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Dave’s WW of EU: Subordinating Conjunctions

The last two WW of EUs we talked about Conjunctions and Coordinating Conjunctions. Time to hit Subordinating Conjunctions. This should be easy, right?

We already know that coordinating conjunctions combine independent clauses, so it only stands to reason that subordinating conjunctions would combine dependent clauses. You’re mostly right.

Subordinating conjunctions combine dependent (or subordinate clauses) with independent clauses.

Example: Although I do like the cold, I am very ready for Spring.

In this example, you can see that the bolded portion of the sentence cannot stand alone. It is a dependent clause. The second portion could stand alone (independent clause). The first portion is marked by a trigger word (Although). That word is the subordinating conjunction. If it helps to think of it this way, the first word or two of a dependent clause is the subordinating conjunction. ALWAYS!

Now, you may say that “although” isn’t really a conjunction because it isn’t combining the two halves of the sentence. You’d be right. But it could combine the two halves. Watch: I am very ready for Spring, although I do like the cold.

One of the great powers of English is that it is so customizable to our needs and situations. Heck, you could even throw it right in the middle: I am very ready, although I do like the cold, for the Spring. It doesn’t sound great, but it is correct.

There are many words that can function as a subordinating conjunction, far too many to name here. However, here are some of the most common: after, although, as, as though, because, before, if, once, since, though, unless, until, when, whether, while.

A helpful tip for finding subordinating conjunctions is that they often function as a conditional statement or they create a situation where there is a flow from one idea to another related idea. For example:

If we go to the movies, I will buy popcorn.

When the movie ends, let’s get ice cream.

Because it is Friday, I will go partying.

I like to eat chocolate although I know it isn’t really that good for me.

Watch the baby while I run to the store.

Practice!!

Try out this quiz. It’s a little bit different from what we reviewed, but it shows how subordinating conjunctions change meaning and is good practice. Have fun.

http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/330/grammar/subcon1.htm

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Alright Beeks! What do I do?

Remember Hive 2 and its unfortunate demise?

Well, some of the frames that I stored away have turned, as in the nectar has fermented. What do I do?

Can I throw those on the hives and let the bees take care of it? Will that harm the bees? Do I just throw it all away?

There is still some 20 to 25 pounds of honey on those frames that I’d like to preserve for the bees, but I’m just not sure what to do.

Guidance, please!

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Dave’s WW of EU: Coordinating Conjunctions

Last Thursday we discussed conjunctions in general. Today, we’re going to break it down a bit and get into the nitty gritty details. There are two types of conjunctions: coordinating and subordinating. Let’s discuss only the first one today.

A coordinating conjunction connects independent clauses. Independent clauses are clauses that can stand alone as a complete sentence. For simplicity, let’s just say that an independent clause is anything that can be it’s own sentence. You use coordinating conjunctions to combine independent clauses and create more elaborate and complex sentences. The world would be extremely boring if we didn’t have those conjunctions. For example:

My alarm clock went off. I woke up. I got in the shower. I washed my hair. I ate breakfast. I ate oatmeal. I drove to work.

That’s pretty boring. Coordinating conjunctions let you take each of those pieces and combine them to make better sentences.

My alarm clock went off, and I woke up.

That’s better.

There are only seven coordinating conjunctions: and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet. Some find it helpful to remember FAN BOYS because each letter stands for the initial letter of one of the coordinating conjunctions. Please note that many of those words also do other duties, so make sure it really is a coordinating conjunction. You can test that by checking to see if the two halves of the sentence make their own sentences. If they do, you have a coordinating conjunction.

One problem to note. Some people get way excited when using coordinating conjunctions and combine independent clause after independent clause after independent clause. That’s called a run on sentence. They are aptly named. Here’s a fine example.

My alarm clock went off, and I woke up, and I got in the shower, and I washed my hair, and I ate breakfast, and I ate oatmeal, and I drove to work.

By the end of a run on sentence, you’ll often just feel… lost. The brain does need time to process the information, and that’s why we have periods. Use the period when needed. Generally speaking, I try not to connect more than two independent clauses unless the points are extremely closely related. I put a good example of a sentence with four independent clauses in my practice quiz (#5). I feel that that sentence, while highly complex, is well crafted because each of the independent clauses relates to each other in meaningful ways.

