EGL 207 Grammar Blog

Deanna and Alijan wish to educate high school students through their favorite mode of viral communication: memes. We found that errors made by high school students tend to be simple and easily rectified. Therefore, we thought that memes are the best way to reach these students; through the viral nature of memes, the lesson can be spread much more easily.

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“It is I” sounds like something only a movie villain would say. And, it is mostly true because for some reason, only movie villains have perfect grammar. You see, “It is I” is actually the proper way of speaking. So, if you have ever pulled the “it’s not you it’s me” line on someone, you spoke improperly. However, we are so acclimated to “it’s me” just sounding right that we assume it is right. It is not. 

While both “I” and “me” are first person, singular pronouns, “me” is an objective pronoun where “I” is the subjective pronoun. What these fancy terms means is that the subject “I” is doing the action whereas the object “me” is receiving the action.

If you’re ever wondering whether to use “I” or “Me” in a sentence with more than one person, take out the other people. If it doesn’t sound right, then its the other pronoun.

Here’s an example: “James and me went shopping.” Let us take out James from the sentence. “Me went shopping.” It doesn’t sound right, does it? So, it must be I. “I went shopping.” Boom. You got it. Me vs. I. Now we can reconstruct the sentence to “James and I went shopping.”

~~AO

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I.e. and e.g. are frequently mistaken for one another in formal writing. This is not good, because they mean two totally different things. A cool fun fact is that both of these abbreviations are Latin abbreviations.

 I.e. stands for “id est” and means “in other words.” This translation is apt because that is exactly how you use i.e.. If you wish to explain something further, or explain it a little differently (as in, in other words), then you use i.e.. 

Here is an example: “I didn’t kill a man, I just tried to kill a man -- i.e. I shot at him but I missed.”

E.g. stands for “exempli gratia” and this translates to “for the sake of example.” You use it before you list an example. It is just like the translation! For the sake of an example, I’ll give you one:

“I love watching old TV shows, e.g. Rocket Power and Saved By The Bell.” 

It helps to differentiate between the two if you think of “e as in example” and “i as in in other words.”

This image is borrowed from collegemagazine.com

~~AO

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A gerund is a noun that is derived from a word, typically by using the -ing ending. E.g. “My snoring is loud.” In this case, the “snoring” is the noun of the sentence. That is all a gerund is! A gerund can be the subject of a sentence, and in order to identify a gerund, all you must do is look for the word that ends in -ing. Is it the subject of the sentence? Is it being used as a noun? If your answer is yes to either of those questions, it is probably a gerund! 

Also, to answer the meme’s question, I suppose it would be a noun-like verb. It is, in fact, a verb being used as a noun.

~~AO

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The oxford comma is the comma that precedes the coordinating conjunction at the end of a list of three or more terms. The oxford comma is debated by various writing and editing authorities. In formal and academic writing you should use it. It helps clear up ambiguities.

For example, let us take the unpunctuated sentence “I had toast eggs and orange juice” 

With the oxford comma it would be: “I had toast, eggs, and orange juice.” This sentence is clear in translating that I had consumed toast, eggs, and orange juice all individual of each other.

Without the oxford comma, the sentence reads as: “I had toast, eggs and orange juice.” The connotation of this sentence is that I had toast separate from a combination of eggs and orange juice. Perhaps the orange juice was a sauce for the eggs. That would be disgusting.

This is one example of the clarity introduced by the oxford comma. Use it.

(I take no credit for the Oxford Comma song) ~~AO

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This is one trap I’ve personally fallen into too many times. It’s been brought to our attention that “fewer” and “less” are words that are consistently being misused under the guise of being interchangeable. However, there is an easy trick to help people understand when it is appropriate to use one or the other. In instances where the object of question in the sentence can be counted, the correct word to use is “fewer.” For example: “This line is for customers with ten items or fewer” The rule applies even with extremely large numbers, as long as it is still technically countable: “There are fewer people in all of New Zealand than there are in New York City.” When the object is non-countable, such as abstract nouns, the correct word usage is “less.” For example: “Patients taking this new drug experience less anxiety than those who continue to take the generic brand.” ~~DZ

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Ah, Mr. Trump. The biggest meme of all comes with its own built in grammar mistake! I don’t even have to come up with any witty jokes. This is a tricky one though; can you spot it? 

*drum roll please!*

It’s a FAULTY COMPARISON! Yay!

A majority of faulty comparisons are incomplete comparisons which are found in advertisements that recommend a product because it is “bigger,” “faster,” or that it “eliminates 30% more germs” without including a “than x.” 

