Grammar Tips
A well-known proverb says, “A man who is his own lawyer has a fool for his client.” The same might also be said for a writer who edits his own work.
Seriously, no matter how well you have mastered the English language or your craft, you cannot-- must not—edit your own work. You need someone who is not familiar with what you have written to catch mistakes that you failed to see. You know what you intended to write; therefore, your eyes see what you intended to write, not necessarily what you actually wrote.
The statement above is not to say that you hand the first (rough) draft to a professional editor to correct. You can do many things to polish your work before hiring a professional editor.
Most often- made mistakes that I observed in all my years of teaching writing:
Run-on sentences (two kinds)
1. One example of a run-on sentence is writing two independent clauses with no mark of punctuation and no coordinating conjunction between the clauses. (also known as a fused sentence)
Ex: Julie is a top competitor she has been riding since the age of seven.
2. The second example of a run-on sentence is the comma splice which is two independent clauses joined with only a comma.
Ex: Julie is a top competitor, she has been riding since the age of seven.
There are several ways to correct the run-on mistake.
Replace the lack of punctuation as in #1 or the comma in #2 with a period.
Ex: Julie is a top competitor. She has been riding since the age of seven.
Separate the two independent clauses with a semicolon.
Ex: Julie is a top competitor; she has been riding since the age of seven.
With the first type, add a comma and a coordinating conjunction. With second type, just add a coordinating conjunction after the comma.
Ex: Julie is a top competitor, for she has been riding since the age of seven.
The sentence fragment
A sentence fragment is a word group that pretends to be a sentence. To be a sentence, a word group must consist of at least one independent clause, that is, have both a subject and a verb.
Ex: While she was checking out the noise in the attic.
While she was checking out the noise in the attic, then what?
While she was checking out the noise in the attic, she suddenly became aware of the heavy thud of boots just behind her.
Note: The use of sentence fragments is acceptable in fiction, but, like anything else, they should be used in moderation and written in such a way that they don’t become a speed bump to the reader. If you are going to use them, keep them short or begin them with a conjunction and make sure they enhance the story.
Putting a comma between a subject and its verb
With rare exception, never put a comma between a subject and its verb.
Most people tend to overuse rather than underuse commas. They see a coordinating conjunction and automatically put a comma before it, but sprinkling commas mindlessly throughout a manuscript is a cardinal sin. If the conjunction joins two independent clauses, then you need to put a comma before it; but if it joins only a compound verb, you have committed a comma crime. I instilled in my students that 99 percent of their writing should be punctuated by rules rather than by feelings.
Ex: We spent the summer in Colorado, and had a good time.
Subject: We
Compound Verb: spent and had
(The words summer and time are the direct objects of each verb, and in Colorado is a prepositional phrase.)
Because We is the subject of both verbs, it isn’t necessary to repeat the subject in the second clause, and the comma is not needed.
We spent the summer in Colorado and had a good time.
Parenthetical expressions
Expressions that are clearly parenthetical should be set off with commas. They provide only supplemental information. They interrupt the flow of a sentence or can be placed at the end as an afterthought, but they are an excellent way to enrich a scene in a story.
Ex: Catching fragments of whispered conversations among the adults caused me, a naïve child just five years of age, some consternation.
Ex: Each morning seventy-year-old Jake cleans the barn, shoveling manure and spreading clean hay around the milking stalls.
The trouble with lie and lay
One of the most troublesome verbs is the correct use of the verbs, lie and lay. At least once a week, I hear a news reader on one of the major TV channels misuse those two verbs. I will use their very statements as my incorrect example below.
Lie is an intransitive verb and never takes an object. It means to rest or recline. If you can substitute “rest” in place of the verb, use the following forms: Lie, lay, (have, has, had) lain, and (is, are, was, were) lying
Ex: You should not lie (rest) on wet ground.
Ex: I lay (rested) on the couch before lunch.
Ex: I have lain (rested) on this couch forever.
Ex: He was lying (resting) in the street with a gunshot in his leg.
TV reader’s incorrect version of a man who was shot and killed before his body was removed from the street:
(Wrong) His body was just LAYING (putting) in the street.
There is no direct object, only a prepositional phrase, in the sentence.
Lay is a transitive verb and takes a direct object (receiver of its action). If you can substitute “place or put” in place of the verb, use the following forms:
Lay, laid, (have, has, had) laid, and (is, are, was, were) laying
Ex: Did you lay (put or place) the rake on the ground?
