GrammarGlitchCentral

Please come visit my new blog site.

2010-10-03T16:41:00.004-05:00

If you are still checking in here for great tips on grammar and usage, please come over and visit my new blog site at http://www.grammarglitchcentral.com/. It's a new format, but the posts are similar. Just click from right here and see what we are now up to.

Just today I posted about a "polygamist" groom and the use of Stone Age spears in Alabama. Now who could resist checking that out?

See you soon.

WE'RE MOVING!

2010-07-23T18:49:00.002-05:00

Beginning this week, Grammar Glitch Central will launch a new blog site at www.grammarglitchcentral.com. All of the older posts will be available there, so you can continue to check by topic when you want a reminder about good grammar and usage.

Thanks for your loyal support, and I will look forward to seeing you on the new site.

Introductory Phrases and Clauses Have Their Purpose

2010-07-16T11:21:00.003-05:00

The following sentence appeared in a news article during the recent campaign leading up to the primary run-offs in Alabama:

Senior staff just before his news conference was set to begin were quietly informing reporters that (Tim) James had decided to end his challenge.

This sentence is difficult to read because the inserted dependent clause (printed in red) separates the subject STAFF from the verb WERE INFORMING for no good reason. It just does not fit in this position, and the focus ends up in the wrong place.

I would suggest rewording it this way and using a comma to set off the resulting nine-word introductory clause before the main idea:

Just before his news conference was set to begin, senior staff were quietly informing reporters that James had decided to end his challenge.

I hope you agree that this sounds much clearer. This is the kind of improvement that can be made if you make time to proofread what you write.

More "Physical" Responsibility for Financial Matters?

2010-07-11T14:22:00.004-05:00

I won't name names here because I have not been able to verify this quote, but apparently a City Council member in one city recently commented that the city needed more "physical responsibility."

This, of course, conjured up the image at left for me. Perhaps the Council member wanted the Council members to carry the weight of the city's financial woes literally on their shoulders much as the Titan Atlas was condemned to support the heavens on his shoulders.

Common sense (and a good reference dictionary) would suggest that the Council member meant to say that the city needed more fiscal responsibility--the word FISCAL referring to the treasury or finances of a branch of government. A quick read of most local newspapers would suggest that city (and county) governments need to take more responsibility for handling fiscal issues.

NOTE: Here again, as I have mentioned many times before, a spelling checker would not catch this error because PHYSICAL and FISCAL are both words.

A word of welcome to any new readers among those who participated in the Business Writing Workshop at Auburn University Montgomery last Thursday. It was a pleasure to work with all of you!

Avoid using BOTH and AS WELL AS in the same sentence.

2010-06-28T10:18:00.003-05:00

Birmingham, Alabama's new mayor William Bell has a full plate of issues. One of those is balancing the budget, and he is making great efforts in that direction.

As I have said a number of times in this blog, I do not expect public figures to get the grammar exactly right when they are speaking out loud. However, the following quote from a comment by Mayor Bell last week illustrates a good point about parallel structure. I would hope that, if he were writing this sentence, he would word it in more parallel form:

"I'm asking for a full review by BOTH our legal department AS WELL AS our public works department."

BOTH and AS WELL AS should not be used together. Mayor Bell should have said one of the following:

I'm asking for a full review by BOTH our legal department AND our public works department.

OR

I'm asking for a full review by our public works department AS WELL AS our legal department. (NOTE: I switched the order to get the emphasis on the correct department.)

That said, I wish Mayor Bell progress AS WELL AS ultimate success in solving the many problems of the city.

PLEASE NOTE: This blog site and my website are in transition this month as I work on a more functional design. That is why the number of posts has been slow. Please continue to check this site, and I will notify you as soon as the new blog and web sites are ready for display.

Two Agreement Goofs in One Article!

2010-06-14T16:35:00.004-05:00

A recent article in The Birmingham News deals with a sadly
familiar issue--budget cuts in city government. Also sadly familiar is the
issue of subject/verb agreement which is handled incorrectly in TWO
sentences in this one article. The first sentence reads as follows:

Birmingham's financial challenges
and bare bones 2011 budget has made
it to the national spotlight.
This sentence has TWO subjected (CHALLENGES, BONES) connected by the word AND. Therefore, the verb should be plural. The sentence should read this way:
Birmingham's financial challenges and bare bones 2011 budget have made it to the national spotlight.
In the next paragraph, the reporter writes this sentence:
Mayor William Bell will appear on CNN's "Your Money" this weekend to discuss how a tough economy and low revenue is affecting cities nationwide.
Whoops again! The final clause of this sentence also has TWO subjects (ECONOMY, REVENUE), and they are also connected by AND. Therefore, the verb should be plural, and the sentence should read as follows:
Mayor William Bell will appear on CNN's "Your Money" this weekend to discuss how a tough economy and low revenue are affecting cities nationwide.
BONUS POINT: We should give this reporter credit for getting the usage correct by using the VERB "affecting" in this sentence.

Paying Out....Give Out--Parallel Structure Problem Strikes Again

2010-06-13T15:12:00.002-05:00

This morning's The Birmingham News has a teaser sentence on the front page about the tough choices BP is facing with its finances. This long and involved sentence needs better parallel structure so the reader can follow it. It reads this way:

As the claims over the oil spill disaster mount for the energy giant, the company is torn between two tough choices: paying out settlements to those affected by the ongoing crisis, or give out dividends to its shareholders, which include public employee retirement systems and pension beneficiaries.

The two verb phrases highlighted in red should be in the SAME format, both ending in ING. The sentence should read as follows:

As the claims over the oil spill disaster mount for the energy giant, the company is torn between two tough choices: paying out settlements to those affected by the ongoing crisis or giving out dividends to its shareholders, which include public employee retirement systems and pension beneficiaries.

BONUS NOTE: Notice that I also removed the comma before the word OR. There is no logical reason for separating these two phrases with a comma.

Publix Grocery Store Gets the Grammar Right!

2010-06-04T10:46:00.007-05:00

The first ever Grammar Glitch "Getting the Grammar Right" award goes to Publix grocery stores for their Express lane sign that reads:

10 ITEMS OR FEWER

A friend pointed this out recently and said the sign used to read 10 ITEMS OR LESS but was changed in order to correct the grammar. I don't know whether that scenario is true or not, but I do know that the current sign is correct.

When you are checking out at the grocery store, you are "supposed to" count the number of items in your basket and choose the appropriate line. Anything you can count (like fewer cans of peas, fewer bags of popcorn, fewer gallons of milk) should be described with FEWER. Save LESS for those lump sum concept items (less sugar, less flour, less money!).

Here are some other examples:

I have FEWER problems with spelling than I used to.

I take LESS time proofreading than I used to.

Justin owns FEWER apartment buildings than John does.

Alice has LESS equity in her house than Sally does.

Got it? Hats off to Publix for "Getting It Right" in their grocery stores.

Manage That Gavel FairLY but firmLY!

2010-05-31T15:26:00.003-05:00

Those of you who are registered, please remember to vote if your primaries are tomorrow. I hope you are using some of your time today to remember those who have died for our country.

My local newspaper carried an article about the Lieutenant Governor's race in Alabama. One of the candidates was quoted as saying, "I will manage the gavel fair but firmly."

This quotation offers a good opportunity to remind my readers to be careful with parallel structure. If you take one adjective (FIRM) and add an LY to it to create an adverb, then it is necessary to do the same thing with the other adjective. This sentence should be stated as follows:

I will manage the gavel fairly but firmly.

Bob Greene Thinks Typos Deserve Serious Attention

2010-05-27T10:30:00.006-05:00

Award-winning journalist Bob Greene (a fellow native Ohioan) wrote a piece recently for CNN in which he speculated that "the lowly typo" might have gained more of the attention it deserves if someone had proved that the recent financial market plummet was caused by typing "billion" instead of "million."

Greene pointed out that, in our computer-screen age, "typos--and their cousins misspellings and grammatical errors--have been given a reprieve. What once prompted people to shake their heads in stern disapproval when it appeared on newspaper or magazine pages--a flat-out mistake, caused by lazy typing and indifferent proofreading--produces not as much of a stir when seen on a glowing screen." http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/05/16/greene.typo/index.html?iref=allsearch

I agree wholeheartedly with Bob Greene, who makes the point in his article that, even in today's digital world, accuracy is just as important as speed. Those of you who have taken my workshops know I'm a stickler for good spelling and good grammar. We should all prefer to be remembered for the message we conveyed, not the poor way we wrote it.

One of my personal favorite typo/usage goofs is the one committed by the student newspaper staff at Brigham Young University. In a photo caption, they identified the leaders of the Mormon church as APOSTATES instead of APOSTLES!

I'm sure that elicited some gasps because an APOSTATE is a person who has abandoned religious faith or principles! (See my blog entry "Spell Checker Disaster in Utah" on April 9, 2009.)

NOTE: Welcome to those who attended my workshop this week in Montgomery. I hope you find these postings helpful.

Is Your Impatience Running Thin? Huh?

2010-05-24T21:13:00.005-05:00

This morning, as I was driving to a water aerobics class, I heard a commentator on NPR Morning Edition make this statement in connection with the frustrating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico:

BP knows impatience is running thin.

My brain actually heard what the commentator meant (which was that people have BEEN patient but are becoming less so). Then my Grammar Glitch reasoning kicked in. Wait a minute. It is PATIENCE that is running thin. The commentator actually said the exact opposite of what was meant. What was meant was this:

BP knows patience is running thin.

It is unfortunate when incorrect wording distracts the reader or the listener. I didn't hear much of the rest of the story because I was busy thinking about what was said versus what was meant. That's not the goal of good communication.

NOTE: This is an unusual gaffe for NPR. In fact, when I am teaching workshops on business communication, I often suggest that a way to improve good usage and increase effective vocabulary is to listen to quality broadcasts like NPR's Morning Edition.

Do you have the wind "sewed up" yet? Watch your usage!

2010-05-16T06:51:00.005-05:00

The writer of a recent letter to the editor in The Birmingham News created a weird mixed metaphor while attempting to quote the Bible. Here is what he wrote:

The Good Book says, "Sew the wind, and you will reap the whirl wind": that is exactly what we have in today's schools.

Whoops! SEW is what you do with a needle and thread. This writer meant SOW, which is how you scatter seed on soil so it will grow.

The correct quotation from Hosea 8:7 is this: "They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind...."

There is another WHOOPS in the writer's attempted quotation. WHIRLWIND is one word.

BONUS POINT #1: I will give this writer a huge bonus point, however, for getting the punctuation with the quotation marks and the colon correct. The rule is that colons and semicolons ALWAYS go outside the quotation marks.

Here is how he should have written his comment:

The Good Book says, "They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind": that is exactly what we have in today's schools.

This writer, who is a teacher, was defending the principal who shaved off half the eyebrow of a defiant student who was using his eyebrow to display a gang symbol at school.

BONUS POINT #2: A mixed metaphor is a literary image that combines elements of two different images in a confusing way. By using the word SEW (needle and thread image) and combining it with REAP (harvest image), this writer created a mixed metaphor. He meant to create the image of a person sowing seed and then reaping the harvest of what he planted.

NOTE OF WELCOME: Welcome to all of the participants in my Grammar and Usage Brush-up workshop in Montgomery last week. It is because of a question from one of you that I added today's bonus point about quotation mark rules. I will present the three basic rules on quotation mark usage at your second workshop on May 26.

If any other readers would like to have those three basic rules covered in one blog entry, just let me know.

Kent State Memories...And a Grammar Glitch

2010-05-04T16:53:00.004-05:00

Today is the 40th anniversary of the shootings at Kent State University on May 4, 1970, as John Filo's Pulitzer Prize winning photo (copy version at left) reminds us. I had just moved from Ohio to Alabama at that time, and like everyone else, I was stunned that such a thing could happen on a college campus in our country. It was a time of disillusionment with war (Vietnam), and tensions were high on many college campuses. Although I never attended Kent State, it was not far from my home, and many of my high school friends did.

Michael Scott wrote an entry for today in the Metro-cleveland.com online version of The Cleveland Plain Dealer titled "Kent State: Coming of Age After May 4, 1970 shootings." It talked about the development of Ohio's third largest university since that fateful, sad day. It now has 38,000 students--nearly double the number in 1970.

In that article, Scott created a really good example of what happens when a writer does not follow through with parallel structure. In this case, the omission of the simple one-letter word "a" managed to turn a fashion school into a science lab. Here is the sentence:

Kent State is home to the state's largest nursing school and a top 10 U. S. fashion school and museum is generally acclaimed as an international leader in liquid crystal research.

Whoops! There are three separate entities here--the nursing school, the fashion school, and the Liquid Crystal Institute. By putting "school and museum" together without another article (a, an, OR the), Scott managed to make it sound as if the fashion school and museum are leaders in liquid crystal research. I'm not sure what "museum" has to do with it, but there is an internationally recognized Liquid Crystal INSTITUTE at Kent State. I think the sentence should read something like this:

Kent State is home to the state's largest nursing school and a top 10 U. S. fashion school as well as an institute that is an international leader in liquid crystal research.

If each item (nursing school, fashion school, institute) has its own article, the reader does not have trouble understanding what goes with what.

AFFECT? EFFECT? Which is it?

2010-05-02T15:38:00.002-05:00

AFFECT and EFFECT are confusing for just about everyone. On Friday evening, April 30, even the headline writer for ABC 33/40 News http://www.abc3340.com in Birmingham got caught on this one. As the news anchor reported on the Gulf of Mexico oil leak and the first animals found drenched in oil, the screen caption read as follows:

AFFECT ON WILDLIFE

Whoops! As I have reminded before on this blog, AFFECT is the VERB form of this pesky concept. EFFECT is the word needed for a noun slot. The screen caption should have read as follows:

EFFECT ON WILDLIFE

Here are a couple more examples to help you remember this concept:

Wildlife will certainly be AFFECTED by the oil spill.
The oil spill will certainly AFFECT wildlife.

The oil spill will certainly have an EFFECT on wildlife.

Hope that helps!

Dear Abby Reader Suggests Closed Captioning to Improve Reading Skills

2010-04-30T09:40:00.002-05:00

One of Dear Abby's readers offered a brilliant suggestion this week to parents who want to improve their children's reading skills. I'm sharing this advice here in case any of my home schooling parent readers missed it.

"Proud Parents" explained to Abby that her children often prefer watching television to reading. In trying to address this problem, she and her husband came up with a good compromise. "We mute the television and have the children read the words instead of listening," she wrote. "It works great! Their reading skills have soared, and I have noticed they are now reading more books than they used to."

