true in the future; (2) untrue or contrary to fact in the present; or (3) untrue or contrary to fact in the past. Notice the one step backward in time in the condition clause.


If clause

If + subject + present tense

If Judita works hard,

Independent clause

subject + present tense

she gets good grades.

subject + future tense

she'll probably get an A

subject + modal + base form




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  #12  
Old Saturday, October 11, 2008
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The Verb “To Be”


The Forms of “To Be”
The Greek sea god, Proteus, was (like the sea) capable of changing form in an instant. In order to get any decent information out of him, you had to grab him and hold on tight while he went through his various forms — lion, wild boar, snake, tree, running stream — it wasn't easy. The verb “To be” is said to be the most protean of the English language, constantly changing form, sometimes without much of a discernible pattern. Considering that we use it so often, it is really too bad that the verb “To be” has to be the most irregular, slippery verb in the language.

We must choose carefully among these various forms when selecting the proper verb to go with our subject. Singular subjects require singular verbs; plural subjects require plural verbs. That's usually an easy matter. We wouldn't write “The troops was moving to the border.” But some sentences require closer attention. Do we write “The majority of students is (or are) voting against the referendum"? Review carefully the material in our section on Subject-Verb Agreement, and notice how often the choices we make require a familiarity with these forms of the “To be” verb.


Simple Questions
We create simple yes/no questions by inverting the order of subject and the “To be” verb.

Is your brother taller than you?
Am I bothering you?
Were they embarrassed by the comedian?

The same inversion takes place when “To be” is combined with verbs in the progressive:

Am I working with you today?
Is it snowing in the mountains?
Were your children driving home this weekend?

The Linking and Existential 'To Be'
The verb “To be” most frequently works in conjunction with another verb: “He is playing the piano,” “She will be arriving this afternoon.” Occasionally, though, the verb will stand by itself, alone, in a sentence. This is especially true in simple, brief answers to questions.

“Who's going to the movies with me?”
“I am”

“Who's responsible for this mess in the bathroom?”
“She is.”

In sentences such as these, the subject usually receives the intonation stress and the voice falls off on the verb.

An auxiliary can be combined with the base form of “To be” to provide simple answers to questions that use forms of “to be.”

“Is Heitor in class this morning?”
“Well, he might be.”

“Is anyone helping Heitor with his homework?”
“I'm not sure. Suzanne could be.”

The verb “To be” also acts as a linking verb, joining the sentence subject with a subject complement or adjective complement. A linking verb provides no action to a sentence: the subject complement re-identifies the subject; the adjective complement modifies it. (For further information and additional vocabulary in dealing with linking verbs, visit the hyperlinks in this paragraph.)

Professor Moriber is the Director of Online Learning.
Our trip to Yellowstone was fantastic!

In Passive Constructions
A form of the verb “To be” is combined with a past participle to form the passive. Passive verb constructions are useful when the subject of an action is not as important as what the subject did (the action of the sentence) or when the subject is unknown. For instance, the police might report that “The professor was assaulted in the hallways” because they do not know the perpetrator of this heinous crime. In technical writing, where the process is more important than who is doing the activity, we might report that “Three liters of fluid is filtered through porous glass beads.” Regardless of the verb's purpose, only the auxiliary form of “To be” changes; the participle stays the same. The “To be” will change form to indicate whether the subject is singular or plural:

The foundation is supported by enormous floating caissons that keep it from sinking into the swamp.

They were constructed by workers half submerged in the murky waters.
Notice how the information about who did the action is frequently found in a prepositional phrase beginning with “by.” Passive constructions do not always include this information:

Wooden caissons were used until fiberglass structures were developed in the 1950s.
Caissons were also designed to function under water in the construction of bridges.
The “To be” will also change to indicate the time of the action and the aspect of the verb (simple, progressive, perfect).

Water is pumped out of the caisson to create an underwater work chamber. (simple present)
Some caissons were moved to other construction sites. (simple past)
While the water was being pumped out, workers would enter the top of the waterproof chamber. (past progressive)
Many other uses of caisson construction have been explored. (present perfect)
Caissons had been used by the ancient Romans. (past perfect)
Other uses will be found. (future)

The “To be” verb can be combined with other modal forms (along with the past participle of the main verb) to convey other kinds of information. See the section on modals for the various kinds of information conveyed by modals (advisability, predictability, guessing, necessity, possibility, etc.).

The wall joints may be weakened if the caissons can't be rebuilt.
Perhaps the caissons should be replaced; I think they ought to be.
These ancient, sturdy structures might have been rotted by constant exposure to water.

When “To be” verbs are combined with modal forms in this manner, the construction is called a phrasal modal. Here are some more examples:

Rosario was able to finish her degree by taking online courses.
She wasn't supposed to graduate until next year.
She will be allowed to participate in commencement, though.
She is about to apply to several graduate programs.
She is going to attend the state university next fall.

Sometimes it is difficult to say whether a “To be” verb is linking a subject to a participle or if the verb and participle are part of a passive construction. In “Certain behaviors are allowed,” is "are” linking “behaviors” to "allowed" (a participle acting as a predicate adjective) or is “are allowed” a passive verb? In the final analysis, it probably doesn't matter, but the distinction leads to some interesting variations. Consider the difference between

The jurists were welcomed.
and

The jurists were welcome.

In the first sentence, the participle “welcomed” (in this passive construction) emphasizes the action of welcoming: the smiles, the hearty greetings, the slaps on the back. In the second sentence, the predicate adjective “welcome” describes the feeling that the jurists must have had upon being so welcomed.


Progressive Forms
Progressive forms include a form of “To be” plus a present participle (an -ing ending). Frodesen and Eyring** categorize progressive verbs according to the following functions:

to describe actions already in progress at the moment "in focus" within the sentence, as in “I was doing my homework when my brother broke into my room, crying.” or “I will be graduating from college about the same time that you enter high school.”

to describe actions at the moment of focus in contrast to habitual actions, as in “We usually buy the most inexpensive car we can find, but this time we're buying a luxury sedan.”

to express repeated actions, as in “My grandfather is forever retelling the same story about his adventures in Rangoon.”
to describe temporary situations in contrast to permanent states, as in “Jeffrey goes to the University of Connecticut, but this summer he is taking courses at the community college.”
to express uncompleted actions, as in “Harvey and Mark are working on their deck.”

