Confessions of a grammar ignoramus

/in /by

Many people think of me as a grammar expert. I can see why. After all, I’ve shared many blog posts and social media updates that touch upon grammar. However, I know the truth. I’m no expert.

My history with grammar began in a conventional way, with English classes in a suburb of Rochester, N.Y. The classes challenged me. My brain didn’t seem to think in terms of the rules. However, I slowly absorbed them. As I recall, I was a B student in my high school English classes. They weren’t my strength.

Then, educational reform hit. My high school switched to teaching what it called “linguistics” instead of grammar in English class. It was a totally different approach to understanding sentence structure. It wish I could say that linguistics clicked with me in a way that traditional grammar did not. Nope. The only thing I remember from those classes is the word “morpheme.” However, I didn’t remember what it means. I had to use Google to find that Wikipedia defines it as “the smallest grammatical unit in a language.”

The result of my high school’s switch? I learned neither system. If you ask me to explain either system’s approach to sentence structure, I’ll give you a blank stare or run to my computer to do an online search.

However, I eventually came to understand many of traditional grammar’s rules. I haven’t achieved this through an intensive study of grammar rules. That strikes me as a time-consuming exercise in memorization. Instead, I’ve learned by fixing problems in my writing, with help from other people’s feedback and my research.

I’ve unconsciously absorbed good grammar by reading and applying other people’s feedback on my writing. I’ve received this feedback in writing classes and writing groups, where teachers and peers tell me what works and what doesn’t. I’ve also received it in one-on-one exchanges with editors and friends. The people who gave me feedback typically didn’t mention grammar in their feedback, but they pushed me toward writing in a more grammatical, reader-friendly way.

My grammar research has been spurred by the realization that I don’t know grammar well enough to decide what’s right. Sometimes a Google search is enough to answer my questions. Other times I turn to my favorite reference books or online resources for grammar, punctuation, and usage questions. Sometimes I turn to writers forums or friends because I’m not sure what to input into the search box—or to seek in the index—to find the answers to my questions. Some of my blog posts about grammar, punctuation, and usage have originated with my trying to answer questions raised by my writing or the questions of my readers. My question-inspired blog posts include “How do you make Degas possessive?,” “That vs. which: Which is right?,” and “Proper usage of periods: One space or two?”

My inadequate knowledge of grammar has made me feel sympathy for other people’s struggles with writing. It’s not easy to get things right, especially if you haven’t received good training.

I still have a lot to learn. For example, I struggle with when to use commas in long, complex sentences. That’s a tough topic to understand. Putting commas in the right places requires making many judgments. Once I figure out the answer, I’ll share it here.

Thank you for sticking with me as continue my quest to better understand grammar!

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Celebrate National Grammar Day with me

/in /by
Grammar is important. When used properly, it helps us communicate better.

 

In honor of National Grammar Day, please join me on the Investment Writing Facebook page for Mistake Monday and check out some of my blog posts (see links below) related to grammar, punctuation, and style. Also, click on the National Grammar Day box to see what Grammar Girl is doing for National Grammar Day.

 

Test your proofreading skills on Mistake Monday

On Monday mornings I post some writing samples that let you test your proofreading skills. Here’s an example from a past Mistake Monday. If you’re reading this blog post on a Monday, mosey over to the Investment Writing Facebook page and join in the fun!

 

I have a confession to make. Some of the mistakes are my own. Nobody’s perfect. Mistake Monday keeps me on my toes.

 

Blog posts on grammar, punctuation, style, and other writing challenges

Are you as compulsive as me or I?

/in /by

I’m not perfect. I make grammar mistakes, too. This post is my attempt to learn from one of my many mistakes.

I wrote “… as compulsive as me” in a Weekly Tip. A kind reader told me I’d made a mistake, I should have written “as I.”  I have asked some friends for their opinion on this topic. They all agreed that “I” – not “me” – was correct because the sentence could be completed “…as compulsive as I am.”

Here’s an explanation by David Budin that I found particularly helpful. 

If you’d like to see more of my mistakes, please visit Mistake Monday on the Investment Writing Facebook page. When I make mistakes, I include them in my Mistake Monday feed. It’s a good reminder for me to learn from my mistakes.

Have you learned from a recent writing mistake?

Please share what you’ve learned from your mistakes.

“The Which Trials” according to “Woe is I”

/in , , /by

Woe Is I

If you’ve ever worried whether to use “which” or “that” you’re not alone. It took me years to figure out. However, Patricia O’Connor lays out the rules nicely in “The Which Trials” section of her book, Woe is I: The Grammarphobe’s Guide to Better English in Plain English.