This clever mother also noted that she enjoys the quiet time when their family "watches" TV.

If anyone cares to comment on this idea, write to http://www.DearAbby.com or PO Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

Subject/verb Agreement Again!

2010-04-29T08:26:00.004-05:00

This morning's local newspaper reports that the alcohol producers in this country want the federal government to standardize dietary information on the labels of alcoholic products. http://www.discus.org That may be an excellent idea, but the reporter who wrote the story forgot about grammar agreement when creating this sentence:

The Distilled Spirits Council says that there's no consistent labeling rules for beer, wine and spirits to show consumers the serving size, calories and alcohol content per serving.

PERSISTENT REMINDER FROM GRAMMAR GLITCH: When a sentence begins with the word THERE, the choice of singular or plural verb depends on the SUBJECT, which appears AFTER the verb in this construction. Notice that I've highlighted the word "rules" in red in the above sentence. Because "rules" is plural, the reporter should have chosen THERE ARE instead of THERE IS. This sentence should read as follows:

The Distilled Spirits Council says that there are no consistent labeling rules for beer, wine and spirits to show consumers the serving size, calories and alcohol content per serving.

If the reporter wanted to use THERE IS, the sentence could have been written this way:

The Distilled Spirits Council says there is no consistent labeling (SINGULAR) for beer, wine and spirits to show consumers the serving size, calories and alcohol content per serving.

What About "To Whom It May Concern"?

2010-04-27T13:38:00.004-05:00

One of my readers asked yesterday if all of the words in "To Whom It May Concern" should be capitalized. My answer was twofold:

1. If you must use this salutation, all of the words should be capitalized. This is my opinion, and it is also the opinion of the Owl at Purdue, which is a good grammar reference. http://www.owl.english.purdue.edu/ Here is what their website says:

"If you don't know a reader's gender, use a nonsexist salutation, such as 'To Whom It May Concern.'"

2. The other part of my answer was that I NEVER use "To Whom It May Concern," and I do not recommend it in my workshops because it is an antiquated form and because I think the writer should make an effort to call or e-mail to find out the name of the person being addressed.

If this is not possible, the writer should create a title that fits the situation. This title (e.g., Dear Director of Human Resources OR Dear Publications Assistant) should be used in the salutation and also on the envelope. It says the writer took some time to prepare, and it also allows the mail room of a large company to figure out where to deliver the letter.

I like what Rachel Zupek said recently in an article titled "Is 'To whom it may concern' the kiss of death?" This appeared on the careerbuilder.com blog called the Work Buzz. http://www.theworkbuzz.com/career-advice/whom-it-may-concern-kiss-of-death/. Here was her comment:

Most job seekers know that, whenever possible, it's best to address your cover letter to the person who has the power to hire you--or at least the person who can bring you in for an interview.

But, all too often, if a name isn't listed on a job posting, the job seeker resorts to an old-fashioned salutation like, "To Whom It May Concern." What they don't know, is that this approach can sometimes be considered the kiss of death.

Impersonal salutations like "Dir (sic) Sir/Madam" or "To Whom It May Concern" show an employer two things: The first is that you lack the initiative to locate the appropriate contact; the second is that you show a disregard for any research needed to be done on your part. In short, employers will think you're lazy and your cover letter will end up in the trash.

I agree completely with this opinion, and I often say so in business writing workshops. I do have a few comments about the punctuation in this comment, and I will address those in my next blog entry.

Miss Manners Knows Agreement as Well as Manners

2010-04-25T17:09:00.005-05:00

Judith Martin's Miss Manners column, which appears in newspapers across the country, offers excellent advice on etiquette with a gentle twist of sarcasm from time to time. Her grammar is as impeccable as her manners. You can find her online at http://www.missmanners.com/.

In an answer to a "Gentle Reader" in today's column, Miss Manners created an interesting sentence while explaining how a high school girl can politely refuse an invitation to a school dance. Here is the sentence:

But everyone, even vulnerable young gentlemen in high school, has to learn to deal with whatever hurt is felt if an invitation is declined or a romantic impulse unrequited.

Miss Manners knows that the word EVERYONE is singular, and so, in spite of the inserted phrase (even vulnerable young gentlemen (PLURAL) in high school), she chose the singular verb HAS, which is absolutely correct.

I might gently suggest to Miss Manners that vulnerable readers, who have a tendency to confuse singular and plural agreement situations, would understand this sentence more quickly if she changed the inserted phrase to singular, too. I am NOT suggesting that the sentence is incorrect--just that it might be made clearer for readers with less grammar experience. Here is how I would word it for those readers:

But everyone, even a vulnerable young gentleman in high school, has to learn to deal with whatever hurt is felt if an invitation is declined or a romantic impulse unrequited.

Have a great week, everyone!

Dodgers Broadcaster Watching Grammar After Fall

2010-04-19T06:03:00.006-05:00

Here's a little fun with grammar for a Monday morning: Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully fell recently at his home and was knocked unconscious. When reporters asked how this would affect his spring training workload, Scully answered as follows:

"I'm supposed to cut back on dangling participles, and I'm not allowed to split any infinitives for at least another week."

I hope Scully has no other complications from his fall, and I hope all of you have a great week. By the way, cutting back on dangling participles and split infinitives is good advice for your grammar health in ANY week!

Here are a couple of reminders:

DANGLING PARTICIPLE:

While eating lunch yesterday, my cell phone died. (Really? Does your cell phone eat lunch every day?) This sentence should read as follows:

While I was eating lunch yesterday, my cell phone died.

SPLIT INFINITIVE:

I like to occasionally walk to work.

This sentence reads much more smoothly if OCCASIONALLY does not come between TO and WALK. (TO WALK is an infinitive; that is, TO + VERB.)
It should read this way:

I like to walk to work occasionally.

Agreement Issues

2010-04-15T16:39:00.003-05:00

As I continue to proofread that ad brochure I received, I see several agreement issue sentences in Brad Watson's column. Here is one example:

Primary eligibility for borrowing are that you must be 62 years of age or older, own the property, and occupy the property as principal residence.

In this instance, the error might be simply a typo/word omission error, but ELIGIBILITY is singular and takes the singular verb IS. The simplest way to fix this one is to add the word REQUIREMENTS, as follows:

Primary eligibility requirements for borrowing are that you must be at least 62 years of age, own the property, and occupy the property as principal residence.

BONUS POINT: I also simplified the wording to "at least 62 years of age..."

Here is another example from the same article:

State and federal funding has received enormous hits....

This appears to be correct because FUNDING is singular, but state funding is one thing and federal funding is another (as any Southerner would be quick to point out). The sentence should read this way:

Both state funding and federal funding have received enormous hits....

Here is one more agreement problem from the same article, this one involving two related sentences:

Many think that reverse mortgages are a debt builder, but that's not the case when used effectively. It can actually settle debts and can keep seniors in their own home where they want and deserve to be.

The word MORTGAGES is plural, so THEY are debt builders (plural). The second sentence refers to MORTGAGES, so the pronoun should be THEY, not IT. The sentence should read this way:

Many think that reverse mortgages build debt, but that's not the case when they are used effectively. They can actually settle debts and keep seniors in their own homes where they want and deserve to be.

Notice the other changes I made to make this sentence flow more smoothly.

Wedding Couple Share the Same Sister??

2010-04-12T10:23:00.005-05:00

As I've mentioned before, I enjoy reading the wedding feature in my local newspaper. It's sort of a mini romance novel each Sunday--a column about how two people met, their engagement, their wedding, and hopefully, happily ever after.

This week's featured wedding article contained a curious sentence. The reporter was explaining how the couple met and said this:

Turns out that Tonorey and Aldrich's sister had attended the same high school in Birmingham and he remembered her photo from the yearbook.

Common sense tells me that Tonorey had a sister and Aldrich had a sister and that the TWO sisters went to the same high school. However, the grammar used by the writer does NOT say that. When you have two names with an apostrophe plus S ONLY on the second name, that means that the noun following belongs to BOTH of those people.

Notice, too, that the writer used the SINGULAR of "sister." Whoops! I am guessing that is not at all what she meant. The sentence should read this way:

Turns out that Tonorey's and Aldrich's sisters had attended the same high school, and Aldrich remembered Tonorey's photo from the yearbook.

BONUS POINT #1: Notice that I added a comma before AND in this sentence because the material that comes after AND (Aldrich remembered Tonorey's photo from the year book) is a complete clause.

BONUS POINT #2: Notice also that I changed the pronouns HE and HER to the names of the people. I did this because it is not clear from the context who HE and HER might be.

I hope this helps the next time you need to create a double possessive. I also hope Tonorey and Aldrich live happily ever after!

Ad Brochure Cannot Keep Its "Its" Straight

2010-04-11T21:12:00.003-05:00

I'm still proofreading the ad brochure I mentioned in my last post, and I am wondering why people find it so difficult to distinguish between ITS (belonging to an IT) and IT'S ( short for IT IS or IT HAS). Brent Watson did a column about reverse mortgages and said this:

The nation's elderly population is at it's highest in history and will be that way over the next several years.

Whoops! This sentence calls for the possessive form (IT referring back to the population). The sentence should read this way:

The nation's elderly population is at its highest in history and will be that way over the next several years.

I'll share some more sentence gems from the reverse mortgages column tomorrow, but the Subaru ad at the back of the brochure contains this sentence:

It truly has a flagship sedan that offers better performance, passenger volume, fuel economy, and standard AWD at a better price than it's FWD competitors.

Whoops again! This sentence also calls for the possessive form (IT referring back to the sedan). The sentence should read this way:

It truly has a flagship sedan that offers better performance, passenger volume, fule economy, and standard AWD at a better price than its FWD competitors.

HAS? HAVE? Pick one only, please!

2010-04-09T05:50:00.006-05:00

I received a colorful ad brochure magazine in my mailbox this week. It contains many ads for upscale shops in my area. The graphics and the photography are quite attractive, but the feature articles about businesses are riddled (yes, riddled!) with glaring Grammar Glitches. Whoever is writing these pieces is either careless or does not have a good grasp of common writing rules.

I'll share three examples this morning--all from the same short article. The first is a parallel structure issue in this sentence:

Lucy's even has a school spirit department for all the Vestavia Rebel fans and have recently created a Teen Advisory Board.

The writer started the sentence assuming correctly that "Lucy's" is ONE store and used the singular verb HAS. Then, maybe because Lucy's offers "Gifts, Toys and a Whole Lot More," the writer switched to the plural verb HAVE in the second part of the sentence. Hm-mmm. Maybe the writer made this mistake because the word FANS (object of the preposition FOR and NOT the subject for the verb HAVE) was just too close to the verb, and she could not resist.

Whatever the reason, the writer was creating two verb phrases that both refer back to the singular subject LUCY'S. The sentence should read as follows:

Lucy's even has a school spirit department for all the Vestavia Rebel fans and has recently created a Teen Advisory Board.

The same short article contains two more Grammar Glitches. One is a run-on sentence:

When you have the time you will want to go in the store and shop, they have convenient front door parking and specialize in great gifts for every budget.

This is not easy to read because the one comma in the sentence (which should be two sentences) is in the wrong place. The comma should come after the five-word introductory clause WHEN YOU HAVE THE TIME. There should be a period after SHOP. It should read as follows:

When you have the time, you will want to go in the store and shop. They have convenient front door parking and specializde in great gifts for every budget.

The other Grammar Glitch is another comma placement error:

Owner, Tahara Evans is a Vestavia graduate as well as a resident of Vestavia Hills.

The writer needs to make up her comma mind on this one. Either she wants to set off the owner's name with a comma in front of it AND a comma after it OR she should streamline, journalism style, and not set the name off from the OWNER title at all. The sentence should read this way:

Owner Tahara Evans is a Vestavia graduate as well as a resident of Vestavia Hills.

When you put a person's title BEFORE the name, it is not necessary to use the commas. The writer would only have needed commas if she had written it this way:

Tahara Evans, owner of Lucy's, is a Vestavia graduate.

Whoops! As I was proofreading this blog entry, I noticed yet another Grammar Glitch in this same short article. Here it is:

Lucy's reopened in their new location on September of 2009.

Lucy's could reopen ON a specific day in September or IN September. It is not necessary to add the word OF. This sentence should read as follows:

Lucy's reopened in its new location in September 2009.

BONUS POINT: I am sticking with the writer's first usage--that Lucy's is SINGULAR--and changing THEIR to ITS in this sentence!

I'm Not Sure How You ALLUDE a Police Officer

2010-04-06T11:40:00.004-05:00

A young shoplifting suspect ran a red light yesterday in Birmingham and caused a crash that killed one person and left another seriously injured. The police had stopped chasing him, but he was still racing away. What a sad situation.

The article in The Birmingham News stated that the suspect was charged with the following:

...felony attempting to allude a police officer, theft, reckless driving and several traffic violations...

I HOPE that the police manual refers to this first charge as "felony attempting to ELUDE a police officer." Just a reminder for all of my Grammar Glitch readers: ALLUDE means to make an indirect reference to something, as in:

The professor often alluded to his own poetry.

The judge would not allow the attorney to allude to the defendant's former crime.

The word ELUDE is needed here. It means to evade or escape from, especially by a daring move. The suspect reference should read as follows:

...felony attempting to elude a police officer, theft, reckless driving and several traffic violations.....

BONUS POINT: I did not add a comma between "driving" and "and" in this series because it was part of a journalism article in a newspaper. Although the comma after "and" in a series is highly recommended in business and literary prose, it is usually omitted by journalists.

My 200th Grammar Glitch Post! Commas, Commas, Commas!

2010-03-29T10:18:00.007-05:00

I'm treating myself to a virtual torte this morning in honor of my 200th Grammar Glitch post. Please enjoy a virtual slice with today's post, and thank you to all my regular readers.

If you have a question or a topic you'd like covered, please let me know. As you can see, I never lack for ideas, but I am ALWAYS glad to respond to a specific inquiry.

Today, I'm going to highlight some comma problems that appeared in the current issue of 280Living http://www.280living.com/.

1. A good rule of thumb for comma usage is to set off any introductory phrase or clause that is more than three words long. Here is an example sentence:

According to Chelsea High School art teacher Max Newton over 400 art pieces were entered from local Southeastern states.

The subject of this sentence is "over 400 art pieces," and the reader must plow through nine words to find the subject. A comma definitely helps with that process by pointing out where the subject is. The sentence should read this way:

According to Chelsea High School art teacher Max Newton, over 400 art pieces were entered from local Southeastern states.