Tag Questions with “To Be”
When we use “To be” verbs in a tag question, the basic formula follows: the verb is combined with a pronoun and sometimes with not (usually in a contracted form). Positive statements are followed by negative tags; negative statements by positive tags.

Robert Frost was America's favorite poet, wasn't he?
He wasn't widely accepted in this country at first, was he?
You were going to skip this poem, weren't you?
There were several typographical errors in this anthology, weren't there? (Be careful here. It's not “weren't they.”)
I am not a very good reader, am I?
I'm a better reader than you, aren't I?

(Don't try to make sense of this last construction. It is acceptable. In very formal text, you might write “am I not” instead. “Ain't” is not regarded as acceptable except in text attempting to duplicate substandard speech.)


Order with Adverbs
Notice that adverbs of frequency normally appear after forms of the verb “To be”:

As a student, he was seldom happy.
Arturo is always first in line.
They were never on time.
Notice that the adverb still appears after “To be” verbs but before other main verbs:

My brother-in-law still works for the bank.
He is still a teller after twenty years.
An adverb can be interposed between the infinitive “To be” and a participle, as in the following sentences. The fear of splitting an infinitive is without grounds in this construction.

This medicine has to be carefully administered.
She turned out to be secretly married to her childhood sweetheart.

Unnecessary Uses of “To Be”
Even a casual review of your writing can reveal uses of the verb “To be” that are unnecessary and that can be removed to good effect. In a way, the “To be” verb doesn't do much for you — it just sits there — and text that is too heavily sprinkled with “To be” verbs can feel sodden, static. This is especially true of “To be” verbs tucked into dependent clauses (particularly dependent clauses using a passive construction) and expletive constructions (“There is,” “There were,” “it is,” etc.). Note that the relative pronoun frequently disappears as well when we revise these sentences.

He wanted a medication that was prescribed by a physician.
She recognized the officer who was chasing the crook.
Anyone who is willing to work hard will succeed in this program.
It was Alberto who told the principal about the students' prank. (Notice that the “it was” brought special emphasis to “Alberto,” an emphasis that is somewhat lost by this change.)
A customer who is pleased is sure to return. A pleased customer is sure to return. (When we eliminate the “To be” and the relative pronoun, we will also have to reposition the predicate adjective to a pre-noun position.)

An expletive construction, along with its attendant “To be” verb, can often be eliminated to good effect. Simply omit the construction, find the real subject of the sentence, and allow it to do some real work with a real verb.

There were some excellent results to this experiment in social work. (Change to . . . .) This experiment in social work resulted in . . . .
There is one explanation for this story's ending in Faulkner's diary. (Change to . . . .) Faulkner's diary gives us one explanation for this story's ending.
On the other hand, expletive constructions do give us an interesting means of setting out or organizing the work of a subsequent paragraph:

There were four underlying causes of World War I. First, . . . .
Fuzzy Verb Phrases with "Be"

Verb phrases containing "be" verbs are often merely roundabout ways of saying something better said with a simple verb. Thus "be supportive of" for "support" is verbose.

The following circumlocutory uses of "be" verbs are common in stuffy writing. The simple verb (in parentheses) is usually better:

be abusive of (abuse)
be applicable to (apply to)
be benefited by (benefit from)
be derived from (derive from)
be desirous of (desire or want)
be determinative of (determine)
be in agreement (agree)
be in attendance (attend)
be indicative of (indicate)
be in error (err) be in existence (exist)
be influential on (influence)
be in possession of (possess)
be in receipt of (have received)
be in violation of (violate)
be operative (operate)
be productive of (produce)
be promotive of (promote)
be supportive of (support)


Many such wordy constructions are more naturally phrased in the present-tense singular: "is able to" ("can"), "is authorized to" ("may"), "is binding upon" ("binds"), "is empowered to" ("may"), "is unable to" ("cannot").

Stative and Dynamic Forms
Martha Kolln* suggests that we think of the difference between stative and dynamic in terms of “willed” and “nonwilled” qualities. Consider the difference between a so-called dynamic adjective (or subject complement) and a stative adjective (or subject complement): “I am silly” OR “I am being silly” versus “I am tall.” I have chosen to be silly; I have no choice about being tall. Thus “Tall” is said to be a stative (or an “inert”) quality, and we cannot say “I am being tall”; “silly,” on the other hand, is dynamic so we can use progressive verb forms in conjunction with that quality.

Two plus two equals four. Equals is inert, stative, and cannot take the progressive; there is no choice, no volition in the matter. (We would not say, “Two plus two is equaling four.”) In the same way, nouns and pronouns can be said to exhibit willed and unwilled characteristics. Thus, “She is being a good worker” (because she chooses to be so), but we would say “She is (not is being) an Olympic athlete” (because once she becomes an athlete she no longer “wills it”).




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  #13  
Old Tuesday, October 21, 2008
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Conjunctions


Definition
Some words are satisfied spending an evening at home, alone, eating ice-cream right out of the box, watching Seinfeld re-runs on TV, or reading a good book. Others aren't happy unless they're out on the town, mixing it up with other words; they're joiners and they just can't help themselves. A conjunction is a joiner, a word that connects (conjoins) parts of a sentence.

Coordinating Conjunctions
The simple, little conjunctions are called coordinating conjunctions (you can click on the words to see specific descriptions of each one):

ex:
and but or yet for nor so


(It may help you remember these conjunctions by recalling that they all have fewer than four letters. Also, remember the acronym FANBOYS: For-And-Nor-But-Or-Yet-So. Be careful of the words then and now; neither is a coordinating conjunction, so what we say about coordinating conjunctions' roles in a sentence and punctuation does not apply to those two words.)

When a coordinating conjunction connects two independent clauses, it is often (but not always) accompanied by a comma:

Ulysses wants to play for UConn, but he has had trouble meeting the academic requirements.