Which vs. that

Here are O’Connor’s rules from page 3 of her book.

  • If you can drop the clause and not lose the point of the sentence, use which. If you can’t, use that.
  • A which clause goes inside commas. A that clause doesn’t.

Investment commentary example

I grabbed a sentence from a John Mauldin commentary to illustrate O’Connor’s rules for using which. In “A Player to Be Named Later,” he wrote, “The carrot is 1% financing for your banks, which can then buy your bonds at 4-5-6% (depending on the country).”

Which is proper in this sentence because the following sentence makes sense: “The carrot is 1% financing for your banks.” Mauldin properly places a comma before the start of the which clause.

Here’s a Mauldin sentence that properly uses that: “Will those lines look like the one that Colonel Travis drew with his sword at the Alamo, where those who crossed and joined him knew their fate?” A sentence consisting only of “Will those lines look like the one?” doesn’t make sense. Thus, that is required.

The first sentence of Mauldin’s commentary requires a judgment call about whether the second clause is essential to the meaning of the sentence. It says, “We have come to the end of yet another European Summit that was supposed to be the one to fix the problem.” The shortened version of the sentence–“We have come to the end of yet another European Summit”–works, suggesting which should replace that. However, it seems important to me that the summit failed to fix the problem. Without that phrase, the meaning of the sentence would change. Thus, it satisfies O’Connor’s stipulation that without the that clause you would “lose the point of the sentence.”

You’ll find more on these rules in “Which Versus That” by Grammar Girl Mignon Fogarty, one of my favorite online grammar resources. For a more technical explanation, see “Introduction and General Usage in Defining Clauses” on the Purdue Online Writing Lab site.

By the way, I wish Mauldin hadn’t capitalized “Summit.” But that’s a whole other issue, which I’ve explored in “Do you use ‘pride capitals’?”

Woe is I is a fun read

I recommend O’Connor’s Woe is I as a fun read. Plus, you may learn something from it. I know I did. I’m glad I learned about it from a post on the Copyediting Facebook page.

Fun with Strunk and White: Grammar rap video

/in /by

This grammar rap video on Strunk and White’s Elements of Style cracked me up, so I’m sharing it with you. I discovered this on Grammar Girl’s website. Please note that Grammar Girl says you CAN split infinitives, despite what the video says.

The Elements of Style from Jake Heller on Vimeo.

How can I brush up my grammar?

/in , , /by

Grammar, punctuation, and word usage questions puzzle many of my readers. If you’d like to brush up on the basics, I’ve got some tips for you.

1.  Buy and read Edit Yourself  by Bruce Ross-Larson.

This slim paperback offers tips in an easy-to-read style in its first 11 chapters. For example, “Long sentences−those of more than, say, twenty words−often are hard to read. Short sentences usually are not.” The second half of the book is an alphabetical, reader-friendly reference.

When you have questions beyond the book’s scope, check out the books listed in “My five favorite reference books for writers” and the online resources I discuss in “Poll: What’s your favorite online resource for grammar, punctuation, and word usage questions?”

2. Take GrammarBook.com quizzes.

GrammarBook.com offers interactive quizzes. What I liked about the one quiz I took was that the answers explained the rules clearly. Plus, it taught me some fine points of grammar, so it’s good for advanced students as well as writers who are brushing up.

Some of the GrammarBook quizzes are free. If you like the freebies enough, you can buy an annual subscription to access the rest.

Disclosure: If you click on an Amazon link in this post and then buy something, I will receive a small commission. I provide links to books only when I believe they have value for my readers.

Introducing “Mistake Monday” on the Investment Writing Facebook page

/in , , /by

Every writer makes mistakes. The best writers learn from mistakes. In the interest of furthering your learning, I’ve introduced Mistake Monday on the Investment Writing Facebook page. My goal is to share examples of writing mistakes every Monday. I also welcome your contributions.

For Mistake Monday, can you suggest a replacement for "mitigate"? You may not think of "mitigate" as a mistake, but I'd prefer a simpler word.

Why you should visit the Mistake Monday posts

Mistake Monday offers you a chance to test your knowledge of the fine points of writing. I’ll post writing samples, but I won’t correct them. At least not right away. I’d like to give you room for friendly discussions about the mistakes on the page.

Reading the comments on the Mistake Monday conversations will help you to refine your understanding of good writing. I expect to learn things, too.

