Comments on: Debunking Grammar Myths

By: greenstrawberries

greenstrawberries — Thu, 15 May 2008 08:56:56 +0000

The whole reason that teachers tell students not to start sentences with conjunctions (because, and, etc.) is because they do it incorrectly. I tell my students (1st grade) that fact. They will eventually be able to use those words at the beginning of a sentence, but it’s hard to do, so we just tell them not to at first.
When I was in high school, we were not allowed to use “be verbs” in papers. (am, is, are, were, be, being, have, had) The theory was that it forced you to write using active verbs. The problem was that you wound up with really long convoluted sentences, and sometimes, you need to use a “be verb!”

By: Brea

Brea — Tue, 06 May 2008 13:53:48 +0000

When is it ok or better to use a dash?

By: Jen

Jen — Tue, 06 May 2008 13:28:07 +0000

If I may add another caveat to the use of semicolons, in addition to the excellent explanations that have gone before, it would be that the two independent clauses need to be fairly short. Otherwise, you are better off creating two sentences. Semicolons are best used when you have two short, closely related complete statements that you want to express in one sentence.

By: Josly

Josly — Tue, 06 May 2008 06:12:04 +0000

Great article. I’ve always felt bad because I’m of the generation that was never taught grammar, and thus, have a horrid inferiority complex about it. Sometimes, just “feeling” it doesn’t work.

By: Anna

Anna — Tue, 06 May 2008 05:50:52 +0000

I have a question to ask: How is the word “namely” used?

For instance, would this sentence be correct? –> There are two types of people, namely happy and sad.

Or does it work like “includes”, where the examples cited must be less than the number that exist?

By: PartiallyDeflected

PartiallyDeflected — Tue, 06 May 2008 03:55:01 +0000

My favorite sentence ending with multiple prepositions is when a parent brought the wrong book upstairs to read to his son and the little boy asked, “What did you bring the book I didn’t want you to read out of up for?”

By: arch

arch — Tue, 06 May 2008 00:55:37 +0000

I heard that the double negative reply was “Yeah, right.” Scans better.
How about an old joke? An American is standing at an London bus stop, an Englishman approaches: “What’s up?”, says the Yank. The Pom replies, “Sir, in my country we do not end a sentence with a preposition.” “Okay”, says the Yank, “What’s up… jerk?”

By: Therese

Therese — Tue, 06 May 2008 00:10:25 +0000

It always warms my little heart, when reading a post such as this, to see how much enthusiasm there is for grammar. What a contrast from my youth!

SongLee, when I was pursuing my English degree (which, I’m happy to add, I completed with unequivocal success), grammar rules seemed far less important than they were in my earlier years. Maybe that’s because most people majoring in English have learned the rules well enough that professors are able to concentrate on loftier topics.

S michael c, I join you in bemoaning the neglect of sentence diagramming. Yes, it is a very good exercise that leads to a deeper understanding of how our language works. The most fun I had with diagramming (and that’s saying a lot!) was in a linguistics course in college.

By: Eileen

Eileen — Mon, 05 May 2008 22:48:19 +0000

I really enjoyed this post.
Thanks! I’m looking forward to more.

By: Jimmy James

Jimmy James — Mon, 05 May 2008 22:26:04 +0000

I’m reminded of a Kurt vonnegut line, something to the effect of “Semicolons are worthless. All they do is show that you went to college.”