grammar

Avoid static, wordy nominalization. Prefer compelling verbs.

New graphic for a handout I first posted in 2000. "Nominalization."

2 years ago

The LA Times deletes tweets that used passive voice, as details emerged about police killing a teenage bystander (while they also killed an assault suspect)

Several journalist-involved tweet deletions occurred in connection with the Los Angeles Times.   Doesn't that statement sound awkward?   Language…

3 years ago

Slate: “Police Erupt in Violence Nationwide” | Notice how writing style frames a story? Grammar matters.

The ongoing protests following the killing of George Floyd were caught up in violence again on Saturday, as police all…

4 years ago

What Grammar and Style Checkers Miss

Teaching students to write does not mean correcting their errors, or even preventing them from making errors. While I'm grateful…

7 years ago

Allergic to Grammar Errors

Source: Cyanide & Happiness (Explosm.net)

9 years ago

Unpopular grammar rules

Language is a fluid, living social construct. The rules of grammar were not carved on stone tablets and handed down…

10 years ago

12 Mistakes Nearly Everyone Who Writes About Grammar Mistakes Makes

Descriptive grammarians rejoice. Formal written English is not the only legitimate form of the language, and the rules of formal…

11 years ago

‘Because’ has become a preposition, because grammar

The construction is more versatile than “because+noun” suggests. Prepositional because can be yoked to verbs (Can’t talk now because cooking),…

11 years ago

Save our children from the Grammar Tribe

Similarly, “dived” is the traditional past tense of “dive”, but “dove” has overtaken it, as speakers have drawn an analogy…

11 years ago

Tweet: Grammar test for 11-year-olds. http://t.co/tVph471…

Grammar test for 11-year-olds. telegraph.co.uk/education/educ…

11 years ago

Grammar Girl : How Do You Tell If Something Is True? :: Quick and Dirty Tips ™

Thanks for the link, Karissa. The article begins, “It used to be we thought that people who went around correcting…

12 years ago

R Grammar Gaffes Ruining The Language? Maybe Not : NPR

Matthew Gordon, a linguist at the University of Missouri, says that with the advent of the Internet "a new wrinkle…

12 years ago

I Won’t Hire People Who Use Poor Grammar. Here’s Why

Grammar signifies more than just a person's ability to remember high school English. I've found that people who make fewer…

12 years ago

Google: “how can u” vs. “how can an individual” is not really about grammar

Yes, I got a chuckle over this, but if we present this as evidence of a link between grammar and…

12 years ago

Grammar Puss

If language is as instinctive to humans as  dam-building is to beavers, if every 3-year-old is a grammatical genius, if the design…

15 years ago

nyc wtf?Warning, horrific spelling and grammar per usual!

bootlegs are wierd the only time i gop online is to blog on this my space woich juliet you are…

17 years ago

10 flagrant grammar mistakes that make you look stupid

In general, we can slip up in a verbal conversation and get away with it. A colleague may be thinking,…

18 years ago