When the two independent clauses connected by a coordinating conjunction are nicely balanced or brief, many writers will omit the comma:

Ulysses has a great jump shot but he isn't quick on his feet.

The comma is always correct when used to separate two independent clauses connected by a coordinating conjunction. See Punctuation Between Two Independent Clauses for further help.

A comma is also correct when and is used to attach the last item of a serial list, although many writers (especially in newspapers) will omit that final comma:

Ulysses spent his summer studying basic math, writing, and reading comprehension.

When a coordinating conjunction is used to connect all the elements in a series, a comma is not used:

Presbyterians and Methodists and Baptists are the prevalent Protestant congregations in Oklahoma.

A comma is also used with but when expressing a contrast:

This is a useful rule, but difficult to remember.

In most of their other roles as joiners (other than joining independent clauses, that is), coordinating conjunctions can join two sentence elements without the help of a comma.

Hemingway and Fitzgerald are among the American expatriates of the between-the-wars era.
Hemingway was renowned for his clear style and his insights into American notions of male identity.
It is hard to say whether Hemingway or Fitzgerald is the more interesting cultural icon of his day.
Although Hemingway is sometimes disparaged for his unpleasant portrayal of women and for his glorification of machismo, we nonetheless find some sympathetic, even heroic, female figures in his novels and short stories.



Among the coordinating conjunctions, the most common, of course, are and, but, and or. It might be helpful to explore the uses of these three little words. The examples below by no means exhaust the possible meanings of these conjunctions.

AND
To suggest that one idea is chronologically sequential to another: "Tashonda sent in her applications and waited by the phone for a response."
To suggest that one idea is the result of another: "Willie heard the weather report and promptly boarded up his house."
To suggest that one idea is in contrast to another (frequently replaced by but in this usage): "Juanita is brilliant and Shalimar has a pleasant personality.
To suggest an element of surprise (sometimes replaced by yet in this usage): "Hartford is a rich city and suffers from many symptoms of urban blight."
To suggest that one clause is dependent upon another, conditionally (usually the first clause is an imperative): "Use your credit cards frequently and you'll soon find yourself deep in debt."
To suggest a kind of "comment" on the first clause: "Charlie became addicted to gambling — and that surprised no one who knew him."

BUT
To suggest a contrast that is unexpected in light of the first clause: "Joey lost a fortune in the stock market, but he still seems able to live quite comfortably."
To suggest in an affirmative sense what the first part of the sentence implied in a negative way (sometimes replaced by on the contrary): "The club never invested foolishly, but used the services of a sage investment counselor."
To connect two ideas with the meaning of "with the exception of" (and then the second word takes over as subject): "Everybody but Goldenbreath is trying out for the team."

OR
To suggest that only one possibility can be realized, excluding one or the other: "You can study hard for this exam or you can fail."
To suggest the inclusive combination of alternatives: "We can broil chicken on the grill tonight, or we can just eat leftovers.
To suggest a refinement of the first clause: "Smith College is the premier all-women's college in the country, or so it seems to most Smith College alumnae."
To suggest a restatement or "correction" of the first part of the sentence: "There are no rattlesnakes in this canyon, or so our guide tells us."
To suggest a negative condition: "The New Hampshire state motto is the rather grim "Live free or die."
To suggest a negative alternative without the use of an imperative (see use of and above): "They must approve his political style or they wouldn't keep electing him mayor."


The Others . . .

The conjunction NOR is not extinct, but it is not used nearly as often as the other conjunctions, so it might feel a bit odd when nor does come up in conversation or writing. Its most common use is as the little brother in the correlative pair, neither-nor (see below):

He is neither sane nor brilliant.
That is neither what I said nor what I meant.
>It can be used with other negative expressions:

That is not what I meant to say, nor should you interpret my statement as an admission of guilt.
It is possible to use nor without a preceding negative element, but it is unusual and, to an extent, rather stuffy:

George's handshake is as good as any written contract, nor has he ever proven untrustworthy.

The word YET functions sometimes as an adverb and has several meanings: in addition ("yet another cause of trouble" or "a simple yet noble woman"), even ("yet more expensive"), still ("he is yet a novice"), eventually ("they may yet win"), and so soon as now ("he's not here yet"). It also functions as a coordinating conjunction meaning something like "nevertheless" or "but." The word yet seems to carry an element of distinctiveness that but can seldom register.

John plays basketball well, yet his favorite sport is badminton.
The visitors complained loudly about the heat, yet they continued to play golf every day.
In sentences such as the second one, above, the pronoun subject of the second clause ("they," in this case) is often left out. When that happens, the comma preceding the conjunction might also disappear: "The visitors complained loudly yet continued to play golf every day."

Yet is sometimes combined with other conjunctions, but or and. It would not be unusual to see and yet in sentences like the ones above. This usage is acceptable.

The word FOR is most often used as a preposition, of course, but it does serve, on rare occasions, as a coordinating conjunction. Some people regard the conjunction for as rather highfalutin and literary, and it does tend to add a bit of weightiness to the text. Beginning a sentence with the conjunction "for" is probably not a good idea, except when you're singing "For he's a jolly good fellow. "For" has serious sequential implications and in its use the order of thoughts is more important than it is, say, with because or since. Its function is to introduce the reason for the preceding clause:

John thought he had a good chance to get the job, for his father was on the company's board of trustees.
Most of the visitors were happy just sitting around in the shade, for it had been a long, dusty journey on the train.
Be careful of the conjunction SO. Sometimes it can connect two independent clauses along with a comma, but sometimes it can't. For instance, in this sentence,

Soto is not the only Olympic athlete in his family, so are his brother, sister, and his Uncle Chet.
where the word so means "as well" or "in addition," most careful writers would use a semicolon between the two independent clauses. In the following sentence, where so is acting like a minor-league "therefore," the conjunction and the comma are adequate to the task:

Soto has always been nervous in large gatherings, so it is no surprise that he avoids crowds of his adoring fans.
Sometimes, at the beginning of a sentence, so will act as a kind of summing up device or transition, and when it does, it is often set off from the rest of the sentence with a comma:

So, the sheriff peremptorily removed the child from the custody of his parents.

