Author: Hope Toler Dougherty-Grammar and Grace

Hope Toler Dougherty holds a Master’s degree in English and taught at East Carolina University as well as York Technical College. A member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Romance Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime, she lives with her husband, Kevin, in North Carolina and chats with their two daughters and twin sons through ooVoo.

Categories
Grammar and Grace

Confusing Words…Again!

 

Yes, we’re continuing to visit confusing words because the English language abounds with them. Here are a few more examples to look for when you’re proofing your writing. Some are homophones while others are confusing because of their close spellings.

       1. Sensuous/Sensual

Sensuous means relating to the five senses, strong sensory appeal. If used correctly, the word does not have a sexual connotation.

The chocolate and hint of chili pepper combined to make a sensuous experience.

Sensual means relating to gratification of senses or the indulgence of the appetite, physically pleasing, and it comes with a hint of sex.

Many advertisements today rely on sensual images instead of clever copy.

      2. Pallet/Palate/Palette

A pallet is a temporary bed or a portable platform.

My grandmother used to make a pallet of quilts for me on her floor.

A palate is the roof of the mouth.

The hot soup scorched my palate.

A palette is an artist’s board of paint.

All the colors mingled on the artist’s palette.

      3. Carat/Karat

A carat is the unit of measure for precious stones.

Her engagement ring is a 2-carat diamond.

A karat is used to measure gold.

Her wedding band is comprised of 24 karat gold.

      4. Homey/Homely           

Homey relates to the home.

The abundance of candid photos and plump throw pillows added to the room’s homey ambiance.

Homely is used to describe things that are thought to be unattractive or simple.

The homely hound licked his spotted paw.

Take time to check on suspect words—the spelling as well as the definition.

Happy writing!

Categories
Grammar and Grace

Irregardless, Not a Word?

A few weeks ago I enjoyed a lovely dinner with friends at a cool restaurant in Raleigh. The first time I ate there—decades ago—I was a young English major and ordering quiche and raspberry iced tea made me feel cool, too. Quiche was an exotic dish back then. The name of the place added to my delight because I understood the clever use of a non-word, Irregardless Café.

Yes, that’s right. Irregardless is not a word. It could be a blend of irrespective and regardless, but it’s wrong to use. Use regardless instead.

Regardless of the outcome of the soccer game, I’ll treat myself to frozen yogurt.

Another word used incorrectly is impact. Impact is a noun, not a verb.

How did the new law impact bathroom usage? Wrong. Instead write, how did the new law affect bathroom usage?

Finally, let’s consider a whole sentence that is used incorrectly. I could care less means exactly the opposite of what the speaker intends. I could care less means…I could care less. Think about it! If you could care less, care less. If you couldn’t, use I couldn’t care less instead.

Despite how often you may hear these words in daily speech or on TV, they are not correct. They may make for a cool name of a restaurant, but using them incorrectly doesn’t endear you to old English teachers, editors, or grammar police.

Categories
Grammar and Grace

Aid for Comma Splices

A writing acquaintance of mine recently posted about her disdain of the comma splice, more importantly, the proliferation of this punctuation error in today’s printed materials.

Here’s an easy definition of a comma splice: the misuse of a comma to join two independent clauses (two sentences).

I bought new yarn yesterday, I already have fifteen skeins waiting for me to crochet.

In the above sentence, the comma comes between the two sentences. Wrong!

Here are easy fixes.

I bought new yarn yesterday. I already have fifteen skeins waiting for me to crochet. (Break the two independent clauses into two sentences.)

I bought new yarn yesterday, but I already have fifteen skeins waiting for me to crochet. (The comma plus a coordinating conjunction—and, but, or, nor, for, yet, so—can correctly join two sentences with the comma placed before the conjunction.)

I bought new yarn yesterday; I already have fifteen skeins waiting for me to crochet. (The *semi-colon is a stronger than the comma and can separate two sentences by itself.)

I bought new yarn yesterday; however, I already have fifteen skeins waiting for me to crochet. (The semi-colon precedes a conjunctive adverb and then a comma.)

*Some fiction writers avoid using the semi-colon.

