Category: Writing & Grammar

by Jennie Ruby  

Because the results of last week's challenge were so revealing (see below), I bring you a similar challenge this week. Choose the correct word in these examples–discussion to follow.

1. He lead/led the charge into the superstore for the one-day sales event.
2. The biennial/biannual event last occurred in 2010.
3. You may have to wait a while/awhile to see these prices again.
4. I remember playing the first version of that classic/classical game back when I was 12.
5. The boyscout enjoyed his celebrity/notoriety after saving the little dog from the stream.
6. When the bully who had threatened the boy gave his congratulations, butter wouldn't/would melt….
7. Can you ensure/assure that the dog does not run away again?
8. I am so anxious/eager to hear about the ceremony that I can hardly wait.
9. She slept fitfully/soundly knowing that the puppy was safe.
10. Here is the last/latest news on the price decrease.

As always, send your answers straight to me.

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Results From Last Week's Challenge

In the aftermath of the election, one clear winner was statistics. One statistician came pretty close to correctly calling every race. So to join the statisticians, I analyzed the results of last week's challenge with a spreadsheet in addition to a dictionary and grammar book. Here are the answers, brought to you by our only 100% correct respondent this week, Ginny Supranowitz:

1. We had less/fewer trick-or-treaters this year than we expected.
2. We have a lot of leftover candy like/such as Milk Duds and Smarties.
3. The trick-or-treater's mother complemented/complimented us on our fall decorations.
4. A lot of voters seem disinterested/uninterested in the election.
5. Many have become weary/wary of all the automated phone calls.
6. We really should be more weary/wary about clicking links in junk email.
7. The weather reporter emphasized the enormity/enormousness of Sandy.
8. The reporter implied/inferred that she would rather not be standing so close to the waves.
9. I implied/inferred from what she said that she was soaking wet.
10. The storm reached further/farther inland than most hurricanes.
11. That storm was certainly not an every day/everyday occurrence.
12. I'm glad my pajamas are not inflammable/flammable. [Inflammable and flammable are synonyms.]
13. We wondered if/whether/weather our cousins in New Jersey had power
14. We are glad to have survived this historic/historical storm.
15. A cyclone is when/occurs when a circular wind pattern develops over the ocean.

And here are your results, statistically speaking: 

Now, before we declare flammable the most difficult word in English, I have to admit that the flammable/inflammable item was a trick question. I counted it correct only if you noted that both words actually mean the same thing! Only one respondent, Ginny Supranowitz, picked up on that detail.

As for enormousness/enormity, even the dictionary is conflicted over this one. Its discussion distances itself from those who insist on making the distinction between size (enormousness) and moral/emotional judgment (enormity); nevertheless, all of the synonyms for enormity have the moral or social outrage component: atrocity, badness, depravedness, evilness, heinousness, hideousness, monstrosity, vileness, wickedness. By contrast, here are some of Webster's synonyms for enormousness: colossal, elephantine, huge, gargantuan, giant, immense, jumbo, leviathan, mammoth, massive…you get the idea. For those who want a loophole: Meaning number 3 of enormity isimmensity. But with all of the connotations of enormitypointing to moral outrage, if you just mean large, this word is not precise. Jing Ping Fan pointed out, however, that if you did mean that the hurricane filled you with horror over itsmonstrous size, then maybe there is enough emotional/moral valence to tip your description over into enormity.

Here are some details about the other answers frequently missed:

• Use whether for choosing between or among alternatives, if for setting up a condition.
• Uninterested = bored; disinterested means you don't have a financial interest riding on the outcome.
• Farther is for distance; further is for other meanings such as deeper.
• The person who says the words that carry the additional meaning does the implying. The person who hears the words or sees a behavior and derives meaning from that is the one who is inferring something.
• Everyday is an adjective that describes a noun: an everyday occurrence. Every day is an adverbial phrase indicating when the action of the sentence takes place: we see this every day.
• Such as means the items you are naming are actual examples in the group; like means you are saying that your items are like these, but do not necessarily include these. In the example in the challenge, such as means that Milk Duds and Smarties are actually in my leftover Halloween bowl. Like would have meant that I had candy similar to those brands, but that I did not necessarily have those exact brands.

by Jennie Ruby  

Sometimes confusing words take us by surprise, and sometimes we just blank on them. Being familiar with commonly confused words can help. The following words and phrases are like sharks lurking in the waters of our language: watch out! Use this challenge to raise your awareness as well as test your prowess with these word and phrase pairs.

