This is the last Grammarology column for 2011, but I’ll be back in January. In the mean time, please, send in your grammar questions. Anything from the trivial to the profound is welcome. Q: Ian G. wrote: “Last night a student asked me what the difference was between the following two questions, and which one was [...]

Q: Why do my students constantly make this mistake: 1. Even you surrender, you have to work on the modalities and the timetables and what have you, so negotiations will take place. A: This is common among my students as well, and my impression is that it seems to occur across a range of linguistic groups, suggesting it’s [...]

Q: What’s the difference between these sentences? Most people like to live in the city. Most of the people like to live in the city. *Almost people like to live in the city. (The star indicates an ungrammatical example). A: First off, [1] and [2] are grammatical, while [3] isn’t. The reason for this is the parts of speech (or lexical [...]

Q: Masoumeh A. asks, “I have some grammar questions which look very simple but somehow they make me confused…. Someone told me that we can’t use do, does, did after who, for example: 1. a) Mary helped me to come to Canada. b) Who helped you to come to Canada? c) Who did help you to [...]

Q: What the heck is a linking verb, and why would I teach it?