Arlene Miller's Blog, page 33

Parts of Speech: Pronouns, Part 3 – More of the Issues

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

A couple of weeks ago, we talked about the six kinds of pronouns. Then last week we talked about some of the issues with using personal and intensive/reflexive pronouns: things like I versus me; and I and me versus myself. Today, we will talk about the issues with interrogative and relative pronouns since they look almost the same, although they are used differently.

Interrogatives

First, please note that the five interrogative pronouns are NOT the same as the five journalistic questions. The journalistic questions are Who, What, When, Where, and Why. The only two of those that are pronouns are who and what. The interrogatives are who, whom, whose, what, and which.

The issue with the interrogatives is WHO versus WHOM. If you are ever in doubt, use who. An incorrect who will likely go unnoticed, but an errant whom sounds just plain weird. The thing with who and whom is the same as the thing with I and me: case. Who is used as a subject, like I;  whom is used as an object, like me.  How do you figure out which one to use? There are a few ways:

Look for the verbs in the sentence. Find the subject for each verb. If your who/whom appears to be a subject, use who. If all the verbs have other subjects you have identified, and none of the subjects is your who/whom, it is likely an object and you can use whom.
Answer the question. Who/Whom are you taking to the movie? I am taking her. Therefore, use whom. It isn’t I am taking she. Who/whom is coming to the party? They are coming to the party (not them).  So use who.
If the who/whom comes right after a preposition like with, by, for, at, to, etc., use whom — even if the preposition is put at the end of the sentence and the who/whom is at the beginning. Who/whom are you going with? I am going with him. Use whom. To who/whom are you giving that gift? Since it comes directly after to, use whom.

The interrogative pronoun is whose and not who’s. Whose book is that?

The other two interrogatives, which and what, can also be used as adjectives, but the distinction will not cause any problems.

What is that? (pronoun). What book are you reading? (adjective)

Which are those? (pronoun). Which way are you going? (adjective)

 

Relatives

The problem with the relative pronouns is mainly whether to use that or which. Then, of course, wherever there is a who or whom, there is a problem.

That is generally used without a comma for clauses that are necessary for the meaning of the sentence (essential clauses): Here is the book that I told you about. You need that I told you about for the sentence to make sense. It tells you which book. You should read this book, which was a bestseller last year. In this case the clause is added information, sort of a “by the way.” Because you said this book, the person you are talking to probably knows the book you mean, Therefore, use a comma and which. 
For people, we generally use who, with or without the comma. For a group of peoples you can use that: He is the boy who plays football.  The boy who plays football, who is also a great student, is in 10th grade. The native American tribe that is from my town has a monument in the town square.
Who and whom are the same in relative clause use as they are as interrogatives. Who is a subject and whom is an object. (Remember that after the verb is or was or are (the to be verb) you use the subject form.  You can use the same methods to figure out whom versus who as in the interrogatives. You won’t be able to answer the question, though, because they are not questions. But you can turn it into a question and answer it. I have a cousin who is an astronaut.  My cousin, whom I haven’t seen in ten years, is coming to visit. (Have you seen your cousin? No, I haven’t seen him in ten years. So it is whom.)

 

Here is a little quiz on relative and interrogative pronouns. Scroll down for the answers:

(Who, Whom) are you talking to on the phone?
I know a girl who can bend all the way backwards.  (comma after who or not?)
Please tell me (who,whom) you are choosing for the lead in the play.
The people (who, whom, that) are talking in the corner are the executives.
The movie (that, which) I saw last night was scary. (comma?)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answers:

whom
no comma
whom
either who or that
that – no comma

What’s Next?

Next week will be the end of the pronoun series with a discussion of demonstrative and indefinite pronouns.

The following week will likely be a guest post.

Then, I might run some Best Of the Grammar Divas with hopefully some other interesting info I find on the Internet until I get moved to Florida, when I will resume the parts of speech series.

Parts of Speech: Pronouns, Part 2 – Some of the Issues

In last week’s post, we talked about the six types of pronouns. Pronouns can be pretty troublesome.  This post will clear up some confusions about personal and reflexive/intensive pronouns, namely:

Is it I or me ?  and the rest of those
It is it’s or its ?
When do I use me,  when do I use I ,  and when do I use myself ?