 

 

Categories
Grammar and Grace Uncategorized

Dangling Modifiers

Last month, I overheard a conversation about dangling modifiers. Lots of laughter. Lots of confusion. Lots of questions.

“What’s a dangling modifier?” “Wait. What’s a modifier?”

Let me explain.

A modifier adds description to a sentence. A modifier can be a word, a phrase, or a clause. In English, the modifier usually appears right before the noun it’s describing, but sometimes we find the modifier right after the word it describes.

Terrified, Penny prayed during the bumpy flight, which passed through a thunderstorm.

In the above sentence, terrified comes before Penny and describes her state of mind. Bumpy precedes flight. Which passed through a thunderstorm comes after flight.

In a dangling modifier situation, the modifier is placed near the wrong word. The construction makes the sentence confusing. Because the modifier doesn’t have a word to hang onto, it dangles, not attached to anything in the sentence.

Crushed by the Dear John text, the chocolate cake beckoned to Nancy from the countertop.

Crushed by the Dear John text comes before chocolate cake. Cake is the noun it’s supposed to modify, but cakes can’t be crushed by a Dear John text.

Here’s a correct way of writing the sentence: Crushed by the Dear John text, Nancy ate the chocolate cake that beckoned to her from the countertop.

Nancy is a person who can by crushed by a text, so the modifier is describing the correct word.

Try another one.

Thrilled by the letter of acceptance, the party plans commenced right away.

Plans can’t be thrilled. Thrilled by the letter of acceptance is dangling.

Write instead:

Thrilled by the letter of acceptance, Jordan commenced planning his party.

How about a one-word dangling modifier?

Sleepy, the bed looked inviting.

Do you see the problem? Bed can’t be sleepy.

A correct version would be—Sleepy, I crawled into the comfy bed.

When you start looking for dangling modifiers, you can find them easily, and a lot of times, they make for some funny sentences.

Have you found a dangling modifier lately that you can share in the comments? Please do!

Categories
Grammar and Grace

Five Words or Phrases to Avoid

Lots of time we hear verbal patterns that may be acceptable (to some people) in speech, but they are considered ungrammatical in the written word. Below are five examples of words or phrases to avoid in your written communications.

  1. Being as/Being that–Don’t use in place of because or since.

Being as the cake was frosted, we had to eat it.  Wrong

Because the cake was frosted, we had to eat it.   Correct

  1. Can’t hardly—This phrase is a double negative and not acceptable in standard English.

I can’t hardly wait for the first day of summer.  Wrong

I can hardly wait for the first day of summer.     Correct

I can’t wait for the first day of summer.              Correct

 Could of/Should of/Would of—These expressions are ungrammatical uses of could have, should have, and would have. They probably originate from the contractions in speech, could’ve, should’ve, and would’ve. Use the proper form in written English.

  1. Different from/Different Than—The correct usage is different from, not different than.

North Carolina eastern style barbeque is different from western style.

  1. Due to—This expression is a wordy construction. Use because

Due to the fact that Duke lost the game, the team didn’t advance. Wordy

Because Duke lost the game, the team didn’t advance.                   Much better

 Clean up your manuscripts by avoiding these ungrammatical expressions. Clean up your speech patterns by avoiding them, too.

Happy writing!

Categories
Grammar and Grace Uncategorized

Five More Confusing Word Pairs to Consider

We’re continuing to examine words that are used incorrectly.

  1. Enthused/Enthusiastic—Although enthused has become acceptable in standard usage, old school people still prefer enthusiastic.

My daughter was not very enthusiastic about salmon for dinner.

  1. Farther/Further—Farther is used for geographic distances. Further means “in addition to” without involving geography.

A great bed and breakfast is located about a mile farther down the road.

Further accidents can be avoided with common sense.

  1. Fewer/Less—Use fewer for groups or collections with parts that can be counted individually. Use less for things in bulk.

The fifth grade class earned fewer cupcakes than the fourth grade.

We added less butter in our brownies for a low fat option.

  1. Impact/Affect— Some people shudder when impact is used as a verb although it’s become acceptable in standard English.

The impact of the wind knocked me down.  (Yes.)

The song impacted me more than you’ll ever know. (No. This usage may bring to mind images of impacted teeth…or bowels. You don’t want that, do you?)

