We (Edith Hope Fine and Judith Josephson) are the Grammar Patrol. Both of us taught for years and are now writers, with thirty plus books between us, including our two popular grammar guides, Nitty-Gritty Grammar and More Nitty-Gritty Grammar. For close to twenty years, we taught writing and grammar basics and now we blog about grammar for writers.

What do music and grammar have in common? More than you think. Both genres contain codes and signs for the musician or reader to follow.

In a musical work, a double line with two dots before or after it means “repeat.” A curved line over a dot signals, “hold this note longer.” A rest sign means pause and for a singer, that’s a good time to take a breath. Without observing a repeat sign, half the orchestra might repeat a passage, and the other half might simply plow forward. Cacophony! If a singer misses a rest, her entrance will be early, plus she might collapse from lack of breath.

Likewise in writing, punctuation marks guide the reader, despite recent rumors of punctuation’s demise. (Thank the shorthand of emails, texting, and tweeting!) The Grammar Patrol thinks punctuation marks add clarity. For us, in writing and reading, punctuation is a code to help readers ride smoothly through the written word.

Let’s review common marks and some of their vagaries.

One way to do this is to think of punctuation marks as traffic signals:

.   Period = Stop Sign

“Come to a full stop. No sliding through.”

(One space after a period)

,  Comma = Flashing Yellow Light

Slow down. Look left and right. Then continue.

• Tip: Confuse a comma with a period and presto! Run-on sentence!

• Tip: In the U.S., periods and commas always go inside quotation marks.

(Not so in England.)

 ;  Semi-Colon=Flashing Red Light

Stop briefly; forge ahead.

(Often used when two sentences relate to each other, or for a list of items with interior commas)

:  Colon = Arrow or Road Sign

“Listen up! What follows explains, adds information, or a list.”

• Tip: Colons and semi-colons always go outside quotation marks

• Tip: Exclamation marks ( ! ), question marks ( ? ) , and dashes ( — )can be inside or outside depending on the meaning of the sentence.

(More on this later. Read on.)

Pop Quiz!

(Answers below. No peeking.)

Can you spot the punctuation bloopers in these sentences?

1. The feisty jockey’s nickname is “Spitfire”.

2. Florists like romance, it’s their business.

3. The whirlwind tour includes London, England, Mont Saint Michel and Paris, France, and Frankfurt, Germany.

4. Political campaigns always include the same elements, flag waving, baby smooching, and lofty speeches.

5. Amy’s airy office, “the treehouse”, was her refuge.

Recent bloopers spotted by the Grammar Patrol:

“Food and wine lends itself to adjectives, to metaphors.”

“You may not realize that myself and my sisters . . . ”

So remember, whether you’re singing, playing an instrument, writing, or reading, look for those all-important codes, musical or grammatical.  Those are the traffic signals to guide you on your adventure. For more on all things grammatical, consult our two lighthearted grammar guides, Nitty-Gritty Grammar and More Nitty-Gritty Grammar.

Attention, Grammar Bargain Hunters!

Need more specifics on punctuation or other grammar conundrums? We’re excited that Ten Speed/Random House is holding a big promotion on our Nitty-Gritty Grammar through BookBub and other retailers (At Kindle:  http://amzn.to/2bTAvhU). You can get this zany grammar guide—loaded with cartoons, tips, and blooper pitfalls—for just $1.99 from August 28–September 11. What a bargain. Order ahead for birthdays, holiday gifts, work promotions, graduation, and quick reference for school, home school, and office. Tell your grammar-challenged pals!

Remember to send us bloopers you hear or see. We love hearing from you.

(Answers to Pop Quiz: 1. “Spitfire.” 2. romance; it’s 3. England; France; 4. Same elements: 5. “the treehouse,”)

We (Edith Hope Fine and Judith Josephson) are the Grammar Patrol. Both of us taught for years and are now writers, with thirty plus books between us, including our two popular grammar guides, Nitty-Gritty Grammar and More Nitty-Gritty Grammar. For close to twenty years, we taught writing and grammar basics and now we blog about grammar for writers.

We see collective nouns every day—nouns for persons, animals, or things  that act as a single unit.

A herd of cows–”herd” is a collective noun.

• As winter nears, flocks of birds fly south.

• A coven of witches roams on Halloween.

• Bipsy’s new litter of kittens mewls.

• The cast was stellar in tonight’s play.

• The jury is still out.

In a newspaper profile we wrote, we described our charismatic subject as “about as subtle as a fluorescent yellow Porsche in a bevy of beige Buicks.” She called, laughing when the article came out: “This is the Porsche speaking.”

