Are adverbs mere adjective spinoffs? [more inside]
posted by aswego on Nov 13, 2009 - 17 answers

Anyone know the name of that handy little red grammar book? It's digest sized and I think it was published by Harcourt and Brace.
posted by zzazazz on Nov 11, 2009 - 4 answers

GrammarFilter: "I want to punch you severely." [more inside]
posted by opossumnus on Nov 4, 2009 - 30 answers

GrammarFilter: A friend and I have been discussing this construction: "would have had to go" vs. "would have had to have gone." It seems they are both correct and are almost always interchangeable, so it would seem the former, simpler version is preferable. Thoughts, explanations, examples otherwise? Are they both correct? [more inside]
posted by Badasscommy on Oct 26, 2009 - 10 answers

Editors, I need your help with quotation marks! Which is correct? a) I sent him an article about "The X Factor". b) I sent him an article about "The X Factor." [more inside]
posted by HeyAllie on Oct 26, 2009 - 40 answers

How is "I should mind" used to mean "I don't really mind"? This and other grammar/language questions inside. [more inside]
posted by rossination on Oct 23, 2009 - 11 answers

Tell me everything you know about this sentence construction: "Are you finished your lunch?" [more inside]
posted by peep on Oct 22, 2009 - 91 answers

Grammarians: Is it OK to take liberties with the word "win" when publicizing a contest or draw? [more inside]
posted by wackybrit on Oct 5, 2009 - 15 answers

Please hope me with this seemingly-basic English grammar/spelling question! Which is correct: "long-sleeve t-shirt" or "long-sleeved t-shirt"? Is there supposed to be a hyphen between "long" and "sleeve(d)? [more inside]
posted by radioamy on Oct 2, 2009 - 38 answers

Why is incorrect pronoun usage so prevalent? [more inside]
posted by bengarland on Sep 14, 2009 - 55 answers

If I am on the phone with an unknown person, I usually say "whom an I speaking with?" to get the callers name. It doesn't seem to roll of the tongue very nicely though. What is the best way to get a callers name in today's world?
posted by kapu on Aug 23, 2009 - 41 answers

So which sentence is proper English grammar: "If you eat like Bob and me, you will be healthy." or "If you eat like Bob and I, you will be healthy."
posted by 256 on Aug 14, 2009 - 73 answers

Grammarfilter! Oh my. Is it "X and Y are two side of the same coin" or "X and Y two sides of the same coin"? This was an SAT sample question, and I, a poor girl's tutor, swore that "sides" must be plural in this context. Then the sample test website told me I was wrong, that it's "two side". [more inside]
posted by saysthis on Aug 13, 2009 - 19 answers

In There Will Be Blood, Daniel Plainview delivers the line: "I have a competition in me." Could this be described as grammatically correct, strictly speaking? Or is it idiomatic, but not strictly correct? Is Plainview saying, essentially, "I have a [sense of] competition in me," a sentence that, were it to be spelled out as such, would lose its rhetorical punch? Could it be argued as a case of poetic metonymy or something of the kind? [more inside]
posted by Busoni on Aug 8, 2009 - 27 answers

I understand the normal rules for "I" and "Me" in sentences, but I simply cannot figure out the answer to this example. What I want to say is that my dad and I are regional truckers (or me and my dad are regional truckers). If I stay true to the "I" vs."Me" formula I learned in school and eliminate the objective pronoun, the simplified version of the sentence can be written as either "I are regional truckers" or "me are regional truckers", and both of these look atrocious written down. I'm not a seasoned grammarian, but even I know that neither one of these seems to be the correct answer. Am I missing something?
posted by Buddy-Rey on Jul 31, 2009 - 22 answers

I want to ask several questions in a row in a research proposal. What is the grammatically correct way of doing this? [more inside]
posted by hiteleven on Jul 23, 2009 - 15 answers

LanguageFilter: How can a native English speaker develop a better sense of grammatical cases? [more inside]
posted by mary8nne on Jul 22, 2009 - 16 answers

In Return of the King, Aragorn says: "I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me." What precisely does he mean by this? My confusion is with the phrase "take the heart of me." Is this a standard idiom?
posted by Busoni on Jul 15, 2009 - 15 answers

Genuinely dumb question to waste on the brain trust here but: when nouns end in x, do you indicate possession with just a quotation mark or do you need to include the s? [more inside]
posted by christhelongtimelurker on Jul 13, 2009 - 23 answers

WordMacroFilter: So my new boss is great but he has some crazy grammar and wordsmithing quirks. I received a list (no joke) of the edits he wants to see of documents that come to his desk (use affect instead of impact, effect instead of impacts, etc). I'd like to create a Microsoft Word Macro that will automate the task. [more inside]
posted by roundrock on May 19, 2009 - 7 answers

Grammarfilter. The question: "Haven't you been to Italy?" The answer: I've been to Italy. Is the correct response yes or no? [more inside]
posted by ohcanireally on May 11, 2009 - 27 answers

Can one 'criticize that?' [more inside]
posted by chndrcks on May 10, 2009 - 32 answers

GrammarFilter: A co-worker regularly uses the phrase "to include" in sentences such as: "Max has achieved the goals, to include such-and-such." I suspect "including" should be used instead of "to include," since "to include" implies future tense but the verb is past tense. Am I right? If so, can anyone find a link that explains this? (Google results tended us use the phrase "to include" in their text, not as their content.)
posted by quinoa on May 7, 2009 - 8 answers

