An Illinois newspaper printed the following story:
Police say a 15-year-old boy has died and eight people wounded in a shooting at a party.
One of the criteria for a group of words to comprise a sentence is that they have to make sense. In the above sentence, wounded needs a helping verb unless the people did the wounding. I am sure that the writer intended to say and eight people were wounded in a shooting. We now have two subjects and two complete verbs as part of the police description.
You may have noticed that there is no comma after died. That is because the sentence is an informal quote from the police rather than a sentence describing the tragedy. If it were just a news story, it would read A 15-year-old boy has died, and eight people were wounded in a shooting.
To clarify our example sentence, it would accurately read Police say a 15-year-old boy has died and eight people were wounded in a shooting at a party. What is the lesson here? Don't bring guns to a party. It can be more dangerous than lawn darts. Also, watch what you write to make sure it makes sense.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
Anyway You Splice It
An e-mail ad contained the following sentence:
We know how important giving is to you, we're no different, we feel the same way.
Admittedly, advertising isn't always textbook writing, and it can be creative. However, this example feels and sounds wrong, even for advertising. This is an example of comma splice. The term comma splice refers to the use of commas to separate sections of a sentence that should be separated by periods or semi-colons. There are three independent clauses in the example, and no conjunction is used.
The best way to write the sentence is
We know how important giving is to you. We're no different; we feel the same way.
Three separate sentences would also be correct, but it would feel more choppy because of the short phrasing. When you write, check for complete sentences containing a subject and verb, and make sure that you don't join them with a comma. Punctuation is important for comprehension, comfort, and accuracy of a sentence. Period.
We know how important giving is to you, we're no different, we feel the same way.
Admittedly, advertising isn't always textbook writing, and it can be creative. However, this example feels and sounds wrong, even for advertising. This is an example of comma splice. The term comma splice refers to the use of commas to separate sections of a sentence that should be separated by periods or semi-colons. There are three independent clauses in the example, and no conjunction is used.
The best way to write the sentence is
We know how important giving is to you. We're no different; we feel the same way.
Three separate sentences would also be correct, but it would feel more choppy because of the short phrasing. When you write, check for complete sentences containing a subject and verb, and make sure that you don't join them with a comma. Punctuation is important for comprehension, comfort, and accuracy of a sentence. Period.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Hay You!
There is a handy little word in the Spanish language. It is hay, and it means there is or there are. For example, Hay una escuela en la esquina means There is a school on the corner. Hay dos pajaros en el arbol means There are two birds in the tree. In other words, number, or singular and plural, doesn't matter in the case of hay.
In English, however, it is important for accuracy and understanding to make them agree in number. Read these two quotes from Illinois and Georgia newspapers.
A little bird told me there's some voters here.
There's so many venues in the city, and they keep building more.
These lines should read there are some voters and there are so many venues because both refer to plurals. You will be happy, as I was, to read the following correct usage in a Georgia newspaper:
There are many ways to lose.
The plural ways corresponds to the plural there are. If it isn't clear, try turning around the order, as in Some voters are there or Venues in the city are there. The meaning is different, but it helps with whether to use there is or there are. And hay, it does make a difference.
In English, however, it is important for accuracy and understanding to make them agree in number. Read these two quotes from Illinois and Georgia newspapers.
A little bird told me there's some voters here.
There's so many venues in the city, and they keep building more.
These lines should read there are some voters and there are so many venues because both refer to plurals. You will be happy, as I was, to read the following correct usage in a Georgia newspaper:
There are many ways to lose.
The plural ways corresponds to the plural there are. If it isn't clear, try turning around the order, as in Some voters are there or Venues in the city are there. The meaning is different, but it helps with whether to use there is or there are. And hay, it does make a difference.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Effectively Affected
Read what was written in a Georgia newspaper.
Some people are calling on politicians to undo some of the law's unintended affects.
In this sentence, the last word, affects, should be effects. What is the difference? The word affects is a verb, as in The gloomy weather affects her mood. The word effects, on the other hand, is a noun and belongs at the end of our sample sentence or in the sentence The effects of his actions were widespread.
As with many grammar rules, there are exceptions. Effect can be a verb when it means to cause to happen. A common use of this is to effect change.
Keep it simple, and remember that affect is usually a verb and effect is usually a noun. You'll be right most of the time, and if you aren't, you can effect change in your usage.
Some people are calling on politicians to undo some of the law's unintended affects.
In this sentence, the last word, affects, should be effects. What is the difference? The word affects is a verb, as in The gloomy weather affects her mood. The word effects, on the other hand, is a noun and belongs at the end of our sample sentence or in the sentence The effects of his actions were widespread.
As with many grammar rules, there are exceptions. Effect can be a verb when it means to cause to happen. A common use of this is to effect change.
