Reflection's Edge

Getting Down the Details

by Sharon Dodge

The mistakes listed below aren't the most common grammar mistakes; subject-verb agreement is actually way ahead, statistically - "it don't" is a common feature of everyday conversation. But the spoken language is far more informal than the written one, and for writers (and editors), the following kinds of mistakes are the ones that crop up regularly in manuscripts - and they are ones that absolutely every writer should be able to catch. A small grammar error can entirely change the meaning of a sentence, so if you don't already know the rules, learn them and love them. They're not arbitrary; they're a key to communication.

1. The Apostrophe

It's all too easy to find the apostrophe intimidating - and the lack of correct examples hardly helps; more than a few books, not to mention signs, menus, and even official documents have so rudely and unabashedly misused the poor apostrophe that it's no surprise he rarely shows up in good condition. But it's not that hard to do right by the apostrophe, which is wonderfully consistent. Here are a few basic rules to keep things under control.

Possessing the Possesssives

Possessive pronouns already denote ownership; they don't need apostrophes.

My, Mine
Your, Yours
His
Her, Hers
Our, Ours
Its
Their, Theirs

~~Your's~~, ~~their's~~, ~~theirs'~~, ~~her's~~, ~~hers'~~, ~~his'~~, ~~our's~~ and ~~ours'~~ will simply NEVER be right. None of these require an apostrophe, because the words themselves indicate possession. Because the contraction "it's" (literally "it is") needs an apostrophe, you may feel compelled to add an apostrophe to the possessive pronoun "its." Just remember that "its" is like "mine" and the other possessive pronouns - proudly apostrophe-less. And while "mine's" simply looks silly, "it's" changes the meaning of the word."

What about names and other nouns?

Making a noun plural is usually easy: just add an apostrophe S. For instance, the cat of Mary is Mary's cat. The apostrophe is important here; adding just an S makes the noun plural. For instance, Mary Magdalene and Mary Queen of Scots are both Marys. This is another area where the apostrophe makes a huge difference.

Let's take Johns Hopkins, for example. If I write "Johns Hopkins Hospital", I'm clearly talking about the famed institution. On the other hand, "John's Hopkins Hospital" is something altogether different - I'm saying John owns Hopkins Hospital, because the apostrophe S indicates possession.

Even if a name ends in S already, add an apostrophe S when you make it possessive - the pen of James is James's pen. (James' pen is also often accepted; when in doubt about whether to add an apostrophe S or just an apostrophe, default to the way you speak it. When you're talking, do you say "James pen" or "James-is pen"? Do you say "the Johnsons house" or the "Johnsons-is house"?) However, when something belongs to a plural noun, the apostrophe must go after the S.

There are three houses.
Each house has a window.
We're talking about the houses' windows.

Similarly, if Mr. and Mrs. Smith own a house together, it's the Smiths' house.

Think of it this way: the noun, when plural, is bigger, so it pushes the apostrophe outside.

So, to keep it simple: if you want to make a noun plural, add an S. ("I own three tables.") If you want to make a noun possessive, add an apostrophe S. ("One table's legs were wobbly.") If you want to make a noun possessive and plural, add an S apostrophe. ("All three tables' tablecloths are green.")

Contractions

Here the apostrophe becomes heroic, standing in for his fallen comrades. When two words combine, letters are lost. Let's take "who" and "is". Together, they're "who's" - one letter short of their original form, with the apostrophe standing in for the lost I. Occasionally the apostrophe fills in for more than one letter - in "can't", for example, the apostrophe is standing in for a lost N and an O.

If you're feeling confused, just remember this: apostrophes replace missing letters or indicate possession. If it's not a contraction (don't for do not, for example) or a possessive noun (the dog's collar; the three dogs' collars), it probably doesn't need an apostrophe.

2. Agreement

"Everybody grab their coat."

What's wrong with this picture? The English language doesn't easily provide for this transition; since "everybody" is singular instead of plural, the correct sentence would use either "his coat" or "her coat" - not "their coat." Because "his" and "her" indicate gender, most people don't like to use them when talking about a group that contains both men and women, so "everybody . . . their" has become a part of our everyday speech. Unfortunately, on paper, it simply looks awkward. If you're feeling political, try "his/her" or "his or her". If there's only one sex involved, use the appropriate gender; although "his" is the grammatical default, there are many places where "her" is more statistically appropriate.

