Yes, Tabetha, you are right. Banishing articles would be a bad idea. I was being facetious.
Yours,
Gram 

--- On Mon, 9/8/08, Tabetha Bernstein-Danis <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

From: Tabetha Bernstein-Danis <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Call me Crazy
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Monday, September 8, 2008, 12:20 AM


Perhaps you are just being facetious, but I think that articles/determiners do serve an important purpose, semantically speaking. If a house I am interested in buying is way out of my price range, no worries - there are other houses I am also interested in that may be more affordable. On the other hand, if the house I am interested in is too expensive, then I am going to be very unhappy - that was the one house I really wanted.  Just saying "house I am interested in buying" does not give this important information.  

Tabetha Bernstein-Danis


-----Original Message-----
From: Gram Marian <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Sun, 7 Sep 2008 3:01 pm
Subject: Re: Call me Crazy







I think he might be scouring Craig's book for textual evidence to add to his arsenal in the war he is waging against the past perfect. I have a better idea...why don't we get rid of articles. They are cumbersome, annoying, and just take up space. Here are some examples:
 
A house I am interested in buying is way out of my price range.
 
vs.
 
House I am interested in buying is way out of my price range.
 
-or-
  ;
I'm going outside to walk the dog.
 
vs.
 
I'm going outside to walk dog.
 
Both choices mean essentially the same thing, right? Why waste words?
We are the Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar after all.. Let's just take a vote to abolish both the past perfect and articles.   

--- On Sun, 9/7/08, Geoffrey Layton <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

From: Geoffrey Layton <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Call me Crazy
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Sunday, September 7, 2008, 7:49 PM



#yiv890988219 #AOLMsgPart_2_ac00a94f-0292-4c9e-8027-116301376c0c #yiv1593898208 .hmmessage P{margin:0px;padding:0px;}#yiv890988219 #AOLMsgPart_2_ac00a94f-0292-4c9e-8027-116301376c0c #yiv1593898208 {FONT-SIZE:10pt;FONT-FAMILY:Tahoma;}
I await Brad's response with trepidation.  Has this become the ATPPG (Assembly for the Teaching of Past Perfect Grammar)?

Geoff Layton



Date: Sun, 7 Sep 2008 12:24:46 -0700
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Call me Crazy
To: [log in to unmask]






Crazy as it may seem, I feel as if I am going crazy with the unrelenting pounding of the past perfect on the grammar list. Crazed with a passion of language dating far back into the history of the Marian family, I find it difficult to become bored with any facet of language discussion, as long as it is headed somewhere. It is crazy to think that repetition and redundancy, the very essence of skills and drills, do not actually teach anything about language, but merely offer a brief respite of finality to something that has no final answer. As we crazily search for that instance where meaning is singular, duplicity and choice reign supreme. Crazy as this may sound, can't we just think of the past perfect as a "choice" that writers may make, one of infinite choices, that contribute to meaning in all of its myriad forms. It is an option, not an ultimatum; how can we say this is "wrong?"
 
Best Wishes,
 
Gram
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