2. If you insert an ING phrase after the subject and before the verb (especially if you also add a phrase like "at first"), set the phrase off front AND back with a comma. Here is an example sentence:

His mom Sue being a nurse at first was skeptical about the correlation of his spinal structural compromises coinciding with Jacob's symptoms.

In repairing this sentence, I set off the ING phrase with commas (front AND back), and I also moved the "at first" phrase to a better location. I also reversed the word "Jacob's" and its pronoun "his" so that the reader knows who Jacob is before "his" refers back to him. Whew! Lots of repairs here! The sentence should read as follows:

His mom Sue, being a nurse, was skeptical at first about the correlation of Jacob's spinal structural compromises coinciding with his symptoms.

3. It is important to use commas in the logical places for pauses in a sentence. Here is an example sentence that puts the comma way too early:

Unfortunately, for the conference another unlikely scenario could be worse than last season....

The phrase that should be set off before the subject here is "Unfortunately for the conference," NOT just the word "unfortunately." The subject is "another unlikely scenario." The sentence should read this way:

Unfortunately for the conference, another unlikely scenario could be worse than last season....

4. Finally, when you set off a phrase or clause WITHIN clause (rather than at the beginning), it is important to use a comma AT THE BEGINNING and another comma AT THE END of what is set off. Look at these two sentence examples:

John Calipari, after leaving Memphis has a new stable of freshman who are very skilled....

Mississippi State is another team that has a slim chance and, in my opinion would be a good representative for the conference.

In both sentences, the writer has inserted a comma at the BEGINNING of an inserted phrase but failed to insert another comma at the END of the inserted phrase.

BONUS POINT: If you have a whole stable full of them, the word should be FRESHMEN (plural).

These sentences should read as follows:

John Calipari, after leaving Memphis, has a new stable of freshmen who are very skilled....

Mississippi State is another team that has a slim chance and, in my opinion, would be a good representative for the conference.

Have a great day, everyone! And thanks for reading.

Apostrophe and Compound Problems in Katrina-related Article

2010-03-27T11:19:00.005-05:00

Once again, the current issue of 280 Living http://www.280living.com/ provides a number of opportunities to talk about grammar glitches. On the front page of the March 2010 edition, there is a wonderful article about a family from Metairie, LA that is beginning a new life in the Birmingham area. Even though I'm going to point out two Grammar Glitches in that article (See below.), I hope you will visit the website and read this interesting story about new opportunities arising from tragedy.

Here is one sentence that caught my Gramma Glitch eye:

Unaware of FEMA's plan for evacuees, the VanGeffen's made the decision to purchase a camper from a local dealer to setup at their home in Metairie to begin repairs.

There are two problems with this sentence, and both of these issues have been addressed before on this blog. First, it is NOT necessary to use an apostrophe to create the PLURAL of a word--even a proper name. These people are named THE VANGEFFENS. Unless you are speaking about something that belongs to them (e.g., the Vangeffens' camper or FEMA's plan), it is NOT necessary to use an apostrophe.

Second, the word SETUP is only used as a compound word when it is in the NOUN position of a sentence (e.g., The SETUP of the camper was difficult.) In this sentence, the writer uses TO to create an infinitive verb form, so SET UP should be written as two SEPARATE WORDS.

The sentence should read as follows:

Unaware of FEMA's plan for evacuees, the VanGeffens made the decision to purchase a camper from a local dealer to set up at their home in Metairie so they could begin repairs.

BONUS POINT: In order to avoid having two TO phrases so close together (TO SET UP AT THEIR HOME IN METAIRIE TO BEGIN), I changed the second TO phrase to SO THEY COULD.

If you'd like to check out the other blog entries on these subjects, please check out the following:

"Proofreading with Your Parmesan" on March 1, 2010
"More Incompetence with Apostrophes" on February 8, 2010
"My Driveway is Clean...." on December 10, 2009

You can also click on "Compound Words" to see the five blog entries on that subject.

Have a great weekend!

If you are letting THEM know, why do I have to quit driving?

2010-03-25T16:45:00.008-05:00

I apologize for my silence this past week. Unfortunately, it has not been because the entire world has suddenly started using good grammar. I have just been busy with other things. HINT: See my http://www.genevapow.blogspot.com/ blog next week for an update on my marble quarry research in Sylacauga.

To make it up to my regular readers, I'll post two good pieces of grammar advice this afternoon instead of one. The first has to do with the appropriate choice of pronouns. Here is a sentence that appeared in an article in this morning's The Birmingham News:

"We want to let them know that you don't have to quit driving."

This was a quote from someone at AARP http://www.aarp.org/, and I recognize that it was said out loud, which is somewhat of an excuse. However, it is confusing. In this sentence, THEM refers to older drivers who need to update their skills to keep driving. The speaker should be letting THEM know that, with the AARP defensive driving class, THEY (not YOU or I) can keep driving. The sentence should read this way:

We want to let them know that they don't have to quit driving.

When you proofread, always make sure the pronoun you use refers clearly to the person or thing it represents and that the antecedent and the pronoun agree in number.

A bullet point in another article in this morning's newspaper brings up my old pet peeve of subject/verb agreement. By the way, this is my thirty-sixth blog post relating to subject/verb agreement.

This bullet point appears in an exciting article about the upcoming Indy Grand Prix of Alabama race to be held at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham http://www.barbermotorsports.com/ in just a few weeks. This is the bullet point:

All 250 of the $450 "Speed Pass" packages, which includes admission all three days along with special access to the paddock area and access to the pit area during Friday and Saturday races.

Unless somebody is not playing fair, ALL 250 of the PACKAGES (plural) INCLUDE (plural) the items listed. The bullet point should read this way:\

all 250 of the $450 "Speed Pass" packages, which include admission to the paddock aea and access to the pit area during Friday and Saturday races

BONUS POINTS: 1) Whoever proofread this sentence (copy editor perhaps?) did not notice that the word TO had been left out.

2) Bullet points that are not complete sentences (and this one is not--no verb in the main clause) do NOT require end punctuation, so I removed the period after RACES. They also do not require a capital letter at the beginning, so I uncapitalized ALL.

I hope you find this information useful.

AS and THAN are like oil and water. They really don't mix.

2010-03-18T11:09:00.007-05:00

Making comparisons correctly can be tricky in writing. Many writers use comparative words that do not work well together. Here is a good example from a sentence in this morning's newspaper. It is from an article for Bloomberg News http://www.bloombergnews.com by Nicole Ostrow.

Those who used the drug for six or more years were twice as likely to develop a psychosis such as schizophrenia or to have delusional disorders than those who never used marijuana.

When using AS at the beginning of a comparison, use AS rather than THAN in the second part of the comparison. This writer was probably trying to avoid using AS twice because she had the phrase "such as schizophrenia," but the comparison is still awkward. I would also use the word MARIJUANA first and then use THE DRUG in the second part of the sentence. It could be written correctly this way:

Those who used marijuana for six or more years were twice as likely to develop a psychosis like schizophrenia or to have delusional disorders as those who never used the drug.

THAN can be used in comparisons, but it won't work in this sentence because of the phrase TWICE AS LIKELY. Here are examples of using THAN correctly in comparison:

Those who turned the essay in early were more likely to get a good grade than those who turned it in on time.

Those who used salt ate more french fries than those who did not.

Those who chose Door Three were less likely to win the big prize than those who chose Door One.

Hope that helps.

Double Negative Confusion

2010-03-13T11:08:00.003-06:00

While reading Greg Mortenson's Stones into Schools yesterday, I came across a sentence with a problem. Before I share that example, please let me say that Greg Mortenson is an incredible writer. It is amazing to me that he can be the unique humanitarian and educator he is and also create fascinating descriptions of some of the starkest places in the world.

Here is the sentence:

Nothing takes place inside the Corridor that does not escape the knowledge of these three "big men."

I read this sentence two or three times, trying to decide why it bothered me. Greg means to say that nothing escapes the knowledge of these three men. By adding NOT to the sentence, he creates a double negative that makes the meaning the opposite of what he intended. Also, THAT is misplaced in this sentence. It should be written as follows:

Nothing that takes place inside the Corridor escapes the knowledge of these three "big men."

Having pointed that out and clarified it, I want to suggest that, if you have not read Three Cups of Tea, which is on the reading lists of several branches of the U.S. military as well as numerous universities and community libraries throughout the country, you have missed a powerful message about "last-place-first" opportunities in our world. You have also missed an enjoyable read and an incredible true story. Stones into Schools is the sequel. http://www.gregmortenson.com

2010-03-11T13:20:00.005-06:00

One of my international readers asked a question about parallel structure that brings up a good point for all of us. She wanted to know which of these sentences is correct:

I prefer to watch movie to play video game.

I prefer to watch movie to to play video game.

My answer was that neither is correct for several reasons. Here were my suggestions for better ways to word this idea:

I prefer watching movies to playing video games.

I prefer to watch movies rather than play video games.

I would rather watch movies than play video games.

Another http://www.englishforums.com/ reader suggested another alternative that I also think is better:

I like watching movies better than playing video games.

Two Good Questions: Articles and Communication

2010-03-04T15:30:00.004-06:00

One of my international readers sent an example today with two good questions. She wanted to know when to use the DEFINITE article THE in describing a company and when to use the INDEFINITE article A or AN. Here is a similar example:

ABC Communications, the/a global communications company, is based in Singapore.

As this reader pointed out in her question, ABC Global Communications is NOT the only global communications company in the world, so the article choice should be A. The sentence should read as follows:

ABC Communications, a global communications company, is based in Singapore.

This reader also asked about the difference between COMMUNICATIONS and COMMUNICATION and wondered which would be the best choice for a sentence like this.

COMMUNICATIONS is a relatively new term that refers to the whole business of media and its related technology. COMMUNICATION is a generic term that expresses the concept of conveying ideas from one person to another. In this sentence, the appropriate choice is COMMUNICATIONS.

By the way, for another good point about use of articles, please check my blog entry for February 26. It talks about correct article use for parallel structure.

Welcome to New Readers from Around the World

2010-03-04T06:37:00.006-06:00

Welcome to our new Grammar Glitch readers from www.englishforums.com . It has been my experience that native speakers of a language can learn a great deal about grammar and usage by considering the questions non-native speakers often ask.

Of course, the opposite is also true. Non-native speakers often learn best by interacting with native speakers.

With that in mind, I hope Grammar Glitch can become a good place for that kind of exchange. In some future blog entries, I will feature questions posed by people who are learning English and offer good solutions. I suspect my "local" English readers will also find these examples helpful.

Cal Thomas Column Presents Sticky Agreement Issue

2010-03-02T15:52:00.005-06:00

Cal Thomas's column http://www.calthomas.com appears regularly in my local newspaper, and most of the time, I don't even think about his grammar or usage as I read what he writes. Yesterday, however, one sentence stood out with a jolt because it sounded awkward. My pet peeve, agreement, was the issue, but the solution was not so simple. Here is the sentence:

"So much of what passes for facts today are like what another generation called 'old wives' tales.'"

Generally, the word WHAT can be considered singular (therefore, the verb PASSES) even if what follows the verb (FACTS) is plural. However, this sentence goes further and adds ARE, which sounds awkward to me. I visited a couple other websites to check their opinions and found a good discussion of this subject on Englishforums.com http://www.englishforums.com/. If you want to access the discussion, which is an older post, Google the words "plural what," and this discussion will pop up.

I decided to tweak the sentence myself and improve it as follows:

So much of what passes for fact today is like what another generation called "old wives' tales."

I'd be interested in your comments. To me, my version sounds much clearer. (Of course, I hold a certain bias for my own opinion.) What do you think?

Proofreading with Your Parmesan!

2010-03-01T14:42:00.006-06:00

My 280.com advertising brochure for this month features a mouthwatering ad for Nino's Italian Restaurant in Pelham http://www.ninos-pelham.com/. The food sounds wonderful, but the person who wrote the "Southern Palate" review of Nino's needs to be more careful with the grammar and usage. In describing the lasagna, she wrote:

"This lasagna was even better than your moms with lots of gooey cheese and a generous portion of meat, the sauce was perfect!"

Whoops twice for this sentence! First, this lasagna is NOT being compared to your moms, and your moms don't come covered with gooey cheese! This lasagna is being compared to the lasagna your mother might make. Second, "the sauce was perfect" should be a completely separate sentence--partly to avoid a comma splice (run-on sentence) and partly because the point about the sauce should stand on its own and not be buried in the previous sentence. This part of the review should read as follows:

This lasagna was even better than your mom's with lots of gooey cheese and a generous portion of meat. The sauce was perfect!

BONUS POINT: I don't recommend frequent use of the exclamation point in formal business prose, but in a restaurant review in an ad brochure, it is certainly acceptable if you want to exclaim over the sauce!

Another run-on sentence appears in the last paragraph of the restaurant review:

"Don't be afraid to step out and try something different, this delicious dish is mild and includes a side of pasta."

This sentence, which refers to Eggplant Parmigiana, dilutes both parts by running them together. They should be separate and read as follows:

Don't be afraid to step out and try something different. This delicious dish is mild and includes a side of pasta.

Parallel Structure Streamlines Writing

2010-02-28T14:03:00.005-06:00

Ulta's ad brochure this month contains a whole page of curling irons and crimpers ranging in price from $12.99 to $47.99. The ad for the Revlon Perfect Heat Brush Iron describes its function this way:

Curl hair under or flips it out

Even though this is not presented as a complete sentence, the two verbs (CURL..FLIPS) should match in format. The ad may be suggesting that you, the reader, can do both things. If that is the case, the phrase should read as follows:

(You can) curl hair under or flip it out.

Or, the ad may be suggesting that the device itself can do both things. In that case, the phrase should read as follows:

(This iron) curls hair under or flips it out.

In either case, BOTH verbs should match in format. Either they end in S or they don't.

1 + 1 only equals 2 if each 1 has its own article!

2010-02-26T14:43:00.004-06:00

"The Issue" statement for an editorial in this morning's The Birmingham News caught my eye. Here is what it said:

An investment banker and lobbyist ought to pay at least $5.5 million in restitution for their part in a scheme that cost the citizens of Jefferson County dearly.

Whoops! I happen to know that the investment banker is ONE person and the lobbyist is a SEPARATE person. There is also the clue that the writer used the word "their" to refer to the part in the scheme. As written, this sentence makes it sound as if ONE person (who is both a banker and a lobbyist) should be making restitution to the county. The sentence should be written as follows:

An investment banker and a lobbyist ought to pay at least $5.5 million in restitution for their part in a scheme that cost the citizens of Jefferson county dearly.

