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Ditto for words like Either or, Not only but, No sooner than
E.g. Either you accept that your grade school teacher was wrong, or you continue to believe
that it is wrong to start a sentence with and.
A verb
E.g. A detailed neighbourhood in a city or intergalactic civilizations.
SUMMARY:
Is there no verb? Is there no subject and no command?
Is it a dependent clause, as signalled by a word like
because?
Then its a sentence fragment.
HOMONYMS
Where spellcheck starts
sputtering
Theyre going to their car over there.
Youre going to your car.
Then you will prove your car is faster than theirs.
The effect of this loss might affect their mood for days.
Effect is a noun; affect is a verb.
Effecting and effected are not real words, so if it would be appropriate to use
the word affecting or affected in the context of your sentence, it has to be affect
and not effect.
AND OTHER EASILY
CONFUSED TERMS
That vs. Which
That is used for restrictive clauses.
E.g. Jackhammers that dont have noise-dampening technology are on sale.
Which is for non-restrictive clauses.
E.g. Jackhammers, which are useful for breaking up concrete, are on sale .
Who vs Whom
Who refers to the subject, and pairs with she, he, we, they
Whom refers to the object, and pairs with she, he, we, they
Tip: If the question could be answered with he its who, and with him its whom.
The m points the way
E.g. Who went to the store? He did. With whom did he go? Him.
Note: Whom is a dying prestige form best abandoned in all but the most formal writing.
Possesives & contractions
Too many exceptions
Watch that you dont pluralize when you need to add a
possessive
E.g. Thats the farmers truck.
Some sources want you to tack the s back onto singular proper
names.
E.g. Jesuss grave because we pronounce the second s?
But Jamess grave? Really?
Why complicate your life?
Every writer would benefit from reading the complete wikipedia article
on the dash.
E.g. When its their turn to roll, the dice will be given to
the player.
What does the their refer to?
Why isnt the opening phrase isnt immediately followed by
what it modifies?
Should be When its their turn to roll, the player will be given
the dice.
FAULTY PARRALELISM
The Writers Bane
I like to read, write and editing.
I like to read, write, and edit.
Modern agricultural practices such as pesticide use, habitat loss and climate
change pose a serious threat to biodiversity.
Climate change and habitat loss arent agricultural practices.
Grey areas and hot spots
in the language
In many areas, there are multiple ways of doing things
correctly
E.g. Comma use, en vs. em dash, UK vs. US vs. Canadian spelling
Its important to use a targets style guide if youre writing for them
Otherwise, pick your personal preference, be consistent, and stop worrying
Language evolves and changes, and if lots of people do something with the
language for long enough, it becomes correct
Modern use
"I'm sorry I'm late; I did leave on time"
Im literally starving
Round two
Prepositions and Split infinitives
to boldly go where no man has gone before
This was banned by a rule created by Victorians who loved Latin
Supposedly, nothing should come between to and its verb
Troops went by the house and down the road and the
dust they raised powdered the leaves of the trees.