Grammar Question

[BWFoster78]

Okay, a quick Google search didn't yield any easy answers. Which is correct?

A. Studying both war and medicine seems at odds.
B. Studying both war and medicine seem at odds.

If "studying" is the subject, "seems" has to be correct. Right? But it sounds so wrong.

 

[MystiqueRain]

I think "seems" is correct, but there are a lot of things in English grammar that sound odd. I always found the, "Neither him nor her was there" was really strange sounding, but neither...nor uses singular.

 

[JCFarnham]

I think "seems" is correct, but there are a lot of things in English grammar that sound odd. I always found the, "Neither him nor her was there" was really strange sounding, but neither...nor uses singular.

"An history" and fellows still get me. Sounds odd, but lo and behold it's correct

 

[Devor]

"An history" and fellows still get me. Sounds odd, but lo and behold it's correct

I thought "an history" was wrong. Doesn't it go by vowel sound? Am I wrong or is it maybe different in the UK?

 

[JCFarnham]

Well, it's possibly just a UK thing, but more often than not "an" goes before a "h".

I'm not sure, is the real answer. You've thrown me into doubt haha. My guess is that it's something that American English has dropped in recent years. That tends to happen a lot.

 

[Steerpike]

(A) is correct, though it strikes me the sentence ends too soon.

 

[Devor]

Well, it's possibly just a UK thing, but more often than not "an" goes before a "h".

I've definitely heard people say "an history," and say it was correct, but I've never heard the claim in a way that would seem legitimate enough to me to satisfy the weirdness of it. "An house" couldn't be right, could it? But "h" is sometimes silent, giving you a vowel sound, so I've always assumed that was the source of the confusion. "Half an hour" is right, after all. But I could also see it being different in the UK.

Interestingly enough, it's also a source of confusion with initials. If it goes by vowel sounds, then my story has "an MC," or "a main character," but not "a MC."

(A) is correct, though it strikes me the sentence ends too soon.

"Studying both seems at odds" is right, so specifying war and medicine wouldn't change that. But I agree with Steerpike, since he mentions it. Ending with "at odds" makes it feel to me like it also needs something like "with each other" at the end.

 

[BWFoster78]

Hmmm. I don't know about the ending; it sounded good to me.

I do tend to present oddly the sentence structure on occasion, though.

I definitely think that "with each other" seems to be wasted words. Any other suggestions?

 

[The Din]

Agree that ending on 'odds' sounds, well, odd.

You could try: 'Studying both war and medicine invokes hypocrisy...' or even: 'Studying both war and medicine strikes the hypocritical funny-bone...'

 

[Zero Angel]

These statements and grammar rules seem at odds!

 

[BWFoster78]

Okay, I changed it to:

Studying both war and medicine seems to be a contradiction.

Though I missed a golden opportunity to claim to Steerpike that I was searching for my unique authorial voice

 

[Shockley]

On history: It depends on the accent of the person saying it, strangely enough. If they drop the h, it's an history. If they don't, it's a history.

 

[Sia]

Word set up for UK grammar has this to say: Use "a" before a word beginning with a consonant or the sound of a consonant. Use "an" before a word beginning with a vowel or the sound of a vowel. For abbreviations, use either "a" or "an" depending on the pronunciation of the first letter in the abbreviation, such as "an LMN" or "a UVW."

I have noticed three distinct ways of dealing with 'h' as a resident of England.


The third one is harder to explain, but in general, we seem to have three distinct types of h that should be there, - Silent, as in "ghoul" or as in "rhubarb" or as in "hour". There's the strong h in words like "heroic" and "handsome". Then there's a semi-silent h like in the word "ghost" The easiset way to explain it to say that it is well... a ghost of a h. Try taking a deep breath as you start to say the 'g' and let it out over the h - the h is there, it's just under your breath.

Silent h in HV patterns (e.g. hour) = An whatever
Silent H in HC patterns (?) = A whatever
Pronounced H in HV patterns (e.g. hero) = A whatever
Pronounced H in HC patterns (mainly intials like HB) = Word says either are acceptable but I most often hear "A HB"

You see about half/half of each for the semi-silent Hs at the start of the word. I think no-one knows and just guesses. As for your sentence, if I was faced with making that sentence correct, I'd just avoid the issue altogether and write something like:

"The study of both war and medicine would seem to be at odds."

 

[PaulineMRoss]

I have noticed three distinct ways of dealing with 'h' as a resident of England.

As a native English speaker, I confess to not understanding a word of what you said here. I just use 'an' when the next word starts with the sound of a vowel, which includes 'an hotel' if pronounced French-style (an 'otel'). I've never heard anyone say 'an 'istory'.

"The study of both war and medicine would seem to be at odds."

I think we have a winner.

 

[Sia]

No, I haven't heard people say "an 'istory." I have, however, seen people write that. I am also a native English speaker. However, what people have written doesn't, per se, make it correct in any way. The other common mistake I've seen is "neccesary." My primary school English teacher got hit with that one a lot and gave us the trick of "It is necessary for a shirt to have one collar and two sleeves."

 

[Xaysai]

My head just exploded.

I hope you are all happy with yourselves.

 

[Ireth]

My head just exploded.

I hope you are all happy with yourselves.

*comes by with duct tape and a jello mould; scoops up Xaysai's asploded brain into the mould and splats it back into his head, then bandages the hole with duct tape* There, how's that? ^^

 

[PaulineMRoss]

My primary school English teacher got hit with that one a lot and gave us the trick of "It is necessary for a shirt to have one collar and two sleeves."

Nowadays, it's only necessary to have (and use) a spell-checker. Those wiggly red lines are so useful. If only they could highlight the sound-alikes, too...

 

[Sia]

You still need a brain though... the cupertino mistake?