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 meaning that arise simply from the change in the position of the word only?
- Only I love Ben. (I am the sole person who loves Ben.)
- I only love Ben. (Love is the sole emotion that I feel for Ben.)
- I love only Ben. (Ben is the sole person whom I love.)
- I love Ben only. (I love Ben, and no one else.)
The difference between the last two examples is very subtle, but it does exist. The order in which you place your words in a sentence is very important. When you write, be vigilant to test your word order to ensure that you are saying exactly what you mean, rather than introducing confusion or misunderstanding into your work. The Grammar Guru has seen many, many examples of people who made a statement with a misplaced only, and ended up with an outcome they did not expect — and sometimes it was a very undesirable outcome.
Do Not Exacerbate My Exasperation
Two frequently misused words which can make you sound very foolish when you mix them up, or quite brilliant if you get them right, are exasperate and exacerbate. The problem is really quite simple, as the words have nothing at all in common except the prefix “ex-.”
Exasperate (/eks ASS purr ate/) means to make angry or to cause one to lose patience. It comes from the Latin “ex-” (out of) and “spero” (hope) — literally, to exasperate someone is to make them lose their hope in you.
Exacerbate (/eks ASS ur bate/) means to make something worse. It also comes from the Latin: “exacerbare” (to make thoroughly harsh) — literally, to exacerbate something is to make it as terrible as it can be.
The problem with these two is really just sloppy pronunciation. Remember that People are made exasPerated, while proBlems are exaceBated, and you may have an easier time with these two words.
The Past Has Passed ….
Emergency beacons in my Inbox — a concerned blogger wants us to clear up the difference between “passed” and “past.” Actually, this one’s really easy, because the two words are completely different parts of speech.
Past is either a noun or adjective. It means “previous times.”
noun: His past is a closed book.
adjective: That time is past. The past two Christmases have been dull.
Passed is the past-tense form of the verb to pass. It means that at some previous time, something got ahead of something else.
The 18-wheeler passed the Geo Metro on the downhill slope.
My son passed all his exams and will be going to Eton.
However Do You Punctuate “However”!?
The word however is a funny, tricksy word. It serves many purposes and is punctuated differently for each. Let’s examine it closely.
When it’s used as an intensive form of how, the word however does not have any special puncutation associated with it. Example: Miss Mary jumped up, startled. “However did you get into the house?” she demanded.
When however is used as a conjunction to link two sentences, it should be preceded by a semi-colon and followed by a comma. Example: Miss Mary was very angry with me for sneaking up on her; however, she was impeccably polite when she inquired whether I would have tea.
When however interrupts a thought, it is set off by commas. Example: Miss Mary did not invite me, however, to enjoy a mint julep with her.
I hope this clears up any misunderstandings about how to punctuate this versatile word.
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 trick is to say the phrase without the additional person and see what the real sentence is. For example: Which pronoun goes in the blank in each of the following sentences?
John and ___ went to the movies.
That book was shared by John and ____. (Don’t start shrieking about passive voice, it’s just an example!)
Obviously, you wouldn’t say “me went to the movies” unless you were raised in the jungle by apes, so the answer in the first blank is “I.” But you wouldn’t say “That book is owned by I,” so “me” goes in the second blank.
It has to do with the case of the pronoun in question. Remember case? That thing your English teacher sort of discussed — confusingly? The two cases that concern us in this post are the Subjective and the Objective.
The Subjective case serves as the subject of a sentence or clause. So when your phrase is the subject of a sentence, you must use the Nominative case: I, you, he, she, it, we, they. I know “John and they went to the movies” sounds goofy, but it’s correct! (If the sound of it bothers you, reconstruct the sentence: “They went with John to the movies” or “John went with them to the movies.”)
The Objective case serves as an object — of a verb, preposition, etc. So when your phrase is an object, you must use Objective case: me, you, him, her, it, us, them. Again, this can sometimes land you with goofy-sounding phrases, but they are grammatically correct.
Some additional examples to cement this idea in your head. All of the following are correct usage:
- Dad took my brother and me to the fair.
