I saw this sentence in a Guardian article about parentship:
"Parenting is challenging and the only training we get is through our own childhood experiences, many of which it would be preferable not to pass on."
My question is, after the comma in second sentence fragment, there is "many of which" and "it", which pronoun refers to which noun?
It happens to me that there are two subjects or am I wrong?
In a sentence like:
Next to apple, pears, and bananas, a lot of other fruit exists.
Is the comma after bananas needed, allowed, or forbidden? And why?
Is the same true for descriptions with verbs:
Next to fruit that smells of sewerage, looks like dung, or tastes
disgusting, a lot of nice fruit in between these extremes exists.
Or is there a neater way of saying this?
Pronouns usually replace nouns or noun phrases. There are a few fuzzy examples where it's not as clear cut as that (e.g. "my" which refers to me but acts like a determiner, and "mine" which refers to both me and something else).
How are relative pronouns like that and which pronouns? What noun or noun phrase do they replace? If they're not strictly speaking pronouns, what would be a better description for them?
Examples from Wiktionary:
- The CPR course that she took really came in handy.
- The house that he lived in was old and dilapidated.
- We've met some problems which are very difficult to handle.
I'm not talking about other clearly pronominal uses such as:
- Which is which?
- That is that!
I know that children’s books is correct, but for some reason I want to say kids books, even though I know that it’s a plural possessive noun ending in an s.
A quick search on the web turns up Barnes & Noble, who have a web page title that reads “Children's Books, Kids Books”.
Is the major bookseller wrong here? Or is there some exception I don’t remember?
More simply, is it kids books or kids’ books — and why?
Answer
Part of my answer to the question posted here was:
According to ‘The Cambridge Guide to English Usage’, the removal of
the apostrophe from 'plural nouns in phrases which express affiliation
. . . is widespread in the English-speaking world' and has the
imprimatur of the American Associated Press stylebook and the
Australian government Style Manual. As the Cambridge Guide says, ‘the
time spent worrying about whether it should really be driver’s licence
or drivers’ licence would be better used elsewhere.'
Nothing is lost by writing kids books rather than kids’ books. However, the Cambridge Guide does point out 'that there are special cases which seem anomalous without the apostrophe s', and one of them is childrens, 'because that is not a regular form of the word . . . Thus context is the final arbiter as to whether apostrophes are needed, as always.'
I was wondering if this question is correct or not? and if not, why not?
Do you know if he didn't go to the party?
It sounds kind of strange. I feel
'Do you know if he went to the party?'
is better... but i'm not sure why.
Can anyone help me?
I am having a hard time determining the correct usage when referring to my staff in a sentence. It includes multiple employees.
Should I say"
Staff were busy this fall or
Staff was busy this fall....
HELP!
This may sound silly, but I keep hearing people saying "thuh" instead of "thee" for "the" in front of adjectives or nouns starting with a vowel or a diphthong. Like, "thuh' old people, "thuh" other side. I speak the Queen's English (but am not a native speaker). I first noticed this watching the well-known English journalist and historian Andrew Marr on the BBC talking like this. He did this so frequently, almost consistently, that it started bothering me. I don't mind if people start talking like this, I just want to know if this is a new trend. I wrote to the Beeb about this, and they recited basic grammar rules about the pronunciation of "the" in reply, as if I was retarded. Whether you're British English or American, can you help me out? Do you yourself sometimes - or frequently - say "thuh" other side, "thuh" old stuff? (Please don't send me grammar rules. I am a retired English teacher.)