4
   

Grammar question for Grammar NAZIs.

 
 
mgun
 
Reply Sun 25 May, 2014 09:21 pm
Is this sentence clear to you?
'The infant-directed talk used by this father grabs and holds his baby's attention." Is the use of 'his' to refer to the father when 'infant-directed talk' is actually the subject acceptable?
Thank you so much, I'm desperate to know.
  • Topic Stats
  • Top Replies
  • Link to this Topic
Type: Question • Score: 4 • Views: 468 • Replies: 8
No top replies

 
fresco
 
  1  
Reply Mon 26 May, 2014 12:41 am
@mgun,
Quote:
"The infant-directed talk used by this father grabs and holds his baby's attention."
Is the use of 'his' to refer to the father acceptable when 'infant-directed talk' is actually the subject ?


I have re-written that clumsy question by moving the position of the word "acceptable".
In this form, the answer to the question is that "his" is acceptable, because it refers to "the baby", irrespective of the act which is subject of the sentence.
0 Replies
 
McTag
 
  1  
Reply Mon 26 May, 2014 01:02 am
@mgun,

Quote:
Is this sentence clear to you?
'The infant-directed talk used by this father grabs and holds his baby's attention."


Yes.
And there's nothing much grammatically wrong with it.
McTag
 
  1  
Reply Mon 26 May, 2014 01:05 am
@McTag,

What's a Grammar Nazi, by the way? Someone who doesn't like sloppy use of the language? Some contributors may find that label inappropriate for what they do.
Setanta
 
  2  
Reply Mon 26 May, 2014 01:19 am
It is prosaically said that one catches more flies with honey than with vinegar. I only looked into this thread because i saw that McT had responded. There's no way in hell i would offer any help to someone making such an appeal.
0 Replies
 
contrex
 
  1  
Reply Mon 26 May, 2014 01:20 am
And why spell NAZIs (mostly) in capital letters?
0 Replies
 
Walter Hinteler
 
  1  
Reply Mon 26 May, 2014 01:32 am
@McTag,
Grammar during the Nazi period was more or less the same as before.
However, the use of abbreviations and superlatives grew ad infinitum.
Thomas
 
  2  
Reply Mon 26 May, 2014 01:42 am
@mgun,
mgun wrote:
Grammar question for Grammar NAZIs.
Is this sentence clear to you?

No, for two reasons:
1) Your sentence is lacking a verb. I suggest you fix that by saying something like: "I have a grammar question for grammar Nazis."

2) "NAZI" is not an acronym, and therefore doesn't belong in all-caps.
0 Replies
 
contrex
 
  2  
Reply Mon 26 May, 2014 02:15 am
@Walter Hinteler,
Walter Hinteler wrote:
Grammar during the Nazi period was more or less the same as before.

In a famous BBC broadcast by Sefton Delmer, made before he joined the Government's black propaganda department, he mocked the Germans about their chances of launching a successful invasion.

We English, as you know, are notoriously bad at languages," said I, talking my most impeccable German, "and so it will be best, meine Herren Engellandfahrer," if you learn a few useful English phrases before visiting us."

For your first lesson we will take: Die Kanalüberfahrt... the Channel crossing, the Chan-nel crossing. Now just repeat after me:

Das Boot sinkt... the boat is sinking, the boat is sin-king;
Das Wasser ist kalt... the water is cold. Sehr kalt... very cold.

Now, I will give you a verb that should come in useful. Again please repeat after me:

Ich brenne... I burn
Du brennst... you burn
Er brennt... he burns
Wir brennen... we burn
Ihr brennt... you are burning.

Yes, meine Herren, in English, a rather practical language, we use the same word 'you' for both the singular and the plural:

Ihr brennt... you are burning
Sie brenne... they burn

And if I may be allowed to suggest a phrase: 'Der SS-Sturmführer brennt auch ganz schön...' The SS Captain is also burning nicely, the SS Captain is al-so bur-ning quite nice-ly!
0 Replies
 
 

Related Topics

deal - Question by WBYeats
Let pupils abandon spelling rules, says academic - Discussion by Robert Gentel
Please, I need help. - Question by imsak
Is this sentence grammatically correct? - Question by Sydney-Strock
"come from" - Question by mcook
concentrated - Question by WBYeats
 
  1. Forums
  2. » Grammar question for Grammar NAZIs.
Copyright © 2024 MadLab, LLC :: Terms of Service :: Privacy Policy :: Page generated in 0.09 seconds on 10/03/2024 at 07:29:09