- My mom and I are great friends.
- Jim and Anne took them to Ciro’s.
- They and I went to The Mottled Oyster for cocktails.
- Just between you and me, that dress makes her look like a manatee. [Or say, “Just between us” and you won’t have to worry!]
- This is a secret between you and me.
- You and I are going to kidnap that child.
- He and they are being silly.
Do You Wear Your Everyday Jeans Every Day?
If so, I hope you wash them at least every third day.
The Grammar Guru has been asked to address the confusion between the usage of the compound word everyday and the phrase every day. Yes, they are two totally different things.
Everyday is an adjective used to describe something that is commonplace or not designated for special use. Most of us have everyday china that’s cheaper and less ornate than our “good” china.
Every day is a phrase containing an adjective and a noun; it is used only when you are referring to a period of time, as in “Mike goes to the coffee shop every day.”
Some confusion may creep in when we have an everyday occurrence. But if you look carefully, you will see that “everyday” in that phrase is simply an adjective telling what sort of occurrence it is.
Personally, I think it’s the failure to properly inculcate an understanding of the parts of speech in our school-children that is causing these lapses of usage. Once you know, really know, what an adjective is, you aren’t likely to misuse it. Oh well. The Grammar Guru digresses.
Just remember, I use my everyday dishes every day, but it isn’t every day that I use Grandma’s bone china.
And the Answer Is….
Yesterday, I said, “One of these things just doesn’t belong here… come on, can you tell me which one…. point, bang, cow, query…And bonus points to anyone who knows why the other three are related.”
Most of you easily figured out that “cow” was the oddball. But I think many of you were stumped by the reason why.
Point, bang, and query are all terms used in proofreading / editing to refer to punctuation marks.
A “point” is a period, also called a full stop, a dot, or and end stop.
A “bang” is an exclamation mark.
A “query” is a question mark.
And now you know why they all go together.
One of these things just doesn’t belong here…
come on, can you tell me which one….
point, bang, cow, query
………………………………………………………………………….
And bonus points to anyone who knows why the other three are related.
More Frequently Confused and Misunderstood Words
Let’s look at some words that are frequently misused and misunderstood. The problem with the completely wrong word is becoming more and more rampant, and we really need to address it.
Founder as a verb means “to sink, to fail completely, or to cave in.” Flounder as a verb means “to flop about clumsily, to proceed with confusion.” I remember the difference by reminding myself that flounder, as a noun, is a fish, and a fish out of water flops about; founder, as a noun, is a person who begins something, and if he’s not careful, he can sink it. So if you have a ship sinking, it’s foundering; a kid who’s just learning to swim is floundering (as long as he’s not actually drowning). The crippled rowboat floundered toward the shore; we thought it would reach land, but it struck the outlying reef and foundered.
Career as a verb means “to move at full speed.” Careen as a verb has two meanings, “to tilt a ship on its side for cleaning and repair”; or “to move unsteadily, to lurch or sway while in motion.” Usually, they scrape off the barnacles when a ship is careened. And that’s how I remember the difference. If a car is careening down the street, it’s driving erratically, with a lurching motion—it might even bonk into a few things and scrape its sides. If that car is careering down the street, however, it’s speeding recklessly; it won’t, however, be bumping into things. The police cars careered down the street, trying to head off the drunken motorcyclist. The drunken man careened through the restaurant, bumping into waiters and tripping over patrons who were watching in horrified disbelief.
To wreak is to cause to happen, to give expression to. To reek is to smell abominable. I can wreak my wrath upon you, or wreak havoc upon your project. But my garbage can will reek if I don’t empty it. If you don’t take out that reeking garbage immediately, I will wreak havoc on your live life by refusing you access to the car.
The Value of Mythology
All writers should study mythology. A solid understanding of classical mythology is a sine qua non of good writing. If you don’t have a good knowledge of myth, you lose the ability to draw parallels and to make allusions that enrich and enliven your writing.
All readers should study mythology. Without an understanding of the classical myths of Greece, Rome, and the Nordic countries, readers will miss many of the allusions that classically educated writers include in their works.