Arts and Manners

You’d never guess it, but there was a time-long ago and far away, I con- fess-when my grammar was flawless. Not only could I parse a complex sen- tence perfectly, but I could decline a Latin noun and conjugate the mo.st irregular of Attic Greek verbs with ease. I never confused the ablative case with the dative, and the wind didn’t have to be southerly for me to distin- guish behveen the aorist and the plu- perfect.

Today, as I need not remind any reader of these dispatches, I can barely tell the subjunctive from the indica- tive; and such fan mail as I get points out that I used “will” for “shall,” and “should” for “would.” I suspect that my seventh grade teacher, a Mr. Duke, has long since gone to his reward: otherwise I would have received a sharp note from him. {Or should that last “would” be “should”?)

MR

About the Author

Morrie Ryskind

Featured Tags

You’d never guess it, but there was a time-long ago and far away, I con- fess-when my grammar was flawless. Not only could I parse a complex sen- tence perfectly, but I could decline a Latin noun and conjugate the mo.st irregular of Attic Greek verbs with ease. I never confused the ablative case with the dative, and the wind didn’t have to be southerly for me to distin- guish behveen the aorist and the plu- perfect.

Today, as I need not remind any reader of these dispatches, I can barely tell the subjunctive from the indica- tive; and such fan mail as I get points out that I used “will” for “shall,” and “should” for “would.” I suspect that my seventh grade teacher, a Mr. Duke, has long since gone to his reward: otherwise I would have received a sharp note from him. {Or should that last “would” be “should”?)