Grammar refresher for copy editors

Knight Summer Institute

Pam Nelson

July 10, 2006

What we’ll cover

• Best practices.• Grammar myths.• Tricky issues.

– Subject-verb agreement.– Pronouns

• Who and whom• Antecedents.

– Hodgepodge of grammar and usage points

• Sources for grammar knowledge

First rule of grammarfor copy editors

Do not distractthe reader.

Best practices

• Be sure you know what you think you know. – Keep your knowledge fresh.– Consult your best references.

• Stand your ground when it’s important.

• Bend when you find a good reason.

Grammar myths

We don’t even need to talk about these:

• Splitting infinitives.

• Putting adverbs between parts of a verb.

• Ending a sentence with a preposition.

• Using incomplete sentences.

• Starting a sentence with “and,” “but” or any other coordinating conjunction.

Coordinating conjunctions

• For

• And

• Nor

• But

• Or

• Yet

• So

FANBOYS

Tricky rules of agreement

Subject-verb

Rules of agreement

• If the subject consists of two or more singular words connected by or, either … or, neither … nor or not only … but also, use a singular verb.– Either Shana or Joanne is going with John to

the fair.– Not only a movie review but also a record

review needs to be copy-edited for A&E.

Rules of agreement

• If the subject consists of two or more plural words connected by or, either … or, neither … nor or not only … but also, use a plural verb.– Neither the boys nor the girls have any idea

what to do at the cotillion.– Not only the book reviews but also the record

reviews are missing for Sunday’s paper.

Rules of agreement

• If the subject is made up of singular and plural words joined by or, either … or, neither … nor or not only … but also, the verb should agree with the nearer subject.– Either Joey or his sisters have taken care of

their mother day to day.– The Johnsons or their older son drives to the

airport to pick up the out-of-town wedding guests.

Rules of agreement

• If one subject is singular and the other is plural, the sentence sounds better if you put the plural subject nearer the verb.– Either the Johnsons’ older son or his parents

drive to the airport to pick up the out-of-town wedding guests.

Two words but one concept

• If two words joined by and represent one concept or one action, use a singular verb.– Jerry Smith’s pride and joy is his shiny 1965

Mustang convertible.– The size and scope of the flooding after

Katrina continues to overwhelm Americans.– The care and maintenance of an antique auto

takes many hours of the hobbyist’s time.

Intervening words

• Look for the true subject of the verb. Don’t be led astray by phrases and clauses that appear between the subject and the verb.– The budget for bonuses has been depleted.– The dinosaur skeleton, in addition to other fossils,

has been moved to a new room.– The study, along with many others, has led the

government to restrict the drug’s use.

Intervening phrasesCommon ones that don’t affect

the number of the subject

• Along with• Together with• And not• As well as• In addition to• Accompanied by

• Plus• Besides• Including• Except• Rather than• Not even

These phrases should be set off with commas.

One of …• Use a singular verb after the phrases one

of or one of the.– One of my children has the flu.– One of the reviews for this week is missing.

One of …

• Use a plural verb after phrases one of those who or one of the things that.– She is one of the senators who want the bill to

pass this session. (Of the senators who want the bill to pass, she is one.)

– I bought one of the copiers that were advertised in the flier in Sunday’s paper. (Several copiers were advertised in Sunday’s paper. I bought one.)

The one and only

• Use a singular verb after a phrase that includes the only.– Adam is the only one of my children who does

not have the flu.– Sara Howe acts as if she is the only copy

editor who knows what she is doing.

Indefinite pronouns

• Each, every, either, neither, one, another and much are always singular.– Each has been given the resources he needs

to complete the task.– Neither boy wants to play on the team this

year.– Much of what we discussed today was not

helpful in trying to make the decision.

Indefinite pronouns

• Other words that are always singular and require singular verbs.– Anybody, anything, anyone, everybody,

everything, everyone, somebody, something, someone, nobody, nothing, no one.

• Anyone who wants the Mustangs to win is going to be disappointed.

• Somebody moves my chair every night.

NONE but the brave

• None can be singular.– The children are old enough, but none goes to

school. (not one)– None of the equipment was stolen in the

break-in.

