Brad,
	Thanks for your diligence.  In this regard, you are in the grand  
tradition of Francis Christensen.  I will check it out.
		Best regards,
		Gregg

On Feb 18, 2008, at 11:34 AM, Brad Johnston wrote:

> Dear Grammarians,
>
> In the first twenty-one pages of "The Audacity of Hope", by Barack  
> Obama, c.2006, the word "had" appears 68 times.
>
> Of the total, 16 are used correctly as the past tense of the verb  
> "to have" (11), or in the past perfect (2), or in the subjunctive (2).
>
> Of the 52 in error, 5 use "had been"' instead of "was" or "were",  
> 13 insert the word 'had' in front of the wrong form of an irregular  
> verb, and 34 insert the word "had" in front of a past tense verb.
>
> Before you decide to kill the messenger, let me remind you that  
> they are all there in black and white. They await the scrutiny of  
> doubters.
>
> When you are satisfied, tell me ( a ) what difference does it make?  
> and ( b ), assuming you think it makes a difference, what can be  
> done about it?
>
> The misuse of the past perfect is widespread. Obama's error rate of  
> 76% puts him about the middle of the range in the 50 texts I have  
> examined, where error rates run from 48% (John Coetzee) to 100 %  
> (Henry Kissinger, believe it or not).
>
> You are welcome to see the numbers on some of the others. It was  
> tedious to collect but is not particularly tedious to look at and  
> consider.
>
> .brad.18feb08.
>
> Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile.  
> Try it now. To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the  
> list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ 
> ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list"
> Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
>


To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"

Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/