I was speaking to an English learner and said, “All you have to do is read a lot.” And they thought that sentence wasn’t grammatically correct because I dropped the word to between is and read.
They thought it should be “All you have to do is to read a lot.” That sounds weird to me.
How do I explain to them the reason you drop the to? Or am I incorrect and it really should have a to?
I want to write a sentence that has a list of descriptive terms and then names, but I'm unclear as to how to do it...
Herman my brother, George my nephew and I went to the market.
If I put commas between Herman and my brother then it can be understood that someone named Herman as well as whoever my brother might be were going to the store with me. There are three people going to the market in the sentence above, not five.
What's the correct way to punctuate this to make it clear that Herman is my brother and not just one of the five people heading out?
Answer
Ignore the people telling you to re-write. Punctuation is part of writing, and there's a wonderful punctuation mark waiting on your home row right now that's eager to help out: the semicolon.
Herman, my brother; George, my nephew; and I went to the market.
Semicolons aren't just for related sentences like this one; they're also the fall-back list separator for when the list items themselves include commas.
As a child I read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; The Sword of Shannara; and A Wrinkle in Time.
Throughout my life I have thought that the correct expression is to take revenge; however, I have also heard people saying I'll revenge. Which is correct?
I love to emphasize. Here I'm emphasizing "determination." Is it the right way to do it?
"If one word can sum up his career, it is determination—determination to fight back and do the impossible."
Answer
What you're doing here is anadiplosis, "repetition of a prominent and usually the last word in one phrase or clause at the beginning of the next" (MW). And yes, it's long been recognised as a specific rhetorical device which adds emphasis to the repeated word (see Wikipedia, among other sources).
However, what makes it anadiplosis isn't the em dash; it's the repetition itself. Whether you use an em dash or an en dash is a whole other question, discussed here (in summary, American usage favours an em dash, British usage favours an en dash). A semicolon or full colon would also be possible in this case. There's no single "right" choice between these options - it would come down to the rhythm of the paragraph, and/or to personal style.
I recently come across several particular noun phrases/compounds such as
"Automatic emergency light" (as the name of a product)
"the fourth consecutive monthly decline" (as in "Consumers paid 2.1 per cent less for food in January than they did a year earlier, the fourth consecutive monthly decline.")
"another alternative suggested order" (as in "But know that there are times when you can deviate from the order, and there is another alternative suggested order too")
My questions are that:
1/ What types of adjectives are "alternative," "consecutive," and "automatic?" They are neither opinion nor purpose adjectives, so I can't use the traditional OPSASCOMP ordering to sort them out.
2/ How do you know to add "consecutive" before "monthly"? Is it possible to write "another monthly consecutive decline"?
3/ Is there any more detailed descriptions of adjective ordering that can explain the sentences above. As far as I know the most widely known adjective order is that of OPSASCOMP.
Answer
"Automatic" and "emergency" are purpose adjectives, it seems to me. "Fourth consecutive monthly decline" conveys a lot information without extra words; you could says "another monthly consecutive decline in a series of four" or "a fourth monthly decline in the last six months" (this would suggest a couple of months here and there where there was no decline.
Alternative and suggested modify order.
Why do Americans 'tell' you Good Morning? Isn't it a greeting rather than information?
This is a quote from a book I am currently reading,
"She went through to the kitchen to tell her children good morning before leaving for work"
This isn't the first time I have heard this and wondered if anyone could explain why "tell" might be used rather than wish.
If I can't end a sentence with the preposition "with", does this mean that the following sentences are grammatically wrong? If so, why?
At least we have some information to work with.
She is finding the job very hard to cope with.
Blasphemy is one thing I will not put up with.
Does anyone else have any examples of sentences ending with with?