Tag Archives: grammar

In the right order words putting syntax means

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Syntax means putting words in the right order. The title of this post doesn’t quite make it, does it? Syntax is a subset of grammar. Grammar deals with the entire structure of a language, including conjugation of verbs, agreement of subject and verb (and in some languages, agreement of nouns and adjectives), and so on. Syntax focuses on word order to construct coherent sentences. Many languages have endings that specify the tense of verbs, the cases of nouns, and match them with first, second, and third person; singular and plural; and gender. In those languages, word order matters less. English has rather rigid rules about word order, but writers still have choices when it comes to syntax. We need to think carefully not only to use proper syntax but to use it to greatest effect.

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What are gerunds and present participles in English?

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When you add “-ing” to a verb, you form a present participle. Or a gerund. The two parts of speech look identical, but you use them differently. A present participle is a verb. A gerund is a noun. Reading. What part of speech is that? Actually, it’s impossible to know unless you see in in context. Right now, you are reading this article. “Are reading” is the present progressive tense of read. In other words, “reading” is the present participle. But if you enjoy reading, “reading” is the object of the verb. A verb can’t be an object of a verb. When word ends with “-ing” and looks like a verb but acts like a noun, we call it a gerund. Using gerunds and present participles is usually straightforward, but beware of a couple of traps.

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Should passive voice be used or banned?

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I submitted an article to a magazine, and the editing came back with this awkward passive voice construction: “Shopping bags are just one type of plastic film used regularly by Americans.” Ouch. Someone submitted an article to me that had one particularly awkward paragraph with too many sentences in passive voice. I have trimmed it to bare bones, but it contained all these passives: It is not forbidden to want to look beautiful, but living an ethical lifestyle is encouraged. Buying clothes is permitted, but you shouldn’t buy clothes you don’t need from a retailer known to oppress its workers. And I finally had my camera with me when I saw the sign ubiquitous in North Carolina restaurants. It has always made me wonder: if I were an employee there, how would I get my hands washed? Whom should I get to wash them? So I thought it would be fun to write a post about avoiding passive voice. Upon further investigation, I can’t do that. Too many other authors over more than a century have devoted really bad writing to that task. 

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Spelling, punctuation, and other fun topics

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People who like to read and write like words and like playing with words, sentences, punctuation, and anything else that comes along with reading and writing. Now that so many of us are BFF forever with our electronic gadgets, we have new tools for communicating—or failing to communicate, as the case may be. Word processing software now comes with spelling and grammar checkers. I expect most writers find them helpful, but they don’t make a very good crutch. For one thing, some of the grammar checkers contain hard-coded grammatical errors. And even if the suggested correction isn’t simply wrong, it might make hash of the meaning of the sentence. Spelling, or, software fails The spelling checker will bleed red all over people’s names, correctly spelled foreign words, brand names, and all kinds of things. On the other hand, just because a word is spelled correctly doesn’t mean that it’s the right word. I have had fun with that in my occasional series on “misused pears.” Years ago, a poem about spell checkers made the rounds of forwarded email. I just ran across a version of it again and love to share this kind of thing: I have a spelling checker, … Continue reading →

Spelling, grammar, and why they still matter

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  When I was learning to read and write, I caught on pretty fast, but I can still remember the struggles of some of my classmates. Developing the fine motor skills necessary to form letters neatly is one problem. English spelling is another. We had long lists of words to memorize and be tested on. Drills on spelling, vocabulary, and basic computation skills seem to be disappearing from school curriculums. Why do educational theorists who hobble our teachers’ ability to do their jobs effectively? Perhaps they have forgotten how important basic skills are. Or perhaps they are so intent on raising test scores that they dumb down the curriculum so that the hard things won’t be tested. Or perhaps they even doubt the capacity of children to learn things that they themselves struggled with and should have mastered. Not all professional educators have mastered them. I remember corresponding with a school district office and receiving emails from an assistant district superintendent whose writing should have been an embarrassment to him. How did he advance so far in education? In any case we now have generations of people who don’t spell well and have a weak grasp of basic grammar and … Continue reading →