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]

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