Carol,
It's frowned on in formal writing, and I believe the logic behind
avoiding it is that technically you're not saying that X is because of Y
- you're saying that the reason for X is because of Y. A logician would
tell you that you've just announced the cause of the cause of X, rather
than the cause of X. Of course, real logicians tend either to learn to
switch off logician-mode, or find that no one wants to talk to them, but
there you have it.
Bill Spruiell
Dept. of English
Central Michigan University
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Carol Morrison
Sent: Wednesday, April 09, 2008 6:34 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: "is because"
I frequently come across this construction in student essays and think
it must not be correct, but I'm not sure. For example:
"The reason that I am going to Hawaii for spring break is because the
weather is nice there."
Is this incorrect? Could someone maybe explain why? Or does it just
sound awkward?
Thank you!
Carol Morrison
"Myers, Marshall" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
"Had went" is quite common with my students from Appalachia.
Another form somewhat similar that I also hear from these same students
is "have saw."
In certain situations, my students would choose "done gone"
rather than "have went."
Marshall Myers
Eastern Kentucky University
-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Spruiell, William C
Sent: Wednesday, April 09, 2008 5:06 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: HAD WENT: ATEG Digest - 7 Apr 2008 to 8 Apr 2008
(#2008-85)
Scott:
"Had went" is a regional dialect form, I suspect -- I had not
encountered it before I moved to Michigan, but I encounter it
*very*
frequently here. Of course, "have went" and "has went" are also
part of
the local dialect. Since it's so common here, and since
Michiganders
tend to believe that whatever they speak *must* by definition be
standard English, I have a certain amount of trouble convincing
them
that outside readers will indeed notice it and think it's a big
deal.
Not linguistically insecure, your average Michigander.
In Florida, I suspect you'd find it along the southwestern
coast, which
has been heavily colonized by Michigan emigrants. Unless things
have
changed sharply in the last twenty years (I lived in Florida for
awhile), the northeastern coast tends to be a mixture of
Southern
dialects and (at least further south, around Daytona) New
Jerseyite. I
still remember trying to figure out what a "garridge" was.
Bill Spruiell
-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Scott
Sent: Wednesday, April 09, 2008 3:33 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: HAD WENT: ATEG Digest - 7 Apr 2008 to 8 Apr 2008
(#2008-85)
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/
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2008 16:14:32 -0400
From: Scott
Subject: Re: ATEG Digest - 6 Apr 2008 to 7 Apr 2008 (#2008-84)
I must have been lucky teaching. I've taught all-Caucasian
classes in
small
towns in Florida; heavily African-American center-city classes
in
Jacksonville, FL; overwhelming Hispanic classes in Los Angeles,
I have
not
encountered 'had went' ('done went', yes--but never forms with
'had' + a
past tense that was not identical to a past participle. The
'done went'
was from a single student, although 'done' as an auxiliary verb
was not
uncommon in speech; e.g, 'done gone.' Nevertheless, no one in my
classes
(high school or junior high) ever wrote using 'done' as an
auxiliary or
using 'had' + a past tense.
The only explanation that I can see for the mistakes that you
report is
a bad hangover from the 60's when many universities began to
teach the
viewpoint that all levels of English usage are of equal value:
shades
of Joos!
I have also read about--but never experienced--the snide remarks
that
"so
'n' so is acting White when the person criticized is using
correct
English.
Scott
(I just got through explaining to a class for the fourth time
that "had
went" won't go over well in formal writing), but in the normal
course of
things, grammars document the judgments, or give weight to one
group's
judgments over those of other groups, rather than institute the
judgments in
the first place (I'm hedging a bit because of Lowth and his
ilk).=20
Bill Spruiell
Dept. of English
Central Michigan University
********************************************************
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/
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/
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com 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/
|