• Or it can be plural.– None of the experts agree about oil prices.

(no two)

THE number or A number

• If the number is the subject, use a singular verb, regardless of the noun in the prepositional phrase.– The number of voters rises when parties

conduct get-out-the-vote drives.

• If a number is the subject, use a plural verb.– A number of voters find getting to the polls

difficult.

Special cases

• Money, time, organizations, food distances and diseases often require singular verbs.– In the 1960s, $3,000 was enough to live on

for months.– Three months in prison is a long time. (as a

unit)– The United Auto Workers has decided to

strike.– Measles spreads quickly in a dormitory.

Phrases and clauses

• When the subject of a sentence is a phrase or a clause, use a singular verb almost always.– That the incumbent will be re-elected is far

from certain.– Editing entertainment calendars is tedious

work.– Whoever wins the election is likely to face a

tough adjustment period in the job.

Find the subject

• In some sentences, the subject appears after the verb. Make sure that the agrees with the true subject.– What page are the record reviews on?– Enclosed are two copies of the disputed

memo.– There are three steps each person must

follow.

Here, there and …

• If a sentence begins with here or there, the subject is after the verb.– Here is the problem with teaching grammar.– Here is the problem with teaching grammar.– There are 20 students in the class.– There are 20 students in the class.– Here is $20 to pay for a haircut.– Here is $20 to pay for a haircut.

Plural-looking words• Words that are plural in form but (perhaps)

singular in meaning.– Politics is a difficult business for families.– The fugitive’s whereabouts is unknown.– The news from the front is not good.– We took a course in statistics.

Plural-looking words

• But some can be plural.– The politics of city government are often

dominated by special interests. (many aspects)

– The mechanics of English are hard to teach.– The species found at the arboretum include

many non-native plants.– The statistics the city manager cited in her

report were staggering.

More plural-looking words

• Some words are plural even if they refer to a single thing.– These scissors need sharpening.

• BUT: This pair of scissors needs sharpening.

– The odds of success are not very good.

Latin is alive!

• Nouns with plural Latin endings take plural verbs.– The news media are responsible for

spreading the false report. (singular is medium)

– The alumni are not going to support tearing down the old stadium. (singular is alumnus or alumna)

– The data have been carefully collected. (singular is datum)

The rise of the collective

• Collective nouns that denote a unit take singular verbs.– The jury continues to deliberate.– The commission approves rules that will

govern the debate.

• But if the members of the collective body act individually …– A herd of cows meander through the canyon

on their way to their favorite grazing ground.

Fractional thinking

• Fractions and percentages are singular or plural depending on the noun or pronoun following them.– One-third of the book is a flashback.– One-third of the customers are Spanish-

speaking immigrants.– Half of the cake is gone.– Half of the voters fail to show up on Election

Day.

We’re with the band

• Publications may choose follow the form of a band’s name to determine whether to use a singular or a plural verb.– Outkast performs Friday at the RBC Center.– The Black-Eyed Peas are moving up the

chart.

• But if we are using the word band, we consider it singular.– The band plays its hit at the end of every

concert.

Be a pronoun pro

Cool things about pronouns

• Pronouns retain the inflections that were common in Old English. That is, they change form to indicate their grammatical function.

• So, like alligators, pronouns are evolutionary throwbacks.

How they are like alligators

Cool things about pronouns

• Pronouns have gender.

– They are masculine (he, him, himself), feminine (she, her, hers, herself) or neuter (it).

• They can be classified by person.

– First (I, we); second (you); third (he, she, they).

Cool things about pronouns

• They have number.– They are singular (I, he, she) or plural (we,

they).

• They also have case.– They are nominative (also referred to as

subjective), objective or possessive.

Pronoun problems• Case

– This is the who-whom-whose deal.• Who is nominative (used as the subject).• Whom is objective (used as the object).• Whose is possessive (used as, uh, the

possessive).

• Antecedent– This is a number failure.

• We use a plural pronoun to refer to a singular noun.

– Or a clarity failure.• It’s just unclear what the pronoun refers to.

Pronoun problems

• Punctuation– The dreadful apostrophe mistake!