BONUS POINT: Remember that the correct format for writing millions and billions of dollars is to put the dollar sign BEFORE the numerals and the word "million" or "billion" AFTER the numerals (as above).

I certainly hope someone figures out the sewer mess scheme soon so that Jefferson County can retrieve its dignity and its solvency.

AED = Deadly Mix; Singular + Plural = Bad Mix, Too!

2010-02-25T16:23:00.006-06:00

280 Living http://www.280living.com/ carried a recent article about the dangers of mixing alcohol with energy drinks. This is important and useful information, but it would be more effective if the article had been well written. The source was ParentTalk, a publication of The Alabama Department of Children's Affairs and The Alabama Parent Network http://www.children.alabama.gov./.

The article contains several examples of poor subject/verb agreement or pronoun/antecedent agreement that I will share with you and then correct:

Where once energy drinks were a fad among our youth, it has now become a staple in their lives.

Whoops! If the writer refers to ENERGY DRINKS (plural), that writer must then use a plural pronoun. The verb must also change to the plural, as follows:

Where once energy drinks were a fad among our youth, they have now become a staple in their lives.

Here is another poor example from the same article:

The newest trend of energy drinks are referred to as "speedball in a can."

Whoops again! TREND (singular) is the subject of this sentence (not DRINKS, which is the object of the preposition OF). Therefore, the verb should be IS. The sentence should read as follows:

The newest trend in energy drinks is referred to as "speedball in a can."

BONUS POINT #1: Usage is also a problem in this sentence. Correct usage refers to trends IN something, not OF something.

BONUS POINT #2: Remember that the period ALWAYS goes inside the quotation marks.

The author of this article also struggled with gender pronouns, as the following sentence shows:

Without scanners that alert a store clerk to a product containing alcohol, it is left up to her/him to know the difference between each product her store sells.

Whew! This sentence has major, major problems! First, by changing A STORE CLERK to STORE CLERKS, the writer could have avoided the HIS/HER problem completely. Second, it is not possible to have a difference BETWEEN each product (singular). Third, if the writer chooses to use HIM/HER, that writer cannot then refer to the clerk as simply HER. A quick fix for this sentence looks like this:

Without scanners that alert store clerks to products containing alcohol, it is left up to the individual clerks to know the differences between the products they sell.

I hope you agree that this version is MUCH easier to read.

BONUS POINT #3: It is a good idea to avoid HIM/HER in most business writing. Use the plural or choose either HIM or HER for clearer writing.

TOME? TOMB? There is a difference!

2010-02-18T12:58:00.005-06:00

Thanks once more to Editor Mark LaFlaur who sent along another good example of a word mixup that a spell checker would not catch. Here is the sentence from an Amazon reader review:

Many people recommended this guide to me for advice about professional writing, but until I got to read this tomb, I didn't see fully appreciate why they were so emphatic about it.

Whoops! This reader obviously meant "tome," which is, as Mark pointed out, "a highfalutin' ten-cent word" for a big book. Tomb-reading? Sounds like something the servant of a pharoah might do. The sentence should read as follows:

Many people recommended this guide to me for advice about professional writing, but until I got to read this tome, I didn't fully appreciate why they were so emphastic about it.

Mark suggested a moral for this story: "Sometimes it's simpler to use the common word (uh, "book"?) than a highfalutin' ten-cent word if you can't spell the ten-cent word."

I agree. The only time for a ten-cent word is when you need something very specific and the simpler word won't carry the meaning. And then, you MUST check your spelling!

ALSO plus AS WELL ---Bopping It Twice When Once Will Do!

2010-02-17T12:43:00.003-06:00

While proofreading a document for a client recently, I noticed a problem with wording that I have seen many times before. Writers seem to have trouble knowing when and WHEN NOT to use the phrase "as well."

Here is one quick and simple rule that can help: It is not necessary to use "as well" in combination with "also." One or the other will do. Using both confuses the meaning.

Here is a good example:

The Master Critical Path Method schedule can also provide a schedule-driven cash flow tool as well.

This is what I refer to in workshops as "bopping it twice when once will do." Here are the two acceptable ways to write this sentence:

The Master Critical Path Method schedule can also provide a schedule-driven cash flow tool.

The Master Critical Path Method schedule can provide a schedule-driven cash flow tool as well.

My personal preference in this sentence would be "as well."

Decor? Decorum? There IS a Difference.

2010-02-16T11:25:00.006-06:00

A friend in Winston-Salem sent me a clipping last week from Richard Creed's column in the local newspaper there. Creed is a retired Winston-Salem Journal editor and writes about grammar and usage. http://www,richcreed@triad.rr.com

One of Creed's readers had seen this statement about cell phone intrusiveness in USA Today: "Aside from the noisy interruption of musical ring tones, the technology poses new challenges for judges, who must maintain courtroom decor and consider other legal issues in a world where Facebook, Twitter and cameras are now at the fingertips of many cell phone users."

Whoops! Creed's reader spotted the incorrect use of DECOR (a decorative treatment) where DECORUM (proper behavior) should have been used. The reader said, "I pictured a judge frantically comparing paint swatches and fabric samples while attempting to render judgments over a cacophony of cell phone chimes."

The sentence should have read as follows:

"Aside from the noisy interruption of musical ring tones, the technology poses new challenges for judges, who must maintain courtroom decorum and consider other legal issues in a world where Facebook, Twitter and cameras are now at the fingertips of many cell phone users."

Be careful with your choice of words so that people remember your MESSAGE, not your poor choice of words.

Parallel Structure Tangles

2010-02-11T14:08:00.004-06:00

Editor Mark LaFlaur recently shared some examples of poor parallel structure (false comparison). Here are two that clearly illustrate the confusion when "than" is used incorrectly:

"Both candidates spent as much time in recent days competing there (Washington state) than in Virginia."

This sentence appeared in an article by Richard L. Berke entitled "Party Faithful Give Bush a Win in Virginia Primary." New York Times on the Web, February 29, 2000. The use of THAN does not fit with AS in this sentence. It should read as follows:

Both candidates spent as much time in recent days competing there (Washington state) as they did in Virginia.

And then there is this sentence written by Josh Marshall in his TalkingPointsMemo.com as he explained Stephen Colbert's 13% ranking in polls of young voters in the South Carolina primary:

"Americans in their twenties would prefer a normal person pretending to be a Republican buffoon than the real thing."

The use of THAN does not work with PREFER in this sentence. It should read as follows:

Americans in their twenties would prefer a normal person pretending to be a Republican buffoon to the real thing.

Or, even clearer:

Americans in their twenties would prefer a normal person pretending to be a Republican buffoon to a real Republican.

Or:

Americans in their twenties would rather listen to a normal person pretending to be a Republican buffoon than to a real Republican.

Crossword Editor STILL not Proofreading Well Enough!

2010-02-09T08:49:00.004-06:00

Last August I did a blog entry about the careless proofreading of Timothy Parker, editor for USA Today Crossword. (See August 24 blog "Crossword Editor not Proofreading Well Enough.) Apparently, this editor still has a problem with the distinction between singular and plural.

In yesterday's puzzle, Clue #4 Down was "Artists with skin canvases." http://puzzles.usatoday.com/ I knew the answer would have something to do with the word "tattoo," but I wasn't sure whether these artists should be called "tattooers" or "tattooists." I was sure, however, that the answer needed to be PLURAL.

The words going across suggested that the first seven letters should be t-a-t-t-o-o-e. Okay, but that would make the artists tattooes, which didn't sound right to me. That sounded more like designs than the people who create them. I fiddled a while with the rest of the puzzle and finally concluded that the last letter for the answer to Clue #4 down had to be an "r."

Foul! Not fair! As I said in my previous blog on this subject, crossword puzzle solvers rely on crossword puzzle creators (and their editors) to use correct grammar. The answer to Clue #4 Down "Artists with skin canvases" turned out to be "tattooer," which is SINGULAR.

This is the third error I've found in six months in puzzles edited by the same person. I'd like to suggest that Timothy Parker join forces with the headline editor at Fox News and plan a seminar on Grammar Glitches.

More Incompetence with Apostrophes

2010-02-08T15:19:00.003-06:00

My friend Mark LaFlaur, a free-lance editor in New York City, is also disgusted with the lack of understanding about when to use apostrophes. He and his wife recently spotted an ad poster for cable or cell phone service on the Long Island Railroad that read:

OPTIMUM?
ABSOLUTELY!

Beneath the headline, an apparently disgruntled customer had scrawled:

STINK'S

Again, as this blog has pointed out numerous times, it is NOT necessary to put an apostrophe before the S in a simple verb. Even a graffiti artist ought to have known it should be written STINKS.

Mark e-mailed a friend and commented that the new "rule" on this subject seems to be that, with any word ending in S, whether it's a noun, verb, or other part of speech, insert an apostrophe before the S in order to play it safe. You can't go wrong!

But the truth is, if you use that rule, you do indeed go wrong and create a Grammar Glitch that highlights your ignorance.

Mark's friend responded by commenting that "Today, huge numbers of people think that the possessive of IT is IT'S. (See yesterday's Fox News blog entry.) English language competence in the U. S. has taken another wrong turn, with some people now thinking that the way to make a plural of a noun is to add 'S. He backed up his point with two example sentences from a recent Huffington Post blog entry:

Agents are not career coach's.

Follow in the foot-step's of Tom Brokaw.

NOTE: When I checked the Huffington Post blog site, these two goofs had been corrected. They now read correctly as follows:

Agents are not career coaches.

Follow in the footsteps of Tom Brokaw.

Stay tuned. Mark LaFlaur is an excellent editor, and he has shared some other good examples of "Incorrect (or Questionable) Usage in Print." I will share more of them in coming days.

Fox News Headline Creator Needs Apostrophe Refresher

2010-02-07T15:41:00.005-06:00

Last evening's Fox News broadcast had a story about Sarah Palin speaking in Nashville. The on screen headline read as follows:

Sarah Palin Brought Tea Party Convention to It's Feet.

This is my 23rd blog entry on grammar glitches featuring apostrophes. If you use ITS to refer to something belonging to an IT (in this case, the feet at the Tea Party convention), you do NOT need an apostrophe.

As I have reminded many times before, the ONLY time the word IT'S should have an apostrophe is when it is used as a shortcut (contraction) for IT IS or IT HAS

This headline should have read as follows:

Sarah Palin Brought Tea Party Convention Delegates to Their Feet.

BONUS POINT: If you want to be technically correct, a convention does not have feet. Its (no apostrophe!) delegates do.

I hope Fox News will run a Grammar Glitch course for its (no apostrophe!!) writers.

Pay Attention to Verb forms

2010-02-05T08:44:00.004-06:00

This morning's newspaper suggests again that we need to be more careful about the FORMS of the verbs we use. The first glitch appeared in a teaser on the front page. Sadly, it had to do with the first fatal shark attack off the Florida coast in five years:

Lifeguard said he could see several (sharks) swarming the victim as he approach him in the Florida surf.

Because this statement is in the PAST tense (SAID...COULD SEE), the verb in the dependent clause (APPROACH) should also be in the past tense. The lifeguard was speaking about something that had already happened. The sentence should read as follows:

Lifeguard said he could see several (sharks) swarming the victim as he approached him in the Florida surf.

The second verb glitch appeared in a Washington Post wire article about President Obama's speech yesterday at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington. It read as follows:

Much of his agenda is snared near-unanimous Republican opposition in Congress.

The helping verb here should be HAS, not IS because the verb "snared" has a object (OPPOSITION). The helping verb IS would only be used in a sentence without an object, like "Much of his agenda is snarled by Republican opposition." The above sentence should read as follows:

Much of his agenda has snared near-unanimous Republican opposition in Congress.

I would guess that the Washington Post reporter knows the correct grammar but perhaps started to rewrite the sentence and then forgot to follow through on all of the changes.

That brings me to today's BONUS POINT: Whenever you rewrite a sentence or a paragraph to make it read more clearly, take the time to proofread and make sure you didn't actually do just the opposite--make the sentence less clear by only partially changing the wording.

Even Good Authors Goof the Usage!

2010-01-30T11:34:00.006-06:00

I'm reading an interesting historical book called The Island at the Center of the World http://www.russellshorto.com/. It is about Manhattan when it still belonged to the Dutch. This book contains many good stories and dispels the caricatures of Peter Stuyvesant and other Dutch leaders as well as Native American residents at that time.

A friend loaned me this book after I recommended Ric McCammon's The Queen of Bedlam to her http://www.RobertMcCammon.com/. McCammon's book is another good read--a fiction narrative about a murder in New York in the early English times of that city. McCammon has a new book out, also set in New York City and featuring Matthew Corbett, the main character in Queen of Bedlam.

Okay, now I will get to the point of this blog entry. Russell Shorto, who wrote The Island at the Center of the World, is an excellent writer, but like many of us, he has a mental block about one particular grammar point. In his case, it is the difference between AFFECT (usually a verb) and EFFECT (usually a noun).

There are two examples of this in his book:

page 242-- These updates on the situation in the colony had an affect on the assembly.

page 268--With municipal government on Manhattan came an innovation whose affect would long outlive the colony itself, and help to impress the island's legacy into the American character.

In both of these sentences, the word called for should be the NOUN, which is EFFECT. They should read as follows:

These updates on the situation in the colony had an effect on the assembly.

With municipal government on Manhattan came an innovation whose effect would long outlive the colony itself and help to impress the island's legacy into the American character.

BONUS POINT: Please notice that I also removed the comma before AND in the second sentence. Because the author means that the EFFECT would do two things (long outlive the colony AND help to impress the island's legacy into the American character), there should NOT be a comma separating the second verb phrase from the subject EFFECT.

Have a great day, everyone!

Question Mark? Quotation Marks? Which Where?

2010-01-27T15:33:00.002-06:00

One of my readers sent a question this morning about how to use quotation marks with a question mark. Her example sentence read something like this:

I knew to combine the two words into a compound word, but could you blog about the "why" and the "when"?

She wanted to know if she had been correct in placing the question mark OUTSIDE the quotation marks. The answer is YES.

Here is a simple two-part rule for deciding when to put the question mark OUTSIDE the quotation marks and when to put it INSIDE:

PART A: If the material INSIDE the quotation marks is NOT a question, as in her example, the question mark goes OUTSIDE the quotation marks. Here are a few more examples:

Have you ever read Fitzgerald's short story, "Bernice Bobs Her Hair"?

How would you define the word "defeat"?

