Jean Reynolds's Blog, page 9

Read, Read, Read

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Instant Quiz

Can you correct the error in the sentence below? Scroll to the bottom of today’s post for the answer. 

Jerry was suppose to head the committee, but he asked Becky to take his place.

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Here’s a grammar question I can’t answer:

“What are three examples of non-finite clauses that have their own object or complement?”

I have no idea what a “non-finite clause” is. And I’m not going to look it up. I speak, read, and write English perfectly well. I refuse to waste a single second on this grammar nonsense.

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If I were an absolute monarch, I would pass a law that every six-year-old has to be given their very own flashlight – along with a book. The purpose? To encourage them to read under the covers when they’re supposed to be sleeping.

That’s how you build writers.

If you spend tons of time reading, you’ll learn all about constructing sentences, building paragraphs, and developing ideas, with very little effort. After you’ve read – say – 50,000 sentences, you won’t need much help getting started on your own writing.

You certainly won’t need anyone to explain what a non-finite clause is.

I’ve discovered that most of the grammar gobbledygook online is supposedly for the benefit of speakers of other languages. Some misguided authority decided that making English sound very, very hard is the way to go.

Here’s my contrary view: every minute spent listening to a teacher babble about non-finite clauses is a minute that could have been spent practicing your English.

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Instant Quiz ANSWER

Supposed to requires an “s” at the end. (So does used to most of the time.)

Jerry was supposed to head the committee, but he asked Becky to take his place.  CORRECT

Here’s an example of a sentence that doesn’t require the “d,” although you can use it if you want to:

He didn’t use to like Darlene, but now they’re going together.  CORRECT

What Your English Teacher Didn’t Tell You is available in paperback and Kindle formats from Amazon.com and other online booksellers.[image error]

“A useful resource for both students and professionals” – Jena L. Hawk, Ph.D., Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College

“Personable and readable…Jean knows her subject forwards and backwards.” – Adair Lara, author of Hold Me Close, Let Me Go

A Comma Rule You Should Know

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Instant Quiz

Can you correct the error in the sentence below? Scroll to the bottom of today’s post for the answer. 

Joann was so nervous when she started junior high that she lost something almost everyday.

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I’ve been working on a book while I’ve been sheltering-in-place, and so have several friends who are writers. Because we’ve been seeking feedback from one another, I’ve been reminded of a problem I first noticed years ago.

Here it is: even many professional writers don’t know how to use commas with and and but.

One writer friend sheepishly admitted that her computer kept drawing red lines under sentences with and and but – and she ignored them. She just sprinkled commas into her sentences according to the mood she was in. (Mind you, she’s a professional writer.)

I’m hoping that you – reading this – want to learn the rule for sentences with and or but. It’s easy!

Use a comma if you’re joining two sentences with and or but.

Omit the comma if you don’t have two sentences.

Done! You don’t need grammar gobbledygook about coordinate conjunctions and independent clauses. Think about one sentence/two sentences, and you’ll get it right every time.

I couldn’t get in touch with Jane, but her brother called me back.  CORRECT (two sentences).

I couldn’t get in touch with Jane but kept trying to reach her.  CORRECT (one sentence).

We invited the couple who lives upstairs, and they brought a bottle of nice wine.  CORRECT (two sentences).

The couple who live down the street came over and brought us fresh flowers. CORRECT (one sentence).

* * * * *

It’s easy – honest! After the word and (or but), check to see if you have a new sentence. If you do, use a comma.

How do you know you have a new sentence? It will start with a person, place or thing.

Let’s try two more:

I knocked on her door at one o’clock and went back at four.  CORRECT (one sentence).

Jeff came to the door, but Linda wasn’t home.  CORRECT (two sentences).

Let’s learn this rule!

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Instant Quiz ANSWER

Everyday (one word) means “ordinary” – I’m wearing my everyday shoes.

Every day (two words) means “each day” – Every day I study French for 30 minutes.

Today’s sentence requires every day:

Joann was so nervous when she started junior high that she lost something almost every day.  CORRECT

What Your English Teacher Didn’t Tell You is available in paperback and Kindle formats from Amazon.com and other online booksellers.[image error]

“A useful resource for both students and professionals” – Jena L. Hawk, Ph.D., Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College

“Personable and readable…Jean knows her subject forwards and backwards.” – Adair Lara, author of Hold Me Close, Let Me Go

Less or Fewer: Not So Simple

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Instant Quiz

Can you correct the error in the sentence below? Scroll to the bottom of today’s post for the answer.