Pronouns have “cases,” or different forms for different uses. Thank goodness English pronouns have only three cases; some languages have eight and have them for nouns as well; we really don’t. 

The nominative case is used for subjects. Those pronouns are I, we, you, he, she, they, and it. That is why we don’t say “Him and me went to the show.”  Whoever is doing the action of the verb is the subject, and it usually (but not always) appears at or near the beginning of the sentence.  He and I went to the show. She and I went to the show. She and they went to the show.  However, note that after the “to be” verb ( is, are, was, etc.), we use the nominative case as well. So it is correct to say, It is I or This is she , although it sounds a little stilted. So if you want to say, It’s me ,  I am not going to stop you.
The objective case is used for objects. Those pronouns are me, you, him, her, it, us, and them . They come after the verb and sometimes after a preposition. I saw him. I made her a cake. I did it for them. I saw him and her. He gave it to Jim and me. Note that after a preposition such as by, for, to, with, and any other preposition, you use the objective case pronouns.
The possessive case is obviously used for possession. Those pronouns are mine, yours, his,  hers,  ours, its, and theirs. (My, your, her, their, and your are usually used as adjectives, so I didn’t include them.) So if you ever forget whether to use its or it’s, remember that its is the possessive one. AND, like its, none of the possessive pronouns have an apostrophe (but possessive nouns do).

The reflexive pronouns have the same form as the intensives; it just depends on how they are used. They are the pronouns ending in -self or -selves: myself, ourselves, yourself, yourselves, herself, himself, itself, and themselves.

Intensive:  (used for emphasis) I myself climbed that mountain. OR She climbed that mountain herself.

Reflexive:  (refers back to the subject). I gave myself a manicure. She baked herself a birthday cake.

These pronouns are NOT used as subjects. These sentences are incorrect:

He and myself built our house.
Myself and my brothers took a cruise.

These pronouns, however, can be used as objects: direct, indirect, or object of a preposition:

I saw myself in the mirror. (direct object)
I gave myself a manicure. (indirect object; manicure is the direct object of gave .)
I did it by myself. (object of the preposition by )

In all the correct sentences using the -self pronouns, what do you notice? Yup. If you use myself, the subject is I. If you use herself, the subject is she. The subject matches the object pronoun. If the -self pronoun doesn’t match the subject pronoun, you likely need to use the objective case, not the reflexive:

NO: He saw my brother and myself walking down the street. YES: He saw my brother and me walking down the street.
NO: She said her cousin and myself are the only people she could trust. YES: She said her cousin and me are the only people she can trust.

Please let me know if you have any other questions about these two types of pronouns. I think I covered it all. Next week, we will talk about interrogative and relative pronouns.

 

 

 

 

 

Parts of Speech: The Six Types of Pronouns

Last week’s post talked about issues with nouns. Now, pronouns — they have issues!

Pronouns cause a variety of problems with speaking and writing. Of course, the most common is the I/Me issue. But there are many other pronoun problems. In today’s post, I am just going to introduce the SIX kinds of pronouns. Yup, six.

First of all, what is a pronoun? We know a noun is a person, place, thing, or idea. A pronoun is a word that stands in for a noun (or another pronoun). Here are some examples:

Joanne hid her dress from her mother.

Pronouns come in handy because Joanne hid Joanne’s dress from Joanne’s mother is unwieldy!

John came into the room. He then sat in the most comfortable chair.

Sounds better than John came into the room. John then sat in the most comfortable chair.

Do you need to know what the six types of pronouns are? Of course not. Only grammar nerds like me care. The types are simply grammar vocabulary, so when someone refers to a personal pronoun, you know what they are talking about.

