Zero Article

Zero Article

Zero article refers to when a noun is NOT preceded by a, an or the (which are all three known as articles). This, however, is not a random omission. Like everything else in grammar, the zero article, or absence of one of the three articles before a noun, is governed by rules:

1) Use a zero article when the exact one or ones is not known.
     For example: People should understand how their government functions. (We do not know which people should understand. Which is not specified. If we did know, we might write, The people of France should understand how their government functions.)
     Lodeche's economy is in trouble. Monies are needed for the survival of the republic. (We do not know the exact monies, but we do know the exact republic.)

2) Use a zero article (no article at all) with proper nouns.
     For example: Sally Jane skips down Langston Street, turns the corner at Hughes Department Store, and spits into Calloway Creek. (Without proper nouns, we would use articles and the sentence would read, A girl skips down the street, turns the corner at the department store, and spits into the creek.)


Tomorrow: We breathe a sigh of relief and rest.

This post is brought to you by the April A to Z Blog Challenge. Check back all through April for daily discussions of writing conventions.

Your v. You're

Your v. You're

They certainly sound the same, but they are worlds apart in meaning. Nonetheless, many people tend to use them interchangeably. But we can do our small part to right this problem.

Your is a possessive pronoun. It denotes ownership of something.
     For example: Go get your shoes. If you don't see them in the hall, look under your jacket. I'm really tired of you leaving your stuff in the floor.

You're is a contraction of the pronoun you and the verb are.
     For example: You're failing to take responsibility for your belongings. Someday, you're sure to appreciate how I've cleaned up behind you.

Tip: If you are uncertain about which word to use in a sentence, insert the words you are. If the sentence makes sense, then you're is the word you're looking for. If you are does not make sense in the sentence, then your should be used.

Now that we've settled that, I feel a calm settling on us all.

Tomorrow: Zero Article

This post is brought to you by the April A to Z Blog Challenge. Check back all through April for daily discussions of writing conventions.

Overcoming the Red X

X

Who has not been the victim of the big, red X, scritch-scratched across a school paper by a teacher or marked on a manuscript at the hand of an editor? It's shocking when we see it. I dare say, it hurts, physically and psychologically. And almost always, it is associated with a violation of standard writing conventions.

Our primary goal, other than to compose a unique piece of writing that others cannot bear to put down, is to avoid the X. The best way to do that is to proofread with writing conventions in mind. And if we have violated any of them, to either correct them or to compose a suitable defense for them.

In that vein, I offer some tried and true proofreading strategies:

1) Put the piece down and walk away. After some time has passed, read through it again with a critical eye.


2) Read the piece out loud, preferably not in public.

3) Alert! Alert! Don't get cornered by a deadline or due date. Allow enough time for proofreading once the piece is complete.


4) Become mindful of your typical mistakes (maybe even keep a list of them handy) and actively look for those in the paper.

5) Ask someone else - someone who is familiar with grammar, punctuation, capitalization and usage - to read the piece.


6) Be a stranger to your own work. Put yourself in the place of your unknown reader and look at it through his or her eyes.

 7) Read one sentence at a time, paying attention to each word, each punctuation mark, etc. Reading from the end to the beginning makes this process easier.

Proofreading, like anything, takes practice. It can be very frustrating. The story is complete. There's nothing more to say. Yet, here we are still rehashing it, again and again. When we start to feel bogged down in the process and ready to call it quits, we must remember that we are giving our reader a gift: A beautiful, well-written gift.

Tomorrow: Your v. You're

This post is brought to you by the April A to Z Blog Challenge. Check back all through April for daily discussions of writing conventions.

Who v. Whom

Who v. Whom

Hold on to your hat. The use is both complicated and simple.

Who and whom are both pronouns, which we all know are words that take the place of nouns, which we all know are people, places, things or ideas. The decision about whether to use who or to use whom depends on the role it plays in the sentence. Who is always the subject of a sentence, which we all know is the person, place, thing or idea doing the action. Whom is always the object in a sentence, which we all know is the person, place, thing or idea receiving the action of the verb.

     For example: Who plans to give the bad news to the people? When we arrive, we give the news to whom?
     To whom much is given, much is expected. Who, though, grants these gifts? I am the one who imparts them to my children.

Hint: Still having trouble deciding when to use who and when to use whom? Try inserting he and him into the sentence. If he works, then who is the pronoun you seek. If him works, then whom is what you want.

Tomorrow: X

This post is brought to you by the April A to Z Blog Challenge. Check back all through April for daily discussions of writing conventions.

Verb-Subject Agreement

Verb-Subject Agreement

Yes, I know this is normally written subject-verb agreement, but I needed a V-word in my A to Z theme of writing conventions. Please don't hold this stretch against me.

Subjects and verbs in sentences should always agree in number. In other words, singular subjects should have singular verbs and plural subjects should have plural verbs. Keep in mind that most nouns are made plural by adding -s to the end. Most verbs with an -s on the end are singular. Subject-verb agreement rules to remember:

1) The pronouns anyone, someone, everyone, no one, anybody are SINGULAR pronouns and must be accompanied by a SINGULAR verb.
     For example: Everyone sees the hypocrisy of  attending church to meet customers and make more sales. No one denies that such things are done. Someday, someone is going to address the practice from the pulpit. Most anyone agrees, however, that at least the hypocrites are at church.