The unusually cold weather wrecked havoc with our weather plans.

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You probably remember your English teacher telling you to use fewer for things you can count (“fewer apples”) and less for things you can’t count (“less money”).

I heard it from a beloved English teacher in high school, and I just assumed that ’twas ever thus. He knew everything and was always right – or so I thought.

Not true! Using less with countable nouns (“less apples”) goes all the way back to Alfred the Great in 888, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. The rule I learned from my English teacher didn’t come along until the 18th century – and then it was only a suggestion, not a rule.

Old habits die hard, and that’s as true of English as any other habit. People have been saying “less apples” for more than a thousand years. That usage isn’t going away any time soon!

But I’m going to warn you against a usage that’s becoming more common: “fewer than one.” No. It’s “less than one.” Please!

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Instant Quiz ANSWER

The correct expression is “wreaked havoc.”

The unusually cold weather wreaked havoc with our weather plans.  CORRECT

What Your English Teacher Didn’t Tell You is available in paperback and Kindle formats from Amazon.com and other online booksellers.[image error]

“A useful resource for both students and professionals” – Jena L. Hawk, Ph.D., Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College

“Personable and readable…Jean knows her subject forwards and backwards.” – Adair Lara, author of Hold Me Close, Let Me Go

Strunk and White Were Wrong This Time

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Instant Quiz

Can you improve the sentence below? Scroll to the bottom of today’s post for the answer.

Five different people called to ask about the bicycle we were selling on Craiglist.

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Can you find the error in this sentence?

Although we thought we had every detail covered, three people’s invitations didn’t arrive in time.

I can’t either. But according to Strunk and White’s classic book The Elements of Style, this sentence is wrong. It should be “three persons’ invitations didn’t arrive in time.”

It’s simple math: “The word people is best not used with words of number, in place of persons. If of “six people” five left went away, how many would be left? Answer: One people.

Who makes the rules of English? The answer is that we do. Not English teachers. Not lexicographers (the people who research words for dictionaries). Not editors.

The people who use English every day are the ones who make the rules. Of course it’s hard to track changes! That’s why you’ll see teenager in one magazine and teen-ager in another one. Or catalogue in one book and catalog in another book.

Strunk and White’s book is a wonderful guide to good writing. But it’s not infallible. And they were wrong about people. Just about every publisher in the world allows usages like “a hundred people” and “fifteen people.”

Strunk and White were free to make up their own rule, of course. But we are just as free to ignore it.

(And – just for the record – I think Strunk and White’s sentence is clumsy. “If of ‘six people,’ five left the room….Gack. Here’s my version: “If there were ‘five people,’ and one left the room….” And I don’t like “is best not used” either. Listen: nobody’s perfect. Not even Strunk and White.)

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Instant Quiz ANSWER

“Different” is unnecessary. If five people called you, of course they were different. Note – too – that I disagree with Strunk and White. I think “five people” is fine. We don’t have to say “five persons.”

Five people called to ask about the bicycle we were selling on Craiglist.  CORRECT

What Your English Teacher Didn’t Tell You is available in paperback and Kindle formats from Amazon.com and other online booksellers.[image error]

“A useful resource for both students and professionals” – Jena L. Hawk, Ph.D., Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College

“Personable and readable…Jean knows her subject forwards and backwards.” – Adair Lara, author of Hold Me Close, Let Me Go

Two Online Tools

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Instant Quiz

Can you correct the error in the sentence below? Scroll to the bottom of today’s post for the answer. 

Karen was pouring over a book about medieval art in the library.

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Many things drive me crazy. Here’s one of them: people with an “ewwww!” attitude about Wikipedia. I love Wikipedia – so much, in fact, that I contribute to every fundraiser.

“But you can’t cite it!” Of course not. You don’t cite dictionaries either. But does that ever stop anyone from checking a dictionary?

Five minutes ago I went to Wikipedia to look up Edmund Spenser’s 16th-century epic poem The Fairie Queen. I wanted to read about Britomart, the namesake for a character in Shaw’s play Major Barbara.

I quickly found out that Spenser’s Britomart was a lady knight. Thank you, Wikipedia!

I went back to Google Docs, where I’m writing a book about Major Barbara. I started typing: Britomart, Fairie Queen, lady knight.

