Sarah’s Comments (group member since May 05, 2008)

Sarah’s comments from the Language & Grammar group.

Regarding 'afterward' vs 'afterwards,' I find this with most -ward(s) suffixes: toward, upward, forward, westward, etc. I was pretty random about it, but I think without the -s is the preferred spelling in general. I know my editor nixes it.

I've decided to stay far away from lavish, except as an adjective, as in "a lavish buffet." I'm glad I had a moment of doubt and asked. Otherwise I'd be sending off an essay with a dumb flub in it. :)

I think in the phrase "languish in" the "in" is a plain old preposition, e.g. "she languished in jail for 5 years."

Thanks very much. I must be confusing it with "languish in."

I have a question about using "lavish in" as a verb. Is this correct: "I lavished in reading a book set in the same landscape where I found myself."

I dislike the word "relish" and "savor" seems ordinary. I do prefer "to lavish in" but get the feeling I'm making it up...

Thanks for any advice.
Sarah

Thanks Stephen - I also wonder if "try" should be capitalized?

Hi -
Grammar & punctuation conundrum. What's right here? Thankful for any grammatical guru's advice.

“I tell people, 'try waitressing and you’ll feel differently about working here,'” she said.

or

"I tell people try waitressing and you'll feel differently about working here," she said.

or

"I tell people, try waitressing and you'll feel differently about working here," she said.

I loved The Things They Carried, too. Great beginning, and sustained.

I'm reading, among other things, Seriously Funny: Poems about Love, Death, Religion, Art, Politics, Sex, and Everything Else, a book of (sometimes) funny poems about serious matters.

that mean mannish boy

Vico was the guy who was what?

That's interesting, that "what" is always singular! Perhaps it sounds weird because we expect flexibility as we do with "who" and "that."
Thanks for the input. Personally I will continue to skirt the problem.
smile

Thanks, Mark.
At the same time "that" and "what" refer back to people, just as "who" would, and the verb that goes with "who" is flexible, depending on whether the referent is singular or plural.
"They are the ones who eat shrimp."
"He is the one who eats shrimp."

It cannot be correct that in the first sentence I should use "eats."

These are the factories that pollute the air.
This is the factory that pollutes the air.

Am I mixing apples and oranges?

still confused....

That's the sentence as I got it, without request to change. (I agree it's nice to bypass the problem and not decide what's correct but so it is.) I trust my grammar but don't pretend to be an expert - I would think the "what" represents the embedded "the thing that," so "makes" is correct. YET it sounds really wrong.

OH GRAMMAR GODS, I got this question from a friend and began to answer with great certainty and was suddenly racked by doubt.

"I have a stylistic question that has been bugging me: "People are what make it special" or "People are what makes it special" "make" or "makes"? neither sounds right to me...

I was going to say "make" since "are" is the main verb agreeing with "people." Right?

Newengland wrote: "I'm omniscient --
Who are You? --
Are you Omniscient,
Too?"

Hi, Omnisicient,
How are you?

Laugh. Love your reply, Ruth. I agree. And Carol, yes, if I just throw an exclamation point there, I won't have a problem.
Doug, I've never done it that way -with a comma- but see the comma used increasingly. Thus my perplexity.

Dear grammar experts,
When you write a letter or email starting with "Hi" or "Hello" and the person's name, do you use a comma after it, that is, which of these is correct:

Hi, John,
or
Hi John,

thanks

Wuthering is a combination of 'wondering' and 'weathering.' Think of someone stumbling round the moors like an aimless windmill set loose. Or something.

Thanks, all.

you are right. thanks!

Thanks for your help!