CONTENTS FEATURE: Verb rationing afflicts the nation's broadcast news media GRAMMAR COACH: Fielding your questions FINDER'S FEE: Recommend a friend—and earn up to $500 FEATURE: Verb rationing afflicts the nation's broadcast news media      At one time or another, Americans have experienced shortages in petroleum, water, rubber, grains, sugar, butter, cheese, meats and flu vaccines. The latest shortage may be in a part of speech. Broadcast news media appear to have enacted verb rationing.      Verbs once were the stock-in-trade of action-oriented news media. Today, however, many television and radio newscasts are peppered with sentence fragments lacking verbs, masquerading as sentences.      In an evening newscast this past Feb. 4, an anchor on KCRA-TV in Sacramento declared: "President Bush releasing his budget proposal today. And on the chopping block, California's flood control projects and wildfire management."      Neither of those statements is a complete sentence. The first contains a word that looks like a verb, but it's not; it's a gerund. That second fragment about the financial "chopping block" lacks a verb of any kind.      In order to form a sentence, a grouping of words must contain at least a subject and a verb, and must be able to stand independently.      The verb is such an essential component of a sentence that it can constitute a sentence on its own. Stop! Hurry! Listen! Jump! Those are imperative sentences, beseeching or commanding someone to take some action. In such sentences, the subject "you" is understood, a concept that the "Dick and Jane" readers dating to the 1930s taught. "Look, Dick. Look, Jane. See Sally. See silly Sally."      Not all verbs can stand independently, however. The verb "flow," for example, is meaningless without an accompanying noun — a subject. What flows? Perhaps the river flows. That would make sense.      Likewise, a noun cannot function without an accompanying verb. Television. What about it? Watch television? Dust the television? Buy a television? Turn the television off? The verb specifies what you want to do with the television.      In a story about a series of fires in Southern California, a television news anchor reported: "This is only the second week of May, and yet Cal Fire has already responded to three large wildfires across our state — one in Los Angeles County, one in San Bernardino County, and the latest in Tehama County. All of those fires, though, now 100 percent contained." [KXTV Sacramento, May 12]      That closing utterance is not a sentence because it lacks a verb. It consists only of a subject ("those fires") and a parenthetical phrase ("though now 100 percent contained"). That fragment appeared to be leading to a concluding statement. An astute viewer might have expected something like "All of those fires, though now 100 percent contained, may continue smoldering for 48 hours or longer."      Why, then, did the newscaster exclude a verb? It couldn't have been to save time, because he could have turned his fragment into a sentence by plugging in a one-syllable verb: "are." All of those fires, though, are now 100 percent contained. And if he truly couldn't spare the half-second to add "are," he could have deleted another single-syllable word — the preposition "of" — which is superfluous in the context of the sentence. The result: All those fires, though, are now 100 percent contained.      Broadcasters commonly mistake gerunds for verbs, resulting in sentence fragments. Here are a few examples of that recurrent goof that we heard on 13 of the 26 stations and networks that we monitored during the past few weeks. "Harvard Business Publishing launching a new Web site for leadership development professionals who are seeking out interactive learning experiences and information on talent management and strategy." [WBZ radio, Boston, March 17] NO. Harvard Business Publishing has launched a Web site. "Businessman racing mogul Roger Penske finally discussing in public all the problems surrounding Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. Of course, Roger Penske was the quarterback of our successful Superbowl XL a couple of years ago." [WWJ radio, Detroit, March 17] NO. Roger Penske finally is discussing (or finally discussed). "Good morning. Stock index futures plummeting today after J.P. Morgan Chase bought Bear Stearns at a 'fire sale' price, and the Federal Reserve provided emergency cash to Wall Street." [WBBM radio, Chicago, March 17] NO. Stock index futures plummeted. "San Jose police investigating an early morning police chase yesterday that ended with officers shooting at the fleeing car. According to the CHP, the officers tried to pull a driver over on Highway 87 at about 2:30 in the morning. The driver, who didn't have his headlights on, stepped on the gas instead." [KCBS radio, San Francisco, March 24] NO. San Jose police are investigating. "The Ancient Order of Hibernians celebrating St. Patrick's Day today with a parade in Dogtown. Grand Marshal Jim Mohan says it'll start on Tam Avenue's overpass at 12:30, and run to Manchester." [KMOX radio, St. Louis, March 17] NO. The Ancient Order of Hibernians will celebrate with a parade (which had not yet occurred at the time of the newscast). "Atlanta residents bracing for more storms after a tornado hit downtown last night. National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch for a large part of Georgia as well as parts of South Carolina and Alabama. President Bush granting federal aid to much of Texas following wildfires which spread across the state. More than 133,000 acres have burned since strong winds whipped up flames yesterday. No injuries have been reported. Firefighters still trying to put out those flames." [KFWB Los Angeles 3/15/08] NO. Atlanta residents are bracing or began bracing last night. President Bush has granted (or said he will grant) federal aid. Firefighters are still trying to extinguish flames.      