Adjectives

“… no longer apart of the group”

Adjectives, Adverbs, Idioms, Nouns, Prepositions

My wife saw this the other day in a seminar handout.

Problem:
The word “apart” — spelled A-P-A-R-T with no spaces — does not belong in this phrase.

Explanation:
The word “apart” as an adverb means into parts or pieces, as in “The tornado blew the house apart.”

The word “apart” can be combined with “from” to form a prepositional idiom that means besides or in addition to, as in “She wrote to no one apart from Jim.”

The word “apart” as an adjective means having unique or independent characteristics and is usually used after the noun that it modifies, as in “an institution apart”.

The word “apart” is NOT a noun, but a noun is what the phrase required, given that the writer was referring to someone not being a member of a group.

Solution:
“… no longer a part of the group”

“… net net effect …”

Adjectives, Nouns

I heard this a few times on a conference call recently.

Problem:
I do not know why two “net” adjectives are needed, and I suspect that many other people don’t know, either.

Explanation:
The speaker was explaining the effect of an action.

It has become popular in American English to say “net effect” instead of just “effect”.

I understand modifying the noun “effect” with the adjective “net”; it means something like final result.

I do not understand modifying the phrase “net effect” with yet another instance of the adjective “net”.

Given this lack of understanding — and I’m sure that I am not the only one — it doesn’t make sense to have two instances of the adjective “net” in a row, unless one is absolutely certain that everyone in the audience understands that distinction.

Solution:
“… net effect …”

“… a couple callers …”

Adjectives, Common English Blunders, Devolution toward Simpler, Nouns

I heard this the other day, and I hear this type of construction a lot.

Problem:
The word “couple” is not an adjective.

Explanation:
The word “couple” is a noun, not an adjective.

In particular, “couple” is a group noun, just as “flock” and “gaggle” and “colony” are group nouns.

Just as you should not say “a gaggle geese”, you should not say “a couple callers”.

The solution is illustrated in these examples:

  • “a gaggle of geese”;
  • “a flock of seagulls”;
  • “a colony of ants”.

That is, the solution requires the preposition “of” between the group noun and what the group noun is collecting, if you will.

I believe that the dropping of the preposition “of” in “a couple callers” is consistent with my “Devolution toward Simpler” linguistic hypothesis. It is simpler to not say or write the preposition “of” than to include it.

Solution:
“… a couple of callers …”