Punctuation

Punctuating a coordinating conjunction is easy. ALWAYS put a comma in front of it. ALWAYS! Sometimes, I will leave out the comma for stylistic reasons, but this is one of those rare absolutes in grammar. If you put the comma in front of the coordinating conjunction, you will ALWAYS be right.

Practice

Identify the coordinating conjunctions below. I’m going to try and fool you, so make sure they really are coordinating conjunctions. Scroll down for my answers!

1. I like to eat eggs, toast, and jam, but I don’t like strawberry jam.

2. If you say that turnip soup is good and I say it is bad, how can we find out who is right?

3. What do you know about the church, and would you like to know more? (sorry, I couldn’t resist)

4. I really like Thursdays, yet I wish it were Friday.

5. I don’t really care for Math, nor do I care for Latin, but English is my favorite, for it is what I do best!

 Answers

1. I like to eat eggs, toast, and jam, but I don’t like strawberry jam. (The word “and” is not a coordinating conjunction in this sentence.)

2. If you say that turnip soup is good and I say it is bad, how can we find out who is right? (The word “and” is not a coordinating conjunction in this sentence because it is not combining two independent clauses. The first part of the sentence is dependent on the second part to make sense.)

3. What do you know about the church, and would you like to know more?

4. I really like Thursdays, yet I wish it were Friday.

5. I don’t really care for Math, nor do I care for Latin, but English is my favorite, for it is what I do best! (This sentence uses three coordinating conjunctions quite effectively because ALL four independent clauses are closely related to each other.)

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GOP Primary: Louisiana

Good win for Santorum. Some would call it a dominating win, and there are those who will claim that this resets the GOP Primary race. It doesn’t. Louisiana just isn’t that important for the race (sorry). Twenty delegates at this point, even if Santorum were to win all of them, just doesn’t do it.

As the race moves into April, we’ll find Romney moving into more and more friendly territory where he should continue to rack up the wins.

I read an article on CNN the other day that frankly asked if either Gingrich or Santorum know how to lose at this point. Both have recognized the hopelessness of actually capturing the nomination outside of a battle on the convention floor. Both surely most recognize the futility of that action and especially the damage that does to the GOP party. And yet….

I personally hope they recognize their stupidity sooner rather than later so that we can move to the general election. I actually hope we can get a short break from all the politicking for a month or two. Right….

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Hive Inspection: March 24, 2012

Now this was an exhausting day….

We spent the day doing gardening, spring cleaning, and so forth. All with allergies. Courtney and I were quite the sight hacking, snorting, and sniffling. Now we’re in front of the TV watching the wonderfully classic Scarlet Pimpernel. I adore that movie.

A bit of a journal:

• Calm, though cloudy
• Light wind
• Warm (70 or so)
• The bees were mostly calm, though there was one particularly intrusive bee who, long after I was done, would NOT leave me alone. I eventually had to flee into the house to escape her attentions. When I came back out five minutes later, she was still waiting for me! Ah well….
• Tons of bees, and I found multiple frames with nothing but pollen in them.

I actually did take pictures, but I haven’t had the time to download them. Sorry.

I checked the hive for queen cells (none), and I’m kind of surprised. I was sure that a swarm was coming sooner or later, but I’m glad to have another week or two to delay. I did find the queen, however, and she is laying very well.

One thing I did note was a goodly number of drone cells. I know many beekeepers remove drone cells, but I’ve shifted thoughts on that of late. Michael Bush talks about leaving the drone because the bees obviously want it. If you pull it, they just rebuild it, which reinforces the notion that they’ll build tons of drones.

Anyway, I can tell I’m rambling. My brain isn’t quite there for the allergies and tiredness (and the stupidity of this fantastic movie).

I’ll end by noting how much I’m enjoying being with the bees again. I set up my yard to take five hives, and I’m all of three weeks from getting there. The urgent thing now is to get a legal barrier between me and my neighbors on the north. Code asks for something six feet tall, and I’m at four.

Enough of the rambling.

Good night.

