Reply
Mon 25 Apr, 2005 05:26 pm
a) It's a lot of work. b) Don't aggravate me. c) Between you and me, I think it stinks. d) She is smarter then he is. e) He should of known better. f) Get a buck off of him. g) He should never have come here. h) He should never of come here. i) I know you have it just give it to me. j) "I know you have it," just give it to me. k) I know you have it, just give it to me. l) I know you have it. Just give it to me.
You mean which three of the following are correct.
Hey Rod, if we do your homework are you still going to put your name at the top?
They're all very casual constructions... very slangy. One thing that I really dislike is the use of should of, would of... it is supposed to be should HAVE, would HAVE, should never HAVE. The pronunciation in casual speech is sorta like "should've" which leads people to the "of" construction. But they should have known better.
That's just one of the problems...
Just thought I ought to warn you that while "Don't aggravate me" is grammatically perfectly correct, it actually means "Don't make me any worse than I already am" which may not be exactly what you meant to say.
d) She is smarter then he is. Not right, should be THAN
e) He should of known better.h) He should never of come here. Not right, of issue see Wy
f) Get a buck off of him. Not right, prepositional phrase is off him, not off of him
g) He should never have come here. Not right, split verb phrase- should be "never should have come."
i) I know you have it just give it to me. Not right, needs a semi colon to join the two independent clauses
j) "I know you have it," just give it to me. Not right. Makes no sense.
k) I know you have it, just give it to me. Not right, comma splice -- needs a conjunction before just
Susan, I would use "from him" as opposed to "off him", and I see nothing wrong with "He should never have come here."
I know you have it; just give it to me. Why doesn't that make sense, Susan?
SusanMiles wrote:f) Get a buck off of him. Not right, prepositional phrase is off him, not off of him
This, assuming he is not trapped under a deer.
Ok, I liked the deer reference. Letty... er... opting out of the anabiotic, stumbled into animosity?...yeah I have it ... enjoy:
A preposition only functions when followed by a phrase ending in a noun, the object of the preposition. While one preposition can share several (compound) objects, two prepositions cannot share one-- in this case of and off, both preositions cannot share him. It doesn't matter if "the buck" is on him, with him or in him, grammatically you must choose how to get it.
As for splitting verb phrases (should have come) with modifying adverbs, with the exception of "not", the rule is put it before or after the verb. In this sentence clarity favors before the verb.
Sorry, Susan. I'm not certain what you are saying. Can you be a little clearer?
Believe me, my friend, I understand about prepositions and their objects, but I fail to see what antibiotics has to do with anything.
example: We are opting out--we subject; are opting; verb phrase; out adverb; of our antibiotics--prep. phrase. and it does not have to be a phrase as it can be a single noun or pronoun.
Nevermind the first reference-- different strand.
Many prepositions can also be adverbs. Some cannot (ex. to). This can sometimes be spotted by back to back prepositions, "She walked out into the garden"- into the garden is your prepositional phrase. Out, is an adverb placing where she walked.
In the sentence "Get the buck off of him" Of him is the preositional phrase, leaving the reader with Get the buck off. I will end my part here with ... and that's just wrong.
ok, susan! Strange, I thought that I said that already yet.