Here are the six types of pronouns:

Personal pronouns are what I like to call “plain old pronouns.” They are the words everyone thinks of when they think of pronouns (IF they think of pronouns).  Some examples are I, me, he, she, her, him, it, us, they, its, we, you, your, my, his, etc. Notice that some of them are possessive (more about that next week).  Personal pronouns are used as nouns are used in a sentence: as subjects or objects.
Demonstrative pronouns point things out. There are only four of them: this, that (singular) and these, those (plural). These four can also be used as adjectives (these books). Demonstrative pronouns are also used as subjects or objects when they are used as pronouns.
Intensive and reflexive pronouns are the ones that end in –self: myself, yourself, yourselves, ourselves, himself, herself, itself, etc.  They are called intensive when used to emphasize,  like this: I myself made that chocolate torte. They are called reflexive when they reflect back to the subject: I made that chocolate torte myself.
Interrogative pronouns, as their name indicates, are those pronouns used to ask a question: who, whom, what, which, and whose: Who are you? Whom did you invite? What is that? Which is yours? Whose are those books? (Which can also be an adjective: Which coat?)
Relative pronouns are the five that are almost exactly the same as the interrogatives except they don’t ask a question. They are used to introduce adjective  or noun clauses. Who, whom, that, which, and whose are the relative pronouns — the same as the interrogatives except what changes to that: I know who you are.  She is the friend whom I invited.  Here is the book that I wrote. I baked this strawberry cake, which won an award at the fair. Jack is the neighbor whose car I borrowed.
Indefinite pronouns are the words you wouldn’t think were pronouns, and there are many of them. Here are just some: something, someone, somebody, everyone, everything, anyone, none, all, few, many, some, no one, either. Some of these can also be used as adjectives.

We will talk about the issues these persnickety pronouns cause in the next couple of weeks. A little preview:

Personal: I versus me, its versus it’s
 Demonstrative: When used as pronouns, no problems.
Intensive/Reflexive: Incorrect use of myself
Interrogative: Who versus whom
Relative: Who versus whom; which versus that
Indefinite: Are they singular or plural? Do you use a singular or plural verb with them?

 

Parts of Speech : Nouns, Part 2-Special Issues

Image by Quinn Kampschroer from Pixabay

Last week we talked about the types of nouns. Nouns seem like such an easy and simple part of speech, you wouldn’t think there would be any issues with them. But there are . . .

Plurals

Nouns have plurals. Obviously, it would be simple if we just added -s to the end of a word to make it plural. But of course, as with everything else in English, there are many exceptions. Here is a list of the significant rules:

Add an s: books, cows, thoughts
If the singular noun ends in ‑s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, or -z, add -es :  buses, bushes, classes, churches, taxes
Sometimes the words ending in -s or -z need that letter doubled before the -es: quizzes, busses (or buses)
If the noun ends with ‑f or ‑fe, the f is often changed to ‑ve before adding the -s: knives, wives (there are exceptions like roofs, chefs)
If a singular noun ends in ‑y and the letter before the -y is a consonant, change the ending to ‑ies: studies, candies
If the singular noun ends in -y and the letter before the -y is a vowel, just add an -s: days, guys
If the singular noun ends in ‑o, add ‑es: potatoes (there are exceptions like pianos, halos)
If the singular noun ends in ‑us, change it to -i: cacti. foci.
If the singular noun ends in ‑is, change it to ‑es: ellipses, analyses.
If the singular noun ends in ‑on, change it to ‑a: phenomena
Some nouns don’t change at all in the plural: sheep, deer, species
And some nouns have irregular plurals: men, children, geese

Notice that there is no mention or apostrophes in the pluralization rules!

Parts of Speech Series: Nouns, Part 1

Nouns. Probably the first part of speech you ever heard about. And you no doubt remember the little ditty that went with nouns: “A noun is a person, place, or thing.” And if you had a very good teacher: “A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea.” And although we think of nouns as things we can see or touch, some — like ideas — we cannot.

So nouns would appear to be pretty simple. But they do have some issues that we will discuss next week. For now, know that there are five categories of nouns, and every noun is in two or three of those categories. And these categories don’t include singular or plural, which is another feature of nouns.

Common nouns: A common noun is any noun that is not a specific person, place, thing, or idea and thus begins with a lowercase letter:

girl
school
car
religion
movie
idea

Proper nouns: A proper noun is a specific person, place, thing, or idea and is capitalized:

Alice
MacDonald Elementary School
Honda
Hinduism
Star Wars
Theory of Relativity

Concrete nouns: Concrete nouns are all the nouns that you can see or hear or feel or smell or taste. So even air is concrete since you can feel it. In the examples above 1,2,3, and 5 are concrete.

