I think we should avoid them in written English, but not necessarily in spoken or conversational English. These awkward structures are more commonly found in conversational rather than written English, and we SHOULD avoid them.
However, you allude to this, but I favor separating spoken from written language. While common enough to have acquired a name, the double copula is not standard or proper English, and it should NEVER be used.Įxcellent! Excellent topics and discussion, and thanks. The point is is that we have elected the first African American president in the history of the United States. The issue is is that there is no new thing under the sun. The linking verb or copula, ‘was,’ does not describe an action but links ‘very well received by the audience’ to ‘the presentation.’Ī double copula is two linking verbs (usually in the ‘to be’ family) in a row when only one is necessary. The presentation was very well-received by the audience. It is what is known as ‘the double copula’ or ‘the double is.’Ĭopula is a fancy term for a linking verb: it does not express action, but links the subject of the verb to information about the subject (the complement). This construction is NOT correct grammatically. The problem is is that I have some major decisions to make and I need more time. (Lop off ‘what she is’ – see above explanation.) She is a connoisseur of fine Italian wines. Is the election a harbinger of a new day for the country? (‘The question is’ is trite and doesn’t contribute to the meaning of the sentence. (Actually, this sentence is okay the comma prevents the structure from being awkward.) When I saw it, it was lying in the middle of the yard. I told her that her experiment was exploding. Although strictly acceptable, there are better ways to write these sentences. These are actually grammatically correct, albeit terribly awkward. What she is is a connoisseur of fine Italian wines. The question is is the election a harbinger of a new day for the country? And that is the topic of today’s second tip: repeated or doubled words. Of course, when typing ‘there there’ in Word, the second ‘there’ gets highlighted, and the spell checker asks if I want to delete the repeated word. Gertrude Stein famously said, about Oakland California, ”There is no there there.” I have always loved that the statement is so eloquent in its simplicity. I have a number of reasons for saying that: first, there is the ambiguity of the word second, you risk your reader thinking that you are somewhat illiterate (can one be somewhat illiterate?) third, purists find it annoying and finally, ‘hopefully’ is a terribly namby pamby word – it puts the responsibility for wishing whatever will hopefully happen into the hands of no one at all. That being said, don’t use it to mean ‘it is hoped’ in any formal or other writing. But, as we all know, this usage can be found everywhere, and the confusion doesn’t seem to have stopped the world from turning. The pianist will play hopefully after the audience is seated.ĭoes this mean that the music the pianist will be playing has an air of hopefulness or that it is hoped that the pianist will start playing? Hard to say. Their chief complaint is that used in this fashion, it can be ambiguous, which is completely true.
In the second sentence, ‘hopefully’ is used to mean ‘it is hoped.’ Purists are very vehement that using it this way is completely misguided. It’s a family joke that when I was a tiny child I turned from the window out of which I was watching a snowstorm, and hopefully asked, ”Momma, do we believe in winter?’’ It is used correctly again, here, in a quotation from Phillip Roth:
Hopefully meaning full#
‘Hopefully’ means ‘full of hope’ so in the first sentence, the girl is full of hope as she thinks about ice cream in the freezer. But to a strict grammarian, only the first sentence is correct. Hopefully, I won’t have to listen to another political advertisement for a very long time. ”I think there’s more ice cream in the freezer,” she said hopefully. In the spirit of a renewed hope, I am inspired to talk today about ‘hopefully.’ And this is what I have to say: we all are using ‘hopefully’ incorrectly! We’ve been hearing a lot about ‘hope’ lately, and that’s a good thing. Posted in doubled words, hopefully at 8:32 am by dlseltzer NovemWeekly Language Usage Tips: hopefully, double words
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