Timeline for "The problem is he is stingy"
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
20 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Sep 11, 2021 at 20:34 | comment | added | Stuart F | I think if speaking you would have a significant pause after the first "is", which breaks up the flow and makes the structure much clearer. In writing "that" has a similar function. | |
| Sep 11, 2021 at 20:30 | comment | added | Mary | That "that" would make it more formal. Also more readable. | |
| Sep 11, 2021 at 19:55 | answer | added | DjinTonic | timeline score: 0 | |
| Sep 11, 2021 at 13:08 | comment | added | nnnnnn | "But I feel it sounds weird or even wrong with the two ises so close." - Weird and wrong are two different things. Why would having the same word more than once (however close together) be wrong? | |
| Sep 11, 2021 at 11:59 | answer | added | Greybeard | timeline score: -1 | |
| Aug 23, 2014 at 19:11 | vote | accept | null | ||
| Aug 23, 2014 at 13:33 | comment | added | Fattie | it's a screenwriting problem, not a grammar problem | |
| Aug 23, 2014 at 13:32 | answer | added | Fattie | timeline score: 2 | |
| Aug 23, 2014 at 13:30 | answer | added | Poofle | timeline score: 2 | |
| Aug 23, 2014 at 13:00 | history | edited | RegDwigнt | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
deleted 5 characters in body; edited tags; edited title
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| Aug 23, 2014 at 12:36 | comment | added | Janus Bahs Jacquet | @DanBron Well, then it probably is a lect thing. (A lect being any combination of dialect, sociolect, idiolect, etc.) | |
| Aug 23, 2014 at 12:36 | comment | added | Dan Bron | @Janus, I can't tell a lect from a lech, but I can tell you that I (and my friends/family/colleagues) do literally say "The problem's that..." with some frequency. | |
| Aug 23, 2014 at 12:34 | comment | added | Janus Bahs Jacquet | @DanBron If another element is added to the predicate stress group (so that it can take the stress), then I have no problem with it. “The problem’s just that …” or “The problem’s obviously not that …” are both perfectly natural to me. But just “The problem’s that X is the case” is impossible to me. If I say it, I even catch myself momentarily interpreting problems (plural) rather than problem’s (singular + verb). This could be a lectal thing; but I somehow don’t think it is. | |
| Aug 23, 2014 at 12:27 | comment | added | Dan Bron | @Janus, depends on the register, IME. I have and do, in real life, say "The problem's...", but it would be a rare day that you caught me writing it (except perhaps in an IM or other really informal context). | |
| Aug 23, 2014 at 12:23 | comment | added | Janus Bahs Jacquet | Agreed with @Dan. The that isn’t necessary, but it makes the sentence flow better and would probably rarely be left out by a native speaker. I admit, though, that I find the versions with contracted problem’s quite jarring—ungrammatical, actually. As I’ve argued elsewhere, stressed verbs cannot be contracted, and it seems that a relative clause stands outside the predicate stress slot, leaving the is after problem here as the sole element in the mandatory stress slot. | |
| Aug 23, 2014 at 12:02 | comment | added | Dan Bron | @SRJoven, I think it would scan better with a "that", but I don't believe it's necessary. The sentence works fine as it is. | |
| Aug 23, 2014 at 11:59 | comment | added | SrJoven | @DanBron I think you're right ... missing that because after the first is, the rest is a complete sentence. that is necessary to join. | |
| Aug 23, 2014 at 11:55 | comment | added | Dan Bron | The sentence is perfectly fine. Nothing wrong with it. It wouldn't sound weird to anyone. That said, if for your own personal reasons you want to avoid saying "is" twice, you could try using a contraction: "The problem is that he's very stingy" or "The problem's that he is very stingy", or even "The problem's that he's very stingy." (it's not necessary to say "with his money", because the word "stingy" carries that meaning by default; though saying "stingy with his money" is perfectly fine, and even lends some emphasis). | |
| Aug 23, 2014 at 11:51 | review | First posts | |||
| Aug 23, 2014 at 14:18 | |||||
| Aug 23, 2014 at 11:50 | history | asked | null | CC BY-SA 3.0 |