Grammar you can never get right.

[shaunanigans]

What sorts of grammar mistakes do you struggle with?

My biggest problem is that I write in the same way that I think, with lots of mental pauses. Therefore, I abuse commas.

[Dodger Thirteen]

Punctuation inside vs. outside quotation marks. It looks untidy being outside them, so I always put them inside.

[cyanea]

I'm the same way with commas. I'm almost always going back to remove commas after I finish a sentence.

[Silva]

Embarrassingly, sometimes I misuse 'so and so and I' and 'so and so and me'...

[afontofnothing]

This is sort of embarrassing, but I often struggle with "who" and "whom."

[cyanea]

I used to have NO IDEA when to use whom, but amusingly, it was my Old English class that taught me the difference, mainly because it's a holdover from back then.

[Vergissmeinnicht]

Who vs. whom and which vs. that.

I also attempt to write in the same way that I think or speak, but instead of abusing commas I abuse the hell out of dashes. So. Many. Dashes.

[Fuck Yeah Dion]

I can't figure out when it's appropriate to end sentences in prepositions and when it isn't, so I almost never do it, and a lot of my sentences come out sounding silly because of it.

[rayyychul]

Jun 13, 2011 11:11:39 GMT -5 Vergissmeinnicht said:

Who vs. whom and which vs. that.

Who vs Whom
"Who" and "whom" are pronouns that substitute for people.

• Who is the subject of the sentence (the doer of the action)
  
• Whom is the object of the sentence (has action done to it)
  

An easy way to remember when to use each is to reform the sentence into a question and substitute the answer for him or he. When the answer is he you use who; when the answer is him you use whom (and to remember - him and whom both end in m)! If the sentence is already a question, the same rule applies; it's just one less step.

For example:

"John, (who/whom) is 19, is a great student."
Who is 19? He is.
"John, who is 19, is a great student"

"To (who/whom) do I write this letter?"
To him
"To whom do I write the letter?"

A small note on who vs whom: it is becoming widely acceptable to use "who" in all cases.

That vs. Which
"That" and "which" are pronouns that substitute for people.

• That is for restrictive clauses (necessary information)
  

  The dog that saved the cat from the well was rewarded.

  There is no unnecessary information in this sentence, so you would use "that."
  
  
• Which is for non-restrictive clauses (additional information; marked off by commas)
  

  
  The cat, which still haunts the dog, was jealous of the dog's glory.

  Because "still haunts the dog" is not pertinent to the sentence, you use "which."
  

Most of the time, it's a complete judgement call on which to use.

I hope that helps!

[embonpoint]

What I don't really understand is why you say "It is I", or when someone asks for you on the phone and you say "This is she". Why is it I/she? Isn't it the "Tt" and the "This" doing the being? So I feel like it should be me/her.
D:
Can someone explain?

[onlyaworkingtitle]

Jun 14, 2011 12:22:15 GMT -5 embonpoint said:

What I don't really understand is why you say "It is I", or when someone asks for you on the phone and you say "This is she". Why is it I/she? Isn't it the "Tt" and the "This" doing the being? So I feel like it should be me/her.
D:
Can someone explain?

"Is" in this and every other case means "equals" -- and just like in math, what's before the = needs to be the same as what's after. In the sentence "It is I," "it" is the subject of the sentence -- the thing that's doing the doing. Unlike other sentence structures, though, it isn't doing the doing to an object, but as itself; "is" serves to rename the "it," so what comes after needs to be a subject as well. Therefore, "It (subject) is (equals) I (subject)" is correct; the same applies to "This (subject) is (equals) she (subject)."

Another way to remember it is the know that "is" is a reflective verb and so serves as a mirror -- what's on one side of the mirror always matches what's on the other side.*

Here's a handy-dandy table, listing common subjects and their objective forms:

Subject / Object
I / Me
He / Him
She / Her
They / Them
Who / Whom




*Exception: vampires. Doesn't apply to grammar.

[embonpoint]

Jun 14, 2011 14:52:11 GMT -5 onlyaworkingtitle said:

"Is" in this and every other case means "equals" -- and just like in math, what's before the = needs to be the same as what's after. In the sentence "It is I," "it" is the subject of the sentence -- the thing that's doing the doing. Unlike other sentence structures, though, it isn't doing the doing to an object, but as itself; "is" serves to rename the "it," so what comes after needs to be a subject as well. Therefore, "It (subject) is (equals) I (subject)" is correct; the same applies to "This (subject) is (equals) she (subject)."

Another way to remember it is the know that "is" is a reflective verb and so serves as a mirror -- what's on one side of the mirror always matches what's on the other side.*

Here's a handy-dandy table, listing common subjects and their objective forms:

Subject / Object
I / Me
He / Him
She / Her
They / Them
Who / Whom




*Exception: vampires. Doesn't apply to grammar.

Oookie dokie. Thank you!

[andreaisabbbw]

Whenever I'm writing a dialogue, if I end a sentence with a period and continue writing normally thereafter, Word says I'm doing it wrong. According to Word, a comma must be in place instead of the period. This explanation doesn't make any sense. Example:

"He said it doesn't work that way." she said.

Word suggests I write it like this:

"He said it doesn't work that way," she said.

It was my understanding that the only time you use a comma is when you're following the dialogue after the action is presented. Example:

"He said it doesn't work that way," she said. "The bill was passed without regard if they were in agreement or not."

I don't know. Maybe I've got it all wrong. Help?

[Dodger Thirteen]

Jun 30, 2011 19:40:36 GMT -5 andreaisabbbw said:

Whenever I'm writing a dialogue, if I end a sentence with a period and continue writing normally thereafter, Word says I'm doing it wrong. According to Word, a comma must be in place instead of the period. This explanation doesn't make any sense. Example:

"He said it doesn't work that way." she said.

Word suggests I write it like this:

"He said it doesn't work that way," she said.

It was my understanding that the only time you use a comma is when you're following the dialogue after the action is presented. Example:

"He said it doesn't work that way," she said. "The bill was passed without regard if they were in agreement or not."

I don't know. Maybe I've got it all wrong. Help?

In this case, Word is correct. You are supposed to put a comma, not a period, after a statement of dialogue.

[andreaisabbbw]

Jun 30, 2011 20:09:42 GMT -5 Dodger Thirteen said:

Jun 30, 2011 19:40:36 GMT -5 andreaisabbbw said:

Whenever I'm writing a dialogue, if I end a sentence with a period and continue writing normally thereafter, Word says I'm doing it wrong. According to Word, a comma must be in place instead of the period. This explanation doesn't make any sense. Example:

"He said it doesn't work that way." she said.

Word suggests I write it like this:

"He said it doesn't work that way," she said.

It was my understanding that the only time you use a comma is when you're following the dialogue after the action is presented. Example:

"He said it doesn't work that way," she said. "The bill was passed without regard if they were in agreement or not."

I don't know. Maybe I've got it all wrong. Help?

In this case, Word is correct. You are supposed to put a comma, not a period, after a statement of dialogue.

I guess it just seems to me like the thought is incomplete if I leave a comma there. Thank you for clearing it up for me!