Subordinating Conjunctions

A Subordinating Conjunction (sometimes called a dependent word or subordinator) comes at the beginning of a Subordinate (or Dependent) Clause and establishes the relationship between the dependent clause and the rest of the sentence. It also turns the clause into something that depends on the rest of the sentence for its meaning.

He took to the stage as though he had been preparing for this moment all his life.
Because he loved acting, he refused to give up his dream of being in the movies.
Unless we act now, all is lost.
Notice that some of the subordinating conjunctions in the table below — after, before, since — are also prepositions, but as subordinators they are being used to introduce a clause and to subordinate the following clause to the independent element in the sentence.

Common Subordinating Conjunctions
after
although
as
as if
as long as
as though
because
before
even if
even though
if
if only
in order that
now that
once
rather than
since
so that
than
that
though
till
unless
until
when
whenever
where
whereas
wherever
while


Correlative Conjunctions
Some conjunctions combine with other words to form what are called correlative conjunctions. They always travel in pairs, joining various sentence elements that should be treated as grammatically equal.

She led the team not only in statistics but also by virtue of her enthusiasm.
Polonius said, "Neither a borrower nor a lender be."
Whether you win this race or lose it doesn't matter as long as you do your best.


both . . . and
not only . . . but also
not . . . but
either . . . or neither . . . nor
whether . . . or
as . . . as

Conjunctive Adverbs
The conjunctive adverbs such as however, moreover, nevertheless, consequently, as a result are used to create complex relationships between ideas. Refer to the section on Coherence: Transitions Between Ideas for an extensive list of conjunctive adverbs categorized according to their various uses and for some advice on their application within sentences (including punctuation issues).
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Interjections


Interjections are words or phrases used to exclaim or protest or command. They sometimes stand by themselves, but they are often contained within larger structures.

Wow! I won the lottery!
Oh, I don't know about that.
I don't know what the heck you're talking about.
No, you shouldn't have done that.

Most mild interjections are treated as parenthetical elements and set off from the rest of the sentence with a comma or set of commas. If the interjection is more forceful, however, it is followed with an exclamation mark. Interjections are rarely used in formal or academic writing.



Predicates, Objects,
Complements


Predicates
A predicate is the completer of a sentence. The subject names the "do-er" or "be-er" of the sentence; the predicate does the rest of the work. A simple predicate consists of only a verb, verb string, or compound verb:

The glacier melted.
The glacier has been melting.
The glacier melted, broke apart, and slipped into the sea.

A compound predicate consists of two (or more) such predicates connected:

The glacier began to slip down the mountainside and eventually crushed some of the village's outlying buildings.

A complete predicate consists of the verb and all accompanying modifiers and other words that receive the action of a transitive verb or complete its meaning. The following description of predicates comes from The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers (examples our own):

With an intransitive verb, objects and complements are included in the predicate. (The glacier is melting.) With a transitive verb, objects and object complements are said to be part of the predicate. (The slow moving glacier wiped out an entire forest. It gave the villagers a lot of problems.) With a linking verb, the subject is connected to a subject complement. (The mayor doesn't feel good.)

A predicate adjective follows a linking verb and tells us something about the subject:

Ramonita is beautiful.
His behavior has been outrageous.
That garbage on the street smells bad.

A predicate nominative follows a linking verb and tells us what the subject is:

Dr. Couchworthy is acting president of the university.
She used to be the tallest girl on the team.




Direct and Indirect Objects
A direct object is the receiver of action within a sentence, as in "He hit the ball." Be careful to distinguish between a direct object and an object complement:

They named their daughter Natasha.
In that sentence, "daughter" is the direct object and "Natasha" is the object complement, which renames or describes the direct object.


The indirect object identifies to or for whom or what the action of the verb is performed. The direct object and indirect object are different people or places or things. The direct objects in the sentences below are in boldface; the indirect objects are in italics.

The instructor gave his students A's.
Grandfather left Rosalita and Raoul all his money.
Jo-Bob sold me her boat.
Incidentally, the word me (and similar object-form pronouns such as him, us, them) is not always an indirect object; it will also serve, sometimes, as a direct object.

Bless me/her/us!
Call me/him/them if you have questions.

In English, nouns and their accompanying modifiers (articles and adjectives) do not change form when they are used as objects or indirect objects, as they do in many other languages. "The radio is on the desk" and "I borrowed the radio" contain exactly the same word form used for quite different functions. This is not true of pronouns, however, which use different forms for different functions. (He [subject] loves his grandmother. His grandmother loves him [object].) (See, also, pronoun cases.)

Complements
Since this page is about the completers of thoughts, it is appropriate to include a brief description of complements. A complement (notice the spelling of the word) is any word or phrase that completes the sense of a subject, an object, or a verb. As you will see, the terminology describing predicates and complements can overlap and be a bit confusing. Students are probably wise to learn one set of terms, not both.

A subject complement follows a linking verb; it is normally an adjective or a noun that renames or defines in some way the subject.

A glacier is a huge body of ice.

Glaciers are beautiful and potentially dangerous at the same time.
This glacier is not yet fully formed. (verb form acting as an adjective, a participle)

Adjective complements are also called predicate adjectives; noun complements are also called predicate nouns or predicate nominatives. See predicates, above.

An object complement follows and modifies or refers to a direct object. It can be a noun or adjective or any word acting as a noun or adjective.
The convention named Dogbreath Vice President to keep him happy. (The noun "Vice President" complements the direct object "Dogbreath"; the adjective "happy" complements the object "him.")
The clown got the children too excited. (The participle "excited" complements the object "children.")
A verb complement is a direct or indirect object of a verb. (See above.)
Granny left Raoul all her money. (Both "money" [the direct object] and "Raoul" [the indirect object] are said to be the verb complements of this sentence.)



