Search results for 'tag:Nouns tag:Contractions' matching tags 'Nouns' and 'Contractions'

Re: Pronoun Case. Please Help.

Eddie88 — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 02:47:37 GMT

Very informative and clear once again, thanks!

I never realised there were rules around the contraction isn't! It is great to now know.

One final question (I hope I am not over using your knowledge, haha) is in regards to this sentence.

Unfortunately, it is to do with the whom/who case again!

'We have people whom/who can testify this fact if necessary'

Thanks to you, I am aware of four rules to decide whether it is the objective or nominative pronoun:

1) If it is the object of a preposition- there is no preposition in this sentence; so I ignore this rule

2) If it follows the be verb- there is no be verb before the pronoun; so I ignore this rule

3) If it is the subject or object of the clause it is in (it is generally a relative clause, correct?)- This is where I have trouble. I find it hard to establish what clause it is apart of. Is it always a part of the relative clause?

This is what I thought:

In this sentence the independent clause is we have people and the dependent/relative clause is who/whom can testify this fact (what would if necessary be?).

So, because the pronoun is the subject of the relative clause, it is who and testify would be the object of the clause, correct?

However, my other thought was that we have people is not an independent clause as it doesn't have a complete thought, correct?

In this case, we have people whom/who can testify this is the independent clause...

Please help!

Re: Pronoun Case. Please Help.

CalifJim — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:39:41 GMT

Eddie88
here is a post which I thought slightly contradicted your point:

Yes. I thought you asked again because you were puzzled by my overly long reply the first time.

I didn't know which kinds of cases you wanted to know about -- the preposition immediately after the pronoun or the preposition after the pronoun with any number of words in between.

No words in between:

They threw him out the door. (Here him has nothing whatsoever to do with out.)

Words in between:

The man whom we bought the gift for is on the train. (Here whom goes with for because the uninverted form is for whom.)

The man [We bought the gift for him] is on the train. becomes

The man [We bought the gift for whom] is on the train. becomes

The man [whom we bought the gift for __ ] is on the train. becomes

The man whom we bought the gift for is on the train.

Only the specific word whom has this property.

Eddie88
could the pronoun ever be the subject of the sentence, but have a preposition preceding it?

Never, never, never!!

Eddie88
how is the contraction isn't written in full? For example, 'this is the right book, isn't it?

Is this written like this: 'this is the right book, is it not'? So, does it and not switch order in formal academic prose?

isn't = is not

However, in modern English a negation (not, n't), can only be moved to the left of the subject if it is expressed as n't. It must stay to the right of the subject if it is expressed as not.

It is. It is not. It isn't.

Is it? Is it not? Isn't it?

So you can't have forms (in modern English) such as Is not it? or Is it n't?

Same here:

It does. It does not. It doesn't.

Does it? Does it not? Doesn't it?

Not Does not it? or Does it n't?

It has nothing to do with academic prose.

Re: Pronoun Case. Please Help.

Eddie88 — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 22:57:52 GMT

Yes thanks, those examples illustrate my query perfectly. And thanks for correcting my spelling mistake, woops!

1)
However, here is a post which I thought slightly contradicted your point:

The preposition always precedes its object, except when the preposition is at the end of a sentence or clause:

Example:

The man we bought the gift for is on the train now.

2)
Secondly, when a preposition preceds the pronoun, the pronoun should be in objective form. However, could the pronoun ever be the subject of the sentence, but have a preposition preceding it? What pronoun case would it take?

3)
Finally, how is the contraction isn't written in full? For example, 'this is the right book, isn't it?

Is this written like this: 'this is the right book, is it not'? So, does it and not switch order in formal academic prose? This is an elementary level question, I know!!

Re: Pronoun Case. Please Help.

AlpheccaStars — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 14:39:06 GMT

Eddie88
I was wondering when you said, 'right again! the pronoun and it's object must make up...'

In America (assuming this is where you are based) do they use apostrophes to show possession of these pronouns? (it's object). Where I am from, we omit the apostrophe to avoid the confusion with the contraction, 'it is.'

The it's is not correct, even in American English.

It's = = it is.

its = = possessive case of it.