Check out this bevy of collective nouns:

choir, assembly, tribe, audience, band, class, committee, corps, couple,crew, crowd, faculty, flock, group, jury, couple, majority, nation, pair, panel, press, series, set, company, family, team, crowd, school

Collective nouns used to describe a group of animals include covey, herd, pack, team, swarm, catch, and even murder! (a murder of crows.) Some of these describe  more than one type of animal—a herd of cattle or wild horses.

You’ll usually see a prepositional phrase with a plural object follow the collective noun.

• A pod of whales swam past.

• A gaggle of geese milled about the yard.

• A covey of partridges roosts for the night.

• A pride of lions rests on the hill.

So what do collective nouns have to do with grammar? They can be a bit tricky.  Will you pair them with a singular or a plural verb? 

Collective Nouns and Singular Verbs

Collective nouns usually take singular verbs. To check your verb form, substitute the singular pronoun “it” for the collective noun.

• The faculty votes tomorrow. (It votes . . .)

• The crew dances a jig. (It dances . . .)

• The Hughes family travels often. (It travels . . .)

• The panel has released its findings. (It has released . . . )

Tip: Corporations act like collective nouns, even if the company’s name is plural. While a specific company may have many employees, refer to it as a single entity:

• Pfizer manufactures Lipitor, a cholesterol drug.

• Brinkley Brothers sells lottery tickets.

Collective Nouns and Plural Verbs

If Here’s where things can get thorny. If members of a group act as individuals, not as a unit, use a plural verb.

• The panel of doctors were not of one mind. (Each doctor had a different opinion.)

• The class begin their science experiments today. (They separate experiments.)

Collective Nouns That Measure

With collective nouns such as majority, number, percent, and total, let the words that follow and the meanings of the sentences help you decide whether the verb is singular or plural.

When what follows is singular:

•  Your total number is fifty-two. (number is . . . )
  

• Twenty-one percent of the class fails the test. (class fails . . .)

When what follows is plural:

• Half of the tables are occupied. (tables are . . .)

• Fifty percent of the books are paperback. (books are . . .)

• The majority of new cars have GPS capability. (cars have . . .)

Grammar Questions?

Collectively speaking, that’s it from the Grammar Patrol. Keep an eye out for gaggles of honking Canadian geese or herds of cows that wander onto the highway! When you have grammar questions, consult our zany Nitty-Gritty Grammar and More Nitty-Gritty Grammar guides or write to us here. Next month, time for your annual year-end pop quiz. 

We (Edith Hope Fine and Judith Josephson) are the Grammar Patrol. Both of us taught for years and are now writers, with thirty plus books between us, including our two popular grammar guides, Nitty-Gritty Grammar and More Nitty-Gritty Grammar. For close to twenty years, we taught writing and grammar basics and now we blog about grammar for writers. 

Spring House Cleaning—Easy Mix-Ups

Time to dust off your grammar and mop up those bloopers. Here’s another baker’s dozen of easily confused word pairs.

1. AMONG, BETWEEN

Conventional wisdom used to call for using the preposition “between” with two, and using the preposition “among” with more than two.

• Jake forced me to choose between Brussels sprouts and cauliflower.

• Jake forced me to choose among Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and broccoli.

This rule is relaxing, but do use “between” in one-to-one or direct relationships. Hint: Use “and,” not “or,” to connect the two words:

• He juggles a balancing act between work and family.

Use “among” when the relationship is less specific, broader.

• Among the many descendents of Johann Sebastian Bach, four became musicians.

“Don’t use “amongst” or “whilst” unless you are writing a period piece.

2. BOTH, EACH

The words “both” and “each” can be used as adjectives or pronouns.

Use “both” when it applies to two words.

• Both Steve Jobs and Donald Duck liked bow ties.

Use “each” as an adjective when it applies to one word.

• Each Rose Bowl float is unique.

3. BRING, TAKE

Use a “come, go” analogy to help remember these two. “Come” is like “bring.” “Go” is like “take.” Is the action coming toward you?” If so, use “bring.” If the action is away from you, use “take.”

• Please bring me this hot cocoa. (Come to me with the cocoa.)

• Take toilet paper to the outhouse. (Go re-supply the outhouse.)

  (more…)

 We (Edith Hope Fine and Judith Josephson) are the Grammar Patrol. Both of us taught for years and are now writers, with thirty plus books between us, including our two popular grammar guides, Nitty-Gritty Grammar and More Nitty-Gritty Grammar. For close to twenty years, we taught writing and grammar basics and now we blog about grammar for writers.

Dates and Abbreviations

What’s the Date?

It’s a brand new year, a good time to review how to write dates. Dates can bring about a comma conundrum.