A gerund is a word that, although derived from a verb, functions as a noun in a sentence. Gerunds are easy to recognize because they end in -ing. The words racing, painting, working and singing are gerunds.      In the sentence Flooding threatens the valley, the subject is the gerund flooding; the verb is threatens; and the direct object of the verb is the valley. The subject could just as easily have been another noun — inundation or deluge, for example.      The -ing ending also is used in the English language to form participles, which are verb forms but which cannot stand on their own. A participle can constitute an adjective — for example: The plumber fixed the leaking faucet. Dripping, Nancy took refuge from the storm in the old barn. (In that sentence, dripping is used adjectivally to describe Nancy's appearance.)      A participle also is a verb form that is used to produce certain tenses in combination with auxiliary verbs. In the sentence Wilhelm is running in today's marathon, the verb consists of two words: is running. Together, they form the present progressive tense, which is used to indicate a continuing action or condition. Its use in the example sentence is appropriate if the race is still under way, and if Wilhelm is running at this moment.      A participle also can be used to form the past progressive tense, which indicates a past continuing action that ended at some time in the past. Here's an example: The committee members were traveling through much of April.      Another variation is the present perfect progressive tense, which consists of a three-word verb sequence and is used to indicate an ongoing activity that may continue indefinitely. Here's an example: The technician has been working on the air conditioner for three hours, but he's not finished yet.      Perhaps some newscasters, or writers who prepare their scripts, mistakenly think the suffix -ing signals action more than proper verbs do. That possibility might help explain the motivation behind these misguided news excerpts: "Officials in Georgia asking people that work in downtown Atlanta to still take the day off, even though the weather is gorgeous in the 'peach city.' They're still cleaning up the areas hit hard by Friday's Atlanta tornado. Many streets are still closed; hundreds of traffic lights are still out in Georgia's capital." [WWJ radio, Detroit, March 17] "Former President Bill Clinton making a swing through Northern California today, trying to sway those undecided voters. Mr. Clinton speaking to supporters at Cal Expo today. He didn't mention Barack Obama by name, but he did highlight the differences of Hillary Clinton's health-care proposal." [KCRA-TV, Sacramento, Feb. 4] "After the break, we'll tell you why an annual tradition facing some tough times." [KCRA-TV "teaser" for a story on an appearance by the Blue Angels at the California Capital Airshow, March 10] "Sprint Nextel is merging with Clearwire to form a wireless firm — a new one. Backing that: Comcast, Intel and Google. This will set up competition for AT&T and Verizon. And Yahoo's directors facing backlash now from shareholders after rejecting the Microsoft bid." [KGO radio, San Francisco, May 7]      The odd practice of verb rationing is not limited to local news stations. Network newscasts engage in it, too. "In Iraq, fierce fighting under way in the southern city of Basra. Thousands of U.S. and Iraqi forces cracking down on Shiite militias there. The area around Basra is Iraq's major source of oil." [NBC Nightly News, March 25] Only one of those three statements — the last — is a complete sentence. "An accident on a Myanmar river involving a boat carrying supplies for the International Red Cross to victims of the powerful cyclone last week. The group's Joe Lowry says the boat hit a stump and overturned. Lowry also saying they'll take a different route next time, but that the river would have been a quicker way to get to the surviving victims. If you think it can't get any worse, think again. CNN's John Lawrence reports the price of gas still climbing." [CNN Radio, Sunday, May 11]      In some cases, sentence fragments lack any semblance of a verb, excluding even a gerund. Among 12 statements in a Fox News Radio report heard May 7 on KFBK radio in Sacramento, only four were complete sentences. Four others used a gerund in place of a noun, while four fragments — highlighted here in italic type — lacked verbs of any kind. Take a look: "That's Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd. House debate has just begun on that bill. The situation in Myanmar getting worse. Reports of rioting and fights over food days after a cyclone leveled the country. The U.S. Embassy believes the death toll could reach 100,000. And oil prices now above $123 a barrel for the first time. That's a new record. Consumer borrowing now double the rate it was two months ago. Triple-digit losses on Wall Street. The closing bell with Dow Jones dropping 206 points. Philadelphia dealing with a situation with police officers and citizens. The city removing a sergeant and five officers from the street for an investigation into a video showing officers kicking and beating three suspects."      