Faulty Comparisons

October 13th, 2011

Grammatically speaking, you can compare apples to oranges.  The trouble comes when you compare apples to
oranges (or even another apple) and something gets in the way to confuse the reader.

The apple from the new orchard was like the previous one.

Huh?  The previous orchard?  You can easily correct the sentence:

The apple from the new orchard was like the one from the previous orchard.

When writing lengthy sentences, always stay true to the basic subject-verb and you won’t get lost:

The apple, with its shiny yellow skin and flawless shape, was from the new orchard, leading us to believe we’d succeeded in selecting the same seedlings.

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Posted in Grammar, Writing | 5 Comments »

Alright is not all right

October 6th, 2011

American English differs from British English in many ways, although it’s supposed to be the same language. For example, the Brits punctuate dialogue the opposite of Americans, using single quotation marks instead of double. They say “an historical” instead of “a historical” because the British don’t pronounce the H. Americans do. Then there’s the spelling issues, such as colour and honour. Americans drop the u. Either is correct, of course, just as both judgment and judgement are correct.

Grammar Cop has a problem with alright. While it’s true The Who sang The Kids Are Alright, The Who are British. The one-word spelling alright is not an accepted word in American English. It’s two words–all right. Yet alright is accepted usage in other countries. Grammar Cop doesn’t understand all spelling laws; she just tries to enforce them.

All right is correct. Alright, like irregardless and reoccur, isn’t a proper word and doesn’t belong in American writing. So regardless of what you’ve seen or read, use all right. If you spelled it alright in the  past, don’t let the usage recur. :-)

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Posted in Grammar, spelling, Writing | 7 Comments »

Dangling Participles

September 29th, 2011

I collected the following sentences this week from various television programs:

“Growing up in Wisconsin, football season monopolized our weekends.”

“Growing up an Army brat, Dad introduced us to different cuisines.”

“Living in New York, there are plenty of fresh bagels.”

Don’t laugh. These are real examples. The lesson today is about the dangling participle. Keep track of your modifiers. Football season isn’t growing up in Wisconsin, and while bagels may be living in New York, they aren’t the true subject of the modifier. Remember when you speak or write to keep track of the subject of your sentences.

“Growing up in Wisconsin, we monopolized our weekends with football games.”

“Growing up an Army brat, I had the opportunity to sample different cuisines.”

“Living in New York, I have no shortage of fresh bagels.”

In these rewritten sentences, the subject is clear.

PS Don’t forget to vote for The Grammar Cop! http://www.grammar.net/contest-2011/nomination-page

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Thank You For Your Support.

September 27th, 2011

I hope you will cast your vote for THE GRAMMAR COP in grammar.net’s 2011 competition for Best Grammar Blog. Here is the link: http://www.grammar.net/contest-2011/nomination-page

Thank you!

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