CORRECTIONS & EXPLANATIONS - February 7, 2010

Here are the corrections and explanations for last week's entries.

Monday

APPOSE/OPPOSE

“Appose”, a verb,  mean to put or place something close to or next to something else or to put things side by side. A close comparison would be to the word “juxtapose”.
“Football, as apposed to rugby, is a highly sophisticated situation-driven game.”
“The words ‘a verb’ are in apposition to the word ‘appose’ in the explanation above.”

“Oppose”, a verb, means to object to or go against something or someone.
“I oppose that new legislation because I think it infringes upon the common man and I hope it is never brought into law.”

Tuesday

SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT

Correct the subject-verb problems and give the reason for the fix.

“The climate in both places are mild.”

The subject is climate and it is singular. The verb must be in agreement and also be singular.

“The climate in both places is mild.”


“Neither John nor Mary know what caused the problem.”

If one or more singular subject is joined to one or more plural subject by “or” or “nor”, the verb agrees with the subject closest to the verb.

“Neither John nor Mary knows what caused the problem.”


“Joe and his sister knows what the problem is.”

A compound subject whose parts are joined by 'and' normally takes a plural verb.

“Joe and his sister know what the problem is.”


“Every boy and girl have to participate.”

When the compound subject is modified by the words “each” or “every” a singular verb is used.

“Every boy and girl has to participate.”


Wednesday

Find and correct the error in the following piece.

“Clement said the city would one day like to move the fenced and lighted baseball stadium further into the park, clearing the way for a soccer field.”

“Further” means in addition to. “Farther” refers to distance. They are not interchangeable.

“Clement said the city would one day like to move the fenced and lighted baseball stadium further into the park, clearing the way for a soccer field.”


Thursday

FOUNDER/FLOUNDER

“Founder”, as a verb means to fill with water and sink. It is metaphorically used to refer to disasters and catastrophic failures.

“Flounder” means to thrash about in the water and is metaphorically used to refer to desperate struggles.

“If you are sunk, you have foundered; if you are still struggling you are floundering.”


Friday

SET/SIT

“Sit” means to rest on the lower part of the body.

“Set” means to place something or someone down.

“I sit down by the fire because it is warm and comforting and I set my book down beside me when I am tired of reading.”


THINK ABOUT THIS ONE

“Truth persuades by teaching, but does not teach by persuading.”

Quintus Septimius Tertullianus, a Carthaginian who lived from 160 AD to 230 AD, penned this. I didn’t know who wrote it either but I really like its depth of meaning.


LAST WEEK’S WORDS

“Traduce” (v.) means to malign, to pick apart, to badmouth or to drag through the mud.

“Phlegmatic” (adj.) means stolid, cold or unemotional.

“Serendipity” (n.) refers to accidental sagacity, the art of making desirable but unsought-for discoveries by accident.

“Fetish” (n.) refers to any object of blind reverence, a charm, a blind devotion; in psychology, it refers to the compulsive use of some inanimate object in attaining sexual gratification.
“Fetishist”, as a noun refers to a user of fetishes.
“Fetishism”, also a noun, is the psychological compulsive behaviour.
“Fetishistic” is the adjective form.

“Sagacious” (adj.) means acutely insightful and wise, observant and thoughtful or crafty.
“Sagacity” is the noun form.
“Sagaciously” is the adverb form.