Happy Monday once again, dear colleagues. And since it’s Monday, it must be American Grammar Checkup day. At the risk of belaboring a point, I keep noticing in many professional documents two sentences separated by only a comma. I’m certain…
Readers’ Questions
Over the last few months, I have received many questions about grammar and writing. I’m including some of the questions in this week’s grammar checkup. From Nicki, a fifth grade teacher: I have a question regarding using apostrophes in cursive…
Quiz Time — Colons and Semicolons!
Good Monday morning! It’s time for another quiz, this time on using colons and semicolons — the American way. About half of my connections live outside the United States, and they likely follow a different grammar system. But for those…
Ellipsis Marks (aka Ellipses): Think THREE
Good Monday morning! I thought today I would just mention a “mark” that is often misunderstood and misused: the ellipsis mark. There are several instances where we can and should use this mark, but way too many folks use it…
5 Ways to Make Your LI Posts Look More Professional
What do readers see when they first look at your posts? Are they drawn in . . . or taken aback? I have been blogging for a little over a year here on LinkedIn, and many readers know that my…
It’s a Numbers Game
Using numbers in correspondence doesn’t have to be confusing, although because grammar and style manuals don’t always agree on the details, it often is. But there are a few basic rules, with the inevitable exceptions, that can help. We usually…
Quiz on Lie and Lay
OK, folks – are you ready for a truly tough quiz? The verbs to lie and to lay are probably the most confusing verbs in English, primarily because they borrow from each other. And too many speakers and writers do not know…
Capital Letters
Ah, capital letters! Do you ever wonder who first decided that letters had shapes and sizes, and there should be rules about them? Apparently, it all started with capital letters; lower-case letters came later. There’s a short article here if…
End of the Year, that is! Here’s My Last Monday Grammar Checkup for 2015 — and it’s a QUIZ!
I started my blogging here on LI about a year ago, and a few months into it, I began to shape my weeks. Mondays were for Grammar Checkups, Tuesdays for Tricksters, Wednesdays for Words and Woes, Thursdays for Thoughts, and…
Holiday Names and Apostrophes
Happy after Thanksgiving to my readers! Here in America — and in those places around the world where Americans gathered — we stuffed ourselves with huge amounts of turkey (or other protein), vegetables, potatoes, casseroles, and desserts — and who…
When is a Question Not a Question?
In the past year, I have been blogging about American grammar, among other topics, and today’s lesson comes from having read hundreds of others’ blogs during that time, especially the headlines. Many times, I have seen words with a…
Subject/Verb Agreement, Part 2
Subject/verb agreement. Such a simple idea, but fraught with difficulties for a few writers. What do I mean? Well, the idea that a singular subject takes a single verb seems simple, right? And plural subjects take plural verbs. The issue…
Who or Whom?
I saw this picture in my FB feed a few days ago, and I laughed. And then whimpered. Why? Because it should be Dr. Who, not Dr. Whom! Who and whom are pronouns, and they follow the basic pronoun rules:…
3 Simple Rules for Using Colons with Lists
Colons are a totally misunderstood punctuation mark. Many of us have totally forgotten what we learned about them — if we ever did. We usually do what we see others do, figuring it must be right. Sometimes it is. Sometimes…
Commas with Nonessential Information: Which or That?
It’s commas time again, dear readers! Of all the subjects I get comments on, this one is tops. Most folks admit to using way more commas than they think they should, but I’m guessing it’s just because they don’t know…
Who’s Hoarding All The Hyphens?
I am rerunning this particular post (first published December 2014) because over the last ten months I have tripled my readership, and I seriously doubt anyone has gone back to the beginning of what I have written to see what…
Subject/Verb Agreement
Subject/verb agreement is a topic that most of us were taught (note: I didn’t say “learned”) in grade school: Singular subjects take singular verbs. Plural subjects take plural verbs. Seems so simple, doesn’t it? And it is simple in many…
It’s Quiz Time Again!
Please remember this is based on the American grammar system; if you follow any of the British systems, your rules might be different. ************** Yes, here’s another quiz (previous one here), which explains why I chose that picture for this…
Apostrophes in Last Names
Apostrophes in last names? Does this picture make you shudder? It should. It shows something that many folks struggle with before deciding to just follow the herd. And we all know how that turns out, especially with lemmings, right? So…
Tricky, Troublesome Pronouns
Funny how the rules apply to words, isn’t it? Did you ever wonder how these rules evolved, whatever language you speak and write? Each has its own set, and although some make sense, others might not seem to. In English,…
It’s Back-to-School Time!
