A Few Common Errors

1. A Few Common Errors In Grammar, Punctuation, and Spelling

2. Spelling • Definitely: Something is definite. It is absolute. It will DEFINITELY happen. • Defiantly: Someone is doing something rebellious. • Definitely vs. Defiantly. • “I will defiantly be in class on Friday.” Is that really what you mean?

3. There, Their, They’re • There: place. • Put the coat over THERE. • Their: possession • They put THEIR coats over there. • They’re = they are • THEY’RE about to put their coats over there.

4. Its vs. It’s • Its is POSSESSIVE • The dog is wagging ITS tail. • It’s = IT IS • Look at that dog; IT’S wagging its tail. • Possessive pronouns don’t have apostrophes. • Why? • I have no idea, but • You’d never write (I hope) HI’S (as in “That’s hi’s coat.”)

5. Then vs. Than • Then is time • First I’ll finish studying and THEN I’ll go out. • Or causal relations (if X, then Y) • If I finish studying, THEN I can go out. • Than is comparison • I’d rather be reading The Hunger Games THAN hanging out in Aggieville. • The book is better THAN the movie.

6. That vs. Who • People are WHO (like in Dr. Seuss) • Things, objects, animals are THAT • I had a student WHO owned a wolf. NOT I had a student that owned a wolf.

7. Could HAVE • It’s could HAVE not could OF. • Verbally, we say “I could’ve played pro basketball.” • That contraction (could’ve) sounds like COULD OF, but it’s actually COULD HAVE. • So in writing more formal documents (essays, cover letters, etc.) use the proper COULD HAVE. • I could have played pro basketball.

8. The Mighty Semi-Colon • There are THREE primary ways you’re going to use a semi-colon • To combine two closely related independent clauses. • In a list with internal commas • Before a larger conjunctive adverb or adverbial phrase

9. Scared? • Is that vocabulary freaking you out? Don’t let it. • Ready? • Independent clauses are simply full sentences. • That’s it. Nothing scary there. They can stand on their own (they’re independent) and they’re clauses, so they have a noun and a time verb. But you don’t need to worry about that, really. • Is it a full sentence that can stand on its own? Then it’s an independent clause.

10. To join independent clauses • You can use a semi-colon to join two closely related independent clauses. • But BOTH sides of the semi-colon have to be full sentences. • Look at that dog; it’s chasing its tail. • “Look at that dog” is a full sentence. • “It’s chasing its tail” is a full sentence. • And they’re closely related.

11. Comma Splice • Many people mess this up by using a comma rather than a semi-colon to join two independent clauses. • Look at that dog, it’s chasing its tail. • That’s what’s called a comma splice (cs). • Many of your professors will screw this up, too, but it drives English professors bonkers for some reason. (Myself included.)

12. The poor comma • That poor comma can’t hold together two full sentences. • I mean, look at it. • , • It’s so little. • That’s just mean, asking it to do that work. It’s not strong enough. • You need a semi-colon. • Check out how much bigger a semi-colon is

13. ;

14. So if you have two closely related full sentences, use a semi-colon to join them and give the poor comma a break.

15. BUT • It HAS to be a full sentence on BOTH sides of the semi-colon. • So NOT • Look at that dog; chasing its tail. • “Chasing its tail” is not a full sentence.

16. Look at that dog; chasing its tail. • How might we fix that? • Look at that dog chasing its tail. • Look at that dog; it’s chasing its tail. • Look at that tail-chasing dog. • Look at that dog. It’s chasing its tail.

17. See that last one? • Look at that dog. It’s chasing its tail. • That’s perfectly correct. So why use a semi-colon? • Semi-colons indicate a closer relationship between clauses/ideas than periods do. • So the clauses joined by a semi-colon need to be closely related. • Look at that dog; I like almonds. • That’s just weird.

18. Punctuation variation • Semi-colons can also provide punctuation variation and can vary the “flow” of a paragraph. • But be careful. • Over-using semi-colons is distracting and tiring. • Watch:

19. Overused semi-colons Look at that dog; it’s chasing its tail. Tail chasing looks like fun; I wish I could do it. I’ve always liked chasing things; I’ve always been active that way. I probably could have been an athlete; there are a lot of athletes in my family. • That’s just tiring. • We end up with punctuation fatigue.

20. In a list with internal commas • Sometimes lists already have commas built in. • For example, it’s convention to put a comma between city and state. • Manhattan, Kansas. • So what if you have a list with three cities and states in it?

21. My favorite cities are Ashland, Wisconsin, Marquette, Michigan, Manhattan, Kansas. • See how hard that is to read? • We need to break up the individual UNITS. • How do we do that? • Yep: semi-colons

22. My favorite cities are Ashland, Wisconsin; Marquette, Michigan; and Manhattan, Kansas. • Those semi-colons break that confusing list with internal commas into readable units.

23. Another example • My favorite foods are sushi, or raw fish, venison, also known as deer, and lobster. • Well that’s confusing. • My favorite foods are sushi, or raw fish; venison, also known as deer; and lobster. • See how the post-comma information clarifies or defines the noun?

24. One more • Renovating a house is hard work. You have to scrape, prime, and paint the walls; clean and scrub everything; tear up carpet, patch places, put in new flooring; and rewire all of the electrical. • See how those semi-colons break that into related chunks? Scraping, priming, and painting all has to do with painting. It’s one unit. • You have to scape, prime, and paint the walls, clean and scrub everything, tear up carpet, patch places, put in new flooring, and rewire all of the electrical. • The all-comma version isn’t wrong, but it’s not as clear.