And then something magical happened. (I am still freaking over this.)

Here’s the paragraph I was working on:

Shaw was a masterful giver of names (a skill he probably began to develop when he devoured the novels of Dickens in his youth). “Undershaft” hints at underworld and underhanded, “Barbara” evokes a warrior-saint, and “Britomart” is the lady knight in Edmund Spenser’s epic poem The Faerie Queen.

Google Docs noticed that I’d mistyped The Fairie Queen – and fixed it. It needs another “e”: The Fairie Queene. 

Google Docs keeps an eye out for 16th-century literature just in case some poor schlep (me) didn’t notice that Spenser spells it Queene. It doesn’t want me to suffer the embarrassment of having an editor find that mistake when I submit my book to a publisher next year.

Can I send Google Docs money? Flowers? Something?

Microsoft Word (the word processor I’ve used forever) never catches these things.

Take my word for it: this is a good time to be a writer.

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        Britomart, the Lady Knight in The Fairie Queene

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Instant Quiz ANSWER

Don’t confuse pouring (what you do to a liquid) and poring (eagerly reading a book).

Karen was poring over a book about medieval art in the library.  CORRECT

What Your English Teacher Didn’t Tell You is available in paperback and Kindle formats from Amazon.com and other online booksellers.[image error]

“A useful resource for both students and professionals” – Jena L. Hawk, Ph.D., Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College

“Personable and readable…Jean knows her subject forwards and backwards.” – Adair Lara, author of Hold Me Close, Let Me Go

The Outer Circle

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Instant Quiz

Can you improve the sentence below? Scroll to the bottom of today’s post for a suggested revision.

Sally Whitfield, the district manager, selected Allan Fiedler and myself to make a presentation at the national meeting in January.

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Last week I talked on the phone with a good friend who’s an excellent writer. She brought up something that we’ve often talked about – the importance of thinking.

Fresh, interesting ideas are probably the most important requirement for effective writing. But how do you find them?

Something relevant popped up while she and I were talking about our favorite shows.

Mine are Doc Martin (PBS) and (I’ll give you a moment to roll your eyes for this one) Sister Wives (TLC) – a reality show about a man with four wives. (I know it’s an odd choice!) I really enjoy sharing the roller-coaster ride of their four marriages rolled into one.

As I said, my writer friend and I were talking about TV…and then an idea hit. First, though, I’m going to backpedal for a moment. If you asked me what was wrong with Doc Martin’s marriage, I could tell you in a second: he was emotionally damaged by a troubled childhood.

And if you asked me what was wrong with Meri Brown’s marriage (she’s Wife #1 in Sister Wives), I’d tell you that it’s the stress from sharing your husband with three other women.

Recently both Doc Martin and Meri Brown from Sister Wives went into therapy. Both marriage counselors told both couples that one of their biggest problems is control issues. All four spouses (Martin and his wife Louisa, and Meri and her husband Kody) think they need to be in control – all the time.

I’m fascinated. I didn’t see that coming! And it started me thinking about my own marriage. Do Charlie and I have control issues? I thought about my parents, and friends, and other family members. Have I ever spotted control issues with them?

How do you even know if you have control issues? It’s something I haven’t thought much about.

Back to writing. When something startles you, and it challenges you to think in new ways, you’ve been given a gift. That’s were good (and sometimes great) writing comes from.

Most good writers I know keep journals where they write down new ideas that come out of the blue. Not all of them will be useful. But even an off-the-wall idea might stimulate another idea that turns out to be solid gold.

The trick is to learn how to watch yourself thinking (crazy as that sounds). What is my brain doing now? Is it lazy? Spinning around in the same old loop? Nothing wrong with that! We all do it.

But if you aspire to be a writer, there should be plenty of moments when you’re chasing down an idea that hit you for the first time. Write it down, go back to it several times, and see where it takes you. You may be surprised – and you may come up with a terrific piece of writing.

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Instant Quiz ANSWER

Use I or me, not the pompous “myself.”

