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Pam Nelson: The Grammar Guide

 

Archive for November 2010

Number of comments in parentheses

16: How to use the verb "comprise"

This is a sentence I saved from a piece I edited a while ago: Folds, along with Steve Willard and Eddie Walker, comprise the three-piece band who sing songs with titles like, “Really Gross Kid” and “King of the Bugs.” The sentence has problems. Can you spot them before you read further or hit the Read More? First, the verb (comprise) is plural and the subject is singular (Folds). An intervening phrase such as this one beginning with "along with" does not affect the number of the verb. (You might also wonder about the number agreement in "band who[.....]

13: Try a Grammar Guide quiz (No. 51) on word choice

My week at the copy editing factory was long and busy, but I hit the jackpot on some real-life examples of mixed-up word choices. I recognize that my joy is rather perverse, but I was happy to find material for a Grammar Guide quiz on word choice. I hope you have fun taking the quiz. Click

2: Words we mix up: rein or reign

Even though most of us don't use horses or buggies as our main transportation these days, our language still has horse-related idioms, which writers sometimes mix up. One idiom that came up in a story I edited this week was rendered "full reign," to imply that something was unhampered. In fact, the idiom is "full rein" as in allowing a horse to gallop all out. "Free rein" is a variation of that. Sometimes, writers report that efforts have been made to "reign in" an activity. That, too, should be "rein," as when a rider pulls up on the horse's[.....]