Ah, school. Were you one of those eager beavers who was excited to go back and see friends you hadn’t seen since you got out of school last May or June? Or were you one of those who hated the…
Infinitives: No One Said It’s Always Fair or Easy
Grammar rules in any language can be tough to master for non-native speakers, but English really, really sucks. We have rules, and we have exceptions, and then we have exceptions to the exceptions. And then we have stuff that MAKES.…
Commas Count!
Today’s lesson is brought to you by the often-misused punctuation mark called the comma. Many of us writers never learned the basic rules for commas, and as we’ve aged we’ve really struggled with them. We’ve heard that if we pause…
Last (?) Thoughts on Apostrophes
I decided to run these three earlier posts this morning to help those who might not have seen them the first time. Over the last few months, I have doubled my number of LI connections, and I doubt that my…
American Grammar Checkup: Pronunciation
So, today’s lesson isn’t exactly about grammar; it’s more about our wacky and weird English language. If nothing else, it should be a reminder of how difficult it is to learn English, no matter which country or system you follow.…
Using Semicolons in Compound Sentences
Last week I published a post about using commas in compound sentences; if you didn’t see it (or even if you did and need a reminder), click here. I also wrote that I would show you another way to treat…
Commas in Compound Sentences
OK, folks — listen up! There are at least a gazillion comma rules in American grammar and probably in all other grammar systems, but we don’t have to learn every single dratted one. Really. We don’t. We do, however, have…
Apostrophes in Possessives
A few months ago, I published a post called “Possessive Pronouns,” focusing on pronouns such as his, hers, and ours. Those are possessives, but they do NOT include an apostrophe. Today’s group is more diverse, comprising words — including pronouns…
Quiz!
Over the last few months I have attempted to help everyone (re)learn some of the rules of American grammar, and I hope I’ve succeeded. It seems like a good idea – at least to me – to give you a…
Forming Contractions
Good morning to you on May 18, 2015! Today’s grammar checkup involves a basic punctuation rule: using apostrophes in word and date contractions. Most of us know that we form contractions of words — usually to convey an informal tone…
Using Hyphens
Good morning, dear readers! Here’s another installment of my Monday grammar checkup posts, this one on using hyphens in compound (multi-word) adjectives, those that come right in front of a noun and modify / describe it. I often see this…
Quotation Marks: American Rules
English is a funny language, as so many of us have proven in our writing. And it changes from country to country: Punctuation rules, spelling, and usage are all different depending on where we live and which version of English…
Spell Check: Devil or Angle?
Sharp-eyed readers are already wondering – what the heck? Doesn’t she know she goofed RIGHT IN THE HEADLINE? Yes. I do know that. I did write “angle,” and spell check accepted it. Why not? It’s a perfectly good word, and…
Say What?
Good Monday morning! Although many of us bemoan the arrival of Monday, it’s also a great day to just get going in our lives. And if we’re lucky, we have a job to go to, whether it’s a paid one…
Irregular Plurals Prove a Point
Have you ever heard someone say, “Why doesn’t she just learn to speak English!”? Every time I hear or read that, I’m tempted to ask that person how easy they think it would be to learn another language if they…
Believe It or Not: Apostrophes #3
For those who saw my recent posts on the wrong usage of apostrophes, here’s another one on apostrophes, this time using them in contractions. Many of us create contractions in words without thinking, right? We often write “don’t” or “can’t”…
Agile Adverbs
In English grammar, parts of speech are grouped by type, and it seems as though adverbs are one of the least understood of them all. (See all eight at the end of this post.) Adverbs are hard-working words that modify…
Can You Imagine This?
Do you remember a news story a few years ago about two 28-year-old young men who drove around the country correcting grammatical errors on public and private signs? They were called “Typo Vigilantes.” Unfortunately, they were not well received in…
No Apostrophes in Plurals!
I see this time and time again: someone takes an ordinary word and adds an apostrophe and s, thinking the word is now plural. NO. That’s not the way we do it. In English, we create regular plurals of words…
Misplaced Apostrophes – Are You Guilty of This Error?
Does the picture hurt your eyes and mind? Do you recoil with horror, realizing how wrong the writer was? Unfortunately, that writer is in very good – if misguided – company. Every time I teach American grammar to my adult…
Lie, Lay, Lain — These Words Are Such a Pain!
These verbs are the toughest words in the English language to master, probably because they are so much alike. And the forms sometimes show up in one of the other verbs . . . so how are we to know?…
1 Usage Error Everyone’s Making
Pronouns! Do you know how many people misuse pronouns? And of all the words to use correctly, these would be the ones. But there is a ton of confusion about most of them, especially the “self” ones. So let’s see…