|
|
Allison’s Grammar tips
I or Me?
Never begin a sentence with “me” (unless you are under 4 years old). I hear more and more people say “Me and someone did something.” Remember: Nothing changes to add a second person. You wouldn’t say “Me went to the store” would you? No. Likewise, you would not say “Me and Joe went to the store.” It should be, “Joe and I went to the store.” When in doubt, remove the 2nd subject and see how it sounds. Again, nothing changes to add the 2nd person. The same rule—about nothing changing to add the 2nd person—is true for “me” as an object. Many people want to say “I” at the end of the sentence, as in “Give the report to Katarina and I before you leave.” This is incorrect. You apply the same rule as above: nothing changes to add the second person. Would you say “Give the report to I”? No. So, you should say, “Give the report to Katarina and me” because if you remove Katarina from the sentence, it would read, “Give the report to me.” Tip for remembering: I am too important to go at the end of the sentence. So, the lesson here comes down to subjective pronouns vs. objective pronouns. - I is a subjective pronoun, which means it is always the subject of the sentence (I feel dizzy.) - Me is an objective pronoun, which means it is the object of the sentence (The landlord gave the contract to me). Other Pronouns
All the same rules apply when you use pronouns like “he/him” or “she/her.” I often hear people say things like, “Him and I saw Chris Cornell in concert.” Again, ask yourself how you would say it to remove the other person (in this case “I”). Would you say “Him saw Chris Cornell in concert”? (Maybe if you’re five, but otherwise, no.) So, it’s “He and I…” By the same token, if you say, “Can you come over later and study with she and I?” this is incorrect. How would you say it if there was only one person? “…study with she?” No. “…study with I”? No. So, you should say, “Can you come over later and study with her and me?” because you would say “…study with her” and “…study with me.” So, the lesson here comes down to subjective pronouns vs. objective pronouns. - He and she are subjective pronouns, which means they are always the subject of the sentence (She did her homework). - Him and her are objective pronouns, which means they are the object of the sentence (I gave something to him). Ah, the apostrophe
For some reason, a trend is growing in which people think you should use an apostrophe to make a word plural. You do not. Apostrophes are used to make a word possessive, not plural. For example, “My dog’s collar has a pink tag.” In this case, the dog owns, or possesses, the collar. You would not say, “My dog has three collar’s.” I recently drove by a restaurant with a sign out front that said “We now have pizza’s.” So I went inside and asked them, “You have pizza’s what?” (Ok, I didn’t really do that, but I wanted to.) It seems to be used incorrectly most often when a word ends in “y.” For example, I see people write, “I like to go swimming on Wednesday’s.” Again, unless Wednesday is a person who owns something on which you actually swim (in which case, you must specify “on Wednesday’s _____”), this is not correct. It should be “Wednesdays” with no apostrophe. Tip for remembering: Plural = Plain A possessive = Apostrophe There is only one exception to this rule. When you are making letters or numbers plural, it is acceptable to use an apostrophe because without it, the meaning can be misunderstood. Example: Kristy Yamaguchi received three 10’s from the judges. Or: Her name is spelled with two a’s. Possessives
You remember the rule from above, right? To make a single word possessive (i.e., someone or something owns/possesses something), you add ‘s. This is true regardless of whether the word ends in “s.” This is probably THE singularly most common grammatical mistake made today and, although you will see it done incorrectly quite commonly, it is not correct to say “James’ guitar is out of tune.” It should be “James’s guitar is out of tune.” The fact that a word ends in “s” has nothing to do with how to make it possessive. So, you are in Allison Friederichs’s class, not Allison Friederichs’ class. More examples: She likes to read Camus’s essays. He has eaten at some of Now, when a word is plural, making it possessive first depends on how you make it plural. If the word is plural and doesn’t already end in “s,” add ‘s. Example: the children’s lunchboxes or the men’s room. If the words is plural and ends in “s,” add an apostrophe after the “s.” So, for example, I will read your classmates’ papers (multiple classmates). Example: My parents’ reactions to my grades will be enthusiastic! (This references more than one parent.) To review a previous rule, note that if you said, “my parents won’t be enthusiastic about my grades,” there is no apostrophe because “parents” is plural, not possessive, in that example. The semicolon
Anytime you use a transitional phrase like “however” or “although,” it should be preceded by a semicolon and followed by a comma. Example: I really like the Colorado Rockies; however, the Chicago Cubs are my favorite team. Notice how “however” serves as a transition between thoughts. Anytime you use a semicolon, it must be preceded and followed by a complete sentence. Therefore, for example, you could NOT say, “I have one favorite team; the Cubs.” This is incorrect. The colon
In the final example above, you would actually use a colon. A colon is used whenever you could essentially replace the colon with the word “namely.” Example: I have one favorite baseball team: the Cubs. Notice in that example how it would make just as much sense to say “I have one favorite baseball name, namely, the Cubs.” You do need a complete statement before a colon; however, unlike the semicolon, the colon need not be followed by a complete statement. Commonly misused words
Fewer/less This is probably one of the biggest pet peeves of most grammarians. If you are talking about something that can be counted, you use “fewer.” For example, “I have fewer students in this class than when I teach the introductory course.” If you are talking about something that cannot be counted, at least in the form you’re using, you use “less.” For example, “He gives me less respect than her” or “Andy makes less money than To illustrate this once more, let’s look at liquid. If you were talking about cups of liquid, those can be measured. So you would say, for example, “I use fewer cups of broth for this recipe than that one.” However, if you were talking only about the broth in general, you use “less,” as in, “I use less broth for this recipe” because you can’t count broth, only cups of broth.
