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Some words are usable in multiple (and often confusing) grammatical ways
THE MEANING OF “COMPLICATED GRAMMAR”
Grammar is not just what one reads in grammar books: it is also important in dictionaries. Grammar books tend to concentrate on grammar rules covering large numbers of words, such as tense choices with verbs, whereas dictionaries are more concerned with rules for individual or small groups of words, for example the need for BE COMPOSED to precede of rather than by.
This division of grammar into two types has always been recognised, but has also been obscured by a tendency to use a different name – “usage” – for the dictionary type. My own preferred terms for the two types are “broad grammar” and “narrow grammar” (see the rationale for my grammar book).
Some narrow grammar rules are harder to learn than others. One kind of difficulty results from a word not following the same rule as words like it. This is the case, for example, with the verb ENJOY, which requires verbs after it to have -ing rather than to (enjoy doing, not *enjoy to do), when most verbs with similar meaning need the opposite (like to do, love to do, want to do, prefer to do etc.). For more examples, see 10. Words with Unexpected Grammar 1 and 250. Synonym Pairs with Contrasting Grammar.
A different kind of narrow grammar difficulty is a result of the rules being complicated. An example that is usually encountered quite early on in English courses is used to (considered briefly in this blog in 35. Words Followed by “to -ing”). It is this kind that the present post is about. Such words are not to be confused with those in various Guinlist posts entitled Tricky Word Contrasts, where the emphasis is on meaning rather than grammar. Other posts on the same topic as this one are 226. WCG 2, 261. WCG 3 and 314. WCG 4.
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PROBLEM WORDS
1. “Development”
This word has multiple meanings:
COUNTABLE USAGE (a development / developments)
A. new building or buildings
B. new event in an existing situation
UNCOUNTABLE USAGE (development)
C. causing (something) to develop
D. becoming developed
E. causing (something) to develop economically
F. becoming developed economically
The uncountable uses of development express the action idea of “developing”, while the countable ones express an outcome of it – they are examples of nouns considered in depth in this blog in 14. Action Outcomes.
A further reason why there are so many meanings is that the active form of the verb DEVELOP, from which development comes, is usable in two different ways: either with the recipient of development placed after it as its object (…develops X) or with the recipient before as subject (X develops). In the first case the cause of the development is understood as external to X, but in the second as X itself. For more about verbs like this, see 4. Verbs that Don’t Have to be Passive.
Meaning A above is related to the first meaning of DEVELOP (buildings are not normally a self-developed outcome), while meaning B is related to the second (events do seem to develop by themselves). For further discussion of these two meanings, see 288. Grammatical Subtleties, #8.
The uncountable Meanings C and D are ordinary equivalents of A and B: C indicates an action with an external cause, while D does not. The same kind of double meaning is common in other action nouns derived like DEVELOP from a double-use verb (cf. movement in 49. Prepositions after Action Nouns 2). Here are the two meanings in use:
(a) 6m dollars have been earmarked for development of the site.
(b) The development of the illness took several days.
In (a), the cause of development is unmentioned people, but in (b) it is the thing experiencing the development – the illness.
Meanings E and F, by contrast, are not of a type that action nouns in general have: the idea of economic development – advancement towards greater wealth – is an extension that development has uniquely developed. With these meanings, there is often no following preposition phrase, and the difference between E and F is not always clear. In the following, either meaning is possible:
(c) Development occurred over several years.
When a preposition phrase does need to be added, the use of of (+ region) can be confusing. Does it mean development given to (or experienced by) all of the region or just some? In fact, it can mean only the first: the of is the kind that makes the noun after it the “object” of the action, equivalent to X develops the region or the region develops (see 31. Prepositions after Action Nouns 1). To indicate development of some of the region, the preposition must be in.
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2. “Percent”
This word – and its written equivalent % – is normally a noun after a number word (or a few or many), e.g. two percent. With no number word, a…percentage is necessary instead (see 218. Tricky Word Contrasts 8, #1).
When a percent expression is the subject, object or complement of a verb, or follows a preposition, it usually has or implies a following of (+ percentage possessor):
(d) (SUBJECT) 60 percent (of the population) live in poverty.
(e) (AFTER PREPOSITION) For 60% (of the population), poverty is a reality.
However, a percent expression cannot have any following preposition if the percentage possessor is named elsewhere in the sentence, like this:
(f) The population has increased (by) 60%.