However, another reason a comparison could be faulty is due to inconsistency (as represented in the leader of the free world’s tweet). When making a comparison, the items that are being compared must have a basis in similarity. Therefore, Trump’s claim that the “economy” of Wisconsin is like “everywhere else in U.S.” is not only inconsistent, but illogical too. Comparing a thing: “Wisconsin’s economy”, to a place: “everywhere else,” is inconsistent because they are not similar. 

A better way to phrase this tweet would have been:

“Wisconsin, like everywhere else in the U.S., has a poor economy: jobs are leaving.” 

*Quick tip!*

A third way a comparison can be faulty is by being illogical. If trump were to have only said “everywhere” in place of the phrase “everywhere else,” the tween would have been illogical too. This is because the word “everywhere” encapsulates “Wisconsin” within its definition. Therefore, logically, Trump would have been comparing Wisconsin to itself. By saying “everywhere else,” he eliminates Wisconsin from the set.

Remember: to have a correct comparison it must be complete, consistent, and logical. 

~~DZ

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Another common grammar mistake is the run-on sentence. While teachers will tell you it is good to have a variety of sentence lengths and structures, it is always necessary to avoid a run-on sentence.

 Many of my teachers in the past have conflated a sentence that is grammatically correct but too long to follow with a run-on sentence. By definition, a run-on sentence is when there are two independent clauses that are connected by a conjunction but lack a separating comma such as:

“Every student understood the lesson so the papers were easy to grade.”

A lengthy sentence and a run-on sentence can be fixed in exactly the same way. All you have to do is split the sentence up. For a lengthy sentence, try and find somewhere to place a period and separate it into two or more sentences. For a run-on, or fused, sentence, you can separate it by placing a period after “lesson” in our example, and eliminating “so.” Another way to fix the above sentence would be to simply add a comma after “lesson.”

~~DZ

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This is actually a post I saw earlier when scrolling through tumblr for fun. While not entirely incorrect, there is confusion in the unclear antecedent of “them” in this post. Improper antecedents are another common mistake amongst high school students. 

Let us take this prior example and break it down:

“Them” could be referring to either the “‘fidget spinners’” or “your kids.” Because the fidget spinners is offset in quotes, it is considered a title. Therefore, the assumed antecedent of “them” is “kids.” Thus, the headline makes it seem as though you should be throwing your kids away. 

In order to be more clear in your antecedents and pronoun usage, try to vary your pronouns in your sentences, use proper nouns, or otherwise refer to your intended focus with a different word or phrase. Variation does help. For example, I could correct this headline to:

“Warning: If your kids have “fidget spinners,” throw the toy out now.” 

There is no confusion as to what should be thrown out in this headline, and no parent will thus throw out their child after reading this headline.

~~AO

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The passive voice is frowned upon in academic writing. Writers tend not to use the passive voice because it is neither clear nor concise. It tends to be awkward, unclear, and lack the explicit reference that the active voice would have. 

Take the example above; this iconic scene would be substantially less impactful should it have been spoken in anything other than active voice. It takes Rhett Butler’s impact away because of how much longer and how much clunkier the lines are spoken. “I do not give a damn” is right to the point. The passive voice just sounds worse, especially when spoken aloud. Do not use it. 

Write in the active voice. The subject does the action. The action is not done by the subject. It is much clearer to read that the subject is doing the action – far clearer

~~AO

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Dangling modifiers can be some of the most comical grammar mistakes if you catch them. The dangling modifier in this case is the first dependent clause, “frolicking through the flowers.” By definition a dangling modifier is a word or phrase that modifies a word that is not clearly stated in the sentence, if it is stated at all. A modifier in general is used to give more information about a concept. 

In the sentence, “Frolicking through the flowers, the sun shone brightly,” the reader is lead to believe that the sun takes the modifying action of frolicking through flowers. Unless the sun is a character in a trippy short story, this sentence does not make logical sense. One way to correct it would be to add a subject that the modifier can accurately attach to such as:

“Frolicking through the flowers, Jane enjoyed the warm sun that was shining brightly.”

~~DZ

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The apostrophe is used in two instances: to indicate possession and to indicate the omission of letters. The omission of letters is most prevalent in modern English through the use of contractions. A common mistake high schoolers make is assuming that the apostrophe is used to denote plurality. Typically, it is not.

The most common mistake, according to a high school English teacher of mine, is the apostrophe mistake in the word “its.” “Its” is denoting possession, and it is one of the examples where an apostrophe is not used to denote possession. “It’s” is a contraction for the words “it is.” 

In earlier writings, usually in poems in blank verse or iambic pentameter, you may see apostrophes used in place of letters to keep the meter by omitting syllables. This is another use of the apostrophe and has largely fallen out of favor in modern writing and poetry. Now, this omission is mostly seen in contractions. 