Challenge on confusing words:

1. We had less/fewer trick-or-treaters this year than we expected.
2. We have a lot of leftover candy like/such as Milk Duds and Smarties.
3. The trick-or-treater's mothercomplemented/complimented us on our fall decorations.
4. A lot of voters seem disinterested/uninterestedin the election.
5. Many have become weary/wary of all the automated phone calls.
6. We really should be more weary/wary about clicking links in junk email.
7. The weather reporter emphasized theenormity/enormousness of Sandy. (I actually saw this one used incorrectly several times during the hurricane news coverage.)
8. The reporter implied/inferred that she would rather not be standing so close to the waves.
9. I implied/inferred from what she said that she was soaking wet.
10. The storm reached further/farther inland than most hurricanes.
11. That storm was certainly not an every day/everyday occurrence.
12. I'm glad my pajamas are not inflammable/flammable.
13. We wondered if/whether/weather our cousins in New Jersey had power.
14. We are glad to have survived this historic/historical storm. (Yep, I saw that one used incorrectly, too.)
15. A cyclone is when/occurs when a circular wind pattern develops over the ocean.

When you are ready, send your answers straight to me.

Results of Contractions versus Pronouns Challenge

Our contractions challenge last week was very popular, with a record number of responders. "Wow that really took me back!" says reader Meaghan Anderson. "Piece of cake," adds Krista Allen.

David Zimmerle took it up a notch and added the contraction it'd for it had in number 1. That was a good move! A couple of readers asked whether dean's list should be capitalized, to which I suggest that if it is a specific dean's list, yes. If it refers generically to a nonspecific dean's list, no. And Louise Nicholson expressed an insecurity I believe we should all feel when dealing with these: "I see these types of errors all over the place, so I hope I got them right." The fact that so many of us KNOW the right answer yet these errors occur in print and online so frequently tells me that we may not be as nervous and careful as we should be about contractions versus pronouns! Here are your results:

Correct answers to the contractions versus pronouns challenge are brought to you by Ron Turner:

1. The way the raccoon was walking, I assumed it had hurt it'sits foot.
2. It's about time we started getting our pronouns correct!
3. Your You're not going to tell me your you're not on the dean's list this semester!
4. The cyclone might flood your basement even if itsit's not below the water table.
5. The old table, who's whose supports were weak, collapsed under the weight of the cat.
6. Who's Whose car is parked in the police chief's parking spot?
7. The kids carried their candy in there their pockets, so they did not need plastic pumpkins.
8. If your downspouts are blocked, your eaves may leak.

Congrats to our hundred-percenters this week (alphabetically by first name): Barbara Veneri, Brenda Sing, Clay Walnum, David Pitts, David Zimmerle, Deb Pekin, Geri A. Moran, Ginny Supranowitz, Jay Herman, Joan P Dickerson, Karen L. Busser, Kathryn J. Meloche, Krista Allen, Lori Vuyk-Farnsworth, Louise Nicholson, Meaghan Anderson, Stacey Edwards, andTanya Davis.

by Jennie Ruby  

The apostrophe can indicate possessive or sometimes plural, as we have recently seen. But wait, there's more: the apostrophe can form a contraction: collapsing two words together and leaving out some letters. Some examples are could've--short for could have–and must've, which is short for must have. The pronunciation of must've, I believe, is single-handedly responsible for thousands of English teacher nervous breakdowns and copyeditor headaches over sentences like this one:

*Jim is not home yet; he must of [should be must have] gone to the grocery store on the way home.

Pronunciation does not help us with other common errors: mixing up possessive pronouns, contractions, and other homonyms (words that sound alike but have different meanings and/or spellings).

See if you can escape the vortex of confusion over these words in this week's challenge: apostrophes and pronouns. You can send your answers directly to me.

Challenge: Apostrophes and Pronouns

1. The way the raccoon was walking, I assumed it had hurt it's foot.
2. It's about time we started getting our pronouns correct!
3. Your not going to tell me your not on the dean's list this semester!
4. The cyclone might flood your basement even if its not below the water table.
5. The old table, who's supports were weak, collapsed under the weight of the cat.
6. Who's car is parked in the police chief's parking spot?
7. The kids carried their candy in there pockets, so they did not need plastic pumpkins.
8. If your downspouts are blocked, your eaves may leak.

Oh, the embarrassment! Oh, the agony! Oh, thecorrection notice!

As several of you noticed, the answer I published as correct last week had two errors. Here are the corrected sentences:

4. Back in the 1950s writers used a lot more apostrophes.

6. Many companies find that new hires do not know the three Rs.

Answers to last week's challenge 

This week's correct answers come from Vicki Hendricks, who declared the examples "easy." However, there were no other correct answers this week! 