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Killing Grape Hyacinths (Muscari)

Just a message of hope for all you fellow Grape Hyacinth Haters out there (and ohhhh how I hate them….).

I’ve been fighting them for four years now, carefully pulling each bulb one by one. My front yard is now on year two of being totally clear. The backyard is on year three. I still have a narrow strip back by the hives that has a few, but I’ve been doing serious battle on those and expect to be completely free next year.

It can be done!

Happily, the driveway between my lawn and my neighbor’s lawn, which is infested, has served well enough to block further spreading my way.

I still have not found a poison that effectively controls them unless the bulbs are very shallow. If they are shallow, a standard weed killer tends to work well enough. Whenever I pull a particularly nasty shovelful of earth, I’ll sometimes soak the hole with week killer to get any bulbs that were left behind before filling the hole with clean soil. It seems to work quite well.

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Dave’s WW of EU: Conjunctions

Everyone who started singing the conjunction song, please raise your hand. Thank you.

Most people know that conjunctions exist (Conjunction, junction, what’s your function?), but many can’t readily identify one. To keep it simple, a conjunction is a word that connects other words, phrases, or clauses together. That’s it. Yes, there are such things as coordinating and subordinating conjunctions, but we’ll hold off on those until another day.

All you need to know for today is that conjunctions provide the junction point between two parts of a sentence.

Next time, we’ll start to cover over the difference between coordinating and subordinating

Until next time….  (http://www.jacksheldon.com/school.htm)

Conjunction Junction, what’s your function?
Hooking up words and phrases and clauses.
Conjunction Junction, how’s that function?
I’ve got three favorite cars that get most of my job done.
Conjunction Junction, what’s their function?
I’ve got and, but, and or.
They’ll get you pretty far.

And!
That’s an additive, like this and that.
But!
That’s sort of the opposite,
not this but that.
And then there’s Or. O-R,
when you have a choice like this or that
And, but, and or get you pretty far!

Conjunction Junction, what’s your function?
Hooking up two boxcars and making ‘em run right.
Milk and honey, bread and butter, peas and rice,
(Hey that’s nice)
Dirty but happy, digging and scratchin’.
Losing your shoe and a button or two,
He’s poor but honest, sad but true,
Boo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!

Conjunction Junction, what’s your function?
Hooking up two cars to one
When you say something like this choice
Either now or later
Or no choice:
Neither now nor ever.
(Hey that’s clever)
Eat this or that, Grow thin or fat
Never mind, I wouldn’t do that
I’m fat enough now!

Conjunction Junction, what’s your function?
Hookin’ up phrases and clauses that balance, like:
Out of the frying pan and into the fire.
He cut loose the sandbags,
but the balloon wouldn’t go any higher.
Let’s go up to the mountains or down to the seas.
You should always say Thank you,
Or at least say Please!

Conjunction Junction, what’s your function?
Hookin’-up words and phrases and clauses
in complex sentences like:
“In the mornings, when I am usually wide awake, I love to take a walk through the gardens and down by the lake, where I often see a duck and a drake, and I wonder as I walk by what they would say if they could speak, although I know that’s an absurd thought.”

Conjunction Junction, what’s your function?
Hookin’-up cars and making them function.
Conjunction Junction, how’s that function?
I like tying up words and phrases and clauses.

Conjunction Junction, watch that function!
I’m going to get you there if you’re very careful.
Conjunction Junction, what’s your function?
I’m going to get you there if you’re very careful.

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Illinois GOP Primary

I’m still trying to figure out if I’ve burned myself out this primary season. All I know is that tonight, the media is singing Romney’s praises and after Louisiana, they’ll be claiming he can’t seal the deal.

Honestly, which is it? You can’t honestly expect him to romp through every contest, especially with the competition he has. I would never suggest Santorum is actually competent, but in this environment, he certainly seems to have some staying power.

But enough of Romney’s win. I actually heard something that gave me pause and also caused me to hope even more for a Romney win: if history holds for the GOP, the runner up typically gets the nomination next time around.

Please no.

If Romney were to win the nomination and then the election, at least that would push Santorum back eight years. Hopefully by then the GOP can present something of better quality than Santorum. Ugh….

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Dave’s WW of EU: Split Infinitives

Let’s start by defining an infinitive. An infinitive is the present form of a verb usually preceded by the word “to.” For example, “to swim.” There are some cases where an infinitive can appear without the “to,” but I honestly don’t really understand that usage and find it irrelevant to our present discussion. I guess that means I’m not going to talk about it.

Anyway, you all know what infinitives are. Just add “to” to the front of your verb.

• to run
• to speak
• to sleep
• to be
• to have

A split infinitive is when you put a modifier between the “to” and the verb. One of the most widely criticized ever was the tagline to Star Trek, “to boldly go.”

A History

Split infinitives have been decried as incorrect English since around 1800 or so, but in reality, they are perfectly normal, acceptable, and even useful. They began to be outlawed when grammarians started trying to organize rules for English. Since English is a conglomeration of so many languages, grammarians had a certain difficulty identifying and using existing rules. There was a dramatic difference between lower-class English and upper-class English as well, and most grammarians tried to please the more influential upper-class. In some cases, grammarians grabbed an arbitrary rule, applied it, and made it standard even if it didn’t make any sense simply because that is what the upper class did. In many ways, that follows the standard of consensus of the educated that we use today. All these factors affected the development of the rule.

Most believe that the split infinitive rule was borrowed from Latin and Latin-based languages such as Portuguese, French, and Italian. In these languages it is impossible to split an infinitive because the infinitive form of a verb is a single word. For example, the English infinitive “to sleep” in Portuguese is “dormir.” “To be” is “ser” or “estar.” As single word infinitives, you can’t very well split them, can you?

Besides being logically invalid, the split infinitive rule also doesn’t make much sense. For modifiers to be most accurate, they should be placed as close to the word being modified as possible. The split infinitive rule sometimes makes that difficult. For example:

• We expect to more than double our savings this year.

Imagine having to say that without splitting the infinitive….

• We expect more than to double our savings this year.
• We expect to double more than our savings this year.

Neither of those sentences makes any sense that even comes remotely close to the original meaning. In fact, the final sentence is so ambiguous that it is impossible to correctly identify what is really being doubled. It could mean that the speaker is going to double more things than savings this year. While less likely, it could also mean that they themselves expect to double more than their savings. All that confusion is caused by *not* splitting the infinitive.

Another good place to use a split infinitive is when you have multiple modifiers. For example:

• I expected him to completely, wholly, and entirely fail.

Let’s try to remove that split infinitive….

• I expected him completely, wholly, and entirely to fail.
• I expected him to fail completely, wholly, and entirely.

While each of those sentences does make sense, neither of them carries the same power and ease of reading as the first.

Another area of split infinitive problems is with negation. Most people who support split infinitives in general, absolutely refuse to split infinitives in negative sentences. For example, “I want to not see you” sounds awful. Most choose to negate the verb instead by saying, “I don’t want to see you.” Even though this sounds so much better and is considered standard, it actually carries a slightly different meaning than the original. In this case, moving the negative changes the speaker from “desiring to not see” to “not desiring to see.” Granted, that is a very slight change in meaning for most people, but nevertheless, it is not as accurate as splitting the infinitive.

Really, the best way to maintain the best accuracy of the original sentence without splitting the infinitive is to say, “I want to see you not,” but saying that will certainly raise some eyebrows, wouldn’t it?

What does it mean to me?

Great question. Some experts have labeled the split infinitive as the Mother of all Grammar wars. There are those that will suffer major strokes when they hear split infinitives, and there is a smaller group that will also suffer major strokes when they hear you avoid splitting an infinitive. Most people probably don’t really care, though it is one that I hear bandied about when someone is trying to display grammatical knowledge.

In speech, I really wouldn’t worry about it. In professional writing, I’d avoid it unless it seriously compromises the meaning of your sentence. It’s just not worth the headache. As for my soapbox, I really just wish it didn’t matter that much. The point of any communication is to communicate, and as long as that is successful, I really don’t have much of a problem with how it is done. So for those of you who do think it matters, I humbly invite you to boldly go or to go boldly into a new realm of possibility where the sun just might not stop spinning if someone says it wrong.

Honestly, life is much too short for it to really matter.

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