Rake is the direct object of the sentence.
Ex: I laid (put or place) my keys on the hall table, but they are gone.
Keys is the direct object of the sentence.
Ex: John has laid (placed) the foundation for his new house.
Foundation is the direct object of the sentence.
Ex: My mom is no longer laying (putting or placing) my clothes out for me.
Clothes is the direct object of the sentence
Troublesome words like and as or as if
The incorrect use of the words like and as has occurred repeatedly in documents I have edited recently, enough to illustrate the correct use here.
Like is a preposition and can be followed only by a noun, pronoun, or a noun phrase.
Ex: Mary’s identical twin looks just like her.
Like is the preposition, and like her is the prepositional phrase with the preposition her as the object of the phrase.
Ex: After being in the water all day, Jim looked like a shriveled prune.
Like is the preposition, and like a shriveled prune is the prepositional phrase with the noun phrase, a shriveled prune, as the object of the prepositional phrase.
As and as if are subordinating conjunctions that introduce subordinate clauses. To be a clause, the group of words must contain both a subject and a verb.
Ex: Abby didn’t know Jake as all the lawmen in Maricopa County did.
As is the subordinating conjunction introducing the clause, as all the lawmen in Maricopa County did. .The subject of the clause is lawmen and the verb is did. The clause is a subordinate clause because, read by itself, it does not make a complete thought. It needs the rest of the sentence to complete the thought.
Ex: When Brad arrived for algebra class, he looked as if he had slept in his clothes.
As if is the subordinating conjunction introducing the clause, as if he had slept in his clothes. The subject of the clause is he, the verb is had slept, and the clause ends with a prepositional phrase, in his clothes.
Note: In dialogue where you are using the character’s exact words, you may say When Brad arrived for algebra class, he looked like he had slept in his clothes.
May these tips produce error-free manuscripts for you. : )
Seriously, no matter how well you have mastered the English language or your craft, you cannot-- must not—edit your own work. You need someone who is not familiar with what you have written to catch mistakes that you failed to see. You know what you intended to write; therefore, your eyes see what you intended to write, not necessarily what you actually wrote.
The statement above is not to say that you hand the first (rough) draft to a professional editor to correct. You can do many things to polish your work before hiring a professional editor.
- Do you have certain words and phrases that you tend to use too often? Make a list of them and do a document search for them so that you can vary your wording, if your search indicates an overuse.
- Make a list of usage errors that you tend to make and do a document search for correct use so that you can correct your errors.
- If anything in your writing process causes you to question the quality of what you have written, check it out. Keep both a dictionary and a grammar site open in your browser, if you are comfortable with that method, and check definitions of words and rules of writing as needed. Personally I keep on my desk a hard copy of a dictionary, a good handbook for writers (CMoS), a thesaurus, an extensive list of synonyms for “say,” and an extensive list of expressive verbs. The last two lists, given as aids to my budding writers in high school, are used in case of “writer’s block.”
Most often- made mistakes that I observed in all my years of teaching writing:
Run-on sentences (two kinds)
1. One example of a run-on sentence is writing two independent clauses with no mark of punctuation and no coordinating conjunction between the clauses. (also known as a fused sentence)
Ex: Julie is a top competitor she has been riding since the age of seven.
2. The second example of a run-on sentence is the comma splice which is two independent clauses joined with only a comma.
Ex: Julie is a top competitor, she has been riding since the age of seven.
There are several ways to correct the run-on mistake.
Replace the lack of punctuation as in #1 or the comma in #2 with a period.
Ex: Julie is a top competitor. She has been riding since the age of seven.
Separate the two independent clauses with a semicolon.
Ex: Julie is a top competitor; she has been riding since the age of seven.
With the first type, add a comma and a coordinating conjunction. With second type, just add a coordinating conjunction after the comma.
Ex: Julie is a top competitor, for she has been riding since the age of seven.
The sentence fragment
A sentence fragment is a word group that pretends to be a sentence. To be a sentence, a word group must consist of at least one independent clause, that is, have both a subject and a verb.
Ex: While she was checking out the noise in the attic.
While she was checking out the noise in the attic, then what?
While she was checking out the noise in the attic, she suddenly became aware of the heavy thud of boots just behind her.