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Prepositions:
Locators in Time and Place

A preposition describes a relationship between other words in a sentence. In itself, a word like "in" or "after" is rather meaningless and hard to define in mere words. For instance, when you do try to define a preposition like "in" or "between" or "on," you invariably use your hands to show how something is situated in relationship to something else. Prepositions are nearly always combined with other words in structures called prepositional phrases. Prepositional phrases can be made up of a million different words, but they tend to be built the same: a preposition followed by a determiner and an adjective or two, followed by a pronoun or noun (called the object of the preposition). This whole phrase, in turn, takes on a modifying role, acting as an adjective or an adverb, locating something in time and space, modifying a noun, or telling when or where or under what conditions something happened.

Consider the professor's desk and all the prepositional phrases we can use while talking about it.

You can sit before the desk (or in front of the desk). The professor can sit on the desk (when he's being informal) or behind the desk, and then his feet are under the desk or beneath the desk. He can stand beside the desk (meaning next to the desk), before the desk, between the desk and you, or even on the desk (if he's really strange). If he's clumsy, he can bump into the desk or try to walk through the desk (and stuff would fall off the desk). Passing his hands over the desk or resting his elbows upon the desk, he often looks across the desk and speaks of the desk or concerning the desk as if there were nothing else like the desk. Because he thinks of nothing except the desk, sometimes you wonder about the desk, what's in the desk, what he paid for the desk, and if he could live without the desk. You can walk toward the desk, to the desk, around the desk, by the desk, and even past the desk while he sits at the desk or leans against the desk.

All of this happens, of course, in time: during the class, before the class, until the class, throughout the class, after the class, etc. And the professor can sit there in a bad mood [another adverbial construction].


Those words in bold font are all prepositions. Some prepositions do other things besides locate in space or time — "My brother is like my father." "Everyone in the class except me got the answer." — but nearly all of them modify in one way or another. It is possible for a preposition phrase to act as a noun — "During a church service is not a good time to discuss picnic plans" or "In the South Pacific is where I long to be" — but this is seldom appropriate in formal or academic writing.

Quote:
You may have learned that ending a sentence with a preposition is a serious breach of grammatical etiquette. It doesn't take a grammarian to spot a sentence-ending preposition, so this is an easy rule to get caught up on (!). Although it is often easy to remedy the offending preposition, sometimes it isn't, and repair efforts sometimes result in a clumsy sentence. "Indicate the book you are quoting from" is not greatly improved with "Indicate from which book you are quoting."

Based on shaky historical precedent, the rule itself is a latecomer to the rules of writing. Those who dislike the rule are fond of recalling Churchill's rejoinder: "That is nonsense up with which I shall not put." We should also remember the child's complaint: "What did you bring that book that I don't like to be read to out of up for?"
Is it any wonder that prepositions create such troubles for students for whom English is a second language? We say we are at the hospital to visit a friend who is in the hospital. We lie in bed but on the couch. We watch a film at the theater but on television. For native speakers, these little words present little difficulty, but try to learn another language, any other language, and you will quickly discover that prepositions are troublesome wherever you live and learn. This page contains some interesting (sometimes troublesome) prepositions with brief usage notes. To address all the potential difficulties with prepositions in idiomatic usage would require volumes, and the only way English language learners can begin to master the intricacies of preposition usage is through practice and paying close attention to speech and the written word. Keeping a good dictionary close at hand (to hand?) is an important first step.

Prepositions of Time: at, on, and in

We use at to designate specific times.
The train is due at 12:15 p.m.

We use on to designate days and dates.
My brother is coming on Monday.
We're having a party on the Fourth of July.

We use in for nonspecific times during a day, a month, a season, or a year.
She likes to jog in the morning.
It's too cold in winter to run outside.
He started the job in 1971.
He's going to quit in August.


Prepositions of Place: at, on, and in

We use at for specific addresses.
Grammar English lives at 55 Boretz Road in Durham.

We use on to designate names of streets, avenues, etc.
Her house is on Boretz Road.

And we use in for the names of land-areas (towns, counties, states, countries, and continents).
She lives in Durham.
Durham is in Windham County.
Windham County is in Connecticut.

Prepositions of Location: in, at, and on
and No Preposition


IN
(the) bed*
the bedroom
the car
(the) class*
the library*
school*

AT
class*
home
the library*
the office
school*
work

ON
the bed*
the ceiling
the floor
the horse
the plane
the train

NO PREPOSITION
downstairs
downtown
inside
outside
upstairs
uptown


Prepositions of Movement: to
and No Preposition
We use to in order to express movement toward a place.
They were driving to work together.
She's going to the dentist's office this morning.

Toward and towards are also helpful prepositions to express movement. These are simply variant spellings of the same word; use whichever sounds better to you.
We're moving toward the light.
This is a big step towards the project's completion.

With the words home, downtown, uptown, inside, outside, downstairs, upstairs, we use no preposition.
Grandma went upstairs
Grandpa went home.
They both went outside.

Prepositions of Time: for and since
We use for when we measure time (seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, years).
He held his breath for seven minutes.
She's lived there for seven years.
The British and Irish have been quarreling for seven centuries.

We use since with a specific date or time.
He's worked here since 1970.
She's been sitting in the waiting room since two-thirty.

Prepositions with Nouns, Adjectives, and Verbs.
Prepositions are sometimes so firmly wedded to other words that they have practically become one word. (In fact, in other languages, such as German, they would have become one word.) This occurs in three categories: nouns, adjectives, and verbs.

NOUNS and PREPOSITIONS
approval of
awareness of
belief in
concern for
confusion about
desire for
fondness for
grasp of
hatred of
hope for
interest in
love of
need for
participation in
reason for
respect for
success in
understanding of


ADJECTIVES and PREPOSITIONS
afraid of
angry at
aware of
capable of
careless about
familiar with
fond of
happy about
interested in
jealous of
made of
married to
proud of
similar to
sorry for
sure of
tired of
worried about


VERBS and PREPOSITIONS
apologize for
ask about
ask for
belong to
bring up
care for
find out
give up
grow up
look for
look forward to
look up
make up
pay for
prepare for
study for
talk about
think about
trust in
work for
worry about




A combination of verb and preposition is called a phrasal verb. The word that is joined to the verb is then called a particle. Please refer to the brief section we have prepared on phrasal verbs for an explanation.