Please contribute to Mistake Monday

I welcome your posts of writing mistakes on any Monday, but only on Mondays. Please keep the content clean and your comments civil. I look forward to learning from you!

Guest post: “Using Clause Analysis to Fix Your Complex Sentences”

/in , , /by

If you can’t figure out why your written sentences are too long, then you’ll find a useful tool in this guest post by Joe Croscup. Joe was a wonderful assistant when I taught “How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read” last year. He is also an excellent freelance proofreader, with an eagle eye for catching inconsistencies.

Using Clause Analysis to Fix Your Complex Sentences

By Joseph Croscup

Financial markets are complicated. However, you must not allow your sophistication and knowledge to interfere with clear and concise writing. Understanding your clauses can help.

Common problem in financial writing

Financial writers often make two-part cause and effect statements. They say, because of a factor, the following fact, conclusion, or prediction is true. Therefore, the standard sentence contains at least two clauses. When a writer qualifies the cause or the effect, or both, a sentence is soon cluttered with three or four clauses.

Sentences overpopulated with clauses are unclear and imprecise. The reader confuses the relationship among the parts. Tortuous or excessively long sentences deplete attention and obfuscate meaning even when grammatically perfect.

No one aims to write overly complex sentences. When financial advisors report on the market in real time, it’s easy to see how confusing sentences are drafted. Writers are still formulating their thoughts during composition. However, a timely but muddled report offers little insight.

Solution: Recognize the words that identify new clauses

Your sentences are likely to confuse if you use too many clauses. If you don’t know how many clauses you’ve got, use the list below. The list contains words that act as dividers between clauses. Whenever you see one of these words, you may have started a new clause. However, be careful because some of these words−such as “and,” “or,” and “that”−sometimes play other roles in sentences.

  1. Coordinating conjunctions−“and,” “but,” “for,” “nor,” “or,” “so,” and “yet”
  2. Subordinate conjunctions−“after,” “although,” “because,” “except,” “if,” “unless,” “when,” “whether,” “while,” “though,” “unless,” “that”
  3. Prepositions introducing a clause or phrase−“after,” “except,” “before,” “until,” “concerning,” “according to,” “because of,” “instead of,” “together with,” “owing to”
  4. Conjunctive adverbs−“however,” “indeed,” “moreover,” “nevertheless,” “therefore,” “thus,” “furthermore,” “then,” “accordingly,” “also,” “besides”
  5. Transitional expressions−“for example,” “in fact,” “in addition,” “namely”

By memorizing this list−or keeping it handy−you can quickly see if your sentences have too many parts or if they are too complex. Then you know where you need to wield your editor’s pen.

At first, it may be difficult to untangle your sentences. Unlike a juggler, a writer is not always aware of how many plates he has suspended in the air. Knowing these key words will help you to determine relationships and more easily spot problems.

What’s your favorite online resource for grammar, punctuation, and word usage questions?

/in , , /by

Grammar, punctuation, and word usage questions come up every day–even for someone like me who prides herself on being a good writer.

We can all benefit from online resources that help us figure out answers to our writing challenges.

My three favorites: GrammarGirl, OWL, and Google

I often Google my writing questions.

But sometimes Google’s results aren’t on target or the sources don’t seem reliable. This is when I turn to GrammarGirl and Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab (OWL). Both are trustworthy sources that explain things clearly.

GrammarBook

Jane Straus’ GrammarBook website was brought to my attention by Jill Brogan of Martingale Asset Management after I originally drafted this post. I plan to visit this site more often. Although founder Jane Straus  passed away, her husband plans to continue her work.

Subscription-based resources

I use the hard-copy versions of the following two resources, so I imagine they’re worthwhile for organizations with budgets.

Your favorite online resource?

What’s YOUR opinion on the best online resource? Have you discovered new resources? Please share your new discoveries.

 

Note: This post has been updated since it originally appeared on Feb. 27, 2011.

 

My May blog posts by category: Blogging, economy/investments/wealth management, marketing, social media, writing

/in , , , , , , , , , , , , /by

Did you notice that I went wild in May, posting every day as part of the Word Count Blogathon? For your convenience, I’m listing my May posts by category.

Blogging

Economy, investments, and wealth management

Marketing

Social media

Writing

____________________    
Receive a free 32-page e-book with client communications tips when you sign up for my free monthly newsletter.  

Copyright 2010 by Susan B. Weiner All rights reserved

Copyright © 2026- Susan Weiner's Blog on Investment Writing