With more astute writing, problematic sentence fragments in that newscast could have been rectified without adding a single syllable — and in some cases, with fewer syllables. Here are our revised versions: Fragment: The situation in Myanmar getting worse. (12 syllables) Corrected: The situation in Myanmar has worsened. (12 syllables) Fragment: Reports of rioting and fights over food days after a cyclone leveled the country. (22 syllables) Corrected: Riots and fights over food are occurring days after a cyclone leveled the country. (22 syllables) Fragment: And oil prices now above $123 a barrel for the first time. (22 syllables) Corrected: And oil prices now exceed $123 a barrel for the first time. (22 syllables) Fragment: Consumer borrowing now double the rate it was two months ago. (16 syllables) Corrected: Consumer borrowing has doubled during the past two months. (15 syllables) Fragment: Triple-digit losses on Wall Street. (9 syllables) Corrected: Wall Street bears triple-digit losses. (9 syllables) Fragment: The closing bell with Dow Jones dropping 206 points. (14 syllables) Corrected: By the closing bell, Dow Jones dropped 206 points. (13 syllables)      In addition, nearly all sponsored programs broadcast on commercial and public television stations use the same grammatically bereft credit line: This program brought to you by.... That corrupted passive construction lacks a proper verb. It could become a grammatically correct simple past tense sentence by addition of the auxiliary verb was (This program was brought to you by...) or it could be placed in present perfect tense (This program has been brought to you by...).      The next time you're feeling generous, send a few verbs to your favorite television or radio station or broadcast network. Or let them know that they can make their own if they discard the -ing suffix from the many gerunds that they indiscriminately use. The result could be gratifying. P.S.: To their credit, 13 stations we monitored did not skimp in use of verbs. They are: television station KOVR in Sacramento; and radio stations KDKA Pittsburgh, KNX Los Angeles, KPTK Seattle, KRLD Dallas, KSL Salt Lake City, KXNT Las Vegas, WCBS New York, WCCO Minneapolis, WINS New York, WPHT Philadelphia, WTIC Hartford, WTOP Washington, D.C. GRAMMAR COACH: Fielding your questions 1. Judy H. wrote:      "I am formatting accolades for a book and want to break up the person's name. I'm not sure if I am doing it correctly. Gregory Warren, Ph.D. Licensed Clinical Psychologist National Expert on the Treatment of Methamphetamine Addiction Pam R. Parent, Niwot, Colorado Kelly Tuttle, MFT, CAC III Valley Hope Treatment Services in Colorado What I am mostly wanting to know is: should the credentials always go on the line with the name, and if the name is bold, should the credentials be as well? Also, if using just a last initial (such as Pam R.) and the line is broken after the 'R.' do I need the period?" The grammar coach replies:      We've changed the names that Judy sent. The Chicago Manual of Style includes guidelines for acknowledging people who have contributed information to a publication. The manual shows examples in both list and in paragraph form.      The manual's list example format consists of three lines: 1. the name of the individual, with first name, middle initial(s) and last name 2. academic or professional title 3. affiliation (e.g., the name of the university with which the individual is connected).      The name of the individual may be set in bold or italic type (or both). The Chicago Manual's example list is composed only of people with academic affiliations, but if the individual works for a government agency or in private practice, that and perhaps the city would be the appropriate counterpart. Here are a couple of examples: John K. Smith Associate Professor of Economics University of Connecticut Katrina L. Goodwin Director of Public Safety City of Springfield      The paragraph format that the manual shows uses complete sentences to describe the expertise of each individual. Begin each paragraph with the name of the individual, which according to The Chicago Manual may be set in capital letters or some other distinguishing typographic variation — perhaps bold type.      Neither the list nor the paragraph format includes academic degree information. If you do want to indicate a person's academic credentials, do so using the paragraph format. Names should appear in alphabetical order. If you represent an individual's name by an initial, you should include a period so the reader understands that it is an abbreviation.      Judy, based on those guidelines, and the varied credentials of the people you wish to acknowledge, the paragraph format appears most suited to your needs. Your acknowledgments might resemble this example: Pam R. is a parent who lives in Niwot, Colo. Kelly Tuttle is a licensed marriage and family therapist and a certified alcoholism counselor. She sees clients at Valley Hope Treatment Services in (city), Colo. Gregory Warren, a licensed clinical psychologist, is a nationally recognized expert in the treatment of methamphetamine addiction. He has a doctoral degree in psychology and operates a private practice in (city). 2. Don F. wrote:      "I would appreciate your comments on 'racial' and 'racist,' please. Examples: 'His remark was racial.' 'His remark was racist.'" The grammar coach replies:      The adjective "racial" simply means "of or characteristic of race" in the population group sense (as in, "the racial composition of the company's workforce"). It also can refer to concepts or actions that arise from differences among racial groups (as in "racial equality" or "racial conflict").      In contrast, the adjective "racist" is derived from the noun "racism," the foundation of which is the alleged superiority of one race over another. Discrimination, domination and bigotry based upon the race of a person or persons are characteristic of racist behavior.      The word "racial" — in reference to demographic statistics, for example — does not necessarily imply the existence of prejudice; a disparaging statement, however, could be perceived as "racist."      Are you perplexed by some aspect of grammar or word usage? Don't be shy! Ask the "grammar coach" at EditPros and we'll try to help—at no charge, just for the sport of it. FINDER'S FEE: Recommend a friend—and earn a finder's fee of up to $500      Do you know of a friend or colleague whose office can benefit from EditPros' services? 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