Idiomatic Expressions with Prepositions
agree to a proposal, with a person, on a price, in principle
argue about a matter, with a person, for or against a proposition
compare to to show likenesses, with to show differences (sometimes similarities)
correspond to a thing, with a person
differ from an unlike thing, with a person
live at an address, in a house or city, on a street, with other people


Unnecessary Prepositions
In everyday speech, we fall into some bad habits, using prepositions where they are not necessary. It would be a good idea to eliminate these words altogether, but we must be especially careful not to use them in formal, academic prose.

She met up with the new coach in the hallway.
The book fell off of the desk.
He threw the book out of the window.
She wouldn't let the cat inside of the house. [or use "in"]
Where did they go to?
Put the lamp in back of the couch. [use "behind" instead]
Where is your college at?


Prepositions in Parallel Form

When two words or phrases are used in parallel and require the same preposition to be idiomatically correct, the preposition does not have to be used twice.
You can wear that outfit in summer and in winter.
The female was both attracted by and distracted by the male's dance.

However, when the idiomatic use of phrases calls for different prepositions, we must be careful not to omit one of them.
The children were interested in and disgusted by the movie.
It was clear that this player could both contribute to and learn from every game he played.
He was fascinated by and enamored of this beguiling woman.




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Sentence-Combining
Skills


The Need to Combine Sentences
Sentences have to be combined to avoid the monotony that would surely result if all sentences were brief and of equal length. (If you haven't already read them, see the sections on Avoiding Primer Style and Sentence Variety.) Part of the writer's task is to employ whatever music is available to him or her in language, and part of language's music lies within the rhythms of varied sentence length and structure. Even poets who write within the formal limits and sameness of an iambic pentameter beat will sometimes strike a chord against that beat and vary the structure of their clauses and sentence length, thus keeping the text alive and the reader awake. This section will explore some of the techniques we ordinary writers use to combine sentences.

Compounding Sentences
A compound sentence consists of two or more independent clauses. That means that there are at least two units of thought within the sentence, either one of which can stand by itself as its own sentence. The clauses of a compound sentence are either separated by a semicolon (relatively rare) or connected by a coordinating conjunction (which is, more often than not, preceded by a comma). And the two most common coordinating conjunctions are and and but. (The others are or, for, yet, and so.) This is the simplest technique we have for combining ideas:

Meriwether Lewis is justly famous for his expedition into the territory of the Louisiana Purchase and beyond, but few people know of his contributions to natural science.

Lewis had been well trained by scientists in Philadelphia prior to his expedition, and he was a curious man by nature.

Notice that the and does little more than link one idea to another; the but also links, but it does more work in terms of establishing an interesting relationship between ideas. The and is part of the immediate language arsenal of children and of dreams: one thing simply comes after another and the logical relationship between the ideas is not always evident or important. The word but (and the other coordinators) is at a slightly higher level of argument.

Compounding Sentence Elements
Within a sentence, ideas can be connected by compounding various sentence elements: subjects, verbs, objects or whole predicates, modifiers, etc. Notice that when two such elements of a sentence are compounded with a coordinating conjunction (as opposed to the two independent clauses of a compound sentence), the conjunction is usually adequate and no comma is required.

Subjects: When two or more subjects are doing parallel things, they can often be combined as a compounded subject.

Working together, President Jefferson and Meriwether Lewis convinced Congress to raise money for the expedition.


Objects: When the subject(s) is/are acting upon two or more things in parallel, the objects can be combined.

President Jefferson believed that the headwaters of the Missouri reached all the way to the Canadian border.

He also believed that meant he could claim all that land for the United States.

President Jefferson believed that the headwaters of the Missouri might reach all the way to the Canadian border and that he could claim all that land for the United States.

Notice that the objects must be parallel in construction: Jefferson believed that this was true and that was true. If the objects are not parallel (Jefferson was convinced of two things: that the Missouri reached all the way to the Canadian border and wanted to begin the expedition during his term in office.) the sentence can go awry. Click here to review the principles of parallelism.

Verbs and verbals: When the subject(s) is/are doing two things at once, ideas can sometimes be combined by compounding verbs and verb forms.

He studied the biological and natural sciences.
He learned how to categorize and draw animals accurately.

He studied the biological and natural sciences and learned how to categorize and draw animals accurately.

Notice that there is no comma preceding the "and learned" connecting the compounded elements above.

In Philadelphia, Lewis learned to chart the movement of the stars.
He also learned to analyze their movements with mathematical precision.

In Philadelphia, Lewis learned to chart and analyze the movement of the stars with mathematical precision.

OR — In Philadelphia, Lewis learned to chart the stars and analyze their movements with mathematical precision.


(Notice in this second version that we don't have to repeat the "to" of the infinitive to maintain parallel form.)

Modifiers: Whenever it is appropriate, modifiers such as prepositional phrases can be compounded.

Lewis and Clark recruited some of their adventurers from river-town bars.
They also used recruits from various military outposts.
Lewis and Clark recruited their adventurers from river-town bars and various military outposts.
Notice that we do not need to repeat the preposition from to make the ideas successfully parallel in form.

Subordinating One Clause to Another
The act of coordinating clauses simply links ideas; subordinating one clause to another establishes a more complex relationship between ideas, showing that one idea depends on another in some way: a chronological development, a cause-and-effect relationship, a conditional relationship, etc.

William Clark was not officially granted the rank of captain prior to the expedition's departure.

Captain Lewis more or less ignored this technicality and treated Clark as his equal in authority and rank.

Although William Clark was not officially granted the rank of captain prior to the expedition's departure, Captain Lewis more or less ignored this technicality and treated Clark as his equal in authority and rank.

The explorers approached the headwaters of the Missouri.

They discovered, to their horror, that the Rocky Mountain range stood between them and their goal, a passage to the Pacific.

As the explorers approached the headwaters of the Missouri, they discovered, to their horror, that the Rocky Mountain range stood between them and their goal, a passage to the Pacific.

When we use subordination of clauses to combine ideas, the rules of punctuation are very important. It might be a good idea to review the definition of clauses at this point and the uses of the comma in setting off introductory and parenthetical elements.