If you’re wondering which one to choose – I or me – just make the sentence shorter. You’ll instantly know the answer:

Sally Whitfield, the district manager, selected me.  CORRECT

Sally Whitfield, the district manager, selected Allan Fiedler and me.  CORRECT

Sally Whitfield, the district manager, selected Allan Fiedler and me to make a presentation at the national meeting in January.  CORRECT

What Your English Teacher Didn’t Tell You is available in paperback and Kindle formats from Amazon.com and other online booksellers.[image error]

“A useful resource for both students and professionals” – Jena L. Hawk, Ph.D., Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College

“Personable and readable…Jean knows her subject forwards and backwards.” – Adair Lara, author of Hold Me Close, Let Me Go

I Love These Two Rules

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Instant Quiz

Can you correct the error in the sentence below? Scroll to the bottom of today’s post for the answer.  

Either the two small flowerpots or the big wooden one need to be moved.

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I love this quotation, attributed to both Gustave Flaubert and Oscar Wilde (take your pick): “I have spent most of the day putting in a comma and the rest of the day taking it out.”

Guys, I hear you. I’ve been there. Sometimes the rules aren’t much help. Back and forth I go.

Luckily some rules seem to work every time. Here are two of them:

1. Don’t put a comma in front of a parenthesis.

2. Don’t let a comma touch the word “that.”

Rule #1 is infallible. There are no exceptions. Rule #2 is a little slippery, but it works maybe 99% of the time. Those odds are good enough for me.

Do you want examples? Sure!

1. That pygmy date palm (Phoenix robellinii), which we installed two years ago, is the focal point of our front yard.

2. It took me a long time to convince her that we should switch to term life insurance.

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Instant Quiz ANSWER

Is it need or needs? Here’s how you figure it out. The rule for either/or sentences is that you skip the beginning. Go to the word or:

Either the two small flowerpots or the big wooden one needs to be moved.

Either the two small flowerpots or the big wooden one need to be moved.  CORRECT

What Your English Teacher Didn’t Tell You is available in paperback and Kindle formats from Amazon.com and other online booksellers.[image error]

“A useful resource for both students and professionals” – Jena L. Hawk, Ph.D., Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College

“Personable and readable…Jean knows her subject forwards and backwards.” – Adair Lara, author of Hold Me Close, Let Me Go

Jean Chickened Out

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Instant Quiz

Can you correct the error in the sentence below? Scroll to the bottom of today’s post for the answer.

Although the rest of us didn’t know what to do, Carol quickly honed in on the problem.

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The other day someone asked me if the rule about predicate nominatives still holds. I told her that it didn’t.

But later that day – when I had a chance to stand up for my position – I backed down. Or chickened out.

Call me a coward if you must. Sometimes our complicated language gives us no choice.

Here’s what I’m talking about. There’s a rule in English that you have to use the subjective case with the verb to be. In plain English, you’re supposed to write sentences like these:

It was he. This is she. The person you want is I.

To which I say: Phooey. I refuse to do it. Those sentences sound weird. Here are my versions:

It was him. This is her. The person you want is me.

The French (sticklers about grammar) say “It’s me” (C’est moi). If it’s good enough for the French, it’s good enough for me.

But later that same day I sent an email that needed an “It was she” sentence. I was afraid to write “It was her.” (Maybe the person reading my email was educated by nuns and would notice that I’d broken the rule about predicate nominatives. Couldn’t take that chance!)

I rewrote the sentence to bypass the whole issue: “She, not Harry, is the one who can help you.”

If you’re looking for someone who consistently stands up for what she believes, it’s not me. Sorry about that!

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Instant Quiz ANSWER

The preferred expression is homed in (“go straight to the center”).

Although the rest of us didn’t know what to do, Carol quickly homed in on the problem.  CORRECT

 

What Your English Teacher Didn’t Tell You is available in paperback and Kindle formats from Amazon.com and other online booksellers.[image error]

“A useful resource for both students and professionals” – Jena L. Hawk, Ph.D., Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College

“Personable and readable…Jean knows her subject forwards and backwards.” – Adair Lara, author of Hold Me Close, Let Me Go

I Like “Like”

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Instant Quiz

Can you correct the error in the sentence below? Scroll to the bottom of today’s post for the answer.

I was in the mood for a carmel sundae yesterday.

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Which is correct – as or like?

There’s a lot of controversy about like. English teachers used to have fits over a famous cigarette ad: “Winston tastes good like a cigarette should.” They clamored for “as a cigarette should.”

Over the years there has been so much uproar about like that some writers are afraid to use it.

I think we should use like confidently – and often. I’m perfectly happy with sentences like (ha!) “The report looks like it’s ready” and “The process is working like it should.”

