Grammar RemindersMost Common Mistakes

(How To Be Taken Seriously and Not Be Thought of as Silly)

Could/could not care less

• Many people use this incorrectly (including me – this is one that I have to consciously think about because I usually say it incorrectly.)

• The expression is “I couldn’t care less.” - meaning that you already don’t care at all, so you couldn’t care less than not at all

• If you say, “I could care less,” that means that you really DO care, which is not the intention of the expression

YOUR VS. YOU’RE

• “You’re” is a contraction of “you are,” as in:

• “You’re screwing up your writing by using ‘your’ when you mean ‘you are.’”

• “Your” is a possessive pronoun, as in:

• “your car” or “your blog”

IT’S VS. ITS

• “it’s” is a contraction of “it is” or “it has.”

• “Its” is a possessive pronoun, as in: • “The cat licked its paws.”

• TRICK: Say your sentence out loud using “it is,” and if that sounds goofy, “its” is likely correct.

Everyday vs. Every Day

Every is used like this:We go to the dining hall every day.

Everyday is used like this: It's an everyday occurrence.

It's an everyday occurrence for us to go to the dining hall, but you go every day.

THERE/THEIR/THEY’RE

• Always do the “That’s ours!” test: Are you talking about more than one person and something they possess? If so, use “their.”

• “There” is a place.

• “They’re” is a contraction of “they are,” so talk it out to be sure

AFFECT VS. EFFECT• “Affect” is a verb, as in:

• “Your ability to communicate clearly will affect your income.”

• “Effect” is most often a noun, as in:

• “The effect of poor grammar on a person’s income is well-documented.”

• There are some RARE exceptions: • “Effect” may be used as a transitive verb, which means to bring about or make happen.

• My new computer effected a much-needed transition (change).

• There are similarly rare examples where “affect” can be a noun.• His lack of affect made him seem like a shallow person.

THEN VS. THAN• The word “then” can have a variety of meanings, including:

• “At that time” - He was young then.

• “Soon afterward; next in time” – He took his hat and then left.

• “Next in order” – First comes alpha and then beta.

• “In that case; therefore; accordingly” – If it rains, then there will be no picnic.

• “At another time or at other times” – Now it is warm; then it was freezing.

• The word “than” is used to compare two different things:• “This is bigger than that.”

• As a rule, use the word “than” when comparing and “then” in all other instances.

LOOSE VS. LOSE

• “Loose” means “not tight.”

• “Lose” means “to be deprived of or cease to have or retain something.”

• Please don’t mess this up:• If your pants are too loose, you might lose your pants.

ME, MYSELF, & I

• ME VS. I• Choose between “me” and “I” by removing the other person from

the sentences and using what doesn’t sound silly.

• My mother and ____(me, I) went to the store. • (take out my mother; would you say “I went to the store” or

“Me went to the store.”?

• MYSELF is only proper two ways, both used here:• “Many despise asparagus, but I myself tolerate it.”• “I thought to myself, ‘Why?’”

IMPROPER USE OF THE APOSTROPHE

• You need an apostrophe in two cases:

• For contractions (“don’t” for “do not forget the apostrophe”)

• To show possession (“Frank’s apostrophe means the apostrophe belongs to Frank.”)

COULD OF, WOULD OF, SHOULD OF

• “Could’ve”• “Would’ve”• “Should’ve”

• The above are legitimate verb contractions, but when spoken they sound like they end in “of” (wrong) instead of “have” (correct).

• “Could of,” “Would of,” and “Should of” – all of these make you look silly.

COMPLEMENT/COMPLIMENT

• “Complement” is something that adds to or supplements something else, or the act of doing so – “Potatoes complement many meals.”

• “Compliment” is something nice someone says about you – “You’re pretty.”

• Another Example: • Mark said that men and women have strengths that complement

each other. Marie did not take his remark as a compliment.

HISTORIC VS. HISTORICAL• “Historic” means an important event.

• “Historical” means something that happened in the past.

• Example:• A “historical document” would be just some document in the past; it wasn’t

necessarily an important document.

• If it was an important document, like the Declaration of Independence, it would be a “historic document.”

PRINCIPAL/PRINCIPLE• Principal:• As a noun, “principal” means the highest in rank or the main

participant.

• Mr. Noll is the principal of Tracy High School.•

• As an adjective, it means the most important of a set.

• She was first violin, or principal chair, in the orchestra.

• Principle: is a noun meaning a fundamental truth, law, or standard.• The theory of relativity is an important principle to know.

LITERALLY

•“I’m literally dying of shame.” – Bet not.

•“Literally” means that EXACTLY what you say is true – no metaphors or analogies. Everything else is figurative.

THE DANGLING PARTICIPLE

• A dangling participle occurs when you order a sentence in a confusing way.

