
Will H.
asked 10/11/15*Quick* grammar question.
7 Answers By Expert Tutors

Kris P. answered 11/29/15
Education/Research/Media/Communications Specialist: FACTOTUM: FOR HIRE

Emily J. answered 10/16/15
Writing Tutor - High School through Master's Level Work
I think it makes perfect sense to leave out "to be," and I actually prefer it without that phrase. It is more concise. And while you could choose a different verb, as others have suggested, this sentence is fine just as it is.

Claudine J. answered 01/25/16
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Charles C. answered 12/16/15
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Ed M. answered 10/12/15
Help with grammar, French, SAT Writing, the TOEFL and ESL.
- I agree with Mark M. that maybe prove is too strong a verb here, though it's a bit perilous to judge outside the context of your sentence. Presumably, since you included the tag "English Literature" in posting your question, you're discussing one of Douglass's many writings (I assume also one of his non-fiction essays or autobiographies--I confess I am ignorant of any imaginative literature he may have written) and you're trying to argue that his rhetorical style in the work illustrates his "mastery." If so, then I think along with Mark that it might be a stretch to declare that ontologically and with certainty a writer's rhetoric "proves" anything. Instead, perhaps a less definitive verb like demonstrates, shows or illustrates would be better.
- And if you are discussing a work by Douglass that is freely available and readable by others in the present time, I would say that present tense proves is appropriate--if not even mandatory--even though the author himself is deceased.

Susan C. answered 10/11/15
I love math, and I love to teach it.

Clement T. answered 10/15/15
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Mark M.
10/11/15