Using Appositives to Connect Ideas
The appositive is probably the most efficient technique we have for combining ideas. An appositive or appositive phrase is a renaming, a re-identification, of something earlier in the text. You can think of an appositive as a modifying clause from which the clausal machinery (usually a relative pronoun and a linking verb) has been removed. An appositive is often, but not always, a parenthetical element which requires a pair of commas to set it off from the rest of the sentence.

Sacagawea, who was one of the Indian wives of Charbonneau, who was a French fur-trader, accompanied the expedition as a translator.
A pregnant, fifteen-year-old Indian woman, Sacagawea, one of the wives of the French fur-trader Charbonneau, accompanied the expedition as a translator.

Notice that in the second sentence, above, Sacagawea's name is a parenthetical element (structurally, the sentence adequately identifies her as "a pregnant, fifteen-year-old Indian woman"), and thus her name is set off by commas; Charbonneau's name, however, is essential to the meaning of the sentence (otherwise, which fur-trader are we talking about?) and is not set off by a pair of commas. Click here for additional help identifying and punctuating around parenthetical elements.

Using Participial Phrases to Connect Ideas
A writer can integrate the idea of one sentence into a larger structure by turning that idea into a modifying phrase.

Captain Lewis allowed his men to make important decisions in a democratic manner.

This democratic attitude fostered a spirit of togetherness and commitment on the part of Lewis's fellow explorers.

Allowing his men to make important decisions in a democratic manner, Lewis fostered a spirit of togetherness and commitment among his fellow explorers.
In the sentence above, the participial phrase modifies the subject of the sentence, Lewis. Phrases like this are usually set off from the rest of the sentence with a comma.

The expeditionary force was completely out of touch with their families for over two years.

They put their faith entirely in Lewis and Clark's leadership.
They never once rebelled against their authority.

Completely out of touch with their families for over two years, the men of the expedition put their faith in Lewis and Clark's leadership and never once rebelled against their authority.

Using Absolute Phrases to Connect Ideas
Perhaps the most elegant — and most misunderstood — method of combining ideas is the absolute phrase. This phrase, which is often found at the beginning of sentence, is made up of a noun (the phrase's "subject") followed, more often than not, by a participle. Other modifiers might also be part of the phrase. There is no true verb in an absolute phrase, however, and it is always treated as a parenthetical element, an introductory modifier, which is set off by a comma.

The absolute phrase might be confused with a participial phrase, and the difference between them is structurally slight but significant. The participial phrase does not contain the subject-participle relationship of the absolute phrase; it modifies the subject of the the independent clause that follows. The absolute phrase, on the other hand, is said to modify the entire clause that follows. In the first combined sentence below, for instance, the absolute phrase modifies the subject Lewis, but it also modifies the verb, telling us "under what conditions" or "in what way" or "how" he disappointed the world. The absolute phrase thus modifies the entire subsequent clause and should not be confused with a dangling participle, which must modify the subject which immediately follows.




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Cases of Nouns
and Pronouns


Definition
Nouns and pronouns in English are said to display case according to their function in the sentence. They can be subjective or nominative (which means they act as the subject of independent or dependent clauses), possessive (which means they show possession of something else), or objective (which means they function as the recipient of action or are the object of a preposition).

Except for the possessive forms (usually formed by the addition of an apostrophe and the letter s), nouns do not change form in English. (This is one of the few ways in which English is easier than other languages.) Pronouns, however, do change form when they change case; these changes are most clearly illustrated among the personal pronouns. The chart below illustrates the different forms among the cases.



Quote:
Subjective
Possessive
Objective
Nouns
Singular
frog
frog's
frog

Mary
Mary's
Mary

Plural

frogs
frogs'
frogs

witches
witches'
witches


Personal Pronouns
Singular
1st person
I
my, mine
me

2nd person
you
your, yours
you

3rd person
he,she,it
his,her, hers,its
him,her,it


Jayden and I versus Jayden and Me
For some writers and speakers, the case of a pronoun becomes especially troublesome when that pronoun is compounded with something or someone else. When the pronoun is being used as a subject, there is usually no problem:

Jayden and I are playing tennis this afternoon.
Jayden and she are playing tennis this afternoon.

We learn this lesson so well — getting cuffed on the ears and being forced to stand in the corner when we say "Jayden and me are playing tennis. . . " — that when the object form of the pronoun is truly called for, we're apt to come up with the subject form instead, as in "Grandma left Jayden and I her rocking chair," which is bad form, indeed.

There is a simple rule here that seems to work very well, at least in writing. Ask yourself what pronoun form you would use without adding the other person — "Grandma left me her rocking chair" (coming up with the correct form for the indirect object) — and then, when you add the other person, don't change the form of the pronoun: "Grandma left Jayden and me her rocking chair."

This rule works whether the pronoun is being used as an indirect object, as above, as a direct object — "The policeman stopped Jayden and me" — or as the object of a preposition — "Grandma gave her rocking chair to Jayden and me." Some writers and speakers will mistakenly say "This is just between Jayden and I," not realizing that the preposition "between" calls for the object form of both pronouns, including "me."

The rule also pertains to sentences in which a pronoun is compounded with yet another pronoun: "Grandma gave her rocking chair to him and me, but that's just between you and me."

Notice that when "I" is compounded with another subject, the "other person" or people get first billing: "Jayden and I are playing," not "I and Jayden." This is one of the very few polite forms in English.

Choosing Cases after Linking Verbs
and after But, Than, and As
In formal or academic text, we need the nominative or subject form of the pronoun after a linking verb: "It was he who represented the United Nations during the 1960s," "That must be she on the dock over there." In casual speech and writing, however, that sounds awfully stuffy. Imagine the detective who's been looking for the victim's body for days. He jimmies open the trunk of an abandoned car and exclaims, "It's she!" No self-respecting detective since Sherlock Holmes would say such a thing.

