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

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

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?

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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.