Did you actually hear Mr. Weston say that he was "outraged"?

PART B: If the material INSIDE the quotation marks IS a question, the question mark goes INSIDE the quotation marks, as in these examples:

The witness responded with his own question, "What do you think, Mr. Prosecutor?"

Denis has written a short story titled, "What now?"

"Where's the beef?" asked Clara Peller in 1984.

BONUS POINT: The rule (at least for now) for commas and periods is even simpler. Just remember that COMMAS and PERIODS ALWAYS go inside the quotation marks--no exceptions.

There, that wasn't too complicated, was it?

Another Comma Glitch

2010-01-24T14:48:00.004-06:00

Last Tuesday, I talked about not separating an adjective from its noun with a comma. Here is another good rule: Do not use a comma to separate a subject from its verb.

Walgreens had an ad in this morning's newspaper for a horse linament that erases pain. This was the first sentence of the description:

An ingredient often used to treat inflammation in race horse legs, is now back on the market in its original doctor recommended clinical strength formula.

There should NOT be a comma between "legs" and "is." The only time you would have a comma between the subject and the verb is IF a phrase that does not change the meaning of the subject is inserted. In that case, there would be TWO commas, one at the beginning of the inserted phrase and one at the end of it. In this sentence, that is not the case. The information beginning with "often used" DEFINES the ingredient and is necessary for meaning. Therefore, it is NOT set off by commas.

Use horse linament for your pain if you wish, but use your commas correctly!

Legal eagles (sober or intoxicated) need more than spell checkers.

2010-01-23T14:10:00.005-06:00

Proofreading is important, especially if you are writing something that has legal implications. I recently read through a "Declaration of Protective Covenants" for a development in my area and found a paragraph on the second page that contained two typos. Neither of them would have been caught by running a spell checker.

The first statement referred to the size of dwelling that could be erected on a lot in the development. It said that no dwelling could contain less than "one thousand eight hundred (2,800) square feet of living area for a one (1)-story dwelling.

Hm-mmm. If an argument over size ever went to court, I wonder which figure--the one written out in words or the one in numerals inside the parentheses--would carry the legal weight. Obviously, the two do not match.

The same paragraph contained a statement that began this way: "Story and one-half dwellings mush have a minimum of....

I couldn't help but wonder if the typist was drunk and slurring words in the brain as well as on paper!

Using "Include/including" in sentences.

2010-01-21T15:28:00.006-06:00

One of my readers asked recently if I would clarify the proper way to use "include" in a sentence. The simple, direct answer is WITHOUT A COLON. Just go right on with what is included. Here are some examples:

The Grammar Glitches that annoy me most include subject/verb agreement and apostrophe goofs.

The newly appointed board members include Sam Jones, Polly Troxell, and Jim Henry.

Notice that neither of these sentences requires a colon after INCLUDE.

If you use the word "including," it may help clarify to put a comma BEFORE it, but you still do not need a colon after it. More examples:

Everyone survived, including the family dog.

The price for the ticket is $15.75 including sales tax.

The band has five members, including a drummer, two guitars, a violin, and a flute.

The only time you would place a colon after "include" is when you are setting up a bullet list rather than a sentence, as in these examples:

Your choices for the banquet menu include:

roast beef with mashed potatoes, gravy, and green beans

chicken quesadillas with cheesy nachos

moo goo gai pan

Optional side trips for this cruise include:

visiting a glacier

photographing seals at play

dining in an old-time saloon

My thanks to Rachel for suggesting this topic.

A wonderful, furry, hug,,,,And other comma glitches

2010-01-19T15:49:00.003-06:00

Let's tackle a comma Glitch today. One basic rule is that you do not use a comma to separate an adjective from the noun it modifies. This sentence appears in a delightful article in 280 Living about Macy, the loveable service dog:

Say the word "snuggle" at Danberry at Inverness retirement community and you will get a wonderful, furry, hug....

The first comma (between WONDERFUL and FURRY) is fine because it separates one adjective from another adjective. The second comma (between FURRY and HUG) is not fine because it separates the descriptive word FURRY from what it describes, which is HUG. The sentence should read as follows:

Say the word "snuggle" at Danberry at Inverness retirement community, and you will get a wonderful, furry hug....

In an article on the same page of 280 Living, two sentences illustrate another basic rule for comma use: If an introductory clause is longer than three words, it should be set off by a comma so that the reader can find the main subject of the sentence. Those of you who have attended my business writing workshops have heard me compare this to Hansel and Gretel dropping breadcrumbs--Yoo-hoo, the subject is over here!

When a doctor approaches the bedside with an air of quiet confidence the therapeutic process can begin.

When you are calm and filled with self-respect others immediately pick up on that energy and some of it rubs off on them.

Whew! That is a lot of information to muddle through without any breadcrumbs or road signs. In the first sentence, the main subject is PROCESS, which is the 15th word in the sentence! In the second sentence, the main subject is OTHERS, which is the 9th word in the sentence. In my opinion and according to most business writing manuals, a comma is necessary after the introductory clause in each sentence, as follows:

When a doctor approachs the bedside with an air of quiet confidence, the therapeutic process can begin.

When you are calm and filled with self-respect, others immediately pick up on that energy, and some of it rubs off on them.

BONUS POINT: In the second sentence, I also added a comma before AND because the last part of the sentence (some of it rubs off on them) is a completely separate idea.

A nondisputable truth?

2010-01-17T11:33:00.006-06:00

Perhaps a good spell checker would have questioned this one, but the current issue of 280 Living has a column about "calm assertiveness" that includes this sentence:

Lastly, realize there is a nondisputable truth regarding the human body.

Whoops! The correct word here is INDISPUTABLE. I checked three dictionaries and ran an online search to be sure my Grammar Glitch instinct was correct. This goof points out that, when you want to make a word negative, you can't just tack any old negative prefix on the front. You need to take the time to find out which negative prefix has been declared official and, therefore, will be recognized by your readers.

What you don't want is for your astute readers to react the way I did when I read this column: What? Is that a word? That distracts me from your message and also gives me the impression that you are not careful with language.

This sentence should read as follows:

Finally, realize that there is an indisputable truth regarding the human body.

BONUS POINT #1: The word FINALLY is a much better choice than LASTLY at the beginning of this sentence.

BONUS POINT #2: Although I often recommend getting rid of extra THAT phrases and clauses in sentences, I think the addition of the word THAT in this sentence makes it read more smoothly.

BONUS POINT #3: I changed "a" in front of "nondisputable" to "an" in front of "indisputable" because the first letter of the word changed from a consonant to a vowel.

NOTE #1: If you are wondering what that indisputable truth about the human body is, the author of the article, Marlene Buckler, says it is that the body's God-given intelligence is genetically programmed to strive for health, balance, and homeostasis. That sounds good to me.

NOTE #2: If any of my readers would like a copy of my workshop handout on the "THAT PASTURE," which gives examples of THAT clauses that can be omitted and those that should be kept, just send me an e-mail, and I will send you that file.

Another Apostrophe Issue: Who's Son???

2010-01-15T15:04:00.000-06:00

Among the many e-mails I've received in the past few days about the tragedy in Haiti, one referred to "a cousin who's son and his family live and work in Haiti."

Fortunately, this young man was able to get his wife and daughter evacuated from the country, and he has remained to help with the recovery. I hope you will keep him and all of those who are suffering and those who are trying to relieve that suffering in your prayers.

Meanwhile, I will use this Grammar Glitch to remind readers about the possessive of the word WHO. If you wish to use WHO to refer to a person and then refer to something or someone that belongs to that person, the proper form is WHOSE.

You would only use WHO'S in place of WHO + IS or WHO + HAS, as in the examples below:

Who's (Who is) in charge of this project?

Who's (Who has) been eating my porridge?

The phrase in the original example at the beginning of this post should read as follows:

...a cousin whose son and his family live and work in Haiti."

NOTE: Sometimes I receive comments from readers who say that the examples in my blog are too simple and elementary. Perhaps so, but as long as I continue to come across them over and over again in print and in business correspondence, I will continue to point them out and try to correct them.

More Apostrophe Issues

2010-01-14T13:38:00.000-06:00

The current issue of 280 Living features an article about Shelby County students honored recently for their art work. It is a good article, but unfortunately, it contains three apostrophe problems in three paragraphs. That's a bit much in Grammar Glitches!

Here is the sentence from the first paragraph:

NF received additional honors by being selected for one of the 12 coveted spots for the next years St. Vincent's Foundation calendar.

Whoops! The St. Vincent's Foundation calendar BELONGS to next year, so there should be an apostrophe to indicate this. The sentence should read as follows:

NF received additional honors by being selected for one of the 12 coveted spots in next year's St. Vincent's Foundation calendar.

Here is the sentence from the second paragraph:

Additionally, the student's teachers received a cash award to be used during the year.

If you read the entire article, it is clear that two students received art awards, and this sentence is supposed to refer to both of them. It is also clear that one teacher entered the work of both students. BONUS POINT: I may be old-fashioned, but I still prefer IN ADDITION to ADDITIONALLY. I think this sentence should read as follows:

In addition, the students' (MORE THAN ONE) teacher (ONLY ONE) received a cash award to be used during the year.

The "whoops" sentence in the third paragraph involves a problem that occurs when things belong to TWO SEPARATE people.

DS, Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments at the Linda Nolen Learning Center, was the vision teacher that entered the show with NF and EG's art work.

NF and EG both created art work, but they did NOT work together on one piece. Therefore, each of their names should have an apostrophe and an "s" at the end. BONUS POINT: Remember that I also suggest using WHO rather than THAT when referring to people. This sentence should read as follows:

DS, Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments at the Linda Nolen Learning Center, was the vision teacher who entered the show with NF's and EG's art work.

In spite of the Grammar Glitches, I'd like to congratulate these students and also put in a good word for the Liz Moore Low Vision Center at St. Vincent's East, which does an outstanding job. Visit their website at
http://e-videoads.com/MCE/serv_vision_htm

How many of your "life's" have been enhanced by warning labels?

2010-01-13T16:21:00.000-06:00

I'm back on my apostrophe kick this afternoon after a friend sent me a hilarious e-mail about oddly worded warning labels. I'll share a couple of those with you in a minute, but first to the GrammarGlitch part. The headline on the e-mail said this:

No telling how many life's have been enhanced or saved because of these warning labels!

Whoops! I have said it before, and I will continue to say it: Please do NOT use an apostrophe + an "s" to make a word plural. In this case, the word LIFE becomes LIVES when it is plural. The sentence should read as follows:

No telling how many lives have been enhanced or saved because of these warning labels!

There are only two instances where you would use "life's." One is when you are talking about something that BELONGS to "life." For example, a sentence like one of these:

Catching Grammar Glitches can be one of life's little pleasures.

My life's ambition is to write the great American novel.

The other instance is in casual, conversational writing where you create a contraction of LIFE and IS or LIFE and HAS, as in the following sentences:

Life's (Life is) frustrating sometimes.

I feel as if my life's (life has) been rescued.

Now, I think you will enjoy a couple of these hilarious warning labels. I might comment that a good proofreading editor would have fixed these, but then we wouldn't have the chuckle:

Many brands of Christmas lights contain the following warning: For indoor or outdoor use only. Hm-mm, I wonder where else they are worrying about.

A Sears hairdryer carries this warning: Do not use while sleeping. Who would go to bed with their hair wet anyway?

Some Swanson frozen dinners offer this serving suggestion: Defrost.

A brand of bread pudding warns: Product will be hot after heating. Duh!

Guardians of Grammar, But Not Too Much Sway!

2010-01-12T13:52:00.000-06:00

The "Letters to the Editor" flap about judging grammar continued this week in The Birmingham News http://blog.al.com/birmingham-news-commentary when Eugene L. Griffin of Hoover, Alabama sent in this comment:

"The guardians of grammar ("Your Views," The News, Jan. 2) have their place. Let us not, however, give them too much sway. A culture should worry not so much about its rules of expression, but foremost about the quality of the thoughts emanating from that culture.

A case in point, whether spoken or written: 'He ain't heavy; he's my brother.'"

Before I make my own assessment of Griffin's opinion, I'd like to know what my blog readers think. Should we stop worrying "so much" about the rules? Does "ain't" have a time and place? Can the language of a culture be effective without rules? How would you rate the importance of rules in relationship to "the quality of the thoughts"?

PLEASE post a comment about this and let me know in your comment whether or not it is okay to quote you.

Customers should be counted, too!

2010-01-09T14:57:00.001-06:00

I said yesterday that AMOUNT and NUMBER continue to be a problem. That remains true today. There is a good letter to the editor in The Birmingham News this morning about the cappuccino flap. Personally, I like frothy milk in my decaf skimmed milk cappuccino. At least I can pretend I'm sipping that great liquid through whipped cream!

Celia Mayhew, who works at Starbucks, defended the cappuccino, but in doing so, she made this statement:

I work at Starbucks, and there is no way to comprehend the insane amount of customers that complain about the frothy milk within a cappuccino.

Insane or not, those customers can be counted. They are not sugar or salt or laundry, as I pointed out yesterday. Therefore, the sentence should read as follows:

I work at Starbucks, and there is no way to comprehend the insane number of customers who complain about frothy milk within a cappuccino.

BONUS COMMENT: Notice that I also changed the word THAT to WHO in this sentence. This is not an absolute rule, but it is a good "rule of thumb." Whenever you refer to people (or a person), use WHO instead of THAT.

People Count! And They Should Be Counted!

2010-01-08T15:25:00.000-06:00

I have pointed this out before, but it continues to be a problem. Things that can be counted (bridges, marmosets, peanuts, people) are described in one way, and things that occur in a lump sum (sand, money, glue, laundry) are described in a different way.

The TimesDaily in Florence, Alabama TimesDaily.com recently reported about how successful the North Alabama Birding Trail http://northalabamabirdingtrail.com is. It opened in September 2005, and the visitor response has exceeded expectations. That is the good news.

The bad news, at least from my GrammarGlitchCentral perspective, is that one of the statements in the article has the word AMOUNT where it should be NUMBER:

We have a tremendous amount of people coming by or contacting our office for information on the birding trail.

Whoops! You can talk about AMOUNTS of sand, money, glue, laundry, or rain. However, when you talk about people (or birds or visitors or trails) or anything else that can be counted individually (grains of sand, dollar bills, nickels, jars of glue, towels and sheets, or raindrops), the correct word is NUMBER. This sentence should read as follows:

We have a tremendous number of people coming by or contacting our office for information on the birding trail.

Happy Trails, everyone!

