Recently, a front page poster crafted an essay so filled with insight and eloquence it made me cry. That same writer also made me wince for a 7th grade grammar blunder in the opening paragraphs
It happens to all of us. Either from not learning it in school, from a typographical error, or from just posting in haste, many Kossasks will sometimes slip up on a basic rule of language usage.
Why is this important? Because language matters! Framing, context, and yes, sentence structure and grammar all have an impact on how our ideas are received. Much the same way that we communicate something about ourselves by the way we dress, the way we structure our words also has a meta-message for our audience.
Ever venture over to Freeperville? The text-messaging influenced spew that passes for writing earns my scorn as much for the lack of complete sentences as it does for the wing-nut assumptions.
"Anyone who edits their own copy has a fool for an editor." Donald Davis
Most of us here are stuck being our own editors though. So the following list is offered, from your friendly neighborhood English teacher, as either a primer or refresher course.
I'm not setting myself up here as a grammar nazi; on the contrary, I really dislike it when folks correct other people's grammar in postings. Most of the time you can glean someone's message just fine, and unless they've asked for my editorial assistance, I don't think it's my place to pull out a cyber red-pen and let `em have it. Besides, "People who live in glass houses....." You know, I've been known to make my own mistakes! (Two days ago I announced in a comment that I had been teaching since 1884, instead of 1984, for example!)
So here is a reference list, handy for printing or bookmarking. These common mistakes are listed in the order in which they annoy me. There are certainly more than seven mistakes people can make when writing, but this is my diary, and these are the ones that make me cringe. Feel free to add your own in the comments section!
Rule #1: There is no such word as "alot."
Mistake: Alot of people voted for George W. Bush
Correct: George W. Bush got a lot more votes counted.
"a" and "lot" must always be separated, and are not to be confused with the verb "allot," which means "to portion" as in "How many of our tax dollars will be allotted to pay the deficit?" Think about it: we don't say "alittle." Smushing together the poor article "a" with its counterpart modifier is a sure way to get you in trouble with the grammar police.
Rule #2: "Its" is a possessive and "It's" is a contraction.
Examples: The Bush administration must take responsibility for its errors in judgment.
It's a shame that they probably never will.
Here's how I teach my students to remember this rule: when choosing between the possessive and the contraction, it's more important that the apostrophe be used as a place holder for the contracted missing word "is" than to show ownership.
Rule # 3 use "fewer" for things you count (individually), and "less" for things you measure: "fewer
apples", "less water".
Mistake: Less young voters turned out for this election.
Correct: There was less voter apathy this year; fewer young voters stayed home.
Rule #4 "accept" means to receive and "except" means to leave out.
Example: I will happily accept that large box of chocolates and I will nibble all of them except the peanut clusters."
How to remember the difference? Think of what the "ex" prefix means---left out, unwanted, former, as in "ex" president. Then look closely at the word "accept." Notice the two little c's all cuddled up together--that's accepting !
Rule #5 "there" vs. "their" vs. "they're."
This is one of the easy ones, and when we make a mistake it's more likely a typing error than a usage error. But to refresh our collective memories:
there is a pronoun meaning a place. Notice it's spelled the same way as "here" only with the "t."
"My heart goes out to the soldiers fighting over there in Iraq."
their is a possessive meaning something that belongs to a group.
"Bushco sent young men and women over there. It's their faulty planning that's to blame for the mess in Iraq."
they're is a contraction meaning "they are."
They're foolish swine."
Rule # 6 "affect vs effect"
This one is confusing because of the sound-alike qualities and because "effect" can be quite versatile. In their most common usages though:
Affect is a verb, meaning to cause an impact. "Can we affect people's perceptions on Inauguration Day?"
Effect is a noun, meaning a result. "What effect will our protests have on Inauguration Day?"
Rule #7 "was vs. were"
I'll admit to being an old-school stickler here, but English still has a subjunctive tense. This is a live and evolving language, and I think in another generation this one may be extinct, but until then, there is an elegance in getting it correct, so here goes:
"Were" is used in the conditional tense--when you are wishing, hoping, and supposing, but not certain or guaranteed. Example:
"John Kerry was our candidate. I wish he were going to be our president."
So with apologies to all my North Carolina friends who are Clay Aiken fans, but when Clay sings "If I Was Invisible," he's wrong!
When a thought takes one's breath away, a lesson in grammar seems an impertinence." Thomas W. Higgins