Help settle a grammar dispute: Can I say "He was to Africa," the same way I would say "He has been to Africa"?
posted by alona on May 1, 2009 - 61 answers

In David Foster Wallace's A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again he uses the word "which" in a way that I found unusual - a usage that is described under heading three here. I think I'm fairly well read, but I can't remember ever having seen this before. I've been having (what I think are) migraines lately and I'm curious if I'm becoming linguistically befuddled, or if this is just an obscure or archaic usage. Examples after the jump. [more inside]
posted by phrontist on Apr 20, 2009 - 28 answers

Question about the usage of 'satiety' [more inside]
posted by puloxor on Apr 15, 2009 - 13 answers

John Locke wrote "one may destroy a man who makes war upon him." I understand that in this sentence "one" and "him" are the same person, and "man" and "who" are a separate person. In the most basic sense, this sentence justifies fighting against people who war with you. But I have read sentences before - often in poetry - where cases are switched. If the above sentence were such an example, then "one" and "who" would be a person, and "man" and "him" would be the other person. In this case, the sentence would suggest that one runs the risk of destroying someone if they make war against that someone. What are some examples of such sentences?
posted by nushustu on Apr 6, 2009 - 8 answers

I'm putting together a writing guide for my undergraduate philosophy course. What information should I put in the guide? [more inside]
posted by philosophygeek on Apr 1, 2009 - 14 answers

I'm kicking around a concept for a theoretical piece I hope to work on in the near future, dealing with the way "femininity" and the "female" category are conceived of linguistically. Help me find some empirical data! [more inside]
posted by parkbench on Mar 24, 2009 - 24 answers

"Gotten" = "have had?" [more inside]
posted by CaptApollo on Mar 6, 2009 - 28 answers

Good examples of intercultural communications based on ideograms or common concepts? [more inside]
posted by Bio11 on Feb 22, 2009 - 13 answers

Looking for online grammar exercises, games, etc. that would enable me to do a few exercises here and there throughout the day. [more inside]
posted by variella on Feb 10, 2009 - 9 answers

Why is Sudan frequently referred to with an article, as in the Sudan?
posted by christhelongtimelurker on Jan 28, 2009 - 11 answers

"has been changed" vs "had been changed" [more inside]
posted by jma on Jan 23, 2009 - 12 answers

When should I use "instructive" and when should I use "instructional"? [more inside]
posted by gmm on Jan 21, 2009 - 7 answers

Should I "take" or "make" a decision? [more inside]
posted by lottie on Jan 11, 2009 - 31 answers

Looking for examples in literature where the author had to rely on his/her editor rather heavily. I'm thinking of instances where the authors were capable of spinning a good yarn, yet they had trouble with grammar, structure, punctuation, etc. [more inside]
posted by captainsohler on Dec 29, 2008 - 23 answers

GrammarFilter: Origins and form of "As well he should"? [more inside]
posted by coolhappysteve on Dec 9, 2008 - 6 answers

Please help me with a quick English grammar question. [more inside]
posted by Slenny on Dec 5, 2008 - 42 answers

I need help with a pronoun issue. In the following sentences, what noun is the word it replacing? [more inside]
posted by amyms on Dec 5, 2008 - 11 answers

What do you call this ugly form of conjoined sentence, and am I right in thinking it's ungrammatical? [more inside]
posted by electric_counterpoint on Dec 3, 2008 - 38 answers

When I was in high school, we had a writing lab with some type of mainframe-ish type terminals setup, where there was writing software available which would list frequently repeated words, point out large paragraphs, spelling errors, document complexity, punctuation errors, etc. This was awhile ago, is this type of thing freely available anywhere these days? [more inside]
posted by ceberon on Nov 26, 2008 - 5 answers

In a sentence such as "When I was younger, I would swim a mile before going to work every day," what grammatical tense is in play? [more inside]
posted by woodblock100 on Nov 18, 2008 - 14 answers

I am married to a wonderful (black) man who sometimes has terrible grammar (sliding into ebonics). Should I continue to correct him, even though technically, he knows the proper way to say things or should I stop nagging because it will never work? [more inside]
posted by Grlnxtdr on Nov 10, 2008 - 98 answers

I've noticed the New York Times is now using "Miss", or Ms., as the accepted honorific for a women both married and unmarried. Is this MLA, or is the New York Times in the vanguard? Is Mrs. dead?
posted by plexi on Nov 3, 2008 - 12 answers

Extra! Extra! The verb "to be" missing from TV newscasts! Anchors and TV reporters omitting "to be," often favor using participles instead. Why? [more inside]
posted by HotPatatta on Oct 12, 2008 - 16 answers

In French, the singular of eye is "oiel" and the plural is "yeux." Are there any nouns in English that have completely different spellings of the singular and plural like this?
posted by Crosius on Sep 26, 2008 - 27 answers

Mixed footnotes: do numbered notes precede symbol notes, or vice versa? [more inside]
posted by Shepherd on Sep 26, 2008 - 3 answers

Is there a rule as to how many ...'s are supposed to be placed at the end of a sentence which is to be continued? [more inside]
posted by gman on Sep 23, 2008 - 21 answers

Footnote experts/writers: Please help me decide the best way to use footnotes in my document. [more inside]
posted by Badmichelle on Sep 17, 2008 - 6 answers