Got Gold? Need Punctuation Pointers! III.

2010-01-06T15:27:00.000-06:00

My final blog entry on the Roadshow ad has to do with hyphenated words. Usually, a hyphen is placed between a verb and an adverb when the two words are combined so the combination word can describe a noun. Here are some examples:

...her cashed-in winning ticket

...the decades-long recession

...the check-in time for this event

When the verb appears in the normal VERB position in the sentence and has an adverb after it, the two should NOT be hyphenated. The Roadshow ad offered a great example of this grammar glitch:

If you go to the Roadshow, you can cash-in your items for top dollar.

Whoops! No hyphen is needed here. The sentence should read as follows:

If you go to the Roadshow, you can cash in your items for top dollar.

BONUS POINT: This same rule applies with compound words that do NOT have hyphens. Look at the difference between the sentences in each pair below:

My crew will set up (verb position) the chairs and tables in the conference room.

The setup (adjective position in front of noun) chart for the conference room will be available in the morning.

You must follow up (verb position) with your doctor next week.

We do not have a followup (adjective position in front of noun) procedure in place.

For more examples of hyphen use and compound word use, click on either of these topics in the index at the right.

Got Gold? Need Punctuation Pointers! II.

2010-01-05T10:18:00.000-06:00

The Roadshow ad appearing in newspapers this week has apostrophe errors that call for reminders, too. (Click on "apostrophes" in the index at right to see the other blog entries on this subject.)

Jason Delong, who wrote the copy for the Roadshow ad, quoted one expert who works for the Roadshow as follows:

"...I would go through the change in my parents grocery store looking for rare dates and errors...."

Because the grocery store BELONGED to this man's parents, the writer should have used an apostrophe. Because the man had two parents who ran the grocery store (plural), that apostrophe should have come AFTER the "s." The sentence should read as follows:

"...I would go through the change in my parents' grocery store looking for rare dates and errors...."

The other apostrophe error is one of updating an old rule. It is no longer necessary to use an apostrophe when referring to decades or centuries. Delong wrote these two sentences as follows:

"Old tin wind-up toys from the late 1800's through the 1960's are in great demand now."

"Old Buddy L toys from the 1920's to 1960's are in demand."

In the 2010s, it is perfectly acceptable (and preferred) to write decades and centuries without the apostrophe. These sentences can be written as follows:

"Old tin wind-up toys from the late 1800s through the 1960s are in great demand now."

"Old Buddy L toys from the 1920s to 1960s are in demand."

While you are cleaning out the closet and the jewelry box as you look for hidden treasures, why not also clean out your old grammar rules and bring them up to date.

Stay tuned. One more blog on this Roadshow ad will deal with hyphenated words and when NOT to create them.

Got Gold? Need Punctuation Pointers!

2010-01-04T15:06:00.000-06:00

The Roadshow is traveling around buying up gold and silver, antique toys and other goodies. Their full page ad is, for me, a treasure trove of poor punctuation, and I will share some of it with you over the coming days.

Let's begin with the most confusing problem, which is what to do with periods and commas when using quotation marks. Here is one example from the ad:

"Old tin windup toys...are in great demand now." said Davis, "Especially those that are character related."

Whoops! The first error comes after the word NOW. Because "said Davis" comes AFTER the quote, there should be a comma, not a period, after NOW. The second error is with the word ESPECIALLY. It should not be capitalized because it continues the sentence that starts before "said Davis." Because "said Davis" comes in the MIDDLE of a complete sentence, there should be a comma after "Davis" as well.

I can't resist also mentioning that the word WIND-UP, according to my trusty American Heritage Dictionary and my personal brain, has a hyphen in it when used as an adjective to describe a noun. When used as a verb + adverb as in something like "I'll wind up this explanation as soon as possible," there is no hyphen. To my knowledge, there is NO instance in which this should be spelled WINDUP.

Therefore, this sentence should read as follows:

"Old tin wind-up toys...are in great demand now," said Davis, "especially those that are character related."

Here is another quotation mark goof involving the last sentence of the same ad:

"We help people sort through their coins for unique dates....See you at the Roadshow." said Fuller.

Once again, because "said Fuller" comes AFTER what is quoted, there should be a comma, not a period, after ROADSHOW and then, as given, a period after FULLER. The statement should read as follows:

"We help people sort through their coins for unique dates....See you at the Roadshow," said Fuller.

Please stay tuned. My next blog entry will deal with the apostrophe errors in the same ad.

Letter to Editor Offers Laundry List of Grammar Goofs

2010-01-02T14:09:00.000-06:00

It seems Sharon Nichol's book has stirred up comments in The Birmingham News about common grammar goofs. Barbara J. Belisle of Montevallo wrote this morning to state that she was beginning to think "poor grammar usage is an accepted practice."

Barbara mentioned the following common goofs:

1. YOU'RE and YOUR confusion

2. "If I would have" (should be: If I had) and "I wish I would have" (should be: I wish I had)

3. "between him and I" (should be: between him and me)

4. "people want they children" (should be "people want their children)

Apparently she has written a small book that offers advice on how to correct errors like these. It is called Where's U're?

My Driveway is Clean, but the Grammar is Not!

2009-12-30T15:05:00.000-06:00

A fellow with a pressure washer did a great job cleaning my driveway this week. However, his flyer left a little to be desired as far as good grammar is concerned. He offered a Holiday Special this way:

All driveway's, sidewalk's, house's, anything - 50% off.

Whoops! I think I will take up a collection to post billboards that say: PLEASE, PEOPLE, YOU DO NOT NEED AN APOSTROPHE TO MAKE A WORD PLURAL. His special should have read this way:

All driveways, sidewalks, houses, anything - 50% off.

Underneath the photos of "before and after" steps, driveways, and decks, he put this sentence:

Hurry and schedule your appointment while offer last.

Whoops again! The word "offer" is SINGULAR, so the verb "last" should have an "s" on it. The sentence should read this way:

Hurry and schedule your appointment while this offer lasts.

What do you think? Should I ignore the goofs with the attitude--who cares? He's not an English major. Or, should I note the problems so that his business flyers give a better impression?

Letter to the Editor Judges Author of I Judge You....

2009-12-28T20:21:00.000-06:00

Jim Daniel wrote a Letter to the Editor this morning calling out Sharon Eliza Nichols on a grammar point. Daniel criticized Nichols for saying in an interview, "I know I don't have 15,000 friends, so it's not just them who are buying it (her book)."

Oops, says Daniel. "She violated the rule that states the object of the verb 'to be' always takes the nominative case." She should have said, "...so it's not just they who are buying it."

Daniel is technically correct, BUT, as I have stated several times on this blog, a little leeway is allowed when a person is speaking casually and out loud. Most grammarians do not expect us to go through all the analysis every time we open our mouths. We use contractions, end some sentences with prepositions, and use WHO for WHOM out loud when we would be more careful and technically correct on paper.

Because Nichols was speaking out loud during an interview and making a casual rather than a formal statement, I don't have a problem with her choice of words.

I'd like to point out something else from Jim Daniel's pontifical letter to the editor. He suggested that Nichols "should have remembered the advice given us by Abraham Lincoln in his second inaugural address: 'but let us judge not, that we be not judged.'" I will take things a step further and judge Daniel who did not correctly attribute this advice. Although Lincoln used it in his second inaugural address, the advice actually comes from Jesus Christ who, in the King James translation of the Bible, is quoted in Matthew 7:1 as saying, "Judge not, that ye be not judged."

Do check out Nichols' Facebook page, which is generating a great dialogue about grammar glitches and pet grammar peeves.

Watch Your Word Choice

2009-12-28T10:54:00.000-06:00

I hope all of my readers had a wonderful Christmas. I also hope you are looking forward to a good New Year.

Birmingham will elect a new mayor in a run-off election on January 19. The two candidates are very different--William Bell is a political veteran, and Patrick Cooper is an attorney with a background in the business sector.

In a recent interview article about the candidates' opinions on economic growth, the reporter made the following statement:

They agree on many economic development fundamentals, but they come at economic development from different approaches.

This is confusing wording, mainly because "come at" and "approach" mean the same thing. What the reporter wants to get across is that these two candidates approach the issue FROM DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS or maybe that they HAVE DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES. The sentence should read like something close to one of the following:

They agree on many economic development fundamentals, but they approach economic development from different directions.

They agree on many economic development fundamentals, but they have different perspectives on how to achieve economic development.

I hope you agree that either of these would be clearer.

Sharon Eliza Nichols Judges You By Your Grammar!

2009-12-23T15:42:00.000-06:00

Sharon Eliza Nichols is a law student at the University of Alabama. In 2007, she started a Facebook group called "I judge you when you use poor grammar." According to Wayne Grayson's article for The Tuscaloosa News, Nichols started the group out of boredom and figured a few friends might join in.

To her surprise, the idea has caught on and spread. More than 4,000 people have joined the Facebook site, and they have uploaded more than 10,000 examples of poor grammar--from business signs and T-shirts to hair gel labels. I'm impressed!

This year, Nichols took things a step further. She has published a book (see cover at left above) that includes the pictures her Facebook group has mailed to her. With her "short and snarky captions for each picture," the book has become a hit. The first printing of 15,000 copies has sold out, and St. Martin's is printing 7,500 more. For now, it can still be ordered at http://www.amazon.com/.

When Grayson asked Nichols why she thinks the book has been successful, she told him she thinks "it goes back to just how important language is to life." That is so true, and so is the message that people DO judge you by your grammar. I have been "preaching" that message in my workshops on resume preparation at the Hoover library for two years. When I surveyed HR directors at major Birmingham companies, the #1 complaint they had about resumes was POOR GRAMMAR AND USAGE.

Grammar glitches are also welcomed at this blog, and I will be happy to pass them along to Nichols. Just today, I sent her a photo of the Wal-Mart pharmacy bag that says Colgate is recommended by "denists."

"Magic & Tragic" Column Features Apostrophe Goof

2009-12-15T14:05:00.000-06:00

The "Magic & Tragic" column in The Birmingham News this week got the ITS straight (without the apostrophe when possessive), but failed to use an apostrophe correctly in a different incidence of possession in the same sentence. Here is what I read:

UAB wants one of its former scientists research papers to be retracted because of concerns about fabricated findings.

Oops. Not only is it necessary to show that ITS means belonging to UAB, but it is also necessary to show that the research papers in question belong to a scientist. It DOES get complicated because you have a reference to "one" and then to a group of "scientists" and then to the "papers." The "to be" phrase also complicates the sentence.

My suggestion would be to untangle things before deciding how best to show that the papers belong to the one former scientist. I would rewrite the sentence this way:

UAB wants the research papers of one of its former scientists retracted because of concerns about fabricated findings.

Written this way, I conclude that the apostrophe is not needed, but the sentence is now grammatically correct, and we know that the writer is referring to ONE scientist and a GROUP of that person's papers. Did you get that?

ITS and IT'S again! And millions of dollars!

2009-12-12T10:00:00.000-06:00

I counted. It's been nineteen days since the last time I spotted a grammar glitch with ITS and IT's. Here is the one that greeted me in a full page ad for Thomasville furniture this morning:

In preparation for a new Thomasville in 2010, the factory has authorized the liquidation of inventories from it's stores and millions of dollars from the warehouse.

Whoops! This ad is not talking about "it + is" stores. It is talking about stores belonging to the factory (the factory and its stores...). NO APOSTROPHE IS NEEDED WITH THE POSSESSIVE PRONOUN.

There is another problem here, too. I would love to have my share of the "millions of dollars" they've been hiding in that warehouse. According to this sentence, they are liquidating inventories from their stores AND liquidating millions of dollars from the warehouse. Where do I get in line???

The sentence ought to read as follows:

In preparation for a new Thomasville in 2010, the factory has authorized the liquidation of inventories from its stores as well as millions of dollars worth of inventories from its warehouse.

Amazing how much difference a little wording change can make!

Pay Attention to Time Line When Choosing Verbs

2009-12-07T16:05:00.000-06:00

I am currently reading a wonderful book called "the blue cotton gown" (NOTE: The title IS in all lower case letters!)by Patricia Harman. It is about her experiences as a midwife in Appalachia.

I love the book, but one sentence I came across last evening bothers me because it uses the past perfect tense (HAD as a helping verb) in a confusing way. Here is the sentence:

When I called R. G.'s office to inquire about what was going on, her receptionist had told me R. was in Europe.

If you think of verb tenses in terms of a time line, there would be a crossbar in the middle of that time line for RIGHT NOW. Every verb expresses action in relationship to RIGHT NOW. So, when the author says "When I called...." she is setting up an event that happened in the PAST. Logic tells us that what the receptionist TOLD her should be in the same time frame as CALLED. However, the author uses HAD TOLD, which is incorrect because HAD TOLD would be used for something that happened farther back in the past--before the telephone call. The sentence should read as follows:

When I called R. G.'s office to inquire about what was going on, her receptionist told me R. was in Europe.

Below are some examples of how to use the past perfect tense (HAD + the verb) to express the correct time relationship:

When I called to inquire about what was going on, the receptionist told me R. had been in Europe for the past three weeks.

Before I accepted the teaching position, I had been working as a gardener.

Although Peter now lived in Cleveland, he had grown up in Columbus.

If any of my regular readers would like a copy of my sample time line for choosing verbs correctly, please send along your e-mail address, and I will send a copy.

RNS Denies Creating "That clause" Sentence Fragment

2009-12-02T17:03:00.000-06:00

In my last post, I fussed about a sentence fragment and attributed the error to the Religion News Service in South Hamilton, Massachusetts. An e-mail I received points out that the sentence was grammatically correct as written for Religion News Service and posted on their website (www.religionnews.com). The culprit, apparently, was a copy editor at my local newspaper who did a poor job when editing the article for publication.

My e-mail correspondent pointed out that the original sentence was written correctly as follows:

That evangelicals, who compose a quarter of the American population, must refocus on shaping authentic disciples for Jesus Christ has always garnered wide support.

I am happy to set the record straight.

A "That" clause is not a complete sentence.

2009-11-30T15:13:00.000-06:00

The Religion News Service posted an article this past weekend that began with a confusing mouthful. First came a sixteen-word introductory phrase followed by a fairly direct simple statement. The fairly direct simple statement, which said "...concerned evangelicals gathered last month to search the soul of their movement and find a new way forward." was supposed to set up the point that evangelicals need to refocus, but the article stuck that point in a completely new paragraph and created a sentence fragment in the bargain. Here is what I tried to untangle as I read the article:

Repentant for having spent a generation bowing at the altars of church growth and political power, concerned evangelicals gathered last month to search the soul of their movement and find a new way forward.

