Tag: vocabulary

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Proofed and Polished

Common Mistakes I See When Proofreading: Vocabulary, Part 3

Proofed and Polished

Let’s talk about contractions. I mentioned them last month in the context of using apostrophes correctly. Some words that are contracts are some of the frequent flier mistakes that trip up writers on a regular basis. Here are three to keep an eye on. 

1. You’re vs. your

“You’re” is the shortened form of “you” + “are”. 

Ex. “You’re definitely in trouble,” she said, shaking her head as she surveyed the utter disaster that had previously been the kitchen.

“Your” is possessive.

Ex. “Your dog has been in my yard every day this week. It has to stop!” Mr. Viking glared through smudged glasses and stalked away. 

Ex. “It seems that Mr. Viking has failed to recognize the irony of his statement,” Dan said, smirking while patting Mr. Pickles’ head. “He has been in your yard every day this week telling you you’re a menace.”

2. It’s vs. its

This error is one that probably gets more print space than any other common mistake out there, but it happens SO often that I’ll go ahead and add my two cents.

“It’s” is formed by “it” + “is”.

Ex. It’s time to start exercising again now that the kids are in school.

“Its” is possessive.

Ex. Its shell is dark green and brown.

Ex. It’s hard to tell what its favorite food is—lettuce or broccoli.

3. We’re vs. were vs. where

This last one is mostly tricky if the way that you pronounce these words is similar.

“We’re” is “we” + “are”.
“Were” is the past tense form of “to be”.

“Where” is either a noun or an adverb.

Ex. We’re [we are] excited to go on vacation, but where we are going, there were a lot of COVID cases, so now we’re [we are] worried.

A simple way to help you decide which form to use is to try both forms in the sentence that you’re writing. 

Decide between *your* and *you’re* in this sentence:

I hope you’re happy now. 

Do you want to say “I hope *you are* happy” or “I hope *your* happy”?? 

Of course, you mean to say *you are* which means you need the contraction “you’re” and not the possessive “your.”

What Do You Think?

Which of these three is the hardest for you? I still say “it is” to myself to make sure that it fits in any sentence I’m writing. 

Dayna Betz

Dayna Betz is a full-time freelancer providing proofreading and editing services to help writers put their best foot forward. She also enjoys reading and writing book reviews. Head over to her site, Betz Literary, to learn more.

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Proofed and Polished

Common Mistakes I See When Proofreading: Vocabulary, Part 2

Proofed and Polished

To Hyphenate or Not to Hyphenate…

How do you feel about hyphens? Do you use them a lot? Never? Do you sort of close your eyes and randomly stick them in between a couple of words because you think maybe once you saw it written that way?

Hyphens are confusing for many people when they write, because we don’t really understand the rules for using them. Here are a few sets of words with and without hyphens. Can you spot the differences?

  • Resign vs. re-sign
  • Extracurricular vs. extra-curricular
  • Low grade vs. low-grade

…Or, How to Avoid Miscommunicating Your Meaning

Resign vs. Re-sign.

  • “Resign” means to give up a position. I resigned from my teaching job because of COVID.
  • “Re-sign” means to sign again. I had to re-sign the documents because the agent lost the originals.

You can see how a missing hyphen could really mess up the meaning of your sentence.

All of the ballots had to be resigned because they were rained on and the ink ran.

Wait, the ballots were resigned? Does that mean that they were thrown out? What about my vote?!

Oh, you mean they need to be re-signed, as in signed again. Phew! A much easier solution.

Extracurricular vs. extra-curricular

With extracurricular vs. extra-curricular, the hyphen is just unnecessary. The prefix “extra” can be added to words without using a hyphen. In fact, the majority of prefixes and suffixes don’t require the use of a hyphen. Here’s a list.

Low grade vs. low-grade

Let’s look at that last example in a sentence.

  1. The baby had a low grade fever, so his mom decided to keep him home from day care.
  2. The baby had a low-grade fever, so his mom decided to keep him home from day care.

While this may not seem that confusing because people often know what you mean when you say a “low-grade” fever, the hyphen here is necessary, because you are describing the fever, not the grade. Without the hyphen, it seems like you’re describing the grade and saying that that is what is low; what you mean is that the fever grade is low.

Hyphen Rules

1. Use a hyphen to join two words that are meant to function as a single adjective before a noun (like with “low-grade fever”).

Ex. He gave me chocolate-covered peanuts for Valentine’s Day.

(* The adjective “chocolate-covered” describes the peanuts.)

1a. Unless, however, your adjective comes after the noun in your sentence. Then you don’t need a hyphen.

Ex. The peanuts were chocolate covered so I didn’t know what they were. Unfortunately, I’m allergic to peanuts.

(* Because “chocolate covered” comes after the noun it describes, the hyphen isn’t needed.) 

1b. Don’t use hyphens with “very” or with adverbs that end in “-ly.”

Incorrect: I prefer a very-hot soup when it’s cold outside.

Incorrect: His extremely-strict policies caused the students to dislike him.

2. Don’t use hyphens with prefixes or suffixes.

2a. Except with these prefixes: “ex-“, “self-“, and “all-“.

Ex. The rookie was very self-conscious about her performance on her first day. 

2b. And with the suffix “-elect.”

Ex. The mayor-elect celebrated a victory over their rival. 

2c. And always with a prefix + a capitalized word, or a prefix + digits/letters.

Ex. We would like school to start in mid-September, but it often begins before Labor Day.

Ex. In the mid-1960s, the hippie style was popular with many young people, which included tie-dye t-shirts.

