# Grammar Question - which sentence is correct, and why? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 2, 2012, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-which-sentence-is-correct-and-why/630183 "2012-08-02T15:54:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-which-sentence-is-correct-and-why/630183/121 "2012-08-05T01:15:38Z")
> [@Full\_Tilt\_Boogie](#): > > And I’m supposed to take anyone who communicates largely in monosyllabics seriously? Brevity is the soul of wit. Not to mention education. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-which-sentence-is-correct-and-why/630183/122 "2012-08-05T02:15:59Z")
> [@Full\_Tilt\_Boogie](#): > > And I’m supposed to take anyone who communicates largely in monosyllabics seriously? > [@Musicat](#): > > Brevity is the soul of wit. Not to mention education. And I’ll take monosyllables that are correct any day over multi-syllabic nonsense such as, “You don’t begin a sentence with a preposition.” ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-which-sentence-is-correct-and-why/630183/123 "2012-08-05T02:21:08Z")
Obviously everyone here is wrong… NEITHER is correct. Let me fix it for you: With your new promotion \*cum \*new challenges and responsibilities. _unzip_ Now… get down on your knees and get over here and show me just how grateful you are for your new promotion. bowchickawowow! ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-which-sentence-is-correct-and-why/630183/124 "2012-08-05T02:46:24Z")
> [@Full\_Tilt\_Boogie](#): > > And I’m supposed to take anyone who communicates largely in monosyllabics seriously? > > I doubt you could run an English class. 1. There are already plenty of posts in this thread that explain the correct grammar. It’s not worth my time to repeat them. 2. I actually get paid to fix people’s grammar. If you want a lesson, my rates are $50 an hour, minimum two hours. I’ll take PayPal. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-which-sentence-is-correct-and-why/630183/125 "2012-08-08T23:53:50Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > I’m not sure what you’re trying to prove here, but your first sentence above is not grammatical. The subject of the verb is “worms and wax”, not “an apple”. How is “with an apple comes worms and wax” different than “an apple comes with worms and wax” in terms of subject? ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-which-sentence-is-correct-and-why/630183/126 "2012-08-08T23:55:42Z")
The subject of “with an apple comes [sic] worms and wax” is “worms and wax”. Compare “There, but for the grace of God, go I”, which has a similarly inverted syntax. “I” is the subject (note how it isn’t “me”), even though it comes at the end of the sentence. Also, compare “Here come worms and wax”. The subject of “an apple comes with worms and wax” is “an apple”. This is more straightforward, like “I go there.”, or “An apple comes here”. Note that determining the subject of a sentence is purely syntactic. It has nothing to do with the semantics of the sentence; those two may well mean the same thing, but they have different syntax. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-which-sentence-is-correct-and-why/630183.md?page=6)