Instead, use affect.

The nostalgic play affected me to the point of tears.

  1. Irregardless/Regardless—Old English teachers might have rapped knuckles and said, “Irregardless isn’t a word. It isn’t in the dictionary.” My dictionary has it listed along with the definition of non standard English. Irregardless is, however, a fun café in Raleigh, NC. Please use regardless instead.

Do you agree or disagree about the usage of enthuse or impact?

Happy writing!

Categories
Grammar and Grace

Five More Confusing Word Pairs

For the past couple of posts, we’ve been focusing on confusing word pairs. Today will continue with a few more. The following words may not be spelled similarly or sound alike, but they are sometimes used incorrectly.

  1. Accept and Except

Accept—is a verb that means “to receive.”

Please accept this million dollars for your excellent manuscript.

 

Except—is a preposition that means “but.”

The toddler ate everything except his kale.

 

  1. Advice and Advise

Advice—is a noun and rhymes with “rice.”

Take my advice. You need to proofread your paper.

 

Advise—is a verb and rhymes with “prize.”

The teacher will advise you on which class to take.

 

  1. Allusion and Illusion

Allusion—is a reference to something else.

Please find five allusions in Poe’s, “The Raven.”

 

Illusion—is a dream, a fantasy.

He believed the illusion that he could lose weight without changing his eating habits.

 

  1. Among and Between

Between—is usually used to show a relationship with two nouns.

Between you and me, I’m pulling for the Panthers to win.

 

Among—is usually used to show a relationship with more than two nouns.

Sadness was common among Pittsburghers when the Steelers lost the last game.

 

  1. Anxious and Eager

Anxious—can show fear.

I’m anxious about the skin test results.

 

Eager—shows strong interest.

I’m eager to be finished with doctors’ appointments.

 

These words are distinct and are easy to use properly if you remember the definitions. Good luck with your writing!

Categories
Grammar and Grace

Understanding Lie and Lay

 

We’ll take a break from adding more confusing words to our list this time and  focus only on the two verbs lie and lay. They are often confused because they’re both irregular verbs, and the past tense of lie is lay.

(present tense)     Lie                                         Lay
(past tense)           Lay                                        Laid
(past participle)   Have lain                             Laid

*To lie means “to recline.”

I hope to lie down to sleep at 9:30.

Last night, I lay down at 10:30.

I had lain in bed for two hours before I gave up and turned on the light.

*To lay means “to put down.”

Colleen, lay the baby in the crib for a nap, please.

Colleen laid the baby in the crib twenty minutes ago.

Colleen had laid the baby in the crib before the phone rang.

Next time, we’ll continue with more confusing words.

Categories
Grammar and Grace

Five Confusing Word Pairs

The English language has many confusing words because of all of those homonyms and synonyms (don’t even get me started on homographs, homophones, and heteronyms), but in this post we’ll consider only five.

  1. Clenched and Clinched

Clench—to hold tightly

Susan’s clenched teeth signaled an aversion to large, metal objects.

Clinch—to confirm or settle

Anna’s goal in the first two minutes of the soccer game clinched the championship.

  1. Verses and Versus

Verses—the plural form of verse.

The choir sang all four verses of It is Well With My Soul.

Versus—against.

Today’s game will be the Steelers versus the Ravens. Go Steelers!

  1. Complement and Compliment

Complement—something added for completion.

Kevin insists bacon is a great complement to peanut butter.

Compliment—an approval

Because of his kindness toward the refugees, the press gave the governor many compliments.

  1. Affect and Effect

Affect—to impress or to change (usually used as a verb)

Heavy holiday traffic affects our drive from the airport.

Effect—the result (usually used as a noun)

Peace is one of the many effects of prayer.

  1. Lie and Lay

Lie—to recline

I’ll lie down for a nap about 2:00 this afternoon.

Lay—to place

Lay the baby in the crib for his nap.

We’ll tackle more confusing word pairs next time.

Categories
Grammar and Grace

How to Pluralize Names for Christmas Cards

I love Christmas. I especially love sending and receiving Christmas cards. We send out a lot from our house, and we receive a lot in return. We always include a picture of the whole family. The pictures we receive from our friends find a place on our refrigerator and adorn it all year.

