Here are the corrections and explanations for last week's entries.
Monday
Identify and correct the errors in the following examples.
“The other podium. The one the International Olympic Committee - and everyone on Earth other than North Americans - recognizes as the true measure of the sporting nations: gold medals, baby.”
There are two incomplete thoughts in this example and they should be all in one sentence.
I disagree with the use of dashes in place of commas, but that is often debated. To me, a dash says that the writer has no idea of the correction punctuation to be used.
Is “baby” necessary?
“The real test is the other podium, the one the International Olympic Committee, and everyone on Earth other than North Americans, recognizes as the true measure of the sporting nations: gold medals, baby.”
“Not the loose change the Americans have been scooping up at every turn. Not the, er, minor medals. Gold.”
This example is also made up of incomplete thoughts. The next thing will probably be sentences with all the words in short forms. Pseudo-jock-cool-style should not trump good grammar in newspaper reporting!
“The true test is not the loose change the Americans have been scooping up at every turn, not the, er, minor medals. Only gold is the standard.”
Tuesday
Identify and correct the errors in the following pieces: there are two; some might argue there are three.
“Which is why, 10 minutes into the Canada-U.S. hockey game on Sunday, my wife - a hockey fan of the rabid French-Canadian variety - and I decided we had to watch the rest of the game in public somewhere.”
This is a subordinate clause because of the word “which”, a subordinate conjunction; “which” must be changed.
Note my objection to dashes; it applies here, also.
“That is why, 10 minutes into the Canada-U.S. hockey game on Sunday, my wife, a hockey fan of the rabid French-Canadian variety, and I decided we had to watch the rest of the game in public somewhere.”
“And we sung the whole thing, no petering out in embarrassed silence halfway through like the old days.”
Conjugate the verb “to sing”. The past tense is “sang”.
“Sung” can only be used with an auxiliary verb such as “have”.
The sentence structure is faulty; try adding prepositions to make better sense.
“And we sang the whole thing, with no petering out in embarrassed silence halfway through like we used to do in the old days.”
Wednesday
PRESUME/ASSUME
“Presume” means to gather, to infer, to understand without prior knowledge or to believe without prior proof or to behave arrogantly or overconfidently. The key to this word is the prefix “pre” which means before.
“Do not presume to be in charge if people do not obey your wishes.”
“Assume” means to take for granted without verification or proof, to suppose or to take on titles, to take control of or to pretend or to be taken up.
“I assume you will speak about your Olympic experiences when you return from the games.”
Thursday
Identify and correct the error in the following piece.
“ ‘If the (bridge company) wishes to resubmit the application at some future date, there submission should demonstrate that sufficient legal authority to build the proposed bridge exists - which includes definitive proof of resolution of the property rights issue,’ said Elgaaly.”
What does “there” mean?
What does “their” mean?
How could anyone make this mistake?
And then, how could the writer use “their”, a plural word, when referring to a singular entity, “company”?
A dash is used again; it should be a comma.
“ ‘If the (bridge company) wishes to resubmit the application at some future date, its submission should demonstrate that sufficient legal authority to build the proposed bridge exists, which includes definitive proof of resolution of the property rights issue,’ said Elgaaly.”
PRONOUNS
Identify and correct the errors in the following sentences.
The key is simple: there are subjective pronouns and objective pronouns and they are not interchangeable.
“Mary likes Joe and I.”
“Like” takes an object after it so “I” cannot be used.
“Mary likes Joe and me.”
“Us computer users consider ease of use when we buy our computer programmes.”
“Us” is objective and cannot be used as a subject.
“We computer users consider ease of use when we buy our computer programmes.”
“The winner of the gold medal was her.”
“Was” is a copula verb and takes a subjective completion after it. If you don't believe me, put "she" as the subject.
“The winner of the gold medal was she.”
“She was the winner of the gold medal.”
“Cathy and me like him.”
“Me” cannot be used as a subject.
“Cathy and I like him.”
Friday
Identify and correct the errors in the following excerpts.
"...according to he and his attorney..."
“To” is a preposition and takes an object after it; “he” is subjective and cannot be used.
Courtesy always demands that the other person be placed first.
"...according to his attorney and him..."
"...one of the problems of the federal government is how to continue to grow employment opportunities..."
We do not grow things; they grow by themselves. Use “build”, “increase”, “expand”, “develop" or “cause to grow” instead.
"...one of the problems of the federal government is how to continue to expand employment opportunities..."
A NOBLE CONCEPT
“All virtue is summed up in dealing justly.”
Aristotle, the Greek critic, philosopher and physicist who lived from 384 BC to 322 BC, wrote this.
LAST WEEK’S WORDS
“Valedictory” (n.) refers to a farewell address or oration delivered by an outstanding member of a graduating class or a bidding farewell or goodbye.
“Winsome” (adj.) means charming in a naive, childlike manner, appealing or fair.
“Excoriate” (v.) means to decry, to condemn, to strip or remove the skin from or to denounce.
“Debacle” (n.) refers to a sudden or violent collapse, a ound defeat or a disaster.
“Obloquy” (n.) refers to a state of disgrace resulting from public abuse, ignominy, shame or a malicious attack.
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