25. Before larger conjunctive adverbs or adverbial phrases • Again, don’t let the vocab scare you. • We’re talking about those joining (conjunctive) words such as • However, therefore, nonetheless • And phrases such as • In that case, as a result, on the other hand • These introduce a second clause and usually mark some sort of relationship.

26. Examples • I want to go out tonight; however, I have too much work to do. • I’ve done three major revisions on my first paper; as a result, I’ve produced a stronger final version.

27. Little coordinating conjunctions • You DON”T need a semi-colon before little coordinating conjunctions • And, but, or • NOT this • I’ve done three major revisions on my first paper; and, I’ve produced a stronger final version. • Instead • I’ve done three major revisions on my first paper and I’ve produced a stronger final version.

28. To complicate matters further • If you have that conjunctive adverb functioning not to join those two clauses, you also don’t need the semi-colon. • So NOT • I’ve done three major revisions on my first paper and as a result; I’ve produced a stronger final version. • BUT instead • I’ve done three major revisions on my first paper and, as a result, I’ve produced a stronger final version.

29. Why? Because English is ridiculous.

30. Colons • Colons look like this : • They’re generally used to introduce lists. • BUT • You only use a colon to introduce a list if you have an independent clause BEFORE the colon. • Unless it’s a business memo, but that’s not what we’re talking about here.

31. What’s an independent clause again? • Right. A full sentence. • I have three favorite cities: Ashland, WI; Marquette, MI; and Manhattan, KS. • NOT • My three favorite cities are: Ashland, WI . . . • Instead • My three favorite cities are Ashland, WI; . . .

32. Oxford Commas • Many people argue that the oxford comma’s use is not necessary and that no one cares about it. • Should we?

33. The Answer? I do. And since I give you you’re final grade, you should, too!

34. And you should, too. • Unless you’re in journalism, but we’ll get to that. • The Oxford Comma / The Serial Comma • The last comma in a list. • My favorite foods are venison, sushi, and ice cream. • The comma after “sushi” is the serial (or Oxford) comma. • (Also, a coma is what you can’t wake up from; a comma is a punctuation mark.)

35. Why should you care? • Because it changes meaning. • Don’t believe me? Watch: • My favorite foods are venison, pizza, lobster, sushi and ice cream. • Umm, yeah, I’ve just told you that one of my favorite foods is ice cream with sushi on it. • Gross.

36. The woods • The woods are lovely, dark and deep. • Anyone know who wrote that? • Robert Frost. It’s good stuff.

37. Robert Frost The woods are lovely, dark and deep. The woods are lovely, dark, and deep. • In the first, the woods are lovely BECAUSE they’re dark and deep. Dark and deep define HOW the woods are lovely. • In the second, those three adjectives are all equal. The darkness & deepness are not, there, lovely.

38. Which One Is Correct? • #1: We invited the strippers, JFK and Stalin. • OR • #2: We invited the strippers, JFK, and Stalin.

39. See what happened there? • Without the Oxford comma we’ve turned Stalin and JFK into strippers. • Don’t turn Stalin and JFK into strippers.

40. Some people are wrong Some people will tell you that you don’t need the Oxford comma and, in fact, some style guides will tell you to avoid it. They’re wrong. If one of these wrong-minded people is grading you, however, you might as well do what they ask (and feel silently smug in your knowledge of their wrongness).

41. Journalism • In Journalism, though, every character counts (like Twitter). • So journalists (newspaper, magazines, etc.) don’t use the Oxford comma because it takes up a precious character spot. • We’ll forgive them for that. • But not anyone else who doesn’t use it.

42. Run-ons • We’ve actually covered this with semi-colons, but a refresher. • A comma splice is when you’re trying to connect two full sentences with a comma instead of a semi-colon. • That’s one kind of run on. • Another kind is when you just run independent clauses together without punctuation.

43. Run-ons • It’s hard to remember all of this information, I should probably be taking notes. • Yes, you probably should. • But notice that comma splice there? • How might we fix that? • It’s hard to remember all of this information; I should probably be taking notes. • Or use a period. Not the comma.

44. No punctuation run-ons • It’s hard to remember this information I should probably be taking notes this information seems important. • Yikes. • It’s hard to remember this information; I should probably be taking notes. This information seems important. • Whew. That’s better.

45. Fragments • Fragments aren’t full sentences. • I want to go to the Union. Because I am hungry. • [Because I am hungry] is a fragment. It’s not a full sentence. • “Because” introduces a dependent clause – it depends on some other information to complete the thought. • If you walked up to a friend and said “Because I am hungry” they’d think you’re losing it.

46. Better • I want to go to the Union because I am hungry. • I’m hungry; I want to go to the Union.

47. Who vs. Whom • Yeah, this is going to go away. We’re going to get rid of whom. • But some people feel strongly about this, so here we go.

48. Who • Who is the SUBJECTIVE form of the word, so it’s functioning as the subject of a sentence. • Who is speaking at the union? • If you say something like that and someone says “WHOM is speaking” in order to correct you . . . • You can just correct them and tell them • To stop being so pretentious • That they’re wrong because it’s the subjective form of the word.

49. Whom • If you can put a preposition in front of it (to, from, for), use whom. • Whom is the OBJECTIVE form of the word. It functions as the object of a preposition. • To whom it may concern. • To whom are you speaking? • For whom is this birthday cake?

50. More Whom • Slightly more confusing (and from Grammar Girl), is this example: • Whom do you love? • There’s no preposition there, but it’s functioning as an object. “You” is the (acting) subject in that sentence. You is the person doing the loving, so the object of that love is . . . whom. • You’re in love with whom? With whom are you in love?