Res Grammaticae
Or, things having to do with grammar (and writing in general).
Commas and their concomitants
A COMMA
- Separates main clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction (and, nor, but, or, for) and some short parallel clauses not joined by conjunctions.
- She knew very little about him, and he volunteered nothing.
- I came, I saw, I conquered.
- Sets off adverbial clauses or long adverbial phrases that precede or interrupt the main clause.
- When she discovered the answer, she reported it to us.
- The report, after being read aloud, was put up for consideration.
- Sets off transitional words and expressions (such as "on the contrary," "on the other hand"), conjunctive adverbs (such as "consequently," "furthermore," "however"), and expressions that introduce an illustration or example (such as "namely," "for example").
- My partner, on the other hand, remains unconvinced.
- The regent's whim, however, threw the negotiations into chaos.
- She responded as completely as she could; that is, she answered each of the questions.
- Sets off contrasting and opposing expressions within sentences.
I like ice cream, not cake.
It costs 6500$, not 65$.
- Separates words, phrases, or clauses in series.
- This, that, and the other.
- Separates coordinate adjectives modifying a noun. A comma, however, is not
used between two adjectives when the first modifies the combination of second
adjective and the word or phrase it modifies.
- Sets off the parenthetical
elements such as nonrestrictive clauses and phrases.
- Introduces a direct quotation, terminates a direct quotation that is neither a
question nor an exclamation, and sets off split quotations. The comma is not
used with quotations that are tightly integrated into the sentences in which
they appear or those that do not represent actual dialogue.
- "Well, surprise, surprise, surprise," she said, "the pig came to the trough."
- "Widgets are handy little devices for your home too," said the salesperson.
- When "God made man in his image" and Eve from a rib, the devil was set for life.
- Sets off words in direct address, absolute phrases, and mild interjections.
- Gosh darn it, Momma, my pants are on fire again.
- Having eaten all the porcupines, Horace started in on the cacti.
- Separates a tag
question from the rest of the sentence.
- For example: "You like broccoli, don't you?"
- Indicates the omission of a word or words used in parallel construction earlier in the sentence. When the meaning is quite clear, the comma can be omitted.
- Common stocks are preferred by some investors: bonds, by others.
- I threw up my hands, and she her lunch.
- Is used to avoid ambiguity that might arise from adjacent words.
- To Mary, Jane was someone to reckon with: she had lime-green stilettoes.
Semi-Colons: happy ;) and sad ;( and avuncular =):-)
A Semi-colon
1. links independent clauses not joined by a conjunction. For instance: "Some people like nuts; others don't."
2. separates phrases in a series that contain commas. For example: "the computer, a Dell, and its printer; the dishes, including some fine china;
and the dog bones"
Who and whom and this and that
Who and whom refer to people: that and which refer to animals and things (unless the animals have names).
This and that point to things. Generally, "this" points to something near or related to the speaker, and "that" refers to something near or related to the one spoken to. Generally, you should always ask yourself "is it absolutely clear what I am referring to?" whenever you use "this" or "that."
Precision and the sexes
Saying "Man is a rational animal, and they should use their rationality" is bad English, but if what you mean to say is that all humans are rational animals, it is also imprecise.
Ways to rewrite include:
- use personal pronouns: "Every human is a rational animal, and HE OR SHE should use HIS OR HER rationality."
- plural: "HumanS are rational, and they should use their rationality."
- avoid pronouns: "Humans, being rational animals, should use rationality."
- second person: "You, as a rational animal, should use your rationality."
- relative pronoun: "Humans are rational animals, who should use their rationality."
Boldly to split or to split boldly? You have a choice:
In English, the infinitive comes in two forms: with "to" and without "to." For example, "try to do this" has "to do" as an infinitive, but "try doing this" has "doing" as an infinitive. When you have an infinitive with "to," it is considered correct style not to put anything between "to" and its verb. Doing so is called "splitting and infinitive," and will mark you as not knowing in the ways of style.
Traditionally wrong: I believe violence to essentially be evil.
Traditionally wrong, but it sounds so right: Our mission is to boldly go where no one has gone before.
Wrong for effect: I want to explain two things: how not to read and how to not read.
Practice:
He decided absolutely to never eat with his mouth open.
She tried to always be a loyal daughter.
She had to publicly apologize to the clown and to quickly go to the really ugly house of her too too hurtful aunt.
To badly err is all too human.
She, being a strange one, engaged secretly to solemnly promise to really try to happily eat broccoli.
However hopefully
However and hopefully are two words that should rarely begin sentences (note, however, that Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th edn., allows "however" to begin sentences: it is a matter of style)
Sentences where "hopefully" means "full of hope" or where "however" means "to whatever degree" may have hopefully or however as their initial word.
When "however" means "but" or "on the other hand," however, it should never begin a sentence. There is no logical reason for that.
When "hopefully" means "I hope that," it should not begin a sentence. Again, there is no good logical reason for that rule. It is simply an oft-employed rule of style.
Your, you're, there, their, they're, to, too, two, then, than
Correct the following:
You're pants are on fire and your going to burn your #@$@#$ if you don't jump in the lake.
Your a genius, and you're shoes are pretty cool, to.
They're on there front porch drinking, and while their they're, there lighting you're pants on fire, while your sitting here.
To many people try two toot they're horns in tutus.
To many people, there is no difference between "then" and "than."
To gloves that were to red for there taste were on sale when she went too the store.
A potpourri farrago of relatively important stuff
- Clauses have a verb that has a subject
- Phrases are groups of words that belong together
- Noun phrases are groups of words that are essentially the equivalent of a noun: for example, "The book in a pile on the table covered in cheese wiz" is a noun phrase that fills the same function in a sentence as the simple "the book."
- There are other phrases: prepositional phrases, for instance.
- e.g.= exempli gratia, Latin for "for example." It should be followed by a comma: e.g., punctuate it like that.
- i.e.=id est, Latin for "that is," "in other words."
- Albeit="although it be"
"Albeit" should be used as follows: Thanksgiving is a short, albeit important, holiday.
- Yes and no are compound words!!!! They come from Old English words meaning "ever be it so" and "not ever" respectively. Many languages have no single word for "yes" and "no"!