The clause "his speech as well as his manners is objectionable" does not sound right because the speaker (or writer) did not know (or did not care) that a pause (or comma) should precede and follow 'as well as his manners'. Should the speaker or writer have deliberately chosen not do so, that omission is a personal prerogative that has no relation to the status of Standard English. The majority of educated speakers have to make the same error consistently before the dictionaries recognize it as Standard English. Scott The sequence of tenses in the second sentence is deliberate: I am using 'is' and 'has' in the aorist aspect of the present tense. *********************************************************** 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/