2) Each is always SINGULAR and requires a SINGULAR verb.
     For example: Each of the real estate agents expresses guilt when confronted by the deacons. Each regrets dropping his business card into the offering plate. Each of the agents is embarrassed. (Each is the subject of the first and third sentences, not agents. Agents is part of the prepositional phrase that begins with the word to. A sentence's subject and verb are NEVER part of a prepositional phrase.)

3) Careful! Either and neither are SINGULAR subjects and require a SINGULAR verb.
     For example: Neither dress is appropriate for the wedding.Either is designed to upstage the bride.

4) When and joins two subjects, a PLURAL verb follows.
     For example: The fuchsia dress and the white dress are not acceptable choices.

5) When or or nor is used, the subject closest to the verb determines whether or not it will be PLURAL or SINGULAR.
     For example: The cornflower blue dress or the skirts are appropriate for the occasion. Black pantsuits nor the off-white ensemble is too business-like for a Saturday afternoon affair.

6) Don't accompanies a PLURAL subject. Doesn't accompanies a SINGULAR subject.
     For example: They don't know how to fish with a cane pole. Louise doesn't care to teach them. She doesn't like to bait her own hook, but they don't offer to help her. No one has fun on those fishing trips.

In English, subject-verb agreement can get very tricky. We have lots of nouns that end in -s, but are singular, such as news, mathematics and measles. We have many collective nouns that we know to be more than one person or thing, but that are treated as if they are singular, such as team, family, fleet, and crew. Proceed with caution.

Tomorrow: Who v. Whom

This post is brought to you by the April A to Z Blog Challenge. Check back all through April for daily discussions of writing conventions.

Underline

Underline

Underlining is a way to distinguish, or emphasize, specific text, a word or group of words, from that around it. As wordprocessing has become more prevalent and more sophisticated, many writers choose to italicize rather than underline; thus, the two techniques are interchangeable. Therefore, it is technically incorrect to underline an italicized word(s) or italicize an underlined word(s).

1) DO NOT underline/italicize punctuation (commas, end marks, semicolons, colons) that follows the words being underlined/italicized, unless the punctuation is part what is being underlined/italicized.
     For example: Callie Ann Metcalf announces the release of her seminal book on Southern girls, Friends Make the Tea Sweet, Enemies Add the Ice!

2) Underline/Italicize the titles of things that can stand alone:

•  Journals and Magazines
• Plays
• Novels
• Long Music Compositions
• Movies
• Television Shows
• Radio Shows
• Art Pieces
• Published Speeches
• Lengthy Poems
• Pamphlets

3) Caution! DO NOT underline/italicize titles of short stories, television show episodes, journal or magazine articles, or poems. Enclose these titles in quotation marks.
     For example: Her last article, "Summer House," which appeared in The New Yorker, offers a teaser about what readers can expect from the longer manuscript.

4) Underline/italicize names of famous planes, trains, automobiles, boats, space craft, and other vehicles, but not vehicle makes, models, manufacturers or brands. The prefixes USS, HMS and RMS are never underlined/italicized.
     For example: We rode in his Dodge Charger to the re-enactment of the sinking of the S.S. Titanic.

5) Notice! DO NOT underline/italicize titles of religious works or the chapters within them.
     For example:  Read your Bible every day. The Gospel of Luke is my favorite book.

6) Underline/italicize foreign words that are not loanwords (see my L post) or easily translated by a majority of readers.
      For example:  Frederick snickered quietly just behind Felicia's shoulder, pushing her buttons until her temper boiled to al dente. Then, she caught herself and backed off the burner.

7) Underline/italicize words under discussion.
     For example:  When you say the word etiquette, my posture goes prim.

8) Underline/italicize sound words.
For example:  Shhhstka-stka-stka, shhhstka-stka-stka. The boys could hear the rattlesnake, before they could see it.

Though, many teachers and many writers still prefer underlining, I almost always italicize instead. To me, the text looks cleaner and the eye flows across it easier, while the brain still understands that the words are being emphasized for a particular reason. All in all, it comes down to personal preferences. Which do you tend to use?

Tomorrow: Verb-Subject Agreement (I know I have it in reverse order. Give me a break. V is hard.)

This post is brought to you by the April A to Z Blog Challenge. Check back all through April for daily discussions of writing conventions.

Then v. Than

Then v. Than 

Based on FaceBook posts and emails I receive, there seems to be great confusion about when to use then and when to write than. As you will soon see, however, the distinction between the two words is greater than the one letter that separates them. And once we understand the distinction, we will use the words right every time.

Than is used for making comparisons.
     She is no more brilliant than a wood ant.
     Time slips by faster than a 12 year-old boy up to mischief.
     I'd rather own a pony than an hissing cockroach.

Then is an expression of time or of order of events.
     Go to the Dixie Queen, then turn left.
     When it rains, the fun will end; we won't go home until then.
     First, peel the banana. Next, hold it firmly below the drape of the peels. Then, take a bite.
     It wasn't until then, when we saw the shark fin, that we were scared.
If this post proves I'm smarter than a 5th grader, then leave a comment. Even if it doesn't, leave a comment :)

Tomorrow: Underline

This post is brought to you by the April A to Z Blog Challenge. Check back all through April for daily discussions of writing conventions.