• For example:• “After rotting in the cellar for weeks, my brother brought

up some oranges.”• Really? It sound like your brother was rotting. Eww!

• Try instead: “My brother brought up some oranges that had been rotting in the cellar for weeks.”

FEWER VS. LESS• If you can count it, use “fewer.”

• “Robert has had fewer referrals since his parents took away his cell phone.”

• If you can’t count it, use “less.” • “Sam has less money now that she lost her job.”

• She has fewer dollar bills, but less money.

• Another example: FEWER CALORIES! LESS FAT!

WHO VS. WHOM• “Who” is a subjective, or nominative, pronoun, along with “he,” “she,” “it,” “we,” and “they.” It’s used

when the pronoun acts as the subject

• Who is going to read the book?

• “Whom” is an objective pronoun, along with “him,” “her,” “it,” “us,” and “them.” It’s used when the pronoun acts as the object of a clause.

• To whom does this book belong?

• TRICK: When in doubt, substitute “who” with the subjective pronouns “he” or “she”

• Who loves you? He loves you.

• Similarly, you can substitute “whom” with the objective pronoun “him” or “her” (and “him” has an M like “whom,” so it’s really easy to remember).

• I consulted an attorney whom I met in NY. I consulted him.

WHICH AND THAT• “That” is a restrictive pronoun. It’s vital to the noun to which it’s referring.• I don’t trust fruits and vegetables that aren’t organic. (This refers to all non-organic fruits and vegetables. In other words, I only trust fruits and vegetables that are organic).

• “Which” introduces a relative clause. It allows qualifiers that may not be essential.• I recommend you eat only organic fruits and vegetables, which are available in area

grocery stores. (In this case, you don’t have to go to a specific grocery store to obtain organic fruits and vegetables.)

• “Which qualifies, “that” restricts. • “Which” is more ambiguous, however, and by virtue of its meaning is flexible

enough to be used in many restrictive clauses. – • The house, which is burning, is mine.

LAY VS. LIE The crown jewel of all grammatical errors

• “Lay” is a transitive verb. It requires an object.

• Its present tense is “lay” (I lay the pencil on the table) • Its past tense is “laid” (Yesterday I laid the pencil on the table).

• “Lie” is an intransitive verb. It needs no object.• Its present tense is “lie” (The Andes mountains lie between Chile and Argentina) • Its past tense is “lay” (The man lay waiting for an ambulance).

• The most common mistake occurs when the writer uses the past tense of the transitive “lay” (I laid on the bed - WRONG) when he/she actually means the intransitive past tense of “lie" (I lay on the bed - CORRECT).

CONTINUAL VS. CONTINUOUS

• They’re similar, but there’s a difference.

• “Continual” means something that's always occurring, with obvious lapses in time.

• The continual music next door made it the worst night of studying ever.

• “Continuous” means something continues without any stops or gaps in between.

• Her continuous talking prevented him from concentrating.

FARTHER VS. FURTHER•The word “farther” implies a measurable distance.

• I threw the ball ten feet farther than Bill.

• “Further” should be reserved for abstract lengths you can't always measure.

• The financial crisis caused further implications.

SINCE VS. BECAUSE

•“Since” refers to time.

• Since I quit drinking I’ve married and had two children.

•“Because” refers to causation.

•Because I quit drinking I no longer wake up in my own vomit.

DISINTERESTED VS. UNINTERESTED• Contrary to popular usage, these words aren’t synonymous.

• A “disinterested” person is someone who’s impartial. For example, a hedge fund manager might take interest in a headline regarding the performance of a popular stock, even if he's never invested in it. He’s “disinterested,” i.e., he doesn’t seek to gain financially from the transaction he’s witnessed. Judges and referees are supposed to be "disinterested."

• If the sentence you’re using implies someone who couldn't care less, chances are you’ll want to use “uninterested.”

DIFFERENT THAN VS. DIFFERENT FROM

• Words like “rather” and “faster” are comparative adjectives, and are used to show comparison with the preposition “than,” (e.g., greater than, less than, faster than, rather than).

• The adjective “different” is used to draw distinction. So, when “different” is followed by a preposition, it should be “from,” similar to “separate from,” “distinct from,” or “away from.” • My living situation in New York was different from home.

• There are rare cases where “different than” is appropriate, if “than” operates as a conjunction. • Development is different in New York than in Los Angeles.

When in doubt, use “different from.”

BRING VS. TAKE• In order to employ proper usage of “bring” or “take,” the writer must

know whether the object is being moved toward or away from the subject.

• If it is toward, use “bring.”

• If it is away, use “take.”

• Your spouse may tell you to “take your clothes to the cleaners.”

• The owner of the dry cleaners would say “bring your clothes to the cleaners.”