• Its is the possessive form of it.• It’s is the contraction for it is.• Whose is the possessive form of who.• Who’s is the contraction for who is.

• -Self abuse– This is the irritating misuse of the reflexive

form: myself, himself, themselves, etc.

Who or whom?

• Who/whoever is the subject of a clause.– Who is responsible for making English so

complicated?– Please tell whoever needs to know that I have

updated the file.

Who or whom?

• Whom/whomever is the object of a verb or a preposition or the subject of an infinitive.– To whom do you wish to speak?– We are interested to see whom the voters

choose Nov. 2.– We didn’t know whom to call when we found

the dead cat lying in the middle of our cul-de-sac.

Complication

• If the pronoun is the subject of the infinitive “to be,” the choice is trickier.– Who does the rock star want to be when he

takes the stage? (The rock star wants to be who.)

– Who was the intruder thought to be? (The intruder was thought to be who.)

Think of the pronoun as a subject complement and use the nominative.

The -m trick

• If you can substitute the pronoun “him” or “them” in the construction, use “whom.”

• Or you can turn the sentence structure around to find the right case.– You wish to speak to HIM – use whom.– The voters choose HIM – use whom.– We could not persuade THEM – use whom.

And another thing …

• People are who, not that, most of the time.– The pollsters try to find voters who are

undecided.

• But if the person is part of a class of people, you can use that.– She is the kind of reporter that always pencil-

checks copy carefully.

Figuring it out

• Isolate the phrase or clause.

• Rearrange the words.

• Substitute “he/him” or “they/them.”

• Figure out how the phrase or clause is functioning in the sentence.

Up the antecedent

• Make sure that the pronoun agrees in number, person and gender with the noun or pronoun that it refers to.– The sophomore class elects its officers today.– The couple left their troubles behind and flew

to Maui.– The teacher asked everyone to get out his or

her pencil for the test.

Up the antecedent

• Make sure that the pronoun’s antecedent is clear.– When Gloria set the pitcher on the glass-

topped table, it broke. (what broke?)– The pitcher broke when Gloria set it on the

glass-topped table.

Up the antecedent

• Make sure that the pronoun HAS an antecedent.– After braiding Ann’s hair, Sue decorated them

with ribbons. (What is the antecedent of them?)

– After braiding Ann’s hair, Sue decorated the braids with ribbons.

Up the antecedent

• Watch out for a pronoun that appears to have a possessive noun for an antecedent.– Lottie Mae’s mother died when she was 30.

(Who was 30?)– When Lottie Mae was 30, her mother died.

OR– Lottie Mae’s mother died at 30.

Indefinite problems

• Sometimes, the number of indefinite pronouns confuses us:These are singular: anybody, anyone,

anything, each, either, everybody, everyone, everything, neither, nobody, no one, somebody, someone, something.

These are plural: all (mostly), both, few, most, several, some.

Gerund weirdness

• Use the possessive form of a pronoun before a gerund (a verbal that ends in –ing and acts as a noun.)– The mayor couldn’t understand why his taking

a vacation with a city contractor was a problem.

– The chance of your being hit by a rock is very slim, but wear a hard hat anyway.

HodgepodgeIssues that only copy editors care about

At our discretion(matters of style)

• Since when we mean because.

• Between, instead of among, for more than two.

• While when we mean although.

• There at the beginning of a sentence.

Due to/Because of• “Due to” is used in this construction:

– The flood was due to a break in the dam. (“Due to” is adjectival; use it as a subject complement.)

• “Because of” is used in this construction.– The town was flooded because of a break in

the dam. (“Because of” is adverbial and tells “why.”)

• See Malcolm Gibson’s explanation at www.ku.edu/~edit/because.html.

Hopefully

Writers have used “hopefully” as a sentence adverb for years, but the word fell into disfavor in the 1960s.

Purists insist that the word means “in a hopeful manner,” not “ it is to be hoped.”

Best advice: Avoid this word and change it when you see it, just to head off the purists’ wrath.

Irony/ironic/ironically

• Writers sometimes use ironic or ironically to describe something that is merely an odd juxtaposition or a coincidence.– Ironically, the sisters’ funeral was in the same

chapel where they were baptized five years before. (Is it truly an outcome that might be different from what is expected?)