Abstract nouns:Abstract nouns are the ones you cannot sense. You can read a book on Hinduism or see a person who is Hindu, but you cannot see Hinduism. Examples 4 and 6 above are abstract.

So each noun is either common or proper — and also either concrete or abstract.

Common Concrete – table

Proper Concrete – Golden Gate Bridge (and yup, nouns can have more than one word, particularly proper nouns)

Common Abstract: thought

Proper Abstract: Judaism

Collective Nouns: Collective nouns are usually common and represent a group (which itself is a collective noun) even in the singular. However, collective nouns can be singular or plural. Here are some collective nouns:

band/bands (musical ones)
audience/audiences
cast/casts (in a play)
flock/flocks
orchestra/orchestras

Regular old plurals are not collective nouns. For example, people is a plain old plural, the singular of which is person. It is not collective.

Cases: Cases are forms of words. Latin has five cases. If you have ever studied Latin, you might remember that you use a different form of a noun depending upon whether it is a subject, an object, possessive, etc. Other languages have seven or eight cases. English has only three, and only pronouns have different forms for the three cases. Nouns have a different form only for possessive. (Plural is not a case.)

One More Thing About Nouns: Just because a word is a noun doesn’t mean it cannot also be another part of speech, or another two parts of speech, or three.

All the parts of speech were described in this recent post.

Many nouns are also adjectives:

Thanksgiving (noun)/Thanksgiving dinner (adjective)

summer (noun)/ summer vacation (adjective)

apple (noun)/apple pie (adjective)

Many nouns are also verbs:

He gave me a look. (noun)

He looked at me. (verb)

I made a plan. (noun)

I will plan a vacation. (verb)

Some nouns are verbs that have nothing to do with the noun:

I saw you. (verb)

He used a saw to cut the wood. (noun)

Some nouns are other parts of speech.

Well is an interesting word:

Timmy fell into the well. (noun)

Are you feeling well? (adverb)

Well, I never saw you there! (interjection)

 

NEXT WEEK: Some issues with nouns:
plurals
possessives
agreement with collectives
capitalization
hyphenation
No, I haven’t sold my house and moved to Florida yet. Still sitting here . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Bad Week for Grammar

Is it just me, or was it a bad week for grammar?  (Just me??)

Image by succo from Pixabay

It all started near the beginning of the week when I went to my doctor. She has a new assistant. Now I don’t mind if someone working in a medical environment has a big old tattoo (really, I don’t like them, but I am used to it); long thick, big gel nails with one sparkly one (I don’t mind gel nails or colored polish – I have had such nails myself — but when they are long and thick and not nicely rounded and clean looking, I don’t think they belong in a medial environment); and bad grammar to boot. She was very nice and these things wouldn’t have bothered me if she had been competent and hadn’t torn both my ear canals while “power washing” my ears (ever had that done?). So back to the grammar: first was the “have came.” Then was the double negative: “I don’t want no one to slip on that floor.” Grammar isn’t everything, but when other things are going on too, bad grammar doesn’t help.

 

Then, of course, there is the usual “I feel badly,” instead of “I feel bad” that everyone says (including a politician very high up). And then there was the person on cable news who said,  “. . .the amount of people running,” instead of “the number of people running.”

 

Then came the most surprising of all. On a radio show I heard someone whom I thought was well spoken. He has become known through his political tweets.  I had never noticed anything wrong with his grammar until this week when I heard him say “have tooken.” What????? He also said”could of” that same day. And “like myself” instead of “like me,” but that one isn’t so bad.

 

The last faux pas I would like to mention is the “I” instead of “me,” which I keep silent about when my friends say it. I know that when you are talking, you don’t stop to take the other person out to see if it makes sense (He gave it to Pete and I; He gave it to I),  so just remember — if you might be guilty of this — if you are using “to” or “for” or “with” or “by,” it’s me, not I.

 

Yup, I know I was supposed to talk about nouns today as the first post in the parts of speech series, but I just had to vent.