When the personal pronoun follows except, but, than, or as, you've got an argument on your hands. Traditionally, these words have been regarded as conjunctions and the personal pronoun that follows has been regarded as the subject of a clause (which might not be completed). Thus "No one could be as happy as I." (If you provide the entire mechanism of the clause — "as I [am]" — you see the justification for the subject form.) The same goes for these other conjunctions: "Whom were you expecting? who else but he?" "My father is still taller than she" [than she is].

Many grammarians have argued, however, that these words are often used as prepositions, not conjunctions (and have been used that way for centuries by many good writers). In a structure such as "My mother is a lot like her," we have no trouble recognizing that "like" is acting as a preposition and we need the object form of the pronoun after it. Why, then, can't we use "than" and "but" as prepositions in sentences such as "Dad's a lot taller than him" and "No one in this class has done the homework but me"? Such usage is now widely regarded as acceptable in all but the most formal writing. The same argument is sometimes used for the object form after as — "The coach is not as smart as me" — but this argument does not enjoy the cogency of using the object form after but and than.

Garner* argues that when the pronoun precedes the but phrase, the objective case should be used ("None of the students were interested but him"); when the but phrase precedes the verb, the subject case is appropriate ("None of the students but he were interested"). The argument goes that in the former case but is behaving as a preposition, in the second as a conjunction.

Choosing Cases in the Appositive Position
An appositive is the renaming or amplification of something earlier in the sentence. In the sentence "Ronald E. Pepin, translator of several Latin texts, will speak at our symposium on translating dead languages tomorrow," the phrase "translator of several Latin texts" is a re-identification of the person's name, an appositive. Occasionally, pronouns can fall into the appositive slot of a sentence and that can create questions about case. If the appositive is renaming something that functions as a subject, the pronoun should take the subject form; if the appositve is renaming something that functions as an object, the pronoun must take the object form.

The two people in charge of the symposium, Micki and I, will help pay for the damages. (where "Micki and I" renames the subject, "two people")
Nobody in the auditorium, not even he, expected that a riot would break out. (where "he" agrees with the subject "nobody")
My favorite professors, Dr. Pepin and she, gave interesting talks. (where "she" corresponds to the subject "professors")
Great Grandmother Etherea left her money to her favorite people, Jayden and me. (where "me" agrees with the object of the preposition "people")
The bank credited two different groups, the Stamp Club and us, with making deposits on the same day. (where "us" agrees with the object "groups")
When a sentence with compounded pronouns sounds intolerably klutzy, the sentence will have to be rewritten. "The group gave certificates of recognition to the two oldest members, him and me" might sound better as "The group gave certificates of recognition to him and me [or 'to both of us'], the two oldest members" or "He and I, the two oldest members of the group, received certificates of recognition."

Choosing Cases When Pronouns Are Combined
with Other Subjects/Objects
Occasionally pronouns are connected to other subjects or objects in the sentence. In that case, the case of the pronoun can be important and errors are apt to be made, especially in the object position. Generally, the choice becomes obvious when you drop the noun or noun phrase that the pronoun is combined with.

We students can no longer tolerate the administration's mismanagement of funds. [We can no longer tolerate … ]
The administration has given us students no alternative. [… has given us no alternative.]
In the second person, this is not really a problem, because the form of "you" remains the same whether it is singular or plural, subject or object.

You students need to take care of this situation on your own.
I'm giving you students three months to come up with a solution.

Choosing Cases in Exhortations Beginning with Let
When a pronoun follows "let" in a mild exhortation, we use the object form of the pronoun. We say "Let us go then," but we're apt to slip in the subject form, especially when the pronouns are compounded: "And now, let you and I take the first step toward reconciliation." (It should read "let you and me … ") And in the Biblical admonition, we read "Let he who is without guilt cast the first stone." (It should read "Let him who is without guilt cast the first stone.")

Choosing Cases in Captions
Let's say you're putting together a photo album, and there's a nice photo of you and Grandpa, fishing. Should the caption read "Grandpa and Me, Fishing on Lake Pymatuning" or "Grandpa and I, Fishing"? The nominative form, "Grandpa and I," sounds awfully formal and highfalutin for this purpose, and we can reasonably argue that the objective form, "Grandpa and Me," is a kind of shorthand for "This is a photo of Grandpa and Me. … " The choice between formal-stuffy and casual-acceptable is up to you.


regards

faryal shah
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Parallel Form


Unskillful writers often violate this principle, from a mistaken belief that they should constantly vary the form of their expressions. It is true that in repeating a statement in order to emphasize it writers may have need to vary its form. But apart from this, writers should follow carefully the principle of parallel construction.


Faulty Parallelism
Formerly, science was taught by the textbook method, while now the laboratory method is employed.

Corrected Version
Formerly, science was taught by the textbook method; now it is taught by the laboratory method.


The left-hand version gives the impression that the writer is undecided or timid; he seems unable or afraid to choose one form of expression and hold to it. The right-hand version shows that the writer has at least made his choice and abided by it.

By this principle, an article or a preposition applying to all the members of a series must either be used only before the first term or else be repeated before each term.


Faulty Parallelism
The French, the Italians, Spanish, and Portuguese
In spring, summer, or in winter

Corrected Version
The French, the Italians, the Spanish, and the Portuguese
In spring, summer, or winter (In spring, in summer, or in winter)


Correlative expressions (both, and; not, but; not only, but also; either, or; first, second, third; and the like) should be followed by the same grammatical construction. Many violations of this rule can be corrected by rearranging the sentence.


Faulty Parallelism
It was both a long ceremony and very tedious.
A time not for words, but action
Either you must grant his request or incur his ill will.
My objections are, first, the injustice of the measure; second, that it is unconstitutional.

Corrected Version
The ceremony was both long and tedious.
A time not for words, but for action
You must either grant his request or incur his ill will.
My objections are, first, that the measure is unjust; second, that it is unconstitutional.


When making comparisons, the things you compare should be couched in parallel structures whenever that is possible and appropriate.


Faulty Parallelism
My income is smaller than my wife.

Corrected Version
My income is smaller than my wife's.


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gri8 work.

Thank You so much for these . They are very helpful. May Allah Almighty bless you.

I'm grateful to you. Keep updating.

Stay Blessed!

Regards!


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