Do You Want to Copywrite or Copyright? There IS a Difference!
The Grammar Guru keeps coming across this unbelievable error in her excursions through both online and print media. She doesn’t really understand why there is confusion between these two terms, but she thought that she ought, perhaps, to try to clear it up anyway. Copyright. This is the registration that confirms that an author’s work […]
These Words Are NOT Interchangeable!
The Grammar Guru has become painfully aware of a more and more common mistake in word usage. She has seen this on blogs, on news sites, and in various other written venues. And the mistake is creeping into people’s speech. So The Grammar Guru tells everyone, right now, to stop it! The words adieu and […]
Puzzling Redundancies
You see them all the time. Phrases in which the main idea is repeated more than once. (Yes, I did that on purpose.) Take, for example, the phrase I saw today in an article about ugly team uniforms. The author mentioned the “arm sleeves.” Why? When you are talking about clothing, sleeves are the arms. […]
Less and Fewer Are Not Interchangeable
These two words may be the most misused words in the language. They are not interchangeable; each has a specific meaning and a specific usage. Fewer is a comparative adjective used with things that may be counted — a good test is to determine whether the word is something that has both a singular and […]
A Question of Agreement
I’ve received an odd e-mail, but it raises a very good question. I’m answering it here because I just can’t believe it’s for real. A professional journalist would not be e-mailing me to answer such an elementary grammatical question. I’m pretty sure that the e-mail was a phishing expedition. So, editing out all the live […]
I Can’t Accept Your Exception to the Rule
Like the words affect and effect, accept and except are often confused. Misusing them, however, is an egregious error that can give a very bad impression of your communication skills. Accept is a verb that means “to take something that is offered.” You can accept the terms of a contract, accept a marriage proposal, accept […]
Get Your Hands off My Tutu!
Apparently there is some confusion about which form of the word pronounced /tu/ to use in a given situation. To is a preposition meaning “toward” or “directed at.” As in: I went to the store. Give the book to John. Too is an adverb meaning “excessive” or “also.” As in: That pepper was too hot […]
Subject-Verb Agreement With Intervening Prepositional Phrases
A fancy title for a simple concept. Another blogger asked the Grammar Guru, “Will you please teach people about proper subject-verb agreement — especially in cases where the subject may seem to be plural, but really isn’t . . . as in a flock of seagulls? I am getting quite sick of seeing things such […]
If Only… Only if….Hunh?
It is a strange fact that the position of certain words in a sentence can affect the meaning of the sentence drastically. The word only is one such word. Consider the following examples. Only I love her. I only love her. I love only her. I love her only. Do you see the differences in […]
Just between you and me, you have to pick your pronouns carefully!
One of the most prevalent grammatical mistakes that the Grammar Guru battles (on a daily basis!) is the wrong choice of pronouns in phrases like “between you and I / me” or “my sister and I / me.” It really isn’t so very hard to get the right one, when you know the trick. The […]