The Basics

When writing a full date, not just a year in a sentence, follow it with a comma:

• On December 5, 2013, Nelson Mandela, a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician, and philanthropist died.

Skip the final comma when listing only the month and year:

• Our North Woods adventure of July 2013 included a tornado, fabulous food, a canoe tipover, but great fishing!

And what to do about bothersome add-ons, such as “st,” “nd, “rd, and “th”?

When a date appears after a month, don’t add st, nd, rd, th:

• The wedding was August 12, 2013 (not August 12th, 2013).

Only use those add-ons when they precede the month.

• Their wedding was on the 12^th of August.

• The fourth season of Downton Abbey premiered in America on January 5.

Use no commas when the date comes before the month, as is often the case in writing that’s academic or for the military:

• The scientific findings were published 16 January 2014.

Say it Short!

Abbreviations are shortened versions of words. Some—called acronyms—can be pronounced as a word, such as “NATO” for North Atlantic Treaty Organization.” Others—called initialisms—are read letter by letter, such as “AAUW” for American Association of University Women or “IRS,” (yikes!) for Internal Revenue Service.

Use only abbreviations that are easily understood by your readers. The first time you use an abbreviation, write out what it stands for; follow it with the abbreviation in parentheses:

• Edith and Judith belong to the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). Our San Diego SCBWI chapter meets monthly.

When a sentence ends with an abbreviation, use only one period:

• Our class read the “I Have a Dream” speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. (not King, Jr..).

Abbreviations are used frequently in parenthetical citations, notes, and bibliographies. Use them as little as possible in the body of your writing.

Many abbreviations use periods. Over time, the periods have been dropped from some abbreviations, especially with the names of organizations.

Here are some common abbreviations:

a.d. or A.D. (with or without periods) means “in the year of the Lord,” from the Latin anno Domini. The a.d. goes before the year: a.d. 1066.

a.m. or a.m. means “ante meridiem”—before noon. Use a.m. with numerals, not words:

• 4:45 a.m. (not four forty-five a.m.)

TIP: Use words, not numerals, with the word “o’clock”:

• six o’clock (not 6 o’clock)

b.c. or B.C. means “before Christ.” In naming a specific year, the b.c. goes after the year: 274 b.c.

e.g. from the Latin exempli gratia (“for the sake of example”). It means “for example.” After “e.g.,” list your specific examples. Put a comma before and a comma or colon after the abbreviation e.g.:

• Bring one clown prop, e.g., rubber nose, huge shoes, squirting flower.

etc. from the Latin et cetera, meaning “and so forth.” Since “et” means “and,” don’t write “and etc.” Don’t use “etc.” after a series that begins with “such as.”

ibid. (pronounced “IH bid”) The abbreviation ibid. means “in the same book or passage.” From a bibliography:

Conroy Pat, The Water Is Wide, New York: Bantam Books, page 43.

Ibid., page 87. [This cites The Water Is Wide, but a different page number.]

i.e. from the Latin id est, means “that is.” This abbreviation explains. Put a comma before and a comma or a colon after i.e.

• The 30-meter three-legged dash was the penultimate race, i.e., the second to last.

p., pp. The abbreviation “p.” stands for “page”; “pp.” stands for “pages.” Use only in citations, notes, and bibliographies. Don’t use “pg.” or “pgs.,” even if your word processor tries to insist.

p.m. or p.m. means “post meridiem”—after noon.

PS stands for postscript. (Note: Use no periods.) Use it for an additional thought at the end of a letter.

• PS Your birthday present’s in the mail.

vs. or vs The abbreviation “vs.” stands for “versus”: Bruins vs. Trojans. But in most cases, use the word versus, rather than the abbreviation. (In the language of law, a single “v.” is used for “versus”: Brown v. the Board of Education.)

For more about dates and abbreviations, see pp. 9–12 of More Nitty-Gritty Grammar or pp. 86–87 of Nitty-Gritty Grammar.

That’s the long and short of it. Stay tuned for another grammar grabber—this one on mispronunciations—in February.

We (Edith Hope Fine and Judith Josephson) are the Grammar Patrol. Both of us taught for years and are now writers, with thirty plus books between us, including our two popular grammar guides, Nitty-Gritty Grammar and More Nitty-Gritty Grammar. For close to twenty years, we taught writing and grammar basics and now we blog about grammar for writers.

Whooooooo or Whom?

“Who is it?” “To whom shall I RSVP?” “Who may I ask is calling?

Who and whom can confuse even wise old owls.

Yes, these three examples are correct. In the third, vacuum out the words “may I ask” to get the simplified “Who is calling?”

