Writing & Grammar: To Be or Not to Be?

by Jennie Ruby 

I received a really interesting question from a reader this week (I've made it anonymous):

Question:

I work for a company with multiple locations across the country. I have noticed that team members in western PA consistently omit "to be" in certain sentences. Here's an example: "Do you think Manufacturing people need included?" Isn't this grammatically incorrect?

Answer:

You are absolutely right! This construction, using the verb needs without an infinitive to be is considered incorrect in mainstream English, but it is a widely used regionalism.

Yale Grammatical Diversity Project gives us the boundaries: Murray and Simon (2002) describe the rough boundaries as Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio, Northern West Virginia, and Central Indiana. Pockets of speakers may exist in places as far-spread as Kentucky and Illinois. This construction is also attested in Scots English, which might be its historical source.

I've read elsewhere that it centers on Pittsburgh.

Got a grammar question? Send it in! It's possible that your question will end up in a future "Skills & Drills" issue.

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Answers to my last challenge are brought to you by Christine Pass. Other correct answers came in from Lorna McLellan,Debbie Farmer, Denise Miller, and Anne Goldenberger. Others correctly solved the stated problem, but I counted off for comma splices and missing hyphens.

1. The lessons will be short and easy, with answers provided at the end.
2. The software provides a login, credential checking, and built-in encryption.
3. Our program provides a website, quizzes, and Excel report writing.
4. One course contains scenarios, interactions, and remediation.