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 […]
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 […]
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.
Quoting Queries….When to Play Doubles, When Singles
Quite some time ago, a fellow blogger named Kiwi.Writer posed an interesting question in one of her posts; she was perplexed about the use of single and double quotation marks. It seems that Kiwi submitted a paper for review, and her instructor marked out all the double quotes surrounding dialogue and marked them to be […]
And I Wondered: Is It All Right to Start My Sentence That Way?
An erudite reader has asked my opinion on the permissibility of beginning a sentence with a conjunction. This is an interesting case, as it’s one of the few times when I will tell you that your high school grammar teacher was wrong: It is not always wrong to start a sentence with and, but, or […]
Now, Where Does that Period Go? End Stops and Quotation Marks
Dear Grammar Guru: Please tell us how to punctuate around quotation marks. I get confused, particularly if I have a word or phrase at the end of the sentence that I am setting off with quotations. This is a common concern to all who wish their writing to reflect knowledge of proper grammar. It’s not […]