It’s quiz time again, folks! I see a lot of errors in articles, many likely made due to confusion about what’s considered correct in the American grammar system. While our system has a lot in common with all others, it’s…
More Devilish Details in a New Quiz!
More Devilish Details Since many readers of my posts seem to love quizzes — short ones that don’t seem too daunting — here’s another one for you! And for the one that preceded this, click here. Which ones are correctly written…
Traps for the Unwary, Part 4: Pronouns
This is the fourth in a short series of highlighting common errors that are easy to make and miss when we’re writing. Everyone who has seen my posts over the last three years knows I’m a nut about using language…
Traps for the Unwary, Part 1: When is a Question not a Question?
When is a question not a question? When it’s a statement. Although many writers use English well, some are falling into some common traps that they may not be aware of. And sometimes I think it’s because the word order…
Does Good Grammar Matter?
In this day and age, many folks wonder: does good grammar matter? This post came about thanks to an article that Maggi Kirkbride found, read, and shared — and tagged me with. You can read it here. Thanks, Maggi! The article…
Dangling Participles
Most regular readers of my blog know how much I love injecting humor into lessons. The old adage of a spoonful of sugar is really true! A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down! And humor is everywhere if…
The Dreaded Comma Splice
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…
A Four-Letter Word I Want You to Use!
I was at 4th Monday Networking yesterday, and a man used a four-letter word I wasn’t expecting. I was surprised – shocked, actually – and I told him so. We were discussing how his firm helps companies with customer satisfaction…
Are You Using These 5 “Words” That Don’t Exist?
Funny how things go around, isn’t it? If we see or hear something enough times — particularly if we see it on any of the social media sites — we believe it. We think it’s true. The right way to…
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…
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…
English is a “Confuzzling” Language!
I am always amazed that anyone can learn English — with all its nuances, regionalisms, and jargon — especially considering how many words have multiple meanings. In this wonderfully silly cartoon, the focus is on “make” and “go,” each of…
The “Meaning” of Words
Have you ever noticed how much humor is rooted in culture and understanding of the local language? A word that means one thing to person A might mean something completely different to person B. An expression that might horrify one…
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…
It’s Time to Master These Two Words!
Dear Readers — Here are two more words in a continuing series of almost homophones — those pesky words that sound alike but have different spellings and meanings — that confuse so many of us. Many English words are written…
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…
The Grammar Goddess is NOT Passionate About Grammar!
True. I’m not passionate about grammar. Yes, I teach it, but I’m not passionate about the topic by itself. How can anyone get passionate about colons, commas, dashes – or quotation marks? Grammar is a tool, one among many, and…
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…
Why Do I Teach American Grammar?
Why do I teach American grammar to grownups? To business professionals? As my mother constantly asked, “Didn’t everyone learn it in school?” Well, first of all, no. We didn’t all learn it in school, and there are several reasons for…