{"id":705,"date":"2016-11-06T14:18:40","date_gmt":"2016-11-06T20:18:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interfluency.com\/?p=705"},"modified":"2021-02-21T17:27:51","modified_gmt":"2021-02-21T23:27:51","slug":"grammar-and-the-president-elect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interfluency.com\/en\/2016\/11\/06\/grammar-and-the-president-elect\/","title":{"rendered":"Grammar and the \u201cpresident elect\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Enlace para espa\u00f1ol\/Link here for Spanish<\/a><\/p>\n

Dear reader,<\/p>\n

By the time these lines (written on Sunday) reach you, the election will be over\u2014and all I can say is, I told you so. Which reminds me of the brilliant quip by St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Dizzy Dean who said, before the 1934 World Series against Detroit, \u201cThis Series is already won\u201d\u2014then added, \u201cI just don\u00b4t know by which team.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ballot-into-ballot-box\"So, as you read this, there will (presumably) be a president-elect. The term\u2019s a bit odd: if a candidate is \u201celected,\u201d why the form \u201celect\u201d? (Spanish similarly has presidente electo<\/em> where you might expect elegido<\/em>.) The answer lies in the difference between \u201cstrong\u201d and \u201cweak\u201d verbs in Germanic grammar, which is the main structure for how English works.<\/p>\n

A weak verb forms the participle by adding an ending, typically \u201ced,\u201d to the verb stem without changing the stem. Thus \u201cbake\u201d becomes \u201cI had baked\u201d and the participle can also act as an adjective: \u201cbaked chips.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the other hand, strong verbs like \u201cseek,\u201d  \u201csink,\u201d and \u201cbind\u201d form irregular participles, short and punchy: \u201csought,\u201d \u201csunk,\u201d and \u201cbound.\u201d So, in English, the verb \u201celect,\u201d while normally weak, in the phrase \u201cpresident elect\u201d behaves as a strong verb.<\/p>\n

In Spanish, the equivalent principle derived from Latin grammar refers not to verbs, but rather to participles<\/em>, as strong or weak.  Many verbs have both forms. Elegir <\/em>(to elect or choose) yields me hab\u00edan elegido<\/em> (they had chosen me) in weak form, and presidente electo <\/em>(president elect) in strong form, as an adjective. Hab\u00edan fre\u00eddo las papas <\/em>(they had fried the potatoes) but papas fritas <\/em>(fried potatoes). Span. conquista <\/em>and Engl. \u201cconquest\u201d both embody a strong form of verbs derived from Latin conquirere.<\/em> Span. convencer <\/em>gives convencido<\/em> (convinced) but the strong form convicto<\/em> (convicted); the English noun \u201cconvict\u201d also derives from the strong form.<\/p>\n

From \u201cpresident elect\u201d to \u201cconvict\u201d in the same column\u2014sadly, in 2016, regardless of who won, it doesn\u2019t seem like such a big leap.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Enlace para espa\u00f1ol\/Link here for Spanish Dear reader, By the time these lines (written on Sunday) reach you, the election will be over\u2014and all I can say is, I told you so. Which reminds me of the brilliant quip by St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Dizzy Dean who said, before the 1934 World Series against Detroit, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[93],"tags":[95,44,558,559,348,51,219,560,561,562,563,20,564,565],"class_list":{"0":"post-705","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-interflows-language-culture-blog","7":"tag-pablo-j-davis","8":"tag-davis","9":"tag-elect","10":"tag-elected","11":"tag-grammar","12":"tag-pablo","13":"tag-pablo-davis","14":"tag-participles","15":"tag-president","16":"tag-president-elect","17":"tag-strong","18":"tag-translator","19":"tag-verbs","20":"tag-weak","21":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nGrammar and the \u201cpresident elect\u201d - Interfluency<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/interfluency.com\/en\/2016\/11\/06\/grammar-and-the-president-elect\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Grammar and the \u201cpresident elect\u201d - Interfluency\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Enlace para espa\u00f1ol\/Link here for Spanish Dear reader, By the time these lines (written on Sunday) reach you, the election will be over\u2014and all I can say is, I told you so. 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