Date:    Thu, 21 May 1998 16:13:34 -0500
<br>From:    "Donald M. Lance" <engdl[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]SHOWME.MISSOURI.EDU>
<br>Subject: Re: albeit - a conjunction, yet it's a clause
<br>
<br>Michal Lisecki in Poland asks:
<br>
<br>>e.g. Analysts are predicting the company will return to profit this year,
<br>>*albeit their pre-tax projections are* for a figure of only #500.000
<br>>(pounds).
<br>----------------
<br>
<br>This example is not grammatical for me.  'Albeit' must be followed by a
<br>phrase, not a clause.  So it is more like a preposition than a conjunction
<br>-- but not really a preposition because it may be followed by a
<br>prepositional phrase.
<br>
<br>---------------
<br>>e.g. But the real reason Buckingham Palace has thrown its gilded gates open
<br>>(*albeit it* for a hefty #8 per head) is that the Prince of Wales has been
<br>>lobbying hard for such a move.)
<br>>
<br>>e.g. Yet she had lived long enough, *albeit it* in her mother's womb.
<br>>
<br>>I was wondering if any of you, as native speakers of English and/or
<br>>qualified linguists at the same time, find any justification and explanation
<br>>for the use of *albeit it* form in the above example.
<br>--------------
<br>
<br>The use of 'it' in these examples is ungrammatical for me.
<br>
<br>These are OK:
<br>
<br>Analysts are predicting the company will return to profit this year, albeit
<br>with a pre-tax figure of only $500.000 pounds.
<br>
<br>But the real reason Buckingham Palace has thrown its gilded gates open,
<br>albeit for a hefty #8 per head, is that the Prince ....
<br>
<br>Yet she had lived long enough, albeit in her mother's womb.
<br>
<br>I'm not sure whether I'd use 'albeit' in everyday speech, but I certainly
<br>would use it (as above) in writing.
<br>
<br>(A nephew-in-law of mine -- an adult with advanced degrees -- had seen the
<br>term in writing and used it in a report and was told "That's not a word."
<br>He asked me about it, saying the word "all-bite."  Of course I set him
<br>straight.  My PhD is in English; his is in chemistry.  This pronunciation
<br>is another example of what we were discussing earlier about "foreign"
<br>pronunciation rules applied to strange words.
<br>
<br>DMLance
<br>