Tag: Hope Toler Dougherty

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

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

 

 

 

 

 

.