“A whole nother” There is no such thing as one “nother.” The word is “another.” Therefore, you cannot have “a whole nother” something. You can have “another whole” something. You can have “a whole new” something. But, please, please, refrain from saying “a whole nother”! Everyday vs. every day Everyday is an adjective. For example, “Bobby has to change out of his school clothes into his everyday clothes after school.” Every day is used when you are using “every” to modify “day.” In other words, could you also say “any day” or “another day” or “this day” or “that day”? For example: “I go to the store every day.” Tip for remembering: Ask yourself if you could say “every other day” instead and if it would still make sense (it will change the meaning, but will still make sense). In the previous example, it would still make sense to say “I go to the store every other day”; therefore, it is two words. It would not make sense to say “Bobby has to wear his everyotherday clothes”; therefore, it is used as a one-word adjective. Should’ve “I should’ve told her how I feel.” This is the CORRECT spelling because “should’ve” is a contraction for “should have.” It is not correct to write “I should of told her how I feel.” (The same applies to “would’ve,” “could’ve,” etc.) Everyone/every one If you can substitute “everybody,” then the single word “everyone” is correct. If not, use two words, “every one.” Every one as two words is reserved for when “every” is a modifier. Example: I ate every one of those peas. Lose vs. loose People commonly confuse these two words. “Loose” = not tight. “Lose” = misplace. So, it is not correct to say “I am afraid I will loose my keys.” Tip for remembering: Lose the extra “o.” Jewelry, Athlete, Realtor Take note of how these words are spelled: - The word is “jewelry” not “julary” (it is made from jewels, not julas). - The word is “athlete” not “ath-a-lete.” - The word is “realtor” not “real-a-tor.” Infer/imply The person talking implies something. The person listening infers. Example: Are you implying I am a bad listener? No, you are inferring that. Tip for remembering: (A rhyme) I imply. Leave it to her to infer. Than/then When you are comparing two things, use “than” not “then.” Example: This class is better than that one. My dog is cuter than yours. Weary/wary/leery Weary means tired. (I am weary from so much studying.) Wary means cautious or careful. (I am wary of being her friend because she gossips too much.) Leery is a synonym of wary. They can be used interchangeably. e.g./i.e. E.g. means “for example.” I.e. means “in other words.” Both should be followed with a comma before presenting the material after them. Example: She and I had a lot in common, e.g., our love of chocolate. Example: I’d like to know the steps a bit more clearly (i.e., can you be more specific?).
Affect/effect These are easy words to confuse. Affect is a verb, as in “Do you really think you can affect her decision?” Effect is a noun, as in “That movie had an effect on my attitude toward politicians.” Remember it like this: cause and effect (both nouns). Tip for remembering: Causeffect At the risk of adding complexity, I should note that there is a usage of affect in which it is used as a noun; however, it is quite distinct from the verb. In this case, affect means “affection,” as in, “I have a great deal of affect for her” (and when pronouncing this, you put the emphasis on the short a, so it would rhyme if you said, “I have affect for Ben Affleck.”) Quotation Marks & Punctuation
When you are quoting a person, your punctuation goes inside the quotation marks, not outside. Ex: I told her I had to “take a moment to collect my thoughts.” Ex: I express to my students, “no matter what you write about,” they should be sure to use proper APA style. If you are using APA style, there is an exception to this rule: See APA guidelines for more on this. But for now, when quoting a source in a paper, you must give the citation, in which case, the period goes at the end of the sentence, after the citation. Ex: Johnson & Tubbs (1985) noted the importance of “communicating one’s thoughts eloquently” (p. 34). Commas
Commas seem to cause a great deal of confusion for many writers. People overuse them, underuse them, misuse them, etc. I recommend the following link, which will take you to a very helpful site that provides you all the information you could possibly need to know about commas. To download a copy of Allison's grammar tips in pdf format, please click here. |
 |