3. Use hyphens when you spell out numbers.

Ex. Our two-year-old child is really into dinosaurs.

(*But no hyphen in: Our child is two years old.) 

Ex. After forty-seven years, we finally discovered the treasure our grandparents promised was hidden in the house.

4. Use hyphens to resolve potential confusion in a sentence.

Ex. He had a concealed weapons permit. vs. He had a concealed-weapons permit.

(Was the weapons permit concealed or did he have a permit for a concealed weapon? Neither is wrong, but this is where hyphens help to clarify your meaning.)

5. Don’t guess with hyphen use! Look it up in your favorite dictionary or in a style guide, such as The Chicago Manual of Style.

How About You?

Do you struggle with hyphens? Is there a word that you always hyphenate (or never hyphenate), and now you’re confused? I used to hyphenate “e-mail” all the time, but apparently “email” is more common. Although Merriam-Webster recognizes both, they put the hyphen in as the default. Hmmm. Hyphens are tricky!

Dayna Betz is a full-time freelancer providing proofreading and editing services to help writers put their best foot forward. She also enjoys reading and writing book reviews. Head over to her site to learn more: https://betzliterary.com.

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Writer Encouragement

Increasing Your Vocabulary

Increasing your vocabulary may sound like a “roll your eyes” suggestion. After all, you’ve been reading and writing English (or whatever your native language) for many years. By the time most of us reach the point where we feel called to write, we usually feel fairly comfortable in our knowledge of numerous words and their meanings.

But let’s be honest. There are many terms that still escape our grasp and understanding.

Years ago, my husband and I used to play the dictionary game with friends. It was an early (and less expensive) version of a Parker Brothers game where each person is given a word and they must write down what they believe to be the definition. Undoubtedly, it would not be a commonplace expression.

The various explanations of the words’ meanings as written by the game’s participants would send our group into uproarious laughter. The creativity was endless and quite funny.

Most of our friends were fairly well-read individuals. No one had flunked out of school. All were quite successful in their professions. Yet time after time, we all became stymied by the actual definitions of words in the English language—our language since birth.

If you still have an old hardback dictionary on your book shelf—you may need to blow the dust off the binding—glance at the thousands of words in that weighty volume. It is truly astonishing. This alone should be a gentle tap on the shoulder that we all could use a bit of vocabulary brushing up.

Nearly a year ago, I saw a prompt on the Merriam-Webster website to sign up for “Word of the Day.” Intrigued, I decided to join. It has been an adventure, learning new expressions that I am challenged to discover and perhaps use in my writing. I always feel a sense of joy when I find it’s a word with which I’m already familiar. But frankly, those I already know are fewer than the ones I’m either learning for the first time or for which I’m getting a much-needed refresher.

Let’s face it—none of us will know everything about our language. It can only help our writing to expand our knowledge.

I’d encourage you to sign up for the Word of the Day online. Or play the dictionary game with friends. Or get the Balderdash game of words.

Reading numerous works of fiction and non-fiction can be a great vocabulary builder. But going one step further with such tools as these can multiply your knowledge, and help your writing along the way.

Carry on.

 

Vocabulary image courtesy of Stuart Miles, from freedigitalphotos.net

 

Elaine Marie Cooper has two new E-Books that just released: War’s Respite (Prequel novella) and Love’s Kindling. Love’s Kindling will soon release in paperback. They are the first two books in the Dawn of America Series set in Revolutionary War Connecticut. Cooper is the award-winning author of Fields of the Fatherless and Bethany’s Calendar. Her 2016 release (Saratoga Letters) was finalist in Historical Romance in both the Selah Awards and Next Generation Indie Book Awards. She penned the three-book Deer Run Saga and has been published in numerous magazines and anthologies. You can visit her website/ blog at www.elainemariecooper.com

 

 

 

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Write Justified

Sticks and Stones and Words Can Hurt

In anticipation of the upcoming presidential election cycle, prepare to hear some unsavory comments, even name-calling among candidates. Here’s a term you may not be familiar with and might hope you’re never called: lickspittle.

Lickspittle is a compound word, combining two Old English words—lick and spittle—neither particularly attractive activities. Spittle brings to mind the mixture of saliva and tobacco that cowboys are prone to hack up into (you guessed it) a spittoon. Both meanings are familiar: lick—to run the tongue over and spittle—a derivation of spit. But combine the two and you have one of many variations of a derogatory term for someone who flatters those in authority. In elementary school we knew them as a brownnosers or apple polishers. Some politicians might choose a less euphemistic term like: suckup, or sycophant, toady, lackey, or now that you know what it means—a lickspittle. The Free Dictionary calls a lickspittle a flattering or servile person. Servile—of or befitting a slave—captures the idea of someone bowing and scraping to the master. Subordinates who feel the need to flatter their superiors are in a form of bondage just as much as slaves are.

If, like me, you enjoy learning new words and how they become part of our vernacular, perhaps I’ve done you a service in introducing lickspittle to your vocabulary. On the other hand, [bctt tweet=”Christian maturity demands that we also know how and when (or whether) to use a word. #editing #writers”] As writers and editors concerned with communicating God’s truth with grace and love, lickspittle is probably not a word that should be rolling off our tongues. Words do have the power to hurt or heal, tear down or build up. Rather than identifying someone as a lickspittle, we ought to recognize the limits of their situation and lift them up instead of belittling them.

[bctt tweet=”Don’t be a “lickspittle”. #writer #amediting #editor” via=”no”]