That evangelicals, who compose a quarter of the American population, must refocus on shaping authentic disciples of Jesus Christ. But how to do that in a consumerist society with little appetite for self-denial is fueling internal debate.

First of all, the "sentence" that starts with "That evangelicals..." is not a complete sentence. Second, the final "sentence" begins with "but," (which isn't always a crime), but this "sentence" then slogs forward with a 14-word subject ("how to do that in a consumerist society with little appetite for self-denial) before getting to the verb "is fueling". Whew! What a mess of a paragraph!
We all write things this way in our FIRST DRAFT, but most of us go back and proofread and polish after creating such monsters. Here is what I would suggest:

Concerned evangelicals are becoming repentant about the generation they spent bowing at the altars of church growth and political power. A group of them gathered last month to search the soul of their movement and find a new way forward.
Evangelicals, who compose a quarter of the American population, may need to refocus on shaping authentic disciples of Jesus Christ, but there was considerable internal debate at the gathering about how to do that in a consumerist society with little appetite for self-denial.
I hope you will agree that my rewrite is clearer and more direct. Please let me know what you think and if you have a better rewrite suggestion.

THERE IS not okay for plural ideas

2009-11-28T16:25:00.000-06:00

I have three other posts that deal with the confusion of THERE and THEIR. Now comes the confusion of THERE IS and THERE ARE.

Consider this sentence that appeared in my local newspaper this morning in an article about a professor who has written a book to help teachers teach evolution in science classes without offending students' religious views:

"There is piles and piles of evidence for evolution, and scientists can explain that," Meadows said.

Whoops! If Meadows is speaking about "piles and piles" of something, that is plural. Therefore, he should use THERE ARE as the beginning of his sentence. He could only use THERE IS if he said something like this: THERE IS a pile of evidence for evolution. His sentence should read as follows:

There are piles and piles of evidence for evolution, and scientists can explain that," said Meadows.

Why Can't Writers Keep Its and It's Straight?

2009-11-23T15:34:00.000-06:00

Maybe it's more difficult than it seems, but writers continue to confuse ITS and IT'S. I already have several examples on this blog, but here's a new one that appeared in a wedding feature in last Sunday's local newspaper:

(The reception) was held at the Matt Jones Art Gallery in Birmingham because they liked it's locale and decor.

Whoops. Here we go again. IT'S (with an apostrophe) has only TWO meanings, and neither of them is possessive, as in "the locale and decor" belonging to the gallery. IT'S (with an apostrophe) is a contraction of either "it + is" or "it + has," as in "It's raining again today." or "It's been a pleasure working with you." There are no other ways to use this word.

ITS (without the apostrophe) means only ONE thing--belonging to an "it," as in the example sentence above. In that sentence, "its" refers to the locale and decor of the gallery (which is an "it").

Got that? The example sentence should read as follows:

(The reception) was held at the Matt Jones Art Gallery in Birmingham because they (the bride and groom) liked its locale and decor.

Grammar glitch aside, we do wish Lisa and Kevin (the bride and groom) a long and happy life together.

Title of Talk Gets Apostrophe Placement Wrong

2009-11-20T11:03:00.000-06:00

A nationally recognized expert on dementia was to give a talk in Birmingham last Saturday. The newspaper quoted the title of her talk as follows:

Dementia Care Challenges: How to Maintain a Sound Mind When Your Loved Ones' Mind is Changing

Whoops! The speech title clearly refers to ONE loved one. It does not talk about more than one loved one. If it did, the verb would be "are" instead of "is," and the title would refer to when your loved ones' minds ARE changing. Therefore, the apostrophe should appear BEFORE the "s." It should read as follows:

Dementia Care Challenges: How to Maintain a Sound Mind When Your Loved One's Mind is Changing

REMEMBER: The apostrophe goes BEFORE the "s" if you are talking about a singular person or thing.

A Big Difference Between "under investigated" and "under investigation."

2009-11-19T10:00:00.000-06:00

This morning's The Birmingham News has an informative and touching article about Major Royer, an Alabama soldier seriously injured in the terror attack at Fort Hood recently. The article told about the two women who helped save his life and also about the many visitors he has had during his recovery, including former President Bush and his wife, and President Obama and his wife.

Unfortunately, the reporter who wrote the article did not go back and proofread after changing around one sentence in the article. I suspect he originally wrote "is being investigated" and then decided to change it to "is under investigation."

This brings up a good point about proofreading. Whenever you make changes to a sentence, ALWAYS go back and read through it to make sure you don't need additional changes to go with the one you made. In this case, the reporter needed to change the verb form and did not. The sentence, as printed, reads as follows:

Royer declined to talk about what happened to him Nov. 5 because the incident is under investigated.

As written, it sounds as if this incident is not receiving enough investigation. The sentence needs the phrase "under investigation" or the phrase "being investigated" to make sense.

I wish Major Royer a good recovery.

A number of football commentators use "amount" for all counting.

2009-11-16T10:37:00.000-06:00

As I listened to the commentary with several college and pro football games this past weekend, I heard the same grammar glitch numerous times. As I've said before, grammar glitches like this one may be fairly common when people are speaking, but if they carry over to written work, they stand out as poor usage and should be corrected.

I've blogged about this before, but please remember that AMOUNT is used for "lump sum" things like money, laundry, salt, energy, team spirit, and jewelry. NUMBER is used for things that can be counted (penalities, points, jerseys, and jewels).

Here are two sentences I heard over the weekend:

Georgia has had a ridiculous amount of penalities this year.

For a pro team, they have scored a minute amount of points so far.

Both PENALITIES and POINTS can be counted, so they should be described with the word NUMBER rather than the word AMOUNT. These sentences should read as follows:

Georgia has had a ridiculous number of penalities this year.

For a pro team, they have scored a minute number of points so far.

I hope your team has scored a large number of points so far this year (unless you happen to be a rival of Ohio State) and that the amount of your enthusiasm remains high throughout the season!

There is a difference between ONTO and ON TO.

2009-11-15T14:14:00.000-06:00

Those of you who read this blog regularly have seen the two entries about IN and INTO. Today's newspaper carries a grammar glitch with ON TO and ONTO, which involves a similar point. Here is the sentence I read with my morning tea:

He believed in hard work and wanted to pass that belief onto his children, his son recalled.

It sounds as if this good man wanted to put his belief in a bowl, stand on a stool, and pour it down ONTO the heads of his children, which is probably not what the reporter meant. Instead, the man wanted to pass his belief in hard work ON (into the future) and to do that by giving it TO his children. In this sentence, ON and TO should be separate because their meanings are separate. The sentence should read as follows:

He believed in hard work and wanted to pass that belief on to his children, his son recalled.

For more information on this preposition concept, click (in the index at the right) on the entry for INTO/IN TO.

"People" Reporter Creates Sentence Fragment

2009-11-06T15:15:00.000-06:00

The "People" section of my local newspaper carried a nice article this morning about the WQED studio in Pittsburgh where Fred Rogers visited the Neighborhood of Make-Believe weekday afternoons until about ten years ago. The studio, which is being renamed for Rogers, will be brought back to life and opened to the public this weekend.

Unfortunately, the reporter who put this story together moved some material around and did not go back and proofread. The result was the following rather long sentence fragment:

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood of Make-Believe is being rebuilt and opened to the public Saturday and Sunday, giving generations of Americans who grew up with Fred Rogers.

This sentence proves my point that you can put a capital letter at the beginning, a period at the end, and make it four lines long, but it STILL is not necessarily a sentence if it doesn't have a subject and a verb combination that work clearly together. In this sentence, the first part qualifies. In fact, you could put a period after "Sunday" and have a fine sentence for that part. However, "giving" is not enough of a verb by itself to make the last part of the sentence work.

The reader gets to the period at the end and asks, "Wait a minute. Giving these generations what?" Put together as it is written, the sentence makes no sense. I would suggest finishing the idea as follows:

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood of Make-Believe is being rebuilt and opened to the public Saturday and Sunday, giving generations of Americans who grew up with Fred Rogers an opportunity to relive their childhood memories.

If you happen to be in Pittsburgh this weekend and happen to have grown up with Fred Rogers the way my older son did, then stop by WQED and check out the Rogers studio.

By the way, I'd like to welcome any new readers of this blog who found their way here after our workshops in Montgomery this past week. You were all great to work with, and I hope you enjoy the grammar glitches you find here each week.

If it's THESE, it must be KINDS

2009-11-02T16:47:00.000-06:00

Agreement is the issue again today. Lawman1856 posted a comment on al.com last week. He (or she?) was complaining about a news report that Jefferson County deputies had been called to a home to referee a domestic dispute over the cost of a facelift. Lawman created this sentence:

It's these kind of calls that take officers and deputies off the streets and waste taxpayers' time.

He may have a point, but even web posters should watch their grammar if they want to be considered credible. THESE is plural; therefore, the word that follows should be KINDS. Or, he might have referred to THIS KIND, but then he would have had to change CALLS to CALL. The sentence should read in one of the two following ways:

It's these kinds of calls that take officers and deputies off the streets and waste taxpayers' time.

It's this kind of call that takes officers and deputies off the streets and wastes taxpayers' time.

Notice how many different elements of the sentence (five in all) must be consistent with each other (all singular or all plural) for the sentence to be correct.

NOTE: I do give lawman1856 credit for putting the apostrophe AFTER the "s" with taxpayers' because he was referring to more than one taxpayer. He definitely got that part right!

Apartment Manager Needs Usage and Apostrophe Editor

2009-10-29T16:30:00.001-05:00

This notice appeared recently on the door of a senior citizen apartment building. Most seniors I know had a good grammar education in school, so I wonder how many of the residents cringed when they read this notice.

First off, the middle section uses the incorrect THEIR where it should be THERE. The phrase should read as follows:

...which means that there will be no elevators!

Second and third, FRIENDS HOUSE is indicating that the house belongs to a friend and FAMILY MEMBERS HOUSE is indicating that the house belongs to a family member, so an apostrophe is needed to show POSSESSION. The first statement in the last paragraph should read as follows:

If you can stay at a friend's house or at a family member's house, that would be even better. (Notice that I also added a comma after the second HOUSE to mark the end of the introductory clause. I might also pose the question: Better than what?)

ALERT! Do NOT use apostrophe to form plural!

2009-10-28T09:58:00.000-05:00

I've written about this before, but there it was again in plain sight in this morning's Hoover section of The Birmingham News. In an article about Hoover not requiring sprinkler systems in new homes, News staff writer Val Walton created this sentence:

Hoover Fire Marshal Frank Brocato said he can understand the city's reasoning in not making the sprinkler's mandatory given the difficult economic times.

The word "sprinkler" should be made plural by simply adding an "s," NOT an apostrophe "s." The apostrophe should only be added when referring to something that BELONGS to the sprinkler, as in "The sprinkler's source of water varies from house to house." I've also rearranged the wording a little for more clarity. I think the above sentence should read as follows:

Hoover fire Marshal Frank Brocato said that, given the difficult economic times, he can understand the city's reasoning in not making the sprinklers mandatory.

Notice also that the reporter used an apostrophe correctly on "city" to show that the reasoning belongs to the city.

Have a great day, everyone!

Whoops! Watch those "relative" plurals.

2009-10-26T13:35:00.000-05:00

If you decide to tell tales on your in-laws, be sure to use the correct plural and possessive forms. The reporter covering the deposition of disgraced former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy in Birmingham last week paraphrased a comment by Scrushy and used poor grammar in doing so:

Scrushy said those on the list (of approved telephone numbers he can call from prison) include wife Leslie, son-in-laws Mike Plaia and Martin Adams, and Jim Parkman....

Whoops! When you want to make son-in-law or mother-in-law plural, you add the S to the FIRST word of the compound, NOT the last. The reporter should have written this:

Scrushy said those on the list include wife Leslie, sons-in-law Mike Plaia and Martin Adams, and Jim Parkman....

Now, if Mr. Scrushy had wanted to note that all of his missing assets might be found at the home of one of his sons-in-law or at the home of his mother-in-law, he might have stated this:

All of that cash can be found in my older son-in-law's garage, and the jewelry I didn't give away is hidden in my mother-in-law's bedroom closet.

PLEASE NOTE: Like the prosecutors, I have no idea where Mr. Scrushy's assets are. This sentence is merely a hypothetical example for all my GrammarGlitch Central readers.

AFFECT? EFFECT? Still Not Clear

2009-10-12T11:31:00.000-05:00

The Birmingham News published an excellent article titled "Interview body language" in its Sunday edition (October 11). Based on interviews with Mark Hickson, professor of communication studies at UAB, and Lana Thompson, founder of Thompson and Associates, an HR consulting, training and coaching firm, it offered many tips on appropriate body language for job interviews.

Unfortunately, the author of the article used "affect" incorrectly in the very first paragraph, detracting quite a bit from the professionalism of the message. She wrote:

"What affect can body language have on your job interview?"

Oops! She needed the noun form EFFECT in this slot of the sentence. EFFECT is almost always a noun, and AFFECT is almost always a verb. If you remember that, you will be correct at least 90% of the time, as in the sentence above. (NOTE: If you want to know the unusual circumstances EFFECT can be a verb, send me a comment, and I will do a column just on that.)

This sentence should read as follows:

What effect can body language have on your job interview?

That said, there were still some good tips in the article. Here are several examples:

1. Sit up straight, place your hands in your lap or on the chair arms, and keep your forearms slightly away from your body.

2. Take a file folder with you so you have something to hold. You can put an extra copy of your resume in it.

3. Lean forward a bit when the interview is speaking. Take a breath and lean back when you begin to speak.

If you want to see more of this article, go to al.com and search for the title "Interview body language."

More Subject/Verb Agreement Confusion

2009-10-07T11:06:00.000-05:00

A recent request in the local "Good Neighbors" column here in Birmingham contained a sentence that read as follows:

M. R. wanted to buy one of the pink and white commemorative plates that was given to adults who were in attendance when South Avondale Baptist Church held its last service.

At first glance, this sentence might appear to be correct. The verb "was" is singular, and the word "one" is singular, so they agree. BUT, read it again. M. R. only wants to buy ONE plate; however, many more than ONE were given out on the day of the last church service.

In this case, the clause "that WERE given to adults who...." describes PLATES (more than one) not the ONE plate M. R. wanted to buy.

The sentence should read as follows:

M. R. wanted to buy one of the pink and white plates that were given to adults when South Avondale Baptist Church held its last service.

