Tuesday March 27, 2012
Grammar couplets
Mind Our English
By OH TEIK THEAM
A NON-restrictive clause is set off from the rest of the sentence by commas:
Her father, who likes music (1), often sings while he is dressed in his pyjamas.
“A restrictive clause is not set off by commas from the rest of the sentence,” said Miss Jones.
And then she quickly wrote on the blackboard: People who live in glass houses (2) should not throw stones.
This principle of comma use applies to appositives as well:
(a) His friend James (3) said to him the other day, “I met a wonderful belle.”
(b) In the middle of the night, her only child, Helen (4), let out a yell.
When “number of” is preceded by “the”, use a singular verb:
“The number of visitors to the fair is big. It’s just superb!”
When “number of” is preceded by “a”, use a plural verb:
A number of botanists have agreed to test the new herb.
From my concise dictionary I found
The floor of a room is also called ground.
“Will you please close the door does not need a question mark.
It’s a politely expressed command,” she said to Clark.
According to a book I read, the plural of person is persons or people:
(a) Police are looking for the person or persons who murdered the school principal.
(b) “Nine people have agreed to donate to the fund,” said the happy school principal.
Make it extremely plain
When you write to explain.
(1)The clause provides information about the noun it modifies (“father”) but is not essential to understanding the meaning of the noun – it does not restrict the meaning. If we leave out the clause, the sentence still makes sense.
(2) The clause is essential to the meaning of the noun it modifies (“people”) – it restricts the meaning. Which people are we talking about? People who live in glass houses. If we leave out the clause, the sentence does not make sense.
(3) Restrictive: Which friend? His friend James.
(4) Non-restrictive: “Helen” merely describes “her only child”.
Source:
RSS
