Q. I’m reasonably good about attaching the right preposition to a verb. There are a couple, though, that I’m never quite sure of. It seems other writers also battle with these as I get different formats coming at me all the time. Do you comply to or comply with something? Do I need to add of after the verb comprise?

A.When we comply we act, the Macquarie Dictionary notes, in accordance with wishes, requests, commands, requirements, conditions etc. The dictionary goes on to say comply is followed by “with”. Other dictionaries may be a little more circumspect, saying the verb is usually followed by “with” but I’ve found no tome – in paper or computer form – that’s prepared to stick its neck out for comply to. So my suggestion is comply with the masses on this one.

To your second question, you shouldn’t add of after comprise. The verb has been defined as to consist of, be composed of – both of which carry the preposition of within the definition. What I mean is, you wouldn’t write: The team consists of of twelve members. If you need more help remembering which way to go, think about other words offered as alternatives to comprise like contain or include. Consider a sentence like: The sandwich contains all four food groups. And not an of among them.

Q. I’m reasonably good about attaching the right preposition to a verb. There are a couple, though, that I’m never quite sure of. It seems other writers also battle with these as I get different formats coming at me all the time. Do you comply to or comply with something? Do I need to add of after the verb comprise?

A.When we comply we act, the Macquarie Dictionary notes, in accordance with wishes, requests, commands, requirements, conditions etc. The dictionary goes on to say comply is followed by “with”. Other dictionaries may be a little more circumspect, saying the verb is usually followed by “with” but I’ve found no tome – in paper or computer form – that’s prepared to stick its neck out for comply to. So my suggestion is comply with the masses on this one.

To your second question, you shouldn’t add of after comprise. The verb has been defined as to consist of, be composed of – both of which carry the preposition of within the definition. What I mean is, you wouldn’t write: The team consists of of twelve members. If you need more help remembering which way to go, think about other words offered as alternatives to comprise like contain or include. Consider a sentence like: The sandwich contains all four food groups. And not an of among them.

Q. An announcer on television last night spoke about a soccer game, saying ‘the crowd was disruptive’. What’s the right way to go with words like crowd that sound singular yet describe a group of people? In this example should the broadcaster have used were instead of was?

A.This can be tricky because there are no hard and fast rules for collective nouns.

Collective nouns can relate to people: jury, committee, crew, team, class; animals: brood, pride, flock, herd, colony; or inanimate objects: bundle.

In deciding which option to go with, consider this: are you referring to the group as a whole (collectively)? Or to the people, animals and objects in it? If you’re referring to a group as a collective whole, use the singular verb. However, if your meaning denotes the individuals who make up the group, use the plural form. For example you wouldn’t say this class are dismissed any more than you’d write the police has arrived. Indeed, police is one of a few English collective nouns which should only be used with a plural verb.

So was that announcer grammatically correct? If he was referring to the crowd’s impact on the event as a whole, then I’d say yes. If just some of the crowd were behaving badly he could have said: Members of the crowd were disruptive.

What you also need to watch out for is not to mix up singular and plural subjects and verbs in the same sentence. Take this sentence as an example: The government is heading for a beating in the forthcoming elections; they need to sell their message better.

The sentence is incorrect because the subject and verb in the first part of the sentence are singular (government is) and the subject and verb in the following clause are plural (they need).

The sentence should read:

The government is heading for a beating in the forthcoming elections; it needs to sell its message better.

Or:

The government are heading for a beating in the forthcoming elections; they need to sell their message better.

Q. There is no agreement in our office about numbers. When do you write them in full and when do you write them as numbers?

A.The general rule is: write out numbers up to and including ten in full and use numerals for all numbers 11 and over. Stick to this rule even when numbers below and above 11 appear in one sentence. Example: While some assets were replaced four years ago, much of our network was built 30 to 40 years ago.

But like all rules, there are exceptions. Choose words when writing:
•   ordinal numbers first, second, third up to tenth (The fourth truck arrived on time.)
•   numbers that start a sentence. (Ninety-nine employees retired last year.)
•   non-decimal fractions below one. Remember, they need to be hyphenated. (Australia is about three-quarters the size of Europe.)
•   percentages less than 11. And use the word rather than the symbol for percent when you’re writing a number of ten and under. (Only three percent of the members were in favour of the proposal.)

Q. My boss says I drive her mad with my “wandering apostrophes”. I get especially confused between its or it’s. Do you have some way to help me remember the correct usage?

A. It’s is a contraction of it is or it has.  (Holiday traffic is so heavy it’s backing up onto the highway. It’s been a trying time for all concerned.) This is the only time an apostrophe is used in the letters its.  If you need to, test yourself with sentences like this one: The campaign is losing its momentum. Because we aren’t saying the campaign is losing it is momentum, its doesn’t take the apostrophe for omission.

Other uses:
•   The apostrophe is used to show when nouns are possessive. To form the possessive of a singular common noun not ending in s, add an apostrophe and an s.
Example: The organisation’s manual.
•   To form the possessive of a singular common noun ending in s, add an apostrophe and an s.
Example: The business’s obligations.
Note: Increasingly, modern usage is to drop the second s.
•   When a plural common noun ends in s, add an apostrophe only.
Example: The retailers’ responsibilities.
•   When a proper noun has two syllables and ends in s, add an apostrophe and an s. When the proper noun has one syllable and ends in s, it takes just the apostrophe.
Example: Carruthers’s boss. Jones’ boss.
Note: Increasingly, modern usage is to drop the second s.
•   Apostrophes are also used to show the omission of a letter in a word. The shortened form that results when do not becomes don’t is called a contraction.
Example: Don’t forget to include an information kit.
Example: You mustn’t forget the rule.
•   Single numbers, groups of numbers and groups of letters do not require an apostrophe.
Example: The company sponsored all the teams including the under-6s.
Example: The plant was commissioned in the 1960s.
Example: Trade in RECs should reveal an efficient price.

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