Many sticklers prefer as in that last sentence:  “The process is working as it should.” I’ll concede that I would use as myself in formal writing. But for most writing, I like like.

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Instant Quiz ANSWER

Caramel is a smooth, light-brown candy. It has three syllables.

Carmel (two syllables) can refer to a number of things, including a city in California, a mountain range, a Biblical settlement, and a religious order.

I was in the mood for a caramel sundae yesterday.  CORRECT

What Your English Teacher Didn’t Tell You is available in paperback and Kindle formats from Amazon.com and other online booksellers.[image error]

“A useful resource for both students and professionals” – Jena L. Hawk, Ph.D., Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College

“Personable and readable…Jean knows her subject forwards and backwards.” – Adair Lara, author of Hold Me Close, Let Me Go

Jean Is Writing

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Instant Quiz

Can you correct the error in the sentence below? Scroll to the bottom of today’s post for the answer.

After listening to her continuous complaints, we were glad when the trip was over.

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Some of us never learn.

Monday morning I slept late. Charlie and I took a walk. We went out for a snack. I took a nap. I moped around all day and went to bed early.

Tuesday morning I slept late. Charlie and I took a walk. We went out for a snack. I took a nap. I moped around all day and went to bed early.

I started thinking that I needed to get some bloodwork done. There was no reason for me to be so exhausted. Tomorrow is Wednesday, and I’ll make an appointment at the lab.

* * * * *

Today is Wednesday. I woke up at 4:30 this morning. I turned on my Chromebook and started typing away on the Shaw book I’m writing.

I found a couple of quotations that I was so excited about that I almost woke Charlie up to tell him about them. (“You’ll never believe what Richard Lanham said about R. D. Laing!” “That’s great, Jean! I’m going back to sleep.” I decided against it.)

Here’s the kicker. Last August I wrote a post about how tired I was, even though I was getting plenty of sleep. I got worried and started thinking about bloodwork. After two days of that I woke up bright and early and started writing like a house on fire.

As I said, some people never learn.

* * * * *

At around five-thirty I got Richard Lanham’s The Motives of Eloquence off the shelf. Somewhere in there I knew he had a wonderful quotation that would be perfect for my chapter. I’ve thought about it a hundred times over the years.

(For those of you who think that academic writing has to be pompous and swollen, the quotation is exactly five words long: “Cast him in another play.”)

I had plenty of ideas for Chapter Three, but I wasn’t able to work my keywords in: drama, theater, acting. “Cast him in another play” would help. I thumbed through the book looking for it. Did I have the sense to highlight it the last time I read Lanham’s book?

Yes! There it was, streaked in pink on page 14! (I’m sticking my tongue out at the teachers who told me I should never mark up a book. Do you have any idea how much time that pink highlighter has saved me over the years?)

But here’s what’s freaky. (Stop reading now. The only person who could ever be even remotely interested in the rest of this is me.)

R. D. Laing was a Scottish psychiatrist who was…different. I’ve read tons of his stuff. He was brilliant, offbeat, erratic, and wonderful.

I wanted to work his book Marriage, Sanity, and the Family into my chapter. Barbara Undershaft (the central character in one of the plays I’m writing about) was being driven mad by her family.

Wouldn’t it be cool to have a famous Scottish psychiatrist weigh in on the craziness in Barbara’s family? But how would I make the connection between real, clinical madness and a fictional character?

And there, streaked in pink on page 14, was the rest of Lanham’s paragraph, including these words: “…R. D. Laing’s analysis of bad domestic drama.”

Keyword! Keyword!

At some point I will finish this chapter. I will finish this book. I will dance again and travel again. There will be other writing projects. And I will be tired, and I’ll think that maybe I should get some bloodwork done….

Some people never learn.

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Instant Quiz ANSWER

A better word choice would be continual – something that happens a lot, or a problem that’s chronic. Continuous has a different meaning: “never stopping” – a dripping faucet, for example.

 After listening to her continual complaints, we were glad when the trip was over.  CORRECT

What Your English Teacher Didn’t Tell You is available in paperback and Kindle formats from Amazon.com and other online booksellers.[image error]

“A useful resource for both students and professionals” – Jena L. Hawk, Ph.D., Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College

“Personable and readable…Jean knows her subject forwards and backwards.” – Adair Lara, author of Hold Me Close, Let Me Go