A Two Parter – What’s Going On? and POS

I have mentioned in my previous posts that I am planning a move to Florida from California. So I feel very much in limbo. I am waiting for my house to sell, so

Image by FABIANNE SIBBIO from Pixabay

every time I have something to plan, I say . . .”If I am still here by then…”  Actually I thought I would be gone by now, but my house hasn’t sold. I haven’t gotten anything done on my latest book, but I have kept up this blog post (…neither rain nor sleet…) and my social media postings and the little marketing I do.

My house is getting  emptier and emptier. I sent 95% of my stuff to Florida two months ago on a truck with my daughter and son-in-law’s things. I am lucky that I don’t have to time a sale and a purchase; I can stay at my daughter and son-in-law’s house when I get to Florida. In fact, they tour for work and will hardly ever be there, so they are happy to have a “house sitter,” even though we all thought I would be there long before now.

So, my closet is nearly empty, actually making clothing choices so much easier every day!  I am sleeping on my old mattress on the floor (having sent the rest of the bed to Florida), and that is getting old. And I am getting too old to be able to get up from it. The dog is happy because she can jump onto the bed now; before, it was too high.

For some reason I packed my silverware, which could easily have been replaced with new stuff for not much money. When my daughter was here, right before the truck left with our stuff, she was making herself an English muffin. She asked me,”Where are the knives? I need to spread the butter.” Oh, well, I thought I would do OK with plastic forks and three spoons. 

I didn’t send most of my furniture because I am going to sell or donate it. However, I sold my three bookcases to a friend, so those are gone. 

Frankly, I love the feeling of a very uncluttered house; I was never a clutterer anyway. I don’t like a lot of stuff around. But this minimalistic look suits me just fine!

So that is where I am right now! I think about moving out and going to Florida before the house sells, but I think, “Who will water the outside plants every day?” They need to be done by hand. And I still would have to pay the mortgage. Bummer!

So here I sit.

***

Among other things, POS stands for parts of speech. This summer I will be doing a series about the parts of speech. Not just what they are — that would be boring — but what some of the major issues with them are. 

We all learned about the parts of speech in elementary school. Can you name the eight of them? (I say there are eight. Not everyone agrees) Scroll down for the answers:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

noun – person, place, thing, or idea (Joe, children, ice, sky, air, truck, sincerity)
verb – action word or state of being (am, runs, flies, becomes, justifies, thinks)
pronoun – stands in for a noun (he, she, they, myself, them, who, which, everyone)
adjective – modifies or describes a noun or pronoun (pretty, those, five, blue, anxious, the)
adverb – modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb (slowly, very, now, then, extremely, happily)
preposition – begins a phrase that puts something in a time or place (in, out, above, up, beyond, inside)
conjunction – joins words, phrases, sentences (and, but, or, nor, so, for, yet, although, because)
interjection – conveys emotion (oh, well, gee, darn, rats, OMG)

Quiz of the week: Can you write a sentence using every part of speech only once? An eight-word sentence?

Here is mine. Maybe I could do better if I thought about it longer. I am sure you can do better!

Yikes, and she jumped quickly over the box. (interjection, conjunction, pronoun, verb, adverb, preposition, adjective, noun)

 

Next Week: An Introduction to Nouns

 

Everything I Ever Learned About Grammar . . .

Image by newswatch from Pixabay

 . . . I learned from a seventh grade grammar textbook. 

 . . . when I taught seventh grade English not so long ago.

Yes, I was always good in grammar. And I excelled in Latin, which was a grammar-based class. And my parents, for all their frailties, spoke decently — if good grammar is either inherited or absorbed.

The topic for this post began as a compilation of grammar mistakes I have heard recently on the news, spoken by people you would think would know better. Then I realized that if I hadn’t taught 7th grade English, I probably would be making the same mistakes. Probably. But maybe not. 

Yes, I was a journalism major in college, but no grammar was taught as far as I can remember. However, I do recall that anytime I wrote anything for my journalism class, there was a plethora of red on my paper. I went on to be a newspaper reporter for a short while, still writing well enough, perhaps, but not great, grammar-wise or any other -wise.