Who and whom belong to that merry band of interrogative pronouns (along with cousins what, which, and whose) that ask questions. But who and whom are the ones that cause confusion. So whooooo can use who/whom tips? Everyone!

* “Who” is always a subject, either of a sentence or a clause.

Wait a sec. What’s a clause again? A clause is a group of words with both a subject and predicate. A clause can be a complete sentence or an incomplete sentence:

People notice   what you wear.
(independent clause)  (dependent clause)
(complete sentence)   (incomplete sentence)

(more…)

We (Edith Hope Fine and Judith Josephson) are the Grammar Patrol. Both of us taught for years and are now writers, with thirty plus books between us, including our two popular grammar guides, Nitty-Gritty Grammar and More Nitty-Gritty Grammar. For close to twenty years, we taught writing and grammar basics and now we blog about grammar for writers.

Miss our first blog post on adverbs? Learn How and When to Use Adverbs.

Adverbs can empower your writing or cripple your sentences when they prop up weak verbs.

First, ready for a quick dose of intensive grammar? Intransitive verbs don’t take adverbs.

Ack. Intransitive? What’s that? To remember the meaning of “intransitive,” know its inside story. The prefix “in” means “not.” The root “trans” means “across.” You can’t “carry” an “object” across an intransitive verb. There was house. He sat chair. Those sound goofy with an object after the verb. So was and sat are intransitive. In a dictionary, you’ll see v.i.—meaning “verb intransitive”—after some verbs. That’s a reminder not to plop an object down after those verbs.

Right (Thumbs Up): Mr. Dribnobble lectures endlessly.

Wrong (Thumbs Down): Mr. Dribnobble is endlessly.

Why?  The second one sounds weird! Use the adverb “endlessly” to describe how Mr. Dribnobble lectures.  Don’t use “endlessly” with a form of the verb “to be.”

(more…)

We (Edith Hope Fine and Judith Josephson) are the Grammar Patrol. Both of us taught for years and are now writers, with thirty plus books between us, including our two popular grammar guides, Nitty-Gritty Grammar and More Nitty-Gritty Grammar. For close to twenty years, we taught writing and grammar basics and now we blog about grammar for writers.

Writing with word processing software gives you more options than the old days of typewriters, but it also gives you gives you more ways to get into trouble. Most of us have twigged to the difference between the typewriter’s straight quotation marks and computer-generated curly ones. You’ll often hear the latter called curly quotes or smart quotes. If Honest Abe is reciting the Gettysburg address, the curly quotation that marks the beginning of his speech, should face the words—they’ll resemble the number 66: “Four score and seven years ago . . .” At the end of his speech, the marks form a 99: “shall not perish from the earth.”

The same goes for single quotes, but they’re like the numerals 6 and 9: “I’ll call you ‘Wart-Nose’ if I like,” yelled Dorothy at the Wicked Witch.

Do use straight quotes (‘ or “), not curly quotes, to indicate feet and inches:  42′ 9″.  (Note that the period goes outside because the quotation mark indicates inches, not a direct quotation.)

Details, details, details . . .

Ellipses: “Wait. What was I saying . . .?”

Those three dots that can indicate your brain’s gone on vacation are called an ellipsis. Handily, the word is from the Greek word meaning “omission.” (more…)

Greetings from the Grammar Patrol.

We’ll be wending your way with occasional blog posts here at Take the Leap to help you navigate the slippery slope of English grammar. Both of us taught for years and are now writers, with thirty plus books between us, including our two popular grammar guides, Nitty-Gritty Grammar and More Nitty-Gritty Grammar. For close to twenty years, we taught writing and grammar basics through San Diego State University Extension, accruing a big collection of grammar-related syndicated cartoons from Calvin and Hobbs to Zits. You might as well have fun while working on rusty grammar skills. (more…)

eFrog Press is excited to launch our blog—Take the Leap—on the Ides of March. Future posts will highlight some of our authors and provide tips on e-publishing topics of interest to all authors. Most of all we want to hear from you, dear writers.

Two of our authors are well-known grammarians and will help us sort out those tricky grammatical issues like when to use “lay” or “lie.” Judith Lown, Regency romance author, will share her process for researching historical fiction.

The Unknown Reader doing what she does best!

Team members will share practical social media strategies for ebook authors that will help you connect with your readers while still having time to write!

All authors need to be aware of their readers so we are excited to feature regular posts from The Unknown Reader. Her inaugural post will appear Tuesday, March 20.  Take a sneak peek at the Unknown Reader in “action.”

So, join us every Tuesday for stimulating discussion about all topics e-pub—Take the Leap! E-publishing is changing quickly and we want to talk about it. What would you like us to cover in future posts?