Crazy Writing QUestions

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1

<ol>
<li> The director valued the actor not so much for his broad commercial appeal [but because he approached every role with passion and intelligence]</li>
</ol>

<p>The director valued the actor not so much for his broad commercial appeal [as for his passionate and intelligent approach to every role]</p>

<p>Why is the second one correct? I thought the idiom Not.... but... applied but guess not. Actually in retrospect I think I the idiom (not) so much... as is the correct one? Additionally, is the first one wrong because of the use of "he" or is this question a purely idiomatic question.</p>

<hr>

<ol>
<li>Adverbs modify adjectives and verbs, in addition to other adverbs. So....
"A hundred year old violin will produce [a more fuller sound] than..."</li>
</ol>

<p>Why is that wrong? More = Adverb, Fuller = Adjective... so what's wrong? </p>

<hr>

<ol>
<li></li>
</ol>

<p>There is a special relationship between a conductor and the members of an orchestra, [which at its best can be creative, and at its worst, destabilizing]</p>

<p>The "which" or (who, when, where, etc) modifies what? Does it modify the subject (relationship) or the word right before it (orchestra)? I'm confused as to how these work. I should really know this since these appear a lot...</p>

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<p>4.
Someone who uses a personal computer to perform only such tasks as word precesssing and sending email [need not] buy the most advanced model available on the market</p>

<p>There is no error in the sentence, but I thought "need not" was incorrect because the subject (someone) is singular and thus requires "needs not." Is there a way to tackle these "need not" expressions, perhaps by replacing it with something more familiar? Can I just substitute it with "does not need to" ? It works in this scenario..</p>

<hr>

<ol>
<li> Quincy took Dan to Derek's home for a visit, never imagining that 5 years wuld pass before [seeing] Derek again</li>
</ol>

<p>Why is "seeing" wrong?</p>

2

<p>

There are absolutely no idioms in this sentence. An idiom is a figurative expression, such as to kick the bucket, which is a different way of saying to die. You are confusing expressions like to kick the bucket that you see often with simple phrases that you see often. One is an idiom and the other is just a grammatical structure.</p>

<p>In this case, the word so in the phrase “not so much” is drawing a comparison. To finish the comparison, you typically use the word as. The best way to understand this structure is to see more examples of it. Here are examples of the structure “not so much . . . as”:
“Herman is not so much a good politician as he is a good speaker.” (If someone tells you that they think Herman is a good politician, you might respond with this sentence to suggest that Herman is not a good politician but that he is just a good speaker.)</p>

<p>“The car is not so much attractive as it is expensive.” (This sentence means that the car is not really attractive; it just seems so because it is expensive.)</p>

<p>“Drinking alcohol is not so much a bad thing to consume as it is a thing that causes you to do bad things.” (This sentence means that drinking alcohol is not really bad to consume; it just causes people to do harmful things like drunk-driving.)
The original sentence you posted (The director valued the actor not so much for his broad commercial appeal but because he approached every role with passion and intelligence) is wrong because the word “because” is misplaced. The sentence is not trying to convey a reason for something. It is simply comparing how much the director valued the actor for his appeal and how much the director valued the actor for his approach.</p>

3

<p>

The word “more” is redundant. The word “fuller” already means “more full” (colder means more cold), so you wouldn’t say “more fuller.”
CORRECT: I am taller than him.
INCORRECT: I am more taller than him.</p>

4

<p>I will answer the other questions later.</p>

5

<p>Read up on Parallelism. The writing section in the BB does a good job on explaining that.</p>

6

<p>I’ll just start where the other guy left off.</p>

<ol>
<li>There is a special relationship between a conductor and the members of an orchestra, [which at its best can be creative, and at its worst, destabilizing]</li>
</ol>

<p>The which refers to the relationship between the conductor and the members of the orchestra so that’s why it makes sense.</p>

<ol>
<li>Someone who uses a personal computer to perform only such tasks as word precesssing and sending email [need not] buy the most advanced model available on the market</li>
</ol>

<p>I’m not sure but I don’t think you ever add the s for need not. It kind of replaces does not need to. The only time you add the s if you’re describing your needs as in the things you require. Double check but I’m pretty sure you don’t use the needs form for what you’re trying to do. Sorry that this answer exactly perfect.</p>

<ol>
<li>Quincy took Dan to Derek’s home for a visit, never imagining that 5 years wuld pass before [seeing] Derek again.</li>
</ol>

<p>took is past. So this already happened so seeing in the present wouldn’t match.</p>

<p>The correct sentence would replace seeing with she saw.</p>

7

<p>

Brolex is right. “which” can refer to any noun before it. It doesn’t have to refer to the noun right before it (“orchestra”). The “which” in this sentence obviously is meant to refer to “special relationship between a conductor and the members of an orchestra,” not “orchestra,” so it’s correct. </p>

<p>

“need not” is in the subjunctive mood. The process of “removing the -s (or -es)” (from the word needs) can be seen in the examples *God bless you<img src=“instead%20of%20%5Bi%5DGod%20blesses%20you!%5B/i%5D” alt=“/i”> and *Long live the king<a href=“instead%20of%20%5Bi%5DLong%20lives%20the%20king%5B/i%5D%20or%20%5Bi%5DThe%20king%20lives%20long%5B/i%5D”>/i</a>. These examples are different, because they have to do with wishes (we wish that god blesses you, and we hope the king lives long), whereas “need not” has to do with necessity. Both types are still the subjunctive mood, however. An example of subjunctive mood in the context of necessity is It is necessary that he have someone drive him home, since he is drunk instead of … that he has someone drive him home …. In that case, you are “removing the -s” (so to speak), or making the verb subjunctive, by making the verb plural instead of singular. Here are examples of the subjunctive as well as the need not phrase:
I wish I were rich. (were is plural instead of singular [was].)</p>

<p>It is vital that he eat enough vegetables. (eat is plural instead of singular [eats].)</p>

<p>He need not be perfect. (This means He doesn’t need to be perfect. need is plural instead of singular [needs].)</p>

<p>The subjunctive mood is not necessary. It has only to do with style. It is acceptable, in general I think, to say “I wish I was rich.”</p>

<p>

I would say “would see” instead of “seeing”:
Quincy took Dan to Derek’s home for a visit, never imagining that 5 years would pass before he would see Derek again.
Basically, you want “would pass” and “would see” to be parallel. “seeing” is wrong because we don’t know who is doing the seeing, and there is no consistent tense. “he would see” gives us the subject (“he”), and keeps a consistent tense.</p>

8

<p>CrazyBandit,</p>

<p>I read up on the subjunctive mood online and now I understand it. Thank you so much for the others too. You have no idea how much you’re helping me!</p>

9

<p>Actually, I have a question. Why is “need not” considered a subjunctive mood when it is a necessity? The subjunctive mood is based on something hypothetical like a wish/desire.</p>