Then I moved on to technical writing and then technical editing, where I probably began to learn some of the fine points of grammar, possibly using the Chicago Manual for the first time, although I had a copy in college. However, the Chicago Manual isn’t really a grammar book, and I don’t remember ever owning a real grammar reference including The Elements of Style (which I came to late in life).

But then . . . also late in life I got a teaching credential and was introduced to the Holt Handbook, the book my English Department happened to have adopted (and never changed my entire eleven-year teaching career). Who knew there were six types of pronouns? Who knew that predicate nominatives were one of four types of complements?  Who knew the true uses for myself?

Now, I did. I knew it all. Enough to write a dozen grammar books since that time and enough to know that this is a sentence fragment (for which we did receive a zero in high school if we had one in an essay).

But if I were a news broadcaster, would I have impeccable grammar — even if I had graduated from an ivy league school?

If I were a senator who had graduated from law school, or the head of a government agency, would I have impeccable speaking grammar?

Are these people always reading from a teleprompter that is written incorrectly?  (I don’t know.)

I know many of you are annoyed by the same grammar gaffs that I hear on the news. But before I continue, let me say that I listen to only one news channel, which I will not divulge. It isn’t Fox, and it is one in which most of the people on it have advanced degrees.

Here are some of the grammar goofs I have picked up on in the past few weeks:

Retweeted again – From the department of redundancy
At the same time, simultaneously – Another one from the department of redundancy. I have reason to believe this one was off the cuff and possibly said on purpose for effect.
On the same stage as him – A common goof; it should be On the same stage as he (since there is an is implied – same stage as he is on)
Infer used instead of imply – I was very disappointed when I heard this one. She very obviously meant imply. 
It is concerning – Meaning it is worrisome.  I hear this one all the time. As far as I know concerning is not an adjective, as it is attempting to be used here. (Concerning is a preposition: I am calling concerning the meeting. Or it is a verb: I am concerned about the weather. Or it is a noun: This issue is of concern to me.)
Myself being used instead of I or me –  Myself is appropriate neither as a subject or an object. These are all incorrect: He and myself are going. He talked to Jim and myself. These are correct: I myself will be speaking. I am going myself. 
I and me confusion – We are still suffering from the overcorrection of me to I . Sometimes me is correct. Wrong: It is a puzzle to him and I.
Here is or there is or here’s or there’s followed by a plural –  The verb in those phrases is singular (is ) and should be followed by something singular: Here is my plan. There is the city on the map. Not: Here’s the names on the list. There’s the locations for the new stores. 
Keeping in mind, number 6 above. I recently heard this one: I intend that to be myself. Is that correct, or should it be, I intend that to be me? I really don’t know, and I don’t know how I would even look it up, or if I would find it anywhere. Myself is appropriate when the sentence begins with I because myself is used reflexively (I did it myself – it bounces back to I ) or intensively (I myself did it – it intensifies the I ). In the case of something like I intend to call her, the same construction is used. There is an infinitive ( to and a verb: to call). However, the subject doesn’t match the reflexive pronoun. But you would say I intend to call myself “Joe.” Here the subject ( I ) matches myself . Hmmmm……I think I intend that to be myself is correct, even though it hurt my ears when I heard it. In that case, the person who said it (Kamala Harris) is pretty damn good at grammar!


The Grammar Diva is in limbo waiting for her house to sell so she can move to Florida! I have turned down a speaking engagement, a volunteer job with my writing group, and some editing jobs because I don’t know when I am moving. But I will continue to keep writing this blog and posting on social media! And soon I will get back to my dating memoir . . . and begin my business writing book (and other projects) . . .
 
Happy Summer from The Grammar Diva!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5 Ways to Use Technology to Improve Your Writing Skills

Image by Welcome to all and thank you for your visit ! ツ from Pixabay
Guest Post by Cathy Baylis:

Even though we might not write by hand as much as we used to a decade or two ago, we still need to communicate effectively and coherently.

Whether you are a blogger, a copywriter, a marketing specialist looking to create a top-notch presentation for your next pitch, or a chief executive officer looking to write your next big contract, you need to have well-developed writing skills.

To improve our skills, we can make use of technology. Software and other products can make our paragraphs flawless — helping us make a great first impression.

