I spent probably too much time overthinking this sentence while proofing an article this morning:
If things just don’t work out for either party, your firm and the agency each have a way to exit the relationship.
The word each in that sentence made me consider whether the verb should have been has instead of have. Each calls for a singular verb. But in this case, each appears after a plural subject, your firm and the agency, so the choice is have.
I have a new Grammar Guide quiz for you to try, No. 74. This one is fill-in-the-blank. You’ll see some images of text (click to view them larger), and your task is to figure out what word is used incorrectly (or, let’s say, not in the standard, traditional way) and to write the answer in the blank. I hope the quiz will be give you useful practice in spotting word usage problems and mangled idioms. I’ve dropped the Flash versions in favor of the HTML5 format, and I hope the quiz works for you, regardless of which device you might be using.
Click here to begin. Please send me email or leave a comment if you find a problem or if you have any thoughts on the format or the questions. Remember, no one will know your score except you—unless you want to share.
I’ve added a share link below if you want to share this quiz on Twitter.
Lots of people in my circles have been sharing “Weird Al” Yankovic’s new song parody video “Word Crimes.” The lyrics are smart and funny, and the video images are just a hoot. I am sure that some too-serious language commentators (who, frankly, are starting to get on my nerves as much as the oh-so-wrong pedants) will quibble about some of the ideas the song pushes about grammar. I won’t, though. “Weird Al” is A-OK with me. I am pleased that many other people are enjoying the video and the lyrics as much as I am.
This post started as an irate takedown of “grammar mistakes everyone makes” posts that plague us via social media. This particular one got under my skin not because it gave bad advice, but because it didn’t recognize that errors in the mechanics of written language (punctuation and capitalization) are not strictly grammar. That post came on the heels of this quiz from Huffington Post, which struck me as not the least bit helpful. The quiz had some errors, too, as the commenters pointed out. These were corrected, it appeared, without comment.
But just as I worked up my annoyance over useless or shallow grammar advice, I read two wonderful and practical pieces about American English and how to use it in writing. These posts take on different subjects, but they share these traits: usefulness, clarity, and authority.
And neither takes a scolding tone. As I age, I find I don’t care for the finger-wagging aspect of writing about grammar, usage, and language. I admit to my own smugness and superficiality, but I am older now and I hope I am learning better. Thus, the irate post I started has dissipated. I would rather send readers to language essays that are meaningful and helpful.
Here are the posts I commend:
Bryan A. Garner wrote this week about “The evolution of ‘beg the question’” on his Law Prose blog.
Ben Yagoda wrote in May about common comma mistakes in the New York Times Opinionator section.
I also note that others who write about language have criticized the bad grammar advice that is available online. One of my favorite is from last fall by Jonathon Owen of Arrant Pedantry, “12 Mistakes Nearly Everyone Who Writes About Grammar Mistakes Makes.”
Self-aware fore- and afterthought: Of course, I have reminded myself that I chose a sort of shorthand [day-afterthought: I should have written "umbrella term"] for my intended subject when I chose a name for my blog almost a decade ago. Even though I called the blog “Grammar Guide,” I planned to write about usage, mechanics, and all kinds of written language issues. Nowadays, I also write about broader issues in copy editing. Still, the blog is the Grammar Guide because that’s how I branded it. Some readers might find fault with my quizzes, too. They aren’t all about grammar, and some of them probably follow “rules” that others dismiss. I will admit to a slightly schoolmarmish mindset, but I am offering advice, not law or gospel.
During my time as a newspaper copy editor, I often spoke briefly to schoolchildren on tours about what a copy editor does. I always told them that the most important book on my desk was the dictionary. I wanted them to know that even a grown-up professional needs to look up spellings and definitions and that building a vocabulary is a lifetime job.
What I would tell those schoolkids, too, if I had had more time, is that dictionaries describe the language as it is being used and that new words and new definitions for existing words come into the language all the time. Dictionaries try to keep up with the common spellings and definitions. They can help you make your own choices about which word suits what you want to say.
Now, of course, the dictionary I consult is likely to be an app on my smartphone or tablet or a dictionary site in my web browser. But I still have a couple of dictionaries on my desk at work and five or six in my home office. I consult a dictionary every day — sometimes just for fun.
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Pam Nelson
@grammarguide