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Subject:Re: "Such as" incorrect? From:Beverly Parks <bparks -at- HUACHUCA-EMH1 -dot- ARMY -dot- MIL> Date:Tue, 18 Jul 1995 10:58:46 MST
Dan 'Fergus' Roberts <droberts -at- PANIX -dot- COM> asked-->
> An English professor once explained to me why the phrase "nouns such as
> noun, noun, noun" was incorrect and "such nouns as noun, noun, noun" was
> correct.
> Can anyone here grasp the difference and explain it to me?
===========
I checked my AHD. According to *it*, your English professor was
wrong! Under the entry for "such," the very last group of
definitions are for "such as":
1. For example. 2. Of the stated or implied kind or degree;
similar; like: *a statement such as this*.
Possible reasons (which I've made up) to support both
constructions are as follows:
The AHD entry: For some reason we shouldn't split the words
"such as".
Your English professor: Examples presented using "such as" can
be only singular in concept. So "such as A, B, and C" is not
allowed because A, B, and C are three distinct entities, but
"such LETTERS as A, B, and C" is okay because "letters" is a
single concept.
Honestly, I wasn't smokin' nothin'! (But I am about to overdose
on apostrophes.)
=*= Beverly Parks =*= bparks -at- huachuca-emh1 -dot- army -dot- mil =*=
=*= "Unless otherwise stated, all comments are my own. =*=
=*= I am not representing my employer in any way." =*=