20151025_174741

I don’t, however, love the envelopes addressed to The Dougherty’s or closings that read, Love from the Jones’. Ack!! I’m happy to hear from old friends, but I can’t stop my toes from curling when I see those errant apostrophes.

Here are some simple rules to follow so that you can write names correctly and make sure your cards convey the happy messages you intend.

  1. Add an s to a proper noun that doesn’t end in s to make it plural.

Langston = Langstons
Maurer = Maurers
Tate = Tates

  1. Don’t change the spelling of a proper noun to make the plural.

Dougherty = Doughertys (not Dougherties)

3.  Add es to a name that ends in s, x, z, ch, or sh to make it plural.

Capps = Cappses ( I know it looks strange, but trust me.)
Edwards = Edwardses
Fox = Foxes
Rakiewicz = Rakiewiczes

Notice that at no time have I used an apostrophe. I haven’t used one because I’m making the names plural, not possessive.

Three rules.

That’s all you need to write your Christmas cards correctly. If you can’t bring yourself to add the es to someone’s name, there’s always an easy fallback—Love from The Dougherty Family.

Categories
Grammar and Grace

Quick Rules for Using Hyphens and Dashes

A hyphen is a type of punctuation linking words that form one idea to avoid confusion. Here are a few simple rules to follow when using hyphens:

  1. Use hyphens in numbers from twenty-one through ninety-nine
  1. Use hyphens with ages that are used as adjectives.

Thomas babysat the two-year-old boy. (Yes.)

The boy in the swing is two years old. (No hyphen.)

 

  1. Use hyphens when the compound adjective comes before the noun.

The custom-built alarm clock won the science award. (Yes.)

Teddy’s alarm clock was custom built. (No hyphen.)

 

  1. Hyphens are also used in the following example when words are repeated:

Runners will compete in the 3-, 6-, and 10-mile events.

 

  1. Use hyphens with prefixes and words that have a capital letter.

The article is decidedly pro-American.

 

  1. Use hyphens when joining letters and words.

We studied an s-shaped curve in economics.

 

  1. Use hyphens with prefixes.

My ex-boss just friended me on Facebook.

An em dash works similarly to a set of parentheses. It allows a break from the main sentence for an additional thought. You form it by adding two hyphens together.

Cam ignored the feeling—whether disappointment or relief—coursing through her.

Hyphens and dashes, although similar in look, have different uses in sentences. For additional details about both kinds of punctuation, check the AP Manual of Style, the Chicago Manual of Style, or the Oxford Dictionaries.

Categories
Grammar and Grace

How to Choose the Correct Pronoun

What’s wrong with this sentence? Me and Cam finished the Army Ten-Miler. Me should be I, right? Easy. Most people agree pretty quickly on that sentence structure.

How about this one? Mrs. Powell invited Sara and I to lunch.  Anything wrong? Yes. I should be me in this sentence. Although me is the correct pronoun, more and more professional people today (including print reporters as well as newscasters) use the wrong pronoun.

Does it sound tricky? Sometimes I is correct. Sometimes me is correct. How do you choose the correct pronoun?

Here’s a simple way to check:

Mrs. Powell invited Sara and ______ to lunch.

How would you say it if the invitation included only the speaker?

Mrs. Powell invited I to lunch. No.
Mrs. Powell invited me to lunch. Yes.
So—Mrs. Powell invited Sara and me to lunch. Yes.

I in the above sentence is a direct object.

*Pronouns that work as direct objects, indirect objects, or objects of prepositions must be objective pronouns.

Here’s a list of objective pronouns:

me                      us                     whom
you                     you                  whomever
him, her, it      them

A direct object tells who or what receives the action done by the subject.

Irene Hannon has written many books.|
The Steelers will beat the Patriots this year.
The children’s librarian read them a story.

An indirect object tells for whom or for what an action is done.

The blogger wrote his authors an email.
Bailey and I sent the seniors an invitation.
Zac Brown could sing me a song any time.

