Usage and Grammar

Q. Hi! I see a common mistake from writers I edit, but I’m not sure what to call it. An example sentence: “A key to understanding the movie was its being a musical.” Another: “One of the most interesting things about them is their endorsing a candidate.” A noun phrase made up of an “its + -ing + noun” formula. Certainly, these are easily rephrased, but is there a word for this besides simply poor writing style? Is there a grammatical rule I can refer these writers to? It’s pretty clearly colloquial for the region these writers are from, but I’d love to be able to give them a more accurate, professional response than “it just sounds bad.”

Q. To avoid gender-specific language, is it acceptable to use “upperclass students” as an alternative to “upperclassmen”? I am seeing this more and more in academia, where I work. An alternative would be “upper-class students,” but that seems to refer to those from a higher social and economic class. What do you recommend?

Q. The following parenthetical sentence was in the introduction relating to your 20th anniversary in the February Style Q&A: “Note that some styles have shifted slightly since then.” What is your view of not using the word that in cases similar to your sentence? The word that can be deleted without changing the meaning, or in my view, without making the meaning harder to understand. It can be deleted from almost every use when it follows a verb. Would you agree adding a comma after Note and then deleting that would be clear to the reader?

Q. It’s long-standing software jargon to “save to disk” or “save to file.” Recently I’m seeing “save to list,” “save to album,” and other “save to” constructions in user interfaces and other places where I would use “save in” or other prepositions. Where can I get advice on whether the “save to” construction is idiomatic outside my industry?

Q. “Your feedback is important and will help us identify ways to make the company a better workplace.” My habit is to change “ways to make” to “ways of making,” but I’m having trouble explaining why. I’ve looked in CMOS under infinitives and gerunds and elsewhere, but I can’t find a justification. Is there one, and if so, where in CMOS is it?

Q. Is the verb number correct in the following sentence? (I believe that are should be changed to is, but my French coeditor disagrees.) “A case in point are the representatives associated with the 1977 exhibition in New York.” Many thanks!

Q. My question is about this sentence construction: I’m bigger, stronger, and I know more about it. In narration, I would change this to “I’m bigger and stronger, and I know more about it.” But when it appears in dialogue in novels, I’m inclined to leave it as is. What’s Chicago’s take on this construction? Am I right to be fixing it in narration? Thank you!

Q. Should the sound (i.e., pronunciation) of a parenthetically included word be factored in when deciding between a and an? “Patent holders may wish to consider a (preliminary) injunction” or “Patent holders may wish to consider an (preliminary) injunction.” Lots of internet discussion on this one, but I can’t seem to find any definitive answer in style manuals or grammar books.

Q. Dear CMOS experts, I’m in a debate with my thesis advisor regarding using years or decades as time-stamp adjectives. For instance, I might write: “Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel The Great Gatsby” or “influenced by 1950s rock and roll.” However, my advisor says this is wrong. It should be “Fitzgerald’s novel from 1925 The Great Gatsby” or “rock and roll from the 1950s.” Who is right?

Q. A friend and I are debating over the proper use of as in this sentence: “You are as unique as your style.” My friend believes the sentence requires a verb at the end such as “You are as unique as your style is.” We cannot figure out which construction is correct.