Let’s play “Be the Word Guy”! Below are the seven of the most common questions I receive from readers. See how you would answer these queries and then compare your responses with mine.
1. When expressing negative emotions, should you say, “I feel bad,” or “I feel badly”?
2. Is “forte,” meaning “a strength or skill,” pronounced “FORT” or “FORT-ay”?
3. “Between you and me …” or “Between you and I …”?
4. “More important, we love our jobs,” or “More importantly, we love our jobs”?
5. “I graduated college,” or “I graduated from college”?
6. “That skirt is different from the one I wore,” or “That skirt is different than the one I wore”?
7. “Each child should correct their own paper,” or “Each child should correct his or her own paper”?
My responses:
1. “I feel bad” is correct. Linking verbs, such as “is,” “feels,” “tastes” and “seems,” should be followed by a predicate adjective (“bad”), not an adverb (“badly”). Technically, “I feel badly” means, “I’ve lost my sensation of touch.”
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2. “FORT” is correct. The “forte” that means “a strength or skill” derives from the French “fort,” meaning “strong.” The musical notation “forte,” an Italian word, meaning, “play or sing loudly,” is pronounced “FORT-ay.”
3. “Between you and me” is correct. “Between” is a preposition, and the objects of prepositions are in the objective case (“me”), not nominative case (“I”).
4. Both are correct. Traditionally, grammarians have favored “more important” because it’s a shortening of “What is more important.” But “more importantly” is now considered equally acceptable.
5. “Graduated from college” is correct. The college graduates the students, not the reverse. Originally people said, “I was graduated from college” (later shortened to “I graduated from college”). Saying, “I graduated college” completely reverses the graduation process.
6. “Tom is different from me” is correct. But “different than” may be used when it’s followed by a clause, e.g., “Tom’s experience was different than mine was.”
7. This is the trickiest question of all. Traditionally, it should be “his or her” because “child” is singular. But it has become increasingly acceptable to use the plural forms “they,” “their” and “them” with a singular subject because these pronouns are gender neutral and less cumbersome. Often this problem can be sidestepped by recasting the sentence: “All the children should correct their own papers.”
Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Conn., invites your language sightings. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via e-mail to Wordguy@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.
Copyright 2013 Creators Syndicate Inc.