Job Skill -- Need Good Grammar!

Sometimes it's hard for people, particularly young folks, to see the big picture or, to use another cliche, to see the light at the end of the tunnel -- people don't always understand why they might need to learn something.  Grammar is everywhere, and good grammar skills are important in many ways we don't always envision.

Yep, this is an embarrassing Oops!  (Thanks, Web English Teacher for the pic.)

Holy Cow! Capitalization Words Referring to the Deity

Just a quick reminder to writers...

Capitalize words referring to the Deity.

     Examples:  God, Jehovah, the Father, the Son, the Messiah, the Almighty, the Lord

Pronouns referring to God (he, him, and, rarely, who, whom, etc.) are often capitalized.

     Examples:
     Faith in God rests on belief in His goodness.
     For He cometh, He cometh to judge the earth.

* Do not capitalize god when referring to the gods of ancient mythology.

     Example:
     Homer writes about many of the Greek gods and goddesses in The Iliad and The Odyssey.

Happy writing, and let me leave you with food for thought:   "We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master."  ~ Ernest Hemingway

Numbers -- Manuscript Form

1, 2, 3, 4.... Numbers! Numbers are everywhere, and I'm not talking about just at the bottom of a page.

Authors need to fine-tune their craft by reviewing the rules for using numbers in writing.  So, without further ado, I present to you the rules for using numbers in manuscript form:

Rules:

1.  Do not begin a sentence with a numeral.  
     Nonstandard:  42 students ride the school bus each morning.

     Standard:  Forty-two students ride the school bus each morning.

2.  Spell out numbers that can be expressed in one or two words.  Write numbers that require more than two words as numerals.
     Examples:
     five million;  forty-five cents;  sixty dollars;  eighty-three;  1,685,342;  1954;  $342.58

     Exceptions:
     In statistical and technical writing, all numbers are generally written as numerals.
     Page numbers are always written as numerals (page 10).
     Numbers representing days of the month do no follow this rule, but those representing years do. 

3.  Hyphenate all compound (two-word) numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine.  Do not hyphenate a fraction unless it is used as an adjective.

Examples:
     There are thirty-five students in my English class.
     A three-fourths quorum was necessary to vote on changes to the club's bylaws.
     Only one third of the registered voters came to the polls.

4.  Write out numbers like third, forty-first, etc., rather than writing them as numerals with letter endings (3rd, 41st, etc.).

Example:
     The movie actress was celebrating her fifty-second anniversary in show business.

Exception:
     Numbered street names may be either written out or written as numerals with letter endings.
    Dr. Winter's office is located at 651 East 62nd Street (or Sixty-second Street).

In dates, numerals only are used when the name of a month precedes the date.  When the date precedes the name of the month or stands alone, either write out the number or use a numeral with a letter ending.

Examples:
     The first day of winter is December 21.
  
     Jack will be home on the 15th (or fifteenth) of June.

So, let there always be strength in your numbers!  Happy Writing!

Why I Still Use the Oxford Comma

from:http://www.mobypicture.com/user/TheSaraRead/view/10039621/sizes/full

Bad Manners

Polite parents teach their young children not to interrupt conversation.  When someone is excited, it's sometimes hard to follow this rule about good manners, but most people generally know interrupting others, unless it is in an emergency situation, is not good etiquette.  In the world of grammar, therefore, we set off those interrupters with the use of commas.

Rule:  Use commas to set off expressions that interrupt the sentence.
       
 Appositives and appositive phrases are usually set off by commas.

An appositive is a noun or pronoun that follows another noun or a pronoun to identify or explain it.  An appositive phrase consists of an appositive and its modifiers.

Examples with appositive and appositive phrases in bold:

     1.  We visited Boston harbor, the site of the Boston Tea Party.
     2.  George Washington, our first president, was a great military leader.
     3.  Travelers should give careful thought to footwear, the most crucial item of apparel.
     4.  Ms. Seagro, our French teacher, has studied at the Sorbonne.

*Note:  When an appositive is so closely related to the word it modifies that it appears to be part of that word, no comma is necessary.  (An appositive of this kind is called a restrictive appositive, and it is usually one word.)

Examples with restrictive appositives in bold:

     1.  My nephew Jim is an architect.
     2.  The expression c'est la vie is used occasionally in everyday English conversation.
     3.  The American gymnast Peter Vidmar is an Olympic Gold Medalist and one of the top 10 motivational speakers in the country.

*(Other interrupters set off by commas include words used in direct address and parenthetical expressions which I will address later.)

Appositives and appositive phrases are useful in your writing because they add important information for the readers.  So, remember to please use good manners and set off appositives and appositive phrases with commas unless they are closely related to the word they further explain, and the grammar gods will smile upon you.

Don't forget National Grammar Day is on March 4th!  Help us celebrate and help focus attention on speaking and writing well!  More information on this and related activities can be found at  http://nationalgrammarday.com/

Grammar Humor

*I still am using the mini-netbook instead of my bad boy desktop, so I apologize for not posting much, but keep in mind that serious work on the mini-netbook is painful.  So without further ado, here's a mini-lesson on grammar from Web English Teacher on FB:

Web English Teacher

‎1. A comma splice walks into a bar, it has a drink and then leaves.
2. A dangling modifier walks into a bar. After finishing a drink, the bartender asks it to leave.
3. A question mark walks into a bar?
4. Two quotation marks “walk into” a bar.
5. A gerund and an infinitive walk into a bar, drinking to drink.   6. The bar was walked into by the passive voice.
7. Three intransitive verbs walk into a bar. They sit. They drink. They leave.

(With thanks to @David Harrell!)

"Dash Away, Dash Away...."

Dancer, Vixen, and Prancer may know the three simple rules for using dashes, but do you?  Good writers should know when to use the dash. (For those of you who don't know, a dash on a keyboard is made by typing two hyphens next to each other!) 

So, check out the following rules, and "Dash away!"

1.  Use the dash to indicate an abrupt break in thought.

Examples:

The poor condition of this road -- you can feel every bump as you ride along -- makes it inconvenient for those who have no alternate route.

The real villain turns out to be -- but I don't want to spoil the ending for those of you who have not yet seen the movie.

2.  Use a dash to set off parenthetical material.

Example:

Very few people in this class -- three to be exact -- have completed their projects.

3.  Use a dash to mean namely, in other words, that is, and similar expressions that precede explanations.

Example:

She joined the chorus for only one reason -- she loved to sing.

*Note:  The dash and colon are often interchangeable in this use covered in the last rule.  A dash may be considered more emphatic than a colon. 

So, my dear writers, now that you know the rules, dash to your keyboard and begin using a dash now and then in your writing.