Verb Agreement Mixup in The Denver Post

2009-09-28T11:16:00.000-05:00

Yesterday's The Denver Post carried a sentence about the Mideast conflict that offers a good example of poor subject/verb agreement. If you've read this blog for any length of time, you know that is one of my pet peeves.

Here is the sentence:

He did not disclose what kind of action Netanyahu recommend be taken.”

Subject/verb agreement is always difficult when the sentence has more than one clause--more than one subject and more than one verb. In this sentence, there is the added difficulty of the "be taken" tacked onto the end.

The second clause is basically saying "Netanyahu recommends" action, but the reporter doesn't know what kind. Netanyahu is one person (singular), so the verb should be "recommends," which is singular.

Addiing to the confusion and awkwardness is the phrase "be taken," which serves no purpose whatsoever in the sentence. If it's action, it's being taken, so that phrase is implied.

I would suggest that the sentence reads correctly and much more smoothly this way:

He did not disclose what kind of action Netanyahu recommends.”

Grammar Glitches Elsewhere in the Country

2009-09-27T20:22:00.000-05:00

I am on the road this week, but that hasn't stopped me from spotting grammar glitches in what I've had time to read. My Alabama readers will be happy to know that other parts of the country goof, too. Of course, that's not an excuse to ignore careful proofreading!

Here is a glaring example of an apostrophe error that appears in the 2009 Tulsa Visitors Guide. It appears in a letter of welcome from the mayor of the city. I won't speculate on whether the mayor goofed, somebody who keyed in her letter goofed, or the proofreader goofed. It might have been all three.

Here is the offending sentence:

One of the best western art collection's in the nation is housed in oil magnate Thomas Gilcrease's former property, the Gilcrease Museum, just north of downtown.

Only one of the apostrophes in red above is correct. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you already know that the primary purpose of an apostrophe is to SHOW POSSESSION. The primary purpose of an apostrophe is NEVER to show PLURAL.

Therefore, collections is plural (add JUST the s). However, Gilcrease's indicates that the property once belonged to (SHOWING POSSESSION) Thomas Gilcrease, so it needs the apostrophe.

The sentence should read as follows:

One of the best western art collections in the nation is housed in oil magnate Thomas Gilcrease's former property, the Gilcrease Museum, just north of downtown.

Hope this is helpful. Check again tomorrow to see what I caught in Sunday's The Denver Post.

Denists? Wal-Mart Bag Says They Recommend Colgate Total!

2009-09-21T13:42:00.000-05:00

My husband picked up a prescription at Wal-Mart the other day and left the bag sitting on the kitchen table. Apparently my subconscious likes to proofread as much as my conscious mind because while we were discussing something else, my eye caught the misspelling shown here at the left and set off alarm bells. "Dentist," of course, has a "t" after the "n."

I would imagine that Wal-Mart and Colgate would both prefer that I remember them for their good products and customer service, NOT for a spelling blooper in an advertisement on one of their bags. I wonder how long it will be before this one is corrected.

PLEASE remember to proofread anything that will be read by large numbers of people. Accuracy goes hand in hand with professional image.

Ooops! Setting the "reccord" straight?

2009-09-18T16:21:00.000-05:00

That old saying about people in glass houses not throwing stones should apply to copy editors as well. The small correction notice on the second page of a local newspaper last week carried the following headline:

Setting the Reccord Straight

Hm-mmm. Seems to me if you are going to correct someone else, you should first proofread your own copy! The article noted that someone had given the wrong figure for how many home sales would be triggered by an extension of the $8,000 federal homebuyer credit, but the copy editor misspelled "record" in his own headline!

Bad Grammar Best Clue to Bogus Offers

2009-09-14T15:05:00.001-05:00

If you don't want your hard-earned money to fly away on the next bogus scheme for easy riches, keep a sharp eye out for messages written in poor grammar. Whether these come from faraway places like Nigeria or a remote village in the UK or just some basement near you, they are usually created by people who didn't bother to learn how to communicate well and people who use phrases that are not natural to American English.

Here is a choice example I received recently. It claims to be from Bank of America and even includes a "Click here to continue" link and a link to "sign in to Online Banking." If I were to click on either of these spots, I am sure I would be asked to provide sensitive security information that could then be used to empty my account. Before scrolling on down, see how many errors you can spot in this message:

...We are unable to active your account because we have upgraded our online services, we are sorry for that but you have to reactive your BofA online bank account to be able to send and recive money online.....Your account might be place on restricted status....To lift up this restriction, you need to login into your account (with your username or SSN and your password)....All restricted accounts have their billing information unconfirmed, meaning that you may no longer send money from your account until you have reactive your billing information on file.

How many errors or oddities did you spot? I've reprinted the same message below with the corrections in red:

...We are unable to activate your account because we have upgraded our online service. We are sorry for this inconvenience, but you must reactivate your BofA online account to be able to send and receive money online....Your account might be placed on restricted status....To cancel this restriction, you need to login to your account (with your username or SSN and your password)....All restricted accounts have their billing information unconfirmed, meaning that you may no longer send money from your account until youhave reactivated your billing information on file.

Beware the bank notice that is filled with errors like the ones above.

NOTE: If you are a regular reader of this blog, I apologize for the almost three-week hiatus in posts. I had to be away and did not have good access to the Internet. Hopefully, I can resume a regular posting schedule now.

Crossword Editor not Proofreading Well Enough

2009-08-24T06:14:00.000-05:00

I've been working and recommending crossword puzzles for a long time. They are a great way to keep your mind sharp, increase your vocabulary, work with ideas, and fine tune your grammar skills.

Until recently, I have rarely seen a spelling error or a grammar glitch related to a crossword puzzle clue or answer.

This week, however, the USA Today Crossword contained a spelling error one day and a grammar glitch the next. That really surprised me because I had come to think that crossword puzzle editors must be the best proofreaders in the world.

The spelling error--and I might note that it was one a spelling checker would have caught--was in Clue #48 Down. It read "Sherrif's assistance." Hm-mm, I thought. Maybe a "sherrif" is some exotic person I've just never heard of. And then I even considered that maybe the puzzle was asking about Omar Sharif. But, as I worked the puzzle, I could clearly see that the answer was turning out to be "posse." I even checked my dictionary to be sure I hadn't suddenly forgotten how to spell "sheriff."

I chalked this up to the "Everyone is entitled to a goof once in a while" category until I settled in the very next evening to work the USA Today crossword puzzle. This time, I only got as far as Clue #9 Down, which was "Car lot figure." After getting a couple of Across letters, I concluded that the answer was "salesman," which is singular like "figure" in the clue. (You need to know at this point that I often tell my husband, who loves crossword puzzles, and my workshop participants that the grammar in crossword puzzles is always impeccable.)

Unfortunately, that worked only until I tried to fill in the answer for Clue #34 Across, which was "Goalies' specialities." The answer here had to be "saves," and the "e" in "saves" meant that the answer for #9 Down was working only as "salesmen," which is plural. Clue #9 Down should have read "Car lot figures."

You might read this and think that I'm being picky, but then again, crossword puzzle people are people who are interested in words and using them correctly. I think USA Today should expect its crossword puzzle editor to be more careful.

Please send me an e-mail if you come across any other careless crossword puzzle editors. I'm hoping this is a one-time phenomenon.

Be careful not to tangle up your prepositional phrases!

2009-08-20T11:33:00.000-05:00

If you create a sentence that contains several prepositional phrases, it is important to arrange them in a clear and logical order. If you don't, the reader will end up wondering what goes with what.

Here is a good example from a recent article in a Birmingham newspaper:

Jimmerson, the film's writer and director, has interviewed immigrants, academics, politicians and others for her documentary at the U. S.-Mexico border and across Alabama.

I've highlighted the prepositional phrases in this sentence in different colors so you can spot them easily. The problem is that the focus of the sentence is supposed to be on WHERE the interviews took place, NOT on where the documentary was filmed. By inserting "for her documentary" between the interviewees and their locations, the reporter has thoroughly confused the sentence.

It would be much clearer written as follows:

For her documentary, film writer and director Jimmerson has interviewed immigrants, academics, politicans and others at the U. S.-Mexico border and across Alabama.

Another solution would be to drop the phrase "for her documentary" completely from this sentence because the reporter makes it clear in the previous sentence (The 58-year-old spoke over coffee in Birmingham, where she came recently to tape the last interview for her documentary.") that the interviews are for her documentary.

Happy Prepositional Phrase Placing, Everyone!

Job Hunting? Use Grammar Knowledge to Spot Internet Scams

2009-08-11T13:41:00.000-05:00

The New York Times News Service reported this week that criminals are setting up "increasingly sophisticated traps" to catch those surfing for job opportunities on the Web. Although your Spam filter offers some protection, many of these creeps are still getting through.

The article suggests that one good way to protect yourself is to notice which of these offbeat ads use poor grammar and bad spelling. Also watch out for e-mails from addresses that don't match that of the company they are supposed to represent.

So--IF THAT THEIR OFFER'S TWO GOOD TOO BE TRU, IT PROBABLY ARE!

Good luck with your job search--on reputable sites from reputable companies!

Whoooo? or Whooom?

2009-08-08T11:41:00.000-05:00

We have all struggled with when to use WHO and when to use WHOM. Even if I know that WHO is the subject form and WHOM is the object form, I still have to analyze the sentence to figure out which one to use.

The wedding article person at my local newspaper forgot to run an analysis before posting her wedding article last week. In talking about how the couple met, she wrote:

After dinner, they saw "The Chronicles of Narnia" with Chad's twin brother and his girlfriend, whom today is his wife.

Whoops! She should have used the subject form in this sentence because WHO is the subject of the second clause.

The sentence should read as follows:

After dinner, they saw "The Chronicles of Narnia" with Chad's twin brother and his girlfriend, who is now his wife.

Better, don't you think?

This slide show are????

2009-07-29T16:46:00.000-05:00

Like most of you, I have friends who send me lots and lots of slide shows and YouTube videos through e-mail. Some I enjoy, and some I just delete. The other day I received one with beautiful photos of our treasured National Parks.

As I told the sender, I loved the photos, but I was not impressed with the first sentence the original sender had affixed to the e-mail:

This slide show of National Parks are in alphabetic order.

This person forgot to mentally remove the prepositional phrase (of National Parks) while deciding what the verb should be. The subject of this sentence is SLIDE SHOW, which is singular. Therefore, the verb should be IS, which is singular.

One more comment: Although "alphabetic" is a word, the preferred form for use when describing the order of words is "alphabetical."

I'd suggest this sentence should read as follows:

This slide show of National Parks is in alphabetical order.

I hope all of you get to visit at least some of these beautiful parks in your lifetime. If you'd like to receive an e-mail with the slide show attached, please leave me a comment. (I promise to correct the sentence before forwarding it!)

That Clauses Confusion

2009-07-23T16:27:00.000-05:00

Be careful when using "that clauses" in your writing. It is easy to confuse the meaning. Here is a good example from a letter to "Miss Manners" in a recent column:

My biggest concern is that I don't want her to think that she was an afterthought and that we really did send her an invitation.

This bride was worried about insulting someone whose invitation to her wedding was returned because of a postage issue. What she meant was that she did not want the person to think that she HADN'T sent her an invitation in the first place. The first "that clause" works, but the second one is confusing.

Here is a better rewrite:

My biggest concern is that I don't want her to think she was an afterthought and that we sent her invitation later than all the others.

I hope you agree that this is much clearer. One less "that" helps a lot, too!

Have You Turned Your Pet Into Shelter Yet?

2009-07-17T14:09:00.000-05:00

The June 8 and 15, 2009 edition of The New Yorker magazine has a great example of something I pointed out several weeks ago--the difference between "into" and "in to." The New Yorker quotes a headline from the Great Falls (Montana) Tribune:

"ECONOMIC SLUMP HAS MORE OWNERS TURNING PETS INTO SHELTER"

This headline conjures up some weird images--a dog being used as a tent? A cat sitting on its owner's head to keep it out of the rain? Maybe a pet elephant letting its owner string a hammock between its thick legs?

When you turn something INTO something else, it becomes that thing, as in turning a wild rabbit INTO a household pet.

When you turn something IN TO something else, you give it to that something else, as in turning your pet IN TO the animal shelter because you can no longer care for it.

I hope your pets are still with you and definitely NOT being turned INTO something else!

Proofread to Avoid Wordy Phrasing

2009-07-16T14:25:00.000-05:00

Let's face it--all of us write wordy, illogical sentences when we are in a hurry. The trick is to take the time, once you've written a complete draft, to read back through and clean things up.

Here is a good example from that investment newsletter I've mentioned before:

"Bernanke patiently explained to the member of Congress making this accusation that what she was calling money was actually not really money at all, but rather temporary reserves loaned to banks to stop fears of a crash and depression."

In my workshops, I like to call this "bopping it twice when once will do." A quick proofread would have led the writer to conclude that one or the other of the words in red needed to go. Then he could have made a quick decision about what to keep and what to get rid of. I liked keeping "really" after the "not."

I also made a second little punctuation adjustment to clarify the wording. I moved the comma between "rather" and "temporary" so that "but rather" clearly goes together. Otherwise, it sounds as if he is talking about "rather temporary reserves" (whatever those would be).

The sentence should read as follows:

"Bernanke patiently explained to the member of Congress making this accusation that what she was calling money was not really money at all, but rather, temporary reserves loaned to banks to stop fears of a crash and depression."

For those of you who are about to send me a comment stating that I don't understand how busy you are--that you don't have time for writing, then proofreading, then fixing--I disagree. Every one of us procrastinates while we think in our heads about what we are going to put on paper. My suggestion is to put it on paper as quickly as you can and THEN use your time wisely to proofread and polish.

Confusing Semicolon with Comma

2009-07-08T10:31:00.000-05:00

I read an interesting article this week about how churches are using Twitter and other social media networks to appeal to young people. Good idea, perhaps.

The following sentence in the article had a problem--it used a semicolon where a comma should have been:

At Christ Tabernacle Church in Queens; the Rev. Adam Durso and his brother Chris, the youth director, keep in contact with their flock, sometimes hourly, on a half-dozen social media sites.

A semicolon should only be used to separate one clause from another (or items in a series from each other). In this sentence, the first six words are an introductory PHRASE, so they should be set off from the main sentence with a COMMA, not a SEMICOLON.

At Christ Tabernacle Church in Queens, the Rev. Adam Durso and his brother Chris, the youth director, keep in contact with their flock, sometimes hourly, on a half-dozen social media sites.

Even if you Twitter, keep those semicolons for special occasions!