The following example fails the he/him test for whoever/whomever: Please give the key to whoever needs to open that cabinet. Give the key to him or he? Give the key to him. However, when asking who opened that cabinet, he works instead. So the question, then, is which part of the sentence do we perform … Read more
I’ve seen a number of different phrases in different books describing the action of closing a door, and I’m not quite sure that I fully understand the grammar behind them. For example: (1) [He] clicked the door shut. / [You] push the door open. (2) The door clicked shut. / The door clicked open. The … Read more
What is obvious is that we are choosing a new path. Does the VP (is obvious) function as a predicate? If it does, is there any situation where a VP doesn’t function as a predicate? Or does a VP always function as a predicate? EDIT Another example would be: I took a train heading north. … Read more
I’ve heard both phrases used but would love to learn what the difference is and if one is more proper than the other. E.g. The green paint really made it come [to life/alive]. Answer In most contexts they’re equivalent and interchangeable. But imho come alive is somewhat more likely to be used figuratively, and come … Read more
I was doing an exercise from my grammar book where one has to identify the subject and the predicate when I stumbled across the following sentence. A barking sound the shepherd hears. Now I know that ‘the shepherd’ is the subject but I am not able to identify predicate. My book says that the predicate … Read more
I have been admitted to the upcoming class and been planning to live in the dormitory. I have been admitted to the upcoming class and have been planning to live in the dormitory. Answer Your question concerns ellipsis, omitting one or more words obviously understood but needed to parse the grammar. For this to occur, … Read more
I have a question about future negation using won’t. So, when I have a question that contains two parts connected by and and I want to make it known that those things both will not happen. So for example: It won’t be counted as a typo and cause problems for your registration. Would writing it … Read more
In this sentence He took the money home, and was subsequently arrested on unrelated charges and is now in prison. Can somebody please tell me if the punctuation is sufficient and properly placed? I know the rule of comma before conj if it is connecting two independent clauses, but in my sentence, I am confused … Read more
I’m currently studying the “Sentence Structure” for the English language. I’ve found varied information in this regard. Some sources says that the sentence consist of five components: Subject + Predicate + Object + Complement + Modifier Some other sources say that it consist of only two components: Subject + Predicate. Now, I’m confused, whether predicate … Read more
In the context of compound subjects and compound verbs, the subject below is he. However, the tricky thing here is the verb(s) of the predicate part. Since the first verb is likes [to sing] then the second should be likes [to play]. In other words the compound verb would not be sing and play but … Read more