Also, apart from checking our writing, technology gives us quicker access to others’ presentations, books, and articles.

Here are five ways to use technology to improve your writing skills.

1.  Grammarly

Grammarly is a tool every person looking to write even a few lines should use. Whether you want to write a letter to your friend or create a company presentation, and whether you use your laptop or notebook to write your composition, Grammarly is easily accessible to you: just paste the content inside the app and wait for it to process your text.

Grammarly will highlight the grammar errors in your composition and will offer you error-free alternatives. For example, if you write “this projects” instead of “these projects,” the software will identify the mistake.

A very important feature of this tool is the Grammarly Plug-In, which you can install in your Chrome browser. Then, you won’t even need to copy and paste the text into the tool. The plug-in will always be there waiting and checking your content proactively.

2.  Hemingway App

“During my first months of working as a copywriter, I had a very dull writing style. By dull, I don’t want to highlight the fact that my content was just empty words. If you would’ve read an article of mine, you would’ve had to grab a pillow right after the introductory paragraph. That’s because there were endless sentences,” says Diana Brighton, Chief Writing Guru at UK essay writing service.

Basically, what Hemingway does is add musicality and sharpness to your text. It will point out the too- long sentences, the ones you will have to split in two. Next, it will focus on passive voice because it is a very effective sleeping pill for your readers. You don’t want them to fall asleep while reading your articles, do you?

First, use Grammarly to make sure your articles or presentations are flawless, with no grammar mistakes. Then, take your text and put it to the test using the Hemingway App. Are you a real Hemingway or just a wannabe? Do your readers enjoy reading your masterpieces, or do they tend to give up after reading the first paragraphs?

3.  Plagiarism Checker

Andrew Garfield, essay reviewer at essay services reviews adds, “We all have our sources of inspiration. It’s impossible to write even a one-thousand-word article without having at least one source of inspiration. When you use this information, it is very important that you mention the original source. Otherwise, you will be a plagiarist and you might be sued for this.”

Right before sending an article to your client or publishing it on your blog, make sure your content is 100 percent original to avoid possible headaches and lawsuits.

If you are a copywriter or working with one, and you want to evaluate the text, make sure to use a plagiarism checker. Sometimes you can plagiarize by accident, using something you don’t remember is “stolen” from somewhere.

4.  e-books for the Win

Kids can learn to play a certain game and improve their skills at that game by watching others play. For example, they might watch lots of tutorials or good players live-streaming while they play. There are websites made specifically for this, such as Twitch.

Why couldn’t you learn to improve your writing skills by reading e-books or watching tutorials?

Even if you have to generate content in a foreign language, by reading e-books you can develop your vocabulary and improve your grammar. E-books are often less expensive and faster to get. Basically, you just pay and download the book on your computer, smartphone or Kindle.

You can also watch videos of experts teaching you the art of writing to help you structure your composition and stress the most important aspects you want to deliver to your audience.

5.  Blogging Much?

The blogging trend has exploded during the past years. The idea of writing about whatever idea that goes through your head and getting paid for it is brilliant. Thousands and thousands of blogs have appeared during the past years, but it is important to differentiate yourself from the crowd.

If you want to improve your writing skills, blogging is your opportunity. Not only you can improve your skills, but you might also generate some income.

Think about a subject you are passionate about and start doing some research. For example, if you are passionate about cars, find out what information readers want the most. Then write about it. Are the readers interested in which cars are most reliable? information about different engines? bodywork? Write about such topics and post a few articles on your blog.

Out of 7 billion people out there, two-thirds of them are surfing the internet. That’s more than 4 billion and out of them, there will be enough readers for your automotive blog. Once you get your blog going, your writing skills will be improved, and you might be able earn money at the same time.

Writing skills are very important. Whether you write your resume, a company presentation, or your next novel, it is of the utmost importance to have flawless writing skills.

Technology can help you improve these skills. By using tools such as Grammarly, Hemingway, and Plagiarism Checker, you can improve your writing skills from a technical point of view. Then, by reading books about writing, watching instructional videos, and creating a blog of your own, you will be able to put in practice the theoretical aspects learned while using these tools.