Keep it simple, and remember that affect is usually a verb and effect is usually a noun. You'll be right most of the time, and if you aren't, you can effect change in your usage.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Hwo Decided How to Pronounce Interrogatives?
Today's topic is based on the spoken word again. It involves commonly used interrogatives, or words used to ask questions, such as what, when, where, and why. I hope that I am not the only person who is bothered by the "correct" pronunciation of the aforementioned words.
A childhood memory (and that goes way back) is of my mother returning home from a teachers' conference and telling us that an alleged English expert confirmed that the correct pronunciations are hwat, hwen, hwere, and hwy. Hwy is that? I promise not to confuse where with wear because the meaning will be obvious from the surrounding words. Only a well-known football player should verbally mix the order of the letters and pronounce them out of order. The rest of us should be happy to ignore the Hs and pretend that they are as silent as the t in listen.
Who makes the decisions regarding correct pronunciation? I don't know, but maybe it should be I. Whenever I hear television announcers or game show hosts or people with otherwise good radio programs using the proper form of those interrogatives, I think about how ignorant it sounds. This usage doesn't seem to have the excuse that it is based on a language of derivation, either. Please join me in my campaign to end the use of hw words. It isn't sophisticated, it's ingorant.
A childhood memory (and that goes way back) is of my mother returning home from a teachers' conference and telling us that an alleged English expert confirmed that the correct pronunciations are hwat, hwen, hwere, and hwy. Hwy is that? I promise not to confuse where with wear because the meaning will be obvious from the surrounding words. Only a well-known football player should verbally mix the order of the letters and pronounce them out of order. The rest of us should be happy to ignore the Hs and pretend that they are as silent as the t in listen.
Who makes the decisions regarding correct pronunciation? I don't know, but maybe it should be I. Whenever I hear television announcers or game show hosts or people with otherwise good radio programs using the proper form of those interrogatives, I think about how ignorant it sounds. This usage doesn't seem to have the excuse that it is based on a language of derivation, either. Please join me in my campaign to end the use of hw words. It isn't sophisticated, it's ingorant.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Subjectively Objective
I found this sentence in an Illinois newspaper:
A friend just invited my husband and I to her home for some good cooking.
Did you see an error in that sentence? I'm sure you noticed that the "I" should be "me." That is because "I" is a subject, and in the example, it is used as the object of the verb "invited." I remember that when I was very young my mother suggested using the second object alone if I couldn't decide which word to use. For example, you wouldn't say "She invited I to her home," so it is equally wrong when another direct object precedes the pronoun.
Don't be afraid to show your intelligence while using correct grammar. It sounds better, it makes the meaning clearer, and it might be a good example to others who want to improve their English usage.
A friend just invited my husband and I to her home for some good cooking.
Did you see an error in that sentence? I'm sure you noticed that the "I" should be "me." That is because "I" is a subject, and in the example, it is used as the object of the verb "invited." I remember that when I was very young my mother suggested using the second object alone if I couldn't decide which word to use. For example, you wouldn't say "She invited I to her home," so it is equally wrong when another direct object precedes the pronoun.
Don't be afraid to show your intelligence while using correct grammar. It sounds better, it makes the meaning clearer, and it might be a good example to others who want to improve their English usage.
Monday, March 5, 2012
An Uncomma-n Verb
This sentence is from an Illinois newspaper:
The third time the dog attacked, an officer fearing for his safety, shot the animal once.
The second comma in the sentence isn't needed because it separates the subject and the verb. It is like saying The dog, chewed the bone, which no one would do. If the writer wanted to include a phrase telling why the officer shot the dog, a third comma should be added after "officer." It would read, "The third time the dog attacked, an officer, fearing for his safety, shot the animal once." Also acceptable is "The third time the dog attacked, an officer fearing for his safety shot the dog once." Here the words "fearing for his safety" describe the officer.
Sometimes life lessons are more important than grammar lessons. In this story, a man had let two dogs get out of a fenced yard. Neighbors and police officers feared for their lives, and one dog was killed. It is important to use commas correctly to communicate well, and it is important to use common sense to live well.
The third time the dog attacked, an officer fearing for his safety, shot the animal once.
The second comma in the sentence isn't needed because it separates the subject and the verb. It is like saying The dog, chewed the bone, which no one would do. If the writer wanted to include a phrase telling why the officer shot the dog, a third comma should be added after "officer." It would read, "The third time the dog attacked, an officer, fearing for his safety, shot the animal once." Also acceptable is "The third time the dog attacked, an officer fearing for his safety shot the dog once." Here the words "fearing for his safety" describe the officer.
Sometimes life lessons are more important than grammar lessons. In this story, a man had let two dogs get out of a fenced yard. Neighbors and police officers feared for their lives, and one dog was killed. It is important to use commas correctly to communicate well, and it is important to use common sense to live well.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)