1. She said she was going to go to Cancun and lie on the beach for a while.
2. Last summer we went to the beach and lay in the sun for hours.
3. Just five minutes ago I laid the papers directly on the manager's desk.
4. Last month we laid the ground work for our new learning management system.
5. Next month we will lay the ground work for new systems to be installed over the next three years.
6. He told the dog to lie down.
7. The carpenter said he needed to lay a new foundation for our porch.
8. Yesterday we solved the problem with our new server. The answer lay in the way we had configured our start-up menu.
9. Don't worry about your future, Grasshopper. All of the answers lie within your grasp.
10. The geocache lies just 100 yards south of the river.
11. These old umbrellas have lain here in the corner for more than a year.
12. She could have laid the map on the table, but she chose to spread it out on the floor.

by Jennie Ruby  

Two words have seldom been more confusing than the two verbs lay and lie. Yes, they are actually two different words, but the first area of confusion is that the simple past tense of lie is spelled exactly the same as the word lay. Not only that, but the main difference between the word lie and the word lay is that lie is intransitive and lay is transitive–a grammatical concept not instantly familiar to most of us. Here's how to pick the correct word every time.

Step 1. Pick which word you are using by replacing it with its synonym. If you can replace the verb with recline, you are using lie. If you can replace the verb with place, you are using lay.

Lie = rest or recline. You just do it.

I will lie [recline] on the sofa.

Lay = place. You do it TO something.

I will lay [place] the blanket on the grass.

Step 2. Pick the verb tense.

Lie: lie, lay, lying, lain

Today I lie down. Tomorrow I will lie down. Yesterday I lay down. I am/was lying down. I have lain on the sofa for an hour.

Lay: lay, laid, laying

Today I lay the papers down. Tomorrow I will laythe papers down. Yesterday I laid the papers down. I was laying the papers down. I have laid the papers down.

Here is your challenge: correct the usage of the verbs lay and lie in these sentences.

1. She said she was going to go to Cancun and lay on the beach for a while.
2. Last summer we went to the beach and lay in the sun for hours.
3. Just five minutes ago I lay the papers directly on the manager's desk.
4. Last month we lay the ground work for our new learning management system.
5. Next month we will lay the ground work for new systems to be installed over the next three years.
6. He told the dog to lay down.
7. The carpenter said he needed to lay a new foundation for our porch.
8. Yesterday we solved the problem with our new server. The answer lay in the way we had configured our start-up menu.
9. Don't worry about your future, Grasshopper. All of the answers lay within your grasp.
10. The geocache lays just 100 yards south of the river.
11. These old umbrellas have laid here in the corner for more than a year.
12. She could have laid the map on the table, but she chose to spread it out on the floor.

Results of the Apostrophes Challenge

Here are the answers to the apostrophes challenge, brought to you by Denise Kelly:

1. The carrots were on sale at the organic market today
2. We have two capital letters in IconLogic.
3. The word judgment does not have two e's.
4. Back in the 1950s writers used a lot more apostrophes.
5. How many i's are in your name?
6. Many companies find that new hires do not know the three Rs.
7. How many alibis does he need?
8.  Are you still getting tomatoes from your garden?
9. Ellie drank two coffees and a tea before the important meeting.
10.  How many OKs do I need to click?

All of these illustrate the correct and/or modern usage. The most common errors I saw in responses were using the apostrophe with the three Rs and with OKs. Modern usage guides say that capital letters do not need to be italic and do not need the apostrophe when you are making them plural. A number of respondents liked the apostrophe in alibi's. That is one where the dictionary does give alibis as the plural, but personal preference may dictate that the apostrophe makes it easier to read. Thank you to all respondents on this one: Kathryn Meloch, Jimmy Moon, Jason Neilson, Megan Seymour, Lindsey Mayer, J Dicerson, Michael Stein, Minnie Johnson, Jay Herman, Denise Kelly, Jeffrey Mcmayon, Jennifer Dolesh, Audra Lyons, Chris Zimmel, and Linda Tromanhauser

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by Jennie Ruby  

Verb agreement. On one level, it is considered elementary: one dog runs, two dogs run. But as soon as your sentences become a little more sophisticated, verb agreement becomes more challenging. For example, if I have a collective noun, such as staff, but the individual staff members act separately, do I use plural or singular? Is it

1. The staff is working on their new assignments this Monday.
2. The staff are working on their new assignments this Monday.
3. The staff is working on its new assignment this Monday.