~~AO

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Pronouns can be ambiguous, especially in this day and age. But purposely ambiguous pronouns, called indefinite pronouns, such as each, neither, either, any, anyone, every, and everyone cause a lot of confusion in our focus group’s essays. 

To be perfectly honest, this is a rule I hadn’t heard about until taking EGL207. So there’s no need to feel bad about getting it wrong. Pronouns such as those mentioned above ALWAYS take singular verbs. For example:

This sentence is incorrect:

“Everyone in this room have brown eyes and brown hair.”

To correct it, the subject everyone must take the singular has: 

“Everyone in this room has brown eyes and brown hair” 

~~DZ

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Commas matter. While the comma splice is a very popular error, it doesn’t usually dramatically change the meaning of the clauses. However, a lack of commas can drastically change the meaning of a sentence. This change is apparent in the crass drawing above. 

Typically, you use a comma whenever you would like to pause or add additional information. The issue with this usage for high school students is that they use incorrect punctuation to indicate a pause -- thus, the comma splice. 

Make sure that when you are indicating a pause that you are using correct punctuation. Commas should be used to offset appositives in the sentence, such as the appositive “Jack” renaming the noun “uncle.”

~~AO

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Ahh yes, the sentence fragment. Here is a fun fact: the typical zombie portrayed in television and comics who say “brains,” almost on repeat, is not using proper grammar. By solely saying “brains” or “want brains,” the zombie is speaking in a sentence fragment. 

A sentence fragment is typically a group of words that do not serve as an independent clause. In order to be a complete sentence, the group of words must function as an independent clause, i.e. it must have a subject and a predicate. 

In order to make sure you are not using sentence fragments, proof the accused group of words. Does it have a complete idea? Does it have a subject and predicate? If not, it is likely a sentence fragment. 

~~AO

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She said “I’m feeling upset.

I replied, “there, their, they’re.” 

The three variations in orthography for the word pronounced /ðaer/ seem to mixed up frequently in high school papers. 

There is defined as: in or at a location. There is always a pointer -- whether it be for a location or a focus on something. 

Their is a word denoting possession of something. It is also plural, e.g. It is their bodies which are falling apart. 

They’re is simply a contraction for they are. In formal academic writing, contractions should not be used, though this rule is one that is slowly dying out. To play it safe, don’t use a contraction. (Haha I used it there)

~~AO

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To preface this image, it is important to understand the rule that in order to accurately substitute a subject, or antecedent, with a pronoun the pronoun must agree with both number and gender. For example:

“Sally lost her backpack.” 

Both Sally and her are singular and feminine. 

However, it has long been debated about what pronoun to use for ambiguous singular nouns as depicted in these examples:

“The journalist wasn’t sure where they put their camera.”

Or,

“The journalist wasn’t sure where he put his camera.”

Or,

“The journalist wasn’t sure where he or she put his or her camera.” 

For modern grammarians, the first example is perfectly accurate even though it only satisfies the gender and not the number as “they” is not (technically) a singular pronoun. 

Traditional grammarians fall back on using “he” in the second example. This also does not satisfy both requirements. It satisfies number, but not gender. 

Finally, the third example tries to rectify both gender and number; however, it is tedious and wordy. 

*Quick tip!*

So which should you use? The answer is that you can choose. However, it is wise to understand the context in which you will be presenting a sentences that might require a pronoun for an ambiguous antecedent. If it is a paper you need to hand in to a very traditional teacher, you might want to use “he.” If you feel strongly about gender binaries however, as I do, using “one” is a good alternative. If the paper is being handed into a teacher that supports the singular they, then go ahead and use it! Finally, remember: everyday speech is most likely not going to be graded, so use whatever you want!

*FUN fact!*

Using “they” as a singular pronoun can be traced back to Early Modern English. Writers such as Chaucer used it freely. In my books, that means we should all be able to as well, but then again, I’m not a professional. 

~~DZ

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The three main types of verbal tenses are the past tense, the present tense, and the future tense. It is important to use the correct tenses in a sentence if you want to be understood and get your point across clearly. However, it can be very common to misuse a certain tense when there is a shift in the temporal setting of a sentence. For example, this is an incorrect shift:

“I will buy orange juice, and ate cookies.”

Here, buy is present tense while ate is past tense. The correct way to write this sentence while accounting for the tense shift would be something like this:

“I will buy orange juice because I ate cookies and my mouth is dry.”

Actually, the sentence above shifts three times! It includes all verb tenses used accurately. 

Because verb tense allows the reader to know when an action is taking place, it is important to keep the tenses consistent and in logical order.

~~DZ