There, you go

• Sentences that begin with “there” can often be changed, but you don’t have to change every one.– “There is a tide in the affairs of men that taken

at the flood …”

Each other/one another

• The Associated Press Stylebook doesn’t allow much leeway on this. It is not a matter of grammar as much as a matter of style.– Use “each other” for two people or things;

“one another” for three or more. But use either for indefinite number.

May/Might

• May and might express different degrees of likelihood.– I may go to the party suggests that I probably

will go.– I might go to the party suggests that I am less

likely. – I might have to go to the party if I am unable

to come up with a good excuse suggests a hypothetical.

May or Can?

• The rule we learned in third grade still applies.– May implies permission.– Can implies ability.

• The junior may take the 500 level course.• The junior can pass the 500 level course.

Like/As

• Like is a preposition. Use it before a noun or pronoun.– We should hire another copy editor like

Caroline.

• Use as or as if before a clause.– As I told you earlier, we should hire another

copy editor.– The editor looked at me as if I had two heads.

Hyphens

• Compound verbs can be hyphenated or solid. – Air-condition, home-school.– Downshift, downsize, hitchhike.

The only advice is to check the Associated Press Style or a dictionary and hyphenate if the word is not listed.

Hyphens

• Verb-preposition combinations are not hyphenated. – Break up, cross over, drive in, make up, mix

up, push up.

• But the corresponding nouns often are not hyphenated.– Breakup, crossover, drive-in, makeup, mixup,

pushup.

Hyphens

• Compound modifiers used in front of a noun are hyphenated. – Well-known people seek privacy at the

isolated lodge.– Sherry applied for a full-time job.

Hyphens

• Compound modifiers used after the noun are hyphenated if they are a subject complement with the verb to be.– People who are well-known seek privacy at

the isolated lodge.

Other land mines in copy

• Homonym confusion: principal-principle, peak-peek, hoard-horde, etc.

• Wrong word choice: enormity to mean “big.”

• Misplaced modifiers: Walking through the windy city, my hat flew off and into the gutter.

What grammar book addiction looks like

Sources• The Gregg Reference

Manual by William A. Sabin, McGraw-Hill/Irwin, Tenth edition, 2004.

• Garner’s Modern American Usage by Bryan A. Garner. Oxford University Press, 2003.

Sources

• Paul Brians’ Common Errors in English, www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/

• Common Errors in English Usage by Paul Brians, William, James & Co., 2003

Sources

• Words on Words by John Bremner, Columbia University Press, 1980.

• The Careful Writer by Theodore M. Bernstein, Atheneum, 1983 (also Free Press, 1995)

Sources

• Working With Words, A Handbook for Media Writers and Editors by Brian S. Brooks, James L. Pinson and Jean Gaddy Wilson, Fifth edition, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2003.

Sources• Writer’s Digest

Grammar Desk Reference by Gary Lutz and Diane Stevenson, F&W Publications, 2005.

• Rules for Writers by Diana Hacker, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2004.

Sources

• Capital Community College’s Guide to Grammar and Writing, http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/index.htm

• Jack Lynch’s Guide to Grammar and Writing http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing/

Sources

• The Online Writing Lab at Purdue University, http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/

• Grammar Handbook at the Writers' Workshop, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, www.english.uiuc.edu/cws/wworkshop/writer_resources/grammar_handbook/grammar_handbook.htm

• The Tongue Untied, A guide to grammar, punctuation and style for journalists, http://grammar.uoregon.edu.

Sources

• Malcolm Gibson’s Wonderful World of Editing, www.ku.edu/~edit/

• Daily Grammar, www.dailygrammar.com/

• WebGrammar’s list of common mistakes, www.webgrammar.com/commonmistakes.html

• Dr. Grammar, www.drgrammar.org/

Sources

• Columbia Guide to Standard American English, www.bartleby.com/68/

• American Heritage Book of English Usage, www.bartleby.com/64/

• The King’s English by H.W. Fowler, www.bartleby.com/116/

• Towson University Online Writing Support, wwwnew.towson.edu/ows/