Sentences

By Pokeybun, on September 30th, 2011%

I’m not going to go into great detail about the parts of a sentence in this post. There are plenty of good sites on the web to teach you that. Just google sentence structure.

However, sentences aren’t always easy and I always reread my sentences several times to make sure my meaning is clear. And . . . → Read More: Sentences

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Compound adjectives

By Pokeybun, on September 29th, 2011%

Compound adjectives are important but I don’t think many people actually know what they are or why they’re important.

An adjective is a word that modifies a noun, for example, good man, happy child , evil villain, purple car, furry cat, hard cheese, and so on (the adjectives are in italics).

A compound adjective is . . . → Read More: Compound adjectives

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Choose the right word

By Pokeybun, on September 28th, 2011%

Today, some words that seem to cause problems.

Then and than

Then is an indicator of time. “Then I went to the shop.”

Than is a word used for comparison. “He is heavier than her.”

Comprises, comprised of and comprising

Either, “The team is comprised of eight players and is called the Numbats”.

Or, “The . . . → Read More: Choose the right word

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The pesky apostrophe

By Pokeybun, on September 27th, 2011%

This one seems to cause people a lot (note, two words) of problems and I can’t understand why. The rules for using apostrophes are pretty easy.

To indicate possession

The boy’s books Bruce’s brother The cheetah’s cubs

Writing “the boy’s books” (with the apostrophe before the s) means the books belonging to one, particular boy.

. . . → Read More: The pesky apostrophe

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I or me?

By Pokeybun, on September 26th, 2011%

This one confuses a lot of people. Consider the following sentence:

Eric plays the guitar better than I/me.

What is the correct word? It’s I although most people would probably choose me. Let me show you why.

Extend the sentence a bit to include the words that are inferred.

Eric plays the guitar better than . . . → Read More: I or me?

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For whom the blog tolls – lesson 2

By Pokeybun, on September 25th, 2011%

Who and whom

Here is a simple test to see which to use.

Silently replace the word who or whom with he or him to see which sounds better. He is the equivalent of who (subjective) and him is the equivalent of whom (objective).

For instance, if you want to pick which is correct for the following sentence:

“Who/Whom should I . . . → Read More: For whom the blog tolls – lesson