The next time you want to write anything, make sure you keep these five aspects in mind. Don’t forget, good writing is one of the most important skills a person can have.

 

Cathy Baylis is a freelance content writer at Essayuniverse.net specializing in career growth, leadership and education. She loves sharing her interests with readers, and she has something to say, for sure.

 

Bite Size Book Reviews for Writers, Word Nerds, and Grammar Lovers: Part 2

I present to you the second and final installment of bite-sized book reviews for word lovers:

Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style – Benjamin Dryer.  This is a new book that has been getting (or was getting a couple of months ago, probably aligning with his book tour) a ton of media coverage. Mr. Dryer is a grammar maven, being vice president, executive managing editor, and copy chief of Random House.  The hype is well deserved, and every grammarphile should read this book. I was most impressed  when I saw that he covered similar topics in his book as I in my Best Little Grammar Book. In addition, he agreed with me most of the time, and I even thought we had similar senses of humor in our writing. I was going to write to him and let him know this, but . . . Highly Recommended

 

Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries – Kory Stamper. I really didn’t think I would enjoy this book when I started it. It seemed like a boring topic: how the dictionary is created and updated. Was I wrong! I was fascinated with how dictionaries are updated, how word origins are figured out, and how words are chosen to be added. The book takes place more in the recent past before everything was done online. Stamper worked for Webster, I believe. Highly Recommended

 

The Elements of Style (1918) –  William Strunk, Jr. This little book used to be called Strunk and White (yes, E.B.), and I don’t know what happened to White; he doesn’t seem to be getting author billing. Written in 1918 for Strunk’s college class, this has been THE grammar reference book for decades. I actually never owned it and never read it (as far as I can remember) until a few years ago when I bought it at my local library’s book sale. A little dry??? Yup. I can’t really criticize the content (since I don’t remember anything I might have found), but the presentation is pretty boring. My yellow books covers the same things, I hope in a more interesting way. MEH

 

On Writing Well: The Classic Gide to Writing Nonfiction – William Zinsser. As The Elements of Style is often considered the bible of grammar reference books, this book is often considered the bible of writing books. It is really difficult to teach writing or to even talk about what good writing is. Zinsser does a great job, and this is a worthy book (in my opinion and the opinion of many others). Zinsser wrote for the New York Herald Tribune and has taught writing at Yale and the  Columbia University School of Journalism. Recommended

 

May We Borrow Your Language? How English Steals Words From All Over the World – Philip Gooden. This book sounded so interesting. It was soooo boring. I did not finish it. Each page or so talks about a specific word and its origin.  I am sure some people liked it. I thought it was a snooze.

 

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life – Anne Lamott. Goodreads doesn’t list this as I book I claimed to have read, but I know I read it and I enjoyed it. This is one of the popular books for learning the craft of writing. Lamott is a popular author who lives in Marin County California. Recommended

 

On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft – Stephen King. This book is another popular book for writers studying the craft of writing. It is part memoir and part instruction. Once again, I know I read it, but I have no proof! I am not really a Stephen King fan (the two I read, I liked, but they weren’t the creepy ones), but you don’t have to be a King fan to like this book. Recommended

 

Verbatim: From the bawdy to the sublime, the best writing on language for word lovers, grammar mavens, and armchair linguists – Erin McKean (editor) – Verbatim was a language quarterly that is no longer in existence.  It published amusing and entertaining essays on the English language. This book is a collection of essays from the journal over approximately the past three decades.  You will probably love some of the essays and be bored by others.  I ended up reading the articles that interested me. I was teaching at the time I read the book, so by far my favorite part was an essay crafted by putting together real bloopers from students’ essays. Recommended

 

No Plot? No Problem! Revised and Expanded Edition: A Low-stress, High-velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days – Chris Baty. This book was specifically written for those who wish to take on the challenge of NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, which takes place each November. The aim is to write a novel (draft) in 30 days. They say there are two ways to write a novel: 1. Plan it and outline it. 2.Pants it. It will write itself,  hence the title of the book.  A must read for NaNoWriMo writers!

If you have additional books you have read and would like to recommend — or not — please sent them as comments. I know I have barely touched the surface! Thanks!