I understand the contraction of “it’s,” but am confused on possession. If I use an object as opposed to a person, how is “it” used? For example, “the force of an object is equal to its mass times its acceleration.” Would it be “it’s” mass and “it’s” acceleration? Wouldn’t it be “Joe’s mass and the wheel’s acceleration?

My son is writing a report and wants it to be perfect.

Dear G:

No. You write “its mass” or “its acceleration.” When you write the possessive of nouns, you do spell the word with an apostrophe to distinguish it from a plural. However, “its” is a personal pronoun, and personal pronouns do not use apostrophes: “his dog” or “that cat is hers.” (We do not write, “hi’s dog,” for example.) It’s the same with “its.”

Dear English Plus:

-My jaw is protruding.

Can “prodruding” be an adjective in the above sentence? Can the sentence mean that I have a protruding jaw?

Dear N:

That would be exactly what it would mean in most cases.

N: As in: That film is amusing.=That film is an amusing film.

EP: Exactly.

N: To me it sounds as if in 1, the jaw is protruding temporarily and in order to say that it is a protruding jaw, one has to say: “My jaw protrudes”.

EP: No. If it were temporary–e.g., if someone were pouting–you would be more likely to use the basic or perfect tenses. If it were temporary, though, you would probably use another verb such as “I was pouting” or “My jaw jutted out.” “Protruding jaw” is an anatomical or physiological condition.

The difference between a progressive tense and a predicate adjective using a present participle is often a matter of context or use. In the case of “protruding” and “jaw,” these two words are commonly used together. Indeed, “protruding” probably modifies “jaw” more than any other word. The word “protrude” tends to be only used in a medical or scientific context. “Protruding jaw” is really the most common use of any form of the verb in everyday speech.

I know that using the expression :”I look forward to doing business with you ” is right. How and where can I find information about using “to doing” to students?

Dear LS:

On our web site take at look at www.englishplus.com/grammar/00000335.htm or look up “Gerund” in the Grammar Slammer glossary. “To doing business with you” is a prepositional phrase. The object of the preposition is the gerund phrase “doing business with you.”

I hope this helps.

1-This pizza is to eat tonight.
2-This film is to see as soon as possible.
3-This tie is to wear at fancy places.

Are these sentences grammatical?
Could any of them be used in spoken English?

Dear N:

No. To make them standard English, you must put the infinitive in the passive voice. The infinitive is a subject complement, that is, it renames the subject, and in none of the sentences is the subject doing the action.

1a This pizza is to be eaten tonight.
2a This film is to be seen as soon as possible.
3a This tie is to be worn at fancy places.

It would be very unlikely that anyone would say #2a, but it is grammatically OK.

We note that other languages do use infinitives the way your original sentences are written, but it is confusing in English.

Dear G:

You wrote:

Dunno, but back as a kid in Virginia, we were taught that a sentence such as “The former overweight woman told us how she lost fifty-five pounds” (the example you use for culmulative adjectives) should always be written using an adverb (as in: “The formerly overweight woman told us how she lost fifty-five pounds”) as adverbs modify adjectives. Is that rule gone with the wind or since when do we no longer use “ly” adverbs to modify adjectives?

Both ways are technically correct. The way you propose actually solves a lot of the cumulative adjective problems. In your case, clearly “formerly” is an adverb modifying “overweight.” In our example “former” is a cumulative adjective modifying “overweight woman.” Both are standard English, but we wanted to illustrate the cumulative adjectives in our example–with maybe a touch of humor.

1-Knowing that I haven’t taken any exercice during the day, I’ll have a light meal at night.
1a.Knowing that I haven’t taken any exercice during the day, I have a light meal at night.

2-Whenever I know that I haven’t taken any exercice during the day, I’ll have a light meal at night.

Can 1 and 1a be used instead of 2 (for a habitual action)?

Dear N:

2 is best for habitual action because of the word “whenever.” 1 and 1a are both OK, but they may refer to a single action. There is nothing to indicate single or repeated action. Context is critical for those, but 2 is clearly a repeated action. In any case, the future tense is more commonly used than the present in the main clause, so 1 would be more typical than 1a. However, because 1a is in the simple present, it could be used for a repeated action as well.

Which are correct?

1-“It was our team celebrating at the end.”
or:
2-“At the end, it was our team celebrating.”

instead of:

3-“It was our team that celebrated at the end.”

Dear N:

All three are standard English, and they all mean the same thing.

Which of these are correct:

1-Happy I was in my own house.
2-Not happy I was in my own house.
3-Happy was I in my own house.
4-Not happy was I in my own house.

I don’t think they would sound natural in everyday English, but are they grammatically acceptable? Are they archaic?

Dear N:

1 and 3 are used occasionally for emphasis. 3 would be the most natural in everyday English, and you do hear it occasionally. 2 and 4 would be grammatically understandable, but would be very awkward and would probably indicate someone who had trouble expressing himself.

None are archaic. Inversion has always been used in English for emphasis, but it also needs to be clear enough to be understandable.