[Date Prev][Date Next][Subject Prev][Subject Next][ Date Index][ Subject Index]

English grammar



Y'all,

'What will we have for dinner?' 'We will have whatever your father
catches out on the lake [because there's nothing in the pantry].'

'What shall we have for dinner?' 'You shall have whatever you want, my
dear [because it's your birthday].'

"I shall return." Gen. MacArthur

I recommend 'Practical English Usage', by Michael Swan, OUP, second
edition 1995. I find it a useful and current suppliment to Fowler.

As for spoken and written English, certain forms are expected in
business correpsondence which would sound stilted in conversation.
"Enclosed please find..."

I do not subscribe to the claim that words which do not clarify the
meaning of a sentence should be eliminated. As Patricia recently
reminded us, meter counts.

Flash