A new quiz (No. 78) is up. The questions include a hodgepodge of usage issues, and I’ve experimented with question… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Grammar
A new quiz lies waiting for you
I have a new Grammar Guide quiz (No. 77). This one is all about the tricky verbs lay and lie…. Read more »
Language debate and sensible advice
Anne Curzan at Lingua Franca has a spot-on blog post about the descriptive-prescriptive debate. Her post is pegged to a Wall… Read more »
Just a little guidance: 10 years of blogging about grammar, usage, and copy editing
“But I’m just a soul whose intentions are good. Oh, lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood.” —Nina Simone* Facebook… Read more »
How knowing grammar can help copy editors
This headline in my community newspaper made me think twice: Growing area not in DOT plan. Nothing is wrong in… Read more »
‘Each’ has its place
I spent probably too much time overthinking this sentence while proofing an article this morning: If things just don’t work… Read more »
Yes, I love “Weird Al” too
Lots of people in my circles have been sharing “Weird Al” Yankovic’s new song parody video “Word Crimes.” The lyrics are… Read more »
Grammar posts good and bad
This post started as an irate takedown of “grammar mistakes everyone makes” posts that plague us via social media. This… Read more »
Want to play “Geeks’ Revenge” at ACES 2014?
I’ve come up with a new version of a grammar/usage game that I’ve played with newspaper interns and others over… Read more »
Copy editing in a hub: You’re your own QA
Charles Apple posted on his blog Saturday about a mistake in the pages of The News & Observer of Raleigh,… Read more »
A new quiz for National Grammar Day 2013
Today is National Grammar Day. My fellow grammar geeks have been busy. If you check out the Grammar Day page, you’ll see… Read more »
More about the singular “they”
I participated in an ACES Twitter chat, Your Grammar Question Answered, Tuesday during which we chatted about the singular “they.”… Read more »
This post is due to a misreading
One of the usage rules drilled into my head many years ago is that due to can be used only… Read more »
Don’t trust a machine to do a human’s job
Pros don’t need to be told, but Microsoft grammar checker once again proved to me this morning that it can’t… Read more »
Verbs and the problems they give us – Quiz No. 67
Copy editors need to keep their eyes on verbs. Readers notice when verbs don’t agree with their subjects. Yet it’s… Read more »
Irregular verbs: Splitting from or clinging to old forms
A verb in a newspaper report sent me to the dictionary and usage books. Presbyterian churches around Charlotte now face… Read more »
Pronouns: “They” is too much with us
I am almost ready to come around on the view that “they,” “them” and “their” are acceptable after a singular… Read more »
Hey, use a dictionary, kids
The UNC-Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communication has decided to drop the spelling portion of a test of… Read more »
A tricky agreement problem: Neither-nor
I encountered this sentence in a news story today: Neither Prince nor Malloy were wearing seatbelts, according to the accident… Read more »
Lessons in grammar never go to waste
A lesson I learned years ago helped me spot the error in this suggested headline from a writer: The ice… Read more »
Writers care about grammar, too
A reporter recently sent me this question: Which of the following is correct: “Ten percent of Americans plan to give….”… Read more »
Misplaced modifiers amuse and confuse us
If you are a copy editor, you probably recognize the problem in the following sentences, and they probably give you… Read more »
The year in words
This is the time for word of the year lists. The New York Times Week in Review has an article… Read more »
Was Hansbrough on the ground or the floor?
A reader takes us to task for this sentence in a sports story: With 5:47 left at Louis Brown Athletic… Read more »
A copy editor’s hero
Today’s New York Times carries the obituary of Evan Jenkins, a longtime editor at the Times and the author of… Read more »