Eddie88
What I am saying is that 'that must be he on the plane' isn't he the subject of the sentence?

He is in the predicate nominative case. However, in casual speech following "must be" we break the grammatical rule and use the objective case. .

Re: Pronoun Case. Please Help.

Eddie88 — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 08:15:03 GMT

Great, thanks a lot!

I was wondering when you said, 'right again! the pronoun and it's object must make up...'

In America (assuming this is where you are based) do they use apostrophes to show possession of these pronouns? (it's object). Where I am from, we omit the apostrophe to avoid the confusion with the contraction, 'it is.'

Secondly, I don't quite understand what you mean to my answer to the following question above: Now, I understand this; however, could the justification be equally sound if I were to say that it is the nominative (subjective) case because the pronoun is the subject of the sentence, so it should be HE?

What I am saying is that 'that must be he on the plane' isn't he the subject of the sentence? In this case it means that it is correct to have he not him... But now that I re-ask the question, I am beginning to realise that he/him would not be the subject of the sentence...'that' would be the subject...correct? And he/him is the object of the sentence. But in this case it is the nominative case because the pronoun follows the 'be verb'. Am I on track here?

Everything else was clear and superb, thanks!!

Re: Apostrophe or not an apostrophe - that is the question.

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 09:03:23 GMT

No apostrophe should be used. A 'thank you' is a colloquial compound noun. To put an 's' on it is to signify the plural. The apostrophe is only used to express possession e.g. Bob's radio; or missing letter/s such as the 'no' omitted in 'can't' which in its full form is 'cannot'. Note 'its' does not take a possessive apostrophe. When it has an apostrophe it is a contraction of 'it is'.

Re: have got

Skrej — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 12:52:03 GMT

Hahah, you two make me laugh with these posts.

Yoong, all your emoticons and hyper-links work fine for me. I can click on your links and it brings up the post, just like it's supposed to.

About contractions: It depends upon what kind of contraction. Personal pronoun contractions can be used with everything except the simple present, simple past, and past continuous, including most present forms, and all the future forms. They won't work with the simple past, but they can work with the past perfect, and past perfect continuous. However, they can be a bit ambiguous, so you need to write your sentences so they're clear, or write them out to avoid any confusing cases. Also, contractions are viewed as informal, so be aware of the situation you're writing for, when deciding whether or not to use them.

I'd studied acting before moving to New York. (past. perf.)

You weren't studying? (past cont. but -it's not a personal pronoun contraction.)

You'd been studying when she called. (past. perf. cont.)

I'll do it in a minute( simple future)
I'll have finished it by the time you get home. (future perf.)

However:

He's tired. (Unclear- Is it "He is tired" (simple present), or "He has tired" (pres. perf.)

Re: don't I receive

Yankee — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 06:59:20 GMT

Hi Avangi

This goes off in a slightly different direction since it leaves the "Not only" aspect out of the discussion.

To me, "do not I" would sound rather biblical (or so sayeth the Lord).
On the other hand, the contraction "don't I" is in common use. However, when "don't I" is written out in uncontracted form, the standard is "do I not".

Avangi
I couldn't find it, but came across lots of third person examples, like "Does not a doubling of oil prices need a fitting response?"

Would you feel comfortable using a pronoun that way? In other words, would you be willing to change "a doubling of oil prices" to the word "it" and then say this:
"Does not it need a fitting response?"

Would you say or write any of these?
Do not you
Does not he/she
Do not we
Do not they

Those would sound poetic to me. Possibly a highly stylized usage.

Re: "Is" contraction following nouns ending by "s"

nona the brit — Thu, 01 May 2008 15:47:12 GMT

It's ok in theory(but looks a bit awkward in writing. Ok if very informal) but rather pointless as the s's sounds absolutely identical to s is. So the contraction doesn't actually contract anything.

If you really want to write this for some reason, just do the usual form, it makes no difference which letter comes before it. James's.

"Is" contraction following nouns ending by "s"

EyeSeeYou — Thu, 01 May 2008 15:09:43 GMT

Which one is correct?

1- James's not coming tonight.

2- James' not coming tonight.

Or should we avoid the contraction here?