Here’s a list of prepositions:

About             along               before             between          during             in
above              amid                behind            beyond            except             including
across             among             below              by                    excluding        inside
after                as                     beneath           despite           following        into
against           at                      beside              down               from                like

 

near                through          until                within                as to                    with regard to
of                     to                       up                    without             except for           because of
on                    toward            upon               according to    in addition to    by means of
over                under               via                   along with        in case of            in regard to
since               underneath   with                apart from       instead of            in spite of

 

Use the simple test above, and you shouldn’t have any problem choosing the correct pronoun.

Happy writing!

Hope Toler Dougherty holds a Master’s degree in English and taught at East Carolina University and York Technical College. Her publications include three novels Irish Encounter and Mars…With Venus Rising, and Rescued Hearts as well as nonfiction articles. A member of ACFW, RWA, and SinC, she writes for SeriousWriter.com. She and her husband live in North Carolina and enjoy visits with their two daughters and twin sons.

Author of Rescued Hearts
               Irish Encounter
              Mars…With Venus Rising
Visit Hope at www.hopetolerdougherty.com

 

 

 

 

 

.

Categories
Grammar and Grace

Apostrophes Rule!

Let’s talk about apostrophes today. They’re little floating dots with tails that cause major problems for some people.

Apostrophes don’t have to be scary, however. Here are some easy rules to follow so that you can apply an apostrophe with confidence.

  1. Apostrophes are used in contractions in place of the omitted letter or letters:

You are  =  You’re

I am  =  I’m

He cannot   =  He can’t

She could not  =  She couldn’t

They will  =  They’ll

It is  =  It’s

  1. Apostrophes are used to show possession:

The scout’s badge—the badge of the scout

The girl’s book—the book of the girl

*If you have more than one thing possessing something, here’s what it looks like:

Three boys’ coats were left in the lobby. (Make the noun plural first, then add the apostrophe to show     possession.)

The children’s teacher arrived late.

  1. Apostrophes aren’t used for the following possessive pronouns or adjective:

Hers

His

Ours

Theirs

Yours

Whose

Its

Those last two words trip up a lot of people. Notice that its is a correct word. It’s is also a correct word, BUT they are not interchangeable. Whose and who’s both are correct in different applications.

Here’s an easy way to check your sentence for the correct usage:

  1. It’s going to rain today =  It is going to rain today.
  2. It’s rained all day =  It has rained all day.

Both are correct.

  1. The bear licked it’s paw. WRONG!

Remember—it’s is a contraction. When you see it’s, read it as it is. Does the following sentence make sense?

The bear licked it is paw.

NO!

The bear licked its paw.

Yes!

The same logic can apply to whose and who’s.

  1. Who’s going to the party? =  Who is going to the party?

Yes!

  1. Who’s car is parked on the lawn? =  Who is car is parked on the lawn?

WRONG!

  1. Whose car is parked on the lawn?

CORRECT!

Apostrophes don’t have to be intimidating. Follow these three easy rules, and you won’t have to wonder if your apostrophe is hanging in the right place.

You might even find yourself correcting someone else’s.

Categories
Grammar and Grace

Grammar and Grace

The concept of selecting a good product. Computer generated 3D photo rendering.

Hello, I’m Hope. A long, long time ago I used to teach English on the college level. I taught literature and essay writing, business writing, and technical writing. I also got to teach grammar.

I loved teaching commas and semi-colons and apostrophes except for the whiners and complainers who hated it, the jokers who couldn’t understand why they needed punctuation after the dreaded English class.

You may also ask why punctuation is important. It’s important because commas, and periods, and semi-colons are like road signs in traveling. You need them to help you and your readers along, to help you understand where you are and where you’re going. Lynn Truss addresses the necessity of punctuation in her humorous book, Eats, Shoots and Leaves.

Untitled

Grammar, mechanics, word usage—all are important to telling your story in the clearest, best way, and isn’t that the goal of writers?

In this column, I’ll try to help you understand the finer points of using commas and the correct pronoun among other writing questions because I’m one of those people who carries a pen and is ready to use it to add a needed apostrophe or, more times than not, to delete an errant apostrophe floating on hand-lettered signs at checkouts.

I also love wordplay and diagramming sentences. Yes, really. In fact, I have a book on the subject—Sister Bernadette’s Barking Dog: The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences by Kitty Burns Florey