More of William Safire’s (tongue in cheek) Rules for
Writers:
If any word is
improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
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| from morguefile.com |
I hope some of you are having as much fun with this series
as I am.
First of all, you may ask (I did), what exactly IS a linking
verb? This source*** says that it’s a verb that can be replaced by a form of
the verb “to seem”, as used.
Thus:
*The day looked beautiful.
*The day seemed beautiful.
*The day seemed beautiful.
However, this doesn’t pass the test:
*He looked through the window.
*He seemed through the window.
*He seemed through the window.
Or, a verb that can be replaced with a form of “to be”.
Like so:
*Bob feels (is) fine.
*This dress looks (is) too big for you.
*My sandwich tastes (is) spoiled.
*This dress looks (is) too big for you.
*My sandwich tastes (is) spoiled.
Now, should we really never use those verbs at the ends of
sentences? Never say never, right? There are places you could use them.
*An explosion went off behind him and he turned around and
looked. (I guess “at it” is implied).
This, I think, is a violation.
*I don’t like the way my sandwich tastes.
I’ll welcome any comments or examples you come up with. (I’ll
get to that pesky preposition thing in a later post.)
(Barbara Goldstein, Jack Waugh and Karen Linsky, Grammar
to Go: How It Works and How To Use It, 3rd ed. Wadsworth, Cengage, 2010)
I had to play in my head with that "I don't like the way this sandwich tastes." example because I can hear myself saying that. But since taste is used there as a verb (instead of a as property of the sandwich - 'the taste of the sandwich') and a sandwich can't taste, it's a violation. Whew. Took me a minute. (I probably shouldn't admit that.)
ReplyDeleteI don't like the way my sandwich tastes. I don't like the way my sandwich is. I don't like my sandwich. My sandwich stinks.
ReplyDelete