Note: The use of sentence fragments is acceptable in fiction, but, like anything else, they should be used in moderation and written in such a way that they don’t become a speed bump to the reader. If you are going to use them, keep them short or begin them with a conjunction and make sure they enhance the story.
Putting a comma between a subject and its verb
With rare exception, never put a comma between a subject and its verb.
Most people tend to overuse rather than underuse commas. They see a coordinating conjunction and automatically put a comma before it, but sprinkling commas mindlessly throughout a manuscript is a cardinal sin. If the conjunction joins two independent clauses, then you need to put a comma before it; but if it joins only a compound verb, you have committed a comma crime. I instilled in my students that 99 percent of their writing should be punctuated by rules rather than by feelings.
Ex: We spent the summer in Colorado, and had a good time.
Subject: We
Compound Verb: spent and had
(The words summer and time are the direct objects of each verb, and in Colorado is a prepositional phrase.)
Because We is the subject of both verbs, it isn’t necessary to repeat the subject in the second clause, and the comma is not needed.
We spent the summer in Colorado and had a good time.
Parenthetical expressions
Expressions that are clearly parenthetical should be set off with commas. They provide only supplemental information. They interrupt the flow of a sentence or can be placed at the end as an afterthought, but they are an excellent way to enrich a scene in a story.
Ex: Catching fragments of whispered conversations among the adults caused me, a naïve child just five years of age, some consternation.
Ex: Each morning seventy-year-old Jake cleans the barn, shoveling manure and spreading clean hay around the milking stalls.
The trouble with lie and lay
One of the most troublesome verbs is the correct use of the verbs, lie and lay. At least once a week, I hear a news reader on one of the major TV channels misuse those two verbs. I will use their very statements as my incorrect example below.
Lie is an intransitive verb and never takes an object. It means to rest or recline. If you can substitute “rest” in place of the verb, use the following forms: Lie, lay, (have, has, had) lain, and (is, are, was, were) lying
Ex: You should not lie (rest) on wet ground.
Ex: I lay (rested) on the couch before lunch.
Ex: I have lain (rested) on this couch forever.
Ex: He was lying (resting) in the street with a gunshot in his leg.
TV reader’s incorrect version of a man who was shot and killed before his body was removed from the street:
(Wrong) His body was just LAYING (putting) in the street.
There is no direct object, only a prepositional phrase, in the sentence.
Lay is a transitive verb and takes a direct object (receiver of its action). If you can substitute “place or put” in place of the verb, use the following forms:
Lay, laid, (have, has, had) laid, and (is, are, was, were) laying
Ex: Did you lay (put or place) the rake on the ground?
Rake is the direct object of the sentence.
Ex: I laid (put or place) my keys on the hall table, but they are gone.
Keys is the direct object of the sentence.
Ex: John has laid (placed) the foundation for his new house.
Foundation is the direct object of the sentence.
Ex: My mom is no longer laying (putting or placing) my clothes out for me.
Clothes is the direct object of the sentence
Troublesome words like and as or as if
The incorrect use of the words like and as has occurred repeatedly in documents I have edited recently, enough to illustrate the correct use here.
Like is a preposition and can be followed only by a noun, pronoun, or a noun phrase.
Ex: Mary’s identical twin looks just like her.
Like is the preposition, and like her is the prepositional phrase with the preposition her as the object of the phrase.
Ex: After being in the water all day, Jim looked like a shriveled prune.
Like is the preposition, and like a shriveled prune is the prepositional phrase with the noun phrase, a shriveled prune, as the object of the prepositional phrase.
As and as if are subordinating conjunctions that introduce subordinate clauses. To be a clause, the group of words must contain both a subject and a verb.
Ex: Abby didn’t know Jake as all the lawmen in Maricopa County did.
As is the subordinating conjunction introducing the clause, as all the lawmen in Maricopa County did. .The subject of the clause is lawmen and the verb is did. The clause is a subordinate clause because, read by itself, it does not make a complete thought. It needs the rest of the sentence to complete the thought.
Ex: When Brad arrived for algebra class, he looked as if he had slept in his clothes.
As if is the subordinating conjunction introducing the clause, as if he had slept in his clothes. The subject of the clause is he, the verb is had slept, and the clause ends with a prepositional phrase, in his clothes.
Note: In dialogue where you are using the character’s exact words, you may say When Brad arrived for algebra class, he looked like he had slept in his clothes.
May these tips produce error-free manuscripts for you. : )