Here, the percentage possessor (population) is the sentence subject. Very often, the verb of such sentences will indicate increase or decrease, and the percent expression will follow a quantity-showing by. English has numerous verbs meaning increase or decrease; for a list, see 115. Surveying Numerical Data, #2. The brackets in (f) show that by with this meaning is often absent but understood.
An increase/decrease meaning can also be expressed by an “action” noun. Again percent phrases are unlikely to have a preposition after them, while before them instead of by they need of, meaning “which is” (see 160. Uses of “of”). The percentage possessor can be named with in before the of:
(g) There was an increase (in population) of 60%.
However, percent phrases follow no preposition at all if they follow an increase/decrease noun + BE:
(h) The (population) increase was 60%.
In situations like (g), where an increase/decrease noun goes before of…percent, an alternative is to put it after, dropping of (a sixty percent increase – see 136. Types of Description by Nouns, #4). Unusually, a hyphen – normally compulsory between a number word and noun describing another noun (see 223. Uses of Hyphens, #4) – is not used before percent.
A percent phrase can also directly precede a substance noun to show the percentage of the substance in something else:
(i) The gas is 25 percent oxygen.
This use must follow BE or similar, not HAVE. The same meaning, however, can be expressed with percent in the standard subject position before of, like this:
(j) 25 percent of the gas is oxygen.
In (i) percent is very like an adverb of degree, similar to partly (see 194. Adverbs that Say How Much).
Lastly, there is a use directly before adjectives and adverbs, e.g. 30% full(er) or a 20% faster speed (see 115. Surveying Numerical Data, #1). Again this resembles degree adverbs.
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3. “Offspring”
This noun represents one or more people or animals who have come from a particular parent. In referring to people, it corresponds to children, but without the suggestion of a young age.
Part of the grammatical difficulty with offspring is that, although it can be used as the subject of both singular and plural verbs, it cannot have -s with the latter. Superficially, this makes it like various well-known unchanging countable nouns, such as fish and sheep (see 12. Singular and Plural Verb Choices). However, its singular form is not normally used with an or one – it is more like an uncountable noun than a countable one. Thus, after give birth to one has to say offspring, not *an offspring, and one cannot normally*have one offspring.
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4. MARRY
This verb can express three basic meanings:
A. make two people become spouses
B. make someone your spouse
C. Possess a spouse
Meaning A needs a third person to be mentioned or implied: the official who conducts the marriage ceremony. The active form of MARRY has this person as its subject and one or both of the spouses as the object: A marries X or A marries Y or A marries X and Y. The passive form of MARRY has one or both of the spouses as subject and the official optionally named after it in a by phrase: X is married (by A) or Y is married (by A) or X and Y are married (by A).
Meaning B involves only the people entering marriage. In formal contexts, the passive is not possible: one says X marries Y or Y marries X. It is also possible to drop the object of MARRY, leaving it understood as “someone” or “anyone”, e.g.:
(k) The Queen never married (anyone).
MARRY used like this is what I have elsewhere called an “object-dropping” verb (see 8. Object-Dropping Errors).
Less formally, one can express meaning B with the passive form GET MARRIED. The person who becomes the spouse of the subject may or may not be indicated in a to phrase: X gets married (to Y) or Y gets married (to X).
Meaning C also involves just the two spouses. Unlike the other meanings, though, it is only a state, never an action, and can only be expressed through the passive form married (without by). There are both verb and adjective sub-meanings. As a verb, married is a participle form meaning “in a recently-entered marriage state”. Like most participles, It may combine with BE to make an ordinary passive: X is married (to Y) or Y is married (to X); or it may be used alone:
(l) The (newly) married couple received a round of applause.
As an adjective, married (with or without BE) implies nothing about when the state began: it just expresses a general state. Some verbs (such as opened) drop -ed in order to become an adjective with this sort of meaning, but many are like MARRY in not doing so (see 66. Types of Passive Verb Meaning). For more on the possibility of -ed words being adjectives rather than verbs, see 245. Adjectives with a Participle Ending.
Verbs expressing only an action meaning in their active form and mainly a state in their -ed form are unusual. Most verbs indicating an action in their active form can be equally action- or state-expressing with -ed. However, there is a benefit: if you see (was) married (with or without to someone), you can very often expect that a state is being described – ambiguity is rare.