Choice A is incorrect because I treated staff as a singular word when I chose my verb, is, and I treated staff as a plural word when I referred back to the staff using their. This mismatch is considered ungrammatical.  The correct answers are B and C, depending on whether each employee is working on a separate assignment or the whole staff is working on the same assignment.

Other problems with verb agreement occur with singular pronouns such as each, which are often followed by plural nouns. In the following sentence, each is the singular subject–don't let yourself be fooled by the word cups:

Each of the cups is decorated with a unique design.

When you start a sentence backward, by using a false subject or by starting with the verb, you may have to go hunting for the true subject later in the sentence:

There were three cups in the sink.

The true subject is cups, so the verb is the plural were.

And when you have multiple subjects in your sentence, watch out! If they are joined by the word or, you simply match your verb to the subject closest to it.

These problems and others are addressed in this week's challenge. See if you agree that verb agreement is not just for elementary school anymore! As always, please send your answers to me.

Select the correct verb from the choices in parentheses

1. The smoke (was/were) coming from the tin stovepipe atop the garage.
2. A pack of smokes (was/were) lying on the ground beside the car.
3. The class (is/are) meeting on Tuesday to discuss their projects.
4. The tree or the bushes (has/have) to be trimmed before the new driveway can be put in.
5. The electric pole and the mailbox (has/have) to be moved as well.
6. There (is/are) at least three reasons we want to attend the class.
7. Entering the ballroom after midnight (was/were) five members of the football team.
8. Smith, Michaels and Brown (is/are) the law firm representing the company.
9. Either of the curtains (is/are) a good choice for the décor of the room.
10. Neither the player nor the ball (was/were) over the goal line.

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by Jennie Ruby  

Last week I issued a punctuation challenge to you "skills and drills" readers.

Here is the paragraph shown as it was punctuated when it was originally published:

Until very recently, the only way you could distribute multimedia files over the Web was by using external files as described in the first half of this chapter. In recent months, however, both Netscape and Microsoft have made many interesting steps toward integrating multimedia more closely into Web pages, either through the use of new HTML tags, through advanced capabilities such as Java, or through the use of "plug-ins"–help applications that are more closely integrated with the browser and with files reviewed within that browser. 

–From Teach Yourself Web Publishing 
with HTML 3.2 by Laura Lemay

Some acceptable variations (and some commentary) include the following:

• The comma after the first three-word introductory phrase is optional
• Use of a comma before the phrase "as described in the first half of this chapter" depends on the meaning: did she mean "using external files the way the first half of this chapter describes using them"? If so, no comma. And in fact that is how the original was punctuated. But it is possible to read this as meaning "the fact that you can distribute multimedia files over the Web by using external files was described in the first half of this chapter." If you read it that way, you would put a comma before as.
• You might have chosen to use parentheses around the phrase "through advanced capabilities such as Java" if you saw it as an interruption rather than as the second item on a list of three things. Or you might have removed the comma before "through advanced…" for the same reason. 
  (I think this sentence is the one that caught my attention and why I used this paragraph as a challenge–there was something awkward about it. Using "either" to introduce three items is incorrect, so I think the writer actually meant the middle item as an interrupting phrase; however, the interrupting phrase started with the same word that the two choices started with, "through," making the whole passage confusing. One reader basically commented that Henry James called and wants his dense, difficult writing style back.)
• You might have chosen to use parentheses rather than a dash to set off the explanation of plug-ins.

by Jennie Ruby  

This week's answers to my correct usage of their challenge challenge are brought to you by our reader Tara Allen:

by Jennie Ruby  

Here are the answers to last week's pronoun challenge, brought to you, as so many times, by Jing Ping Fan. I have supplemented her explanation in number 7–the rest is hers.

by Jennie Ruby  

Here are the answers to last week's challenge, brought to you by Karen Wegner, the first to provide a completely correct answer:

by Jennie Ruby  

Last week I challenged readers of this newsletter to locate all of the phrasal verbs and their related nouns or adjectives in this passage.

The command-and-control infrastructure was shutdown in July 2012 shortly after its discovery. The shutdown came after nearly a month of research into the whereabouts of the installation. A close up view of the building was acquired. The close-up provided by the satellite gave us the access information we needed to close down the facility. After we shut down the operation, we checked out the computer set-up. We provided a breakdown of the servers and connections, and one of our technicians was able to breakdown the pattern of attacks by the software. We called up our database on a smart phone and logged-in the keycodes. After that, we cleaned up the area. The clean up took less than two hours.

Here are the answers, brought to you by Tara Allen.