A friend of mine tried his hand recently at writing a short story, a focused and well-constructed four pages about a young man’s preoccupation with beauty and the meaning its unexpected displays might reveal. Here are his opening two sentences: Done properly, stocking shelves can be the work of an artist. In the morning Michael …
Author Archives: rultimo
Fact or Possibility?
Is this sentence correct? Many countries now require that one have substantial savings in the bank before retiring there. The word one is a singular pronoun, so shouldn’t the verb be has, not have? It should not and here’s why. The sentence illustrates what is called the subjunctive mood, and before that imposing terminology tempts …
In or Into and a Little More
Let’s see what we can say about one of the knottier knots that tie modern English grammar together: when do we combine the words in and to and write into? Which of these, for example, is the better choice: never give into temptation or never give in to temptation? The words in and to can …
Unwilling to Stay Silent
Not everyone believes what many of us quite likely think about the world: What we see is what there is and that’s that. Let’s move on. We can call that the hard-bitten, common sense view of things, and that view of life is responsible in large measure for all the busyness (which is the derivation …
A Fortuitous Kiss
Words and how we compose them are about all we have in written language to produce the thoughts and images that will carry our experience and reflection to others. That is why many teachers and critics are so conservative—or better, conserving—about the proper use of words: language is a surprisingly blunt instrument for conveying the …