Watch out for this with words like anybody, each, every, everybody, and nobody.

There are more complicated agreement situations, such as the ones discussed here, but right now we're keeping it simple.

3. Homophones

Homophones, those words that sound alike but are written differently and have different meanings, are easy to trip up on. English has such a plethora of homophones it's amazing anyone can type a straight sentence. Most of the time, grammar check won't catch incorrect homphones, so in the end, there's pretty much one solution - memorize them. You'll appear more professional, and save your editors time, by simply getting them down. Here are some of the most important homophones.

here	hear
their	there	they're
know	no
pore	pour	poor
you're	your
bear	bare
two	too	to

Don't forget your not-quite-homophones, either. They may not sound exactly the same, but they're so commonly mixed up, they might as well be.

affect	effect
we're	were
then	than
loose	lose
accept	except
dessert	desert

When in doubt about whether you're using the right word or just one that sounds like it, do yourself a favor and check a dictionary. Otherwise, you might get sand when you thought you'd ordered chocolate cake.

4. Quotes

"I'm terribly clever," he said.

Note where the quotation marks are - directly outside the quote, after the comma. The word "he" is not capitalized, because it is part of the continuing sentence.

"This is a sentence," he said.
NOT
~~"This is a sentence," He said.~~

If, however, the quote is attributed in a totally new sentence, then the new sentence, like any sentence, begins with a capital letter.

"I'm terribly clever." The man smiled when he spoke.

5. The Ellipse (...), the Dash (-, --), and How to Type Them

This one's easy. An ellipse is three periods in a row, with no space before or after the period.

I...am going to write a sentence.

While most grammar books maintain that four periods is acceptable if you end a sentence with an ellipse, you'll rarely, if ever, see that. Stick to three for good measure (especially if you mean for the sentence to fade away), and if your editor tells you to do otherwise, nod sagely and type the extra period in.

As for dashes, there are two kinds; one is the single dash, the other the double.

I - I'm going to write a sentence.

I--I'm going to write a sentence.

Most computers will turn that double dash (--) into one extra-long dash, and that's fine. Just remember, if a dash is standing out by itself, you only need one. The double dash is used to save space; using a double dash and putting a space before and after it (I -- I'm going to. ..) sort of defeats the point. On the other hand, a single dash without spaces before and after it (I-I'm going to...) looks like a hyphen.

6. Two words describing a third merit a hyphen

Even the best writers forget this one. If two words describe a third together, a hyphen (a single dash without spaces around it) goes between them.

A blue-green ocean.
A snow-white mountain.
She's a French-Irish American.

Just remember, we don't mean two separate words that aren't working together. Those require commas or nothing at all.

A shiny, new penny.
An ugly old horse.
A pretty pink flower.

If you can put a comma between the two adjectives (shiny, new penny; ugly, old horse) and it still makes sense, it doesn't need a hyphen. Snow, white mountain, after all, wouldn't make much sense. After a while, this will be so easy to pick up on you'll wonder how you ever missed it.

7. Dangling modifiers

Despite the name, this is pretty simple; all it means is that the description's in the wrong place.

Jenny's new kitten, Snowball, was adorable. While playing in a nest of yarn, Jenny left to go to work.

Jenny's in a nest of yarn? Probably not.

Jenny left for work while her kitten, Snowball, played in her nest of yarn.

Now that's probably right. The trick is easy: keep whatever noun that opening phrase is describing (modifying) close by it. If you're talking about Snowball - "While playing in a nest of yarn", for example - the next word ought to be Snowball.

Conclusion

There are plenty of other rules, of course, and many of them important, but the rules outlined above are absolute musts. Some others, like the improper use of "impact" or putting a preposition at the end of a sentence, are pet peeves of some editors, but almost any good grammar handbook can help you to manage them.

Other excellent grammar aids, both books and online resources, can be found in our Grammar Resources section. Woe is I and Eats, Shoots & Leaves are particularly approachable and even downright silly grammar books with clear examples and a wonderful teaching style.

Sharon Dodge is RE's Editor-in-Chief.



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