Table Of Content

An essential handbook for writing righting grammatical errors If I . . . Was the computer affected by a virus or effected by it? Did you see two deers in the woods or two deer? Should the lab I f report be sent to Tom and me or Tom and I? I If I Was You . . . provides the tools you need to correct [ [ Was] W the grammatical mistakes you’ve been making. (If I were you, I would pay attention.) Each entry includes sample a s sentences that highlight the error as well as a straightforward ] explanation of why it’s wrong and the correct grammar Y usage. Whether you’re working on a term paper or an o You u important business presentation, this indispensable handbook shows you how to rectify your grammatical goofs and . . . effectively communicate with others. Covering everything from verbs and pronouns to punctuation and sentence structure, If I Was You . . . is the . . . only guide you need to master the principles of grammar, avoid common errors, and write more impressively. S . . . u S 5 Sm And Alot More Grammar Mistakes Lauren SuSSman is an english professor from massachusetts. 8 a Hsheer s eheosb obnie ssi ginnsc laundde mreeanduisn—g iann pde rcmorarneecntitn mg agrrkaemr.matical mistakes 5847 n You Might Be Making 9 7 0 5 4 $14.99 (CAN $16.99) Language ISBN-13: 978-1-4405-8478-7 UPC 0 DB oV AVLyBFYSEueTl Ey=A9I=ws2AMAZ2Tnl1JMb3gvRzDlNGPM0dkTghibMTNvNCWl25ocaclpesDZpJMXWOa1Fd kQ0AQB2DyBS1VMy0Y2V Ms4Zr90ElYVW UU1nSLLJcn 1243F0000 ISBN-10: 1-4405-8478-8 L a u r e n S uS Sm a n Cover design by Sylvia McArdle Cover image © nikoniano/123RF www.adamsmedia.com If I [ ] Was You . . . And Alot More Grammar Mistakes You Might Be Making L a u r e n S uS Sm a n Avon, Massachusetts Copyright © 2015 by F+W Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher; exceptions are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews. Published by Adams Media, a division of F+W Media, Inc. 57 Littlefield Street, Avon, MA 02322. U.S.A. www.adamsmedia.com Contains material adapted and abridged from The Everything® Grammar and Style Book, 2nd Edition, by Susan Thurman, copyright © 2008 by F+W Media, Inc., ISBN 10: 1-59869-452- 9, ISBN 13: 978-1-59869-452-9. ISBN 10: 1-4405-8478-8 ISBN 13: 978-1-4405-8478-7 eISBN 10: 1-4405-8479-6 eISBN 13: 978-1-4405-8479-4 Printed in the United States of America. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sussman, Lauren, author. If I was you . . . / Lauren Sussman. pages cm Includes index. ISBN 978-1-4405-8478-7 (pb) -- ISBN 1-4405-8478-8 (pb) -- ISBN 978-1-4405- 8479-4 (ebook) -- ISBN 1-4405-8479-6 (ebook) 1. English language--Errors of usage. I. Title. PE1460.S89 2014 428.2--dc23 2014030610 Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and F+W Media, Inc. was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed with initial capital letters. Cover design by Sylvia McArdle. Cover image © nikoniano/123RF. This book is available at quantity discounts for bulk purchases. For information, please call 1-800-289-0963. Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Part I: Confusing Punctuation Marks (and How to Understand Them) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Misplacing Periods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Misused Question Marks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Incorrect Exclamation Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 May I Quote You on That? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Misplaced Punctuation with Quotation Marks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Incorrect Quotes Within Quotes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Wrong Possessive Apostrophe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 Misunderstood Plurals with Apostrophes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Messed-Up Contractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 How Not to Use Serial Commas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Wrong Use of Commas in a Compound Sentence . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 Problems Involving Commas with Clauses, Phrases, Appositives, and Introductory Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 Erroneous Commas in Dates, Addresses, and Letters . . . . . . . . . . .31 Wrong Commas in Degrees, Titles, and Long Numbers . . . . . . . . .33 Misplaced Colons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Wrong Use of Semicolons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 Incorrect Use of Hyphens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 Bad Dashes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 Wrong Placement of Parentheses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 Incorrect Brackets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48 Misuse of Ellipses and Slashes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 Part II: Mixed-Up Words (and How to Unmix Them) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Problems with Plural Nouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56 Incorrect Suffixes and Prefixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59 Misuse of Than and As . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62 Who versus Whom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63 Misused Phrases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66 Incorrect Irregular Verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68 Getting Verb-Subject Agreement Wrong. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 3 4 If I Was You . . . Misusing Linking Verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76 Getting the Wrong Verb Tense. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Incorrect Mood. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Active versus Passive Voice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87 Wrong Adverbial Comparisons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Part III: Complicated Parts of Speech (and How to Untangle Them) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Problems with Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94 Poor Pronoun References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Misuse of Person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Difficulties with Subjective and Objective Pronouns. . . . . . . . . . . 105 Incorrectly Ending with a Preposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Leaving Dangling Participles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Wrong Use of Conjunctions and Interjections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Bad Use of Gerunds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 Misuse of Infinitives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 Getting the Subject and Predicate Wrong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 Misunderstanding Direct and Indirect Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 Misusing Independent and Subordinate Clauses. . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 Wrong Use of Adjectival, Nominal, and Adverbial Clauses . . . . . . . 130 Part IV: Misfiring Sentences (and How to Fix Them) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133 Lack of Parallel Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 Faulty Predication and Coordination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Annoying Sentence Fragments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Run-On Sentences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Misusing Connectors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Clichés and Redundancies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Appendix A: Some Grammar Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 Appendix B: Common Irregular Verbs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 Appendix C: Commonly Misused Words and Phrases. . . . . . . . . . 176 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 Introduction If I was you, I’d do something different. You’ve probably heard this sentence, or something like it. You may even have used it. Some part of your brain tells you there’s something wrong with it, but you’re not sure quite what. There are lots of other sentences like that: We just saw two baby deers. The guys vehicle exploded in flames. Everything’s going to be alright now. Each one of those sentences has something wrong with it, but at first glance the problem may not be obvious. This book is here to show you how to fix these and other incorrect words and sentences. Your guide for this project? The rules of grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Now, don’t let this reference to grammar frighten you. Look at it this way: Grammar is really just a road map to language. Every time we start to write something, we’re setting off on an unknown journey across that big blank computer screen or piece of paper. We usually have a pretty good idea of where we are and where we want to get to. It’s the part in between that can be scary. This is where knowing the basic rules of English grammar and spelling helps. The rules are like signposts at key junctions telling you which way to turn. They help keep you from getting lost and confused amid the strange jungle that is the English language. That’s why you’re holding this book. You don’t need an exhaustive compilation of all the rules and regulations of our mother tongue. Instead, 5 6 If I Was You . . . you want something that’s concise and practical—a kind of pocket atlas you can pull out and consult when you feel you’ve lost your way. Each of the entries in this book starts with a common mistake. We discuss why the sample sentence is wrong, what point of grammar it illustrates, and how to fix it. Don’t worry if a lot of these mistakes sound familiar to you. We’re here to help you get your grammar in order and clean up any errors. In the end, you’ll have a nice, clear, well-lit, well-signed road in front of you. You can read the book from beginning to end, but it may be more helpful if you use the index to look up the specific problems about which you have questions. For further information, we’ve also included a list of resources. So open your atlas, turn on your GPS, and let’s set out on our journey. Everything’s going to be all right now! [Part I] Confusing Punctuation Marks (and How to Understand Them) 7 8 If I Was You . . . Wrong: Hand me the pen that rolled near you misplacing Periods A period is most often used to signal the end of a sentence that states a fact or one that gives a command or makes a request. For instance, both of the following are simple, declarative sentences that end with periods: • The pen fell down right next to your chair. • I’m wondering if it would be that hard for you to bend over and pick it up. Although the latter sentence contains an implied question, the end punctuation should be a period because the sentence as a whole states a fact (that I’m wondering something) rather than asks a question. Periods are also used in abbreviations, such as Dr., Ms., Rev., i.e., and et al. Good Grammar Tip If your declarative or imperative sentence ends with an abbreviation that takes a period, don’t put an additional period at the end. Write: I’ll be at your apartment to pick you up at 8 p.m. not I’ll be at your apartment to pick you up at 8 p.m.. right: Hand me the pen that rolled near you. Part I: Confusing Punctuation Marks (and How to Understand Them) 9 Wrong: Are you available for a long, pointless, late-morning meeting. misused Question marks News flash: Question marks go at the end of direct questions and sentences that end in questions. You knew that, didn’t you? Couldn’t that information have been left out? You get the picture, don’t you? Surely the point has sunk in by now, hasn’t it? A question mark is also used to show that there’s doubt or uncertainty about something written in a sentence, such as a name, a date, or a word. In birth and death dates, such as (?–1565), the question mark means the birth date hasn’t been verified. Look at this example: • The police are searching for Richard O. (?) in connection with the crime. Here, the question mark means that the author is uncertain about the person’s name. But look at this example: • He’s said to have stolen $5,000 (?) from a children’s charity. The question mark means that the author is unsure about the exact amount of the theft. Watch to see if a question mark is part of a title. If it is, be sure to include it in any punctuation that goes with the title: • I won’t watch that new television program Can You Believe What Scum These Criminals Are? Good Grammar Tip Remember, question marks go inside quotation marks if the quoted material forms a question. Otherwise, question marks go outside quotation marks. Notice the difference in these examples: Brendan asked, “Who on earth steals money from a kids’ charity?” Did Brendan say, “People like that should be tossed in jail and the key thrown away”?