Goose/geese, so why not moose/meese?

Image from wallmu.com

Why do we say one goose, two geese, but one moose, two moose?

The answer lies in the word origins, as explained so elegantly by Kory Stamper, associate editor at Merriam Webster. Goose comes from Old English, while moose comes from Algonquian, a North American native tongue.



One Maine moose on the left, three moose on the right, from the Ottawa Sun:

That versus which

 Image from secondarysolutionsblog

A lot of second language speakers have trouble with this, so today I'd like to direct anyone who feels uncertain about it to listen to this very clear post by editor Kory Stamper.

Merriam Webster's "Ask the editor" is where you'll find her incisive and enlightening remarks. 

The bottom line is this. Although the "rule" concerns restrictive and non-restrictive clauses, actual usage is not as strict as the rule.

We can say the idea that I had a minute ago (restrictive clause) or the idea which I had...
In the case of non-restrictive clauses, though, we do need to restrict our use to which, bracketed by commas.

Like this:
The rule about always using that for restrictive clauses, which was made by grammarians, is not necessarily followed by all native speakers of English.

One or one of?

Image from Simply Cyn

Special idiomatic expression: If it's one of a kind, there is no other like it.

"I can't remember which one of these expressions to use," the student complained.

"As usual," I replied, "it's all about context."

Here's how it works:


If you say one day, you are not talking about a day among a group of days, but simply a day, any day.

On the other hand, if you use one of, you are speaking of the noun that follows in connection to a group of days; thus, you speak about one of the days you worked last month. 

If you eat one chocolate, you eat a single chocolate, not one from a specific group of chocolates.

If you decide to allow yourself only one drink, because you are planning on driving, the emphasis is on the number, one drink only, and not on the group of which that drink is a member.

It's also about grammar. One is followed by a singular noun. One day, one chocolate, one drink.
In contrast, one of is followed by the and then a plural noun. One of the days I worked last month, one of the chocolates I bought at Purdys, one of the drinks on the table.

As you see, the plural nouns above are followed by specifying modifiers that define the group and answer the question "which?" Answer: the one I worked last month, the one I bought at Purdy's, the one on the table.

Beware: the word one can sometimes be plural. In this case, one is preceded by the, and followed by specifying phrases or clauses, like this:

Which days? The ones I worked night shift.
Which drinks? The ones on the table.
Which chocolates? The ones from Purdy's.

Whether you use one or one of the, an adjective can precede the noun. One dark chocolate, one alcoholic drink, one sunny day. Or one of the cream-filled chocolates (if there are any left); one of the alcoholic drinks (as long as it isn't too strong); one of the busiest days we had at work last month.

Remember: one of is ALWAYS followed by the and a specifying modifier.

Crossing the line

Horses leave the gate at Woodbine Racetrack

First out of the gate does not necessarily mean first to cross the line. The line, in this case refers to the finish line. The first horse to cross it, even by a nose, is the winner.

In other contexts, to cross the line can have other meanings. For instance, someone who is guilty of cheating or illegal behaviour may be said to have crossed the line. In this case, the line is between right and wrong, or legal and illegal. Commiting plagiarism, getting involved in vandalism and drunk driving are all examples of crossing the line. When such lines are crossed, it may not be possible to go back.

It is also possible to cross the line socially. To engage in inappropriate innuendo or tasteless behaviour that offends others is to cross the line. This may mean a number of things: public drunkenness, offensive language, and inappropriate and unwanted touching are some common examples.

On the whole, once the line's been crossed, it can take a lot more than a simple apology to return to the status quo. 

To cross the line can also mean to cross the border. For instance, we might say we're going to cross the line and do some shopping in Bellingham. With this usage, no negative connotation is involved.

Anybody, somebody, everybody, nobody

 Image from The Geeks Club

Is anybody singular?

No, I am not asking whether anybody is without a partner, or if anybody is odd or strange.

I speak grammatically. And the answer is yes. This also applies to everyone, someone, no-one and anyone.

The pronouns anybody, somebody, everybody and nobody are all singular, grammatically speaking. Sentences using these pronouns use the verb forms that are used with singular nouns, like this:
     Tom was ready and so was everybody else.
     Mary was surprised, but nobody else was surprised.
     Was anybody home? No, there wasn't anybody there.
     As I walked down the dark street, I felt that somebody was following me. Then I realized that there was somebody behind me: my dog.

To read a fascinating short story about these interesting characters, follow this link.

Spelling patterns: When two vowels go walking...

 Illustration from mentor mob Between the Lions.

A phonics rule learned by children goes like this:

When two vowels go walking, the first does the talking, and it says its own name. You can hear it sung here.

This teaches us how to pronounce the following vowel combinations: bait, laid, braid, pail, sail, main, pain, rain, and train. (All have the long a sound -- i is silent).

Caution: there are exceptions. Said goes against the rule and rhymes with bed.

We can also use this rule to help us pronounce heat, beat, real, and feat. It also helps with vowel combos beginning with o, like goat, boat, and coal.

The rule is less helpful with vowel combos that begin with i and u, which are often diphthongs -- combination vowel sounds. In other words, with diphthongs both vowels do the talking. Examples of words with diphthongs include dial, riot, trial, suet, and cruet. (All of these diphthong words have two syllables.)

To spell English correctly means we need to pronounce words correctly first. To learn more about English vowel sounds, listen to Teacher Joe on You Tube as he lists and pronounces the 15 sounds of American English.

Spelling: doubling rules for consonants

Vowel charts from edublogs

To decide whether to double a consonant when adding a suffix means you need to know another basic pronunciation principle:

The presence of a silent e at the end of a one-syllable word indicates that the earlier vowel is pronounced long; in other words, it says the sound of its own name. Conversely, the absence of this final silent e means the vowel is pronounced short.

This works for a,e,i,o and u,* as illustrated by the following examples:

Short a in mat rhymes with cat; long a in mate mate rhymes with 8.
We double the consonant after the short vowel, so matting has the same short vowel sound as the original word mat, and mating retains the same long vowel sound as mate.

Short e in pet means we preserve this original vowel sound by doubling the final consonant when we add the suffix. The new word is spelled petting. But meting (from mete) has no double consonant.

In the same way, sit becomes sitting and site becomes siting;
hop becomes hopped or hopping and hope becomes hoped or hoping; run becomes running and tune becomes tuning.


*Note: The letter y represents a vowel in some words, but it sounds the same as i (fly) or e (softly). In words like yet or yellow, y has a consonant sound.