Category Archives: Grammar

One or more posts today are going to be about compound subjects

Compound subjects — like “Paul and I” or “one or more of us” — are very common, and it’s often difficult to figure out which verb form should be used. Is it plural or singular? There’s an easy trick. First off, whenever it’s a compound subject joined by “and,” the verb is always plural. In […]

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You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

I’ll make this quick and dirty today, kids.

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Random apostrophe’s are my Kryptonite.

My eye is upon you, staffers of the Deming Way Reception Desk. I may not be able to resist taking a red pen to your otherwise inestimably useful binder of “Delivery Menu’s” the next time I’m out there. Really, I’m powerless against the urge. I’ll be minding my own business, maybe sitting in an armchair […]

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I hate grammar errors, i.e. this one.

I promised to get back to this, didn’t I? See, “i.e.” stands for the Latin phrase “id est;” “e.g.” stands for the phrase “exempli gratia.” If you know your Latin, that should end this conversation right here. If you don’t, here are the translations: “that is” and “for example.”

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Paul and myself think you could use some book larnin’.

One of the constructions I see most often misused is the classic “please let Paul and myself know your intentions” or “Paul and myself were honored to be invited.” I think people use “myself” in these situations because it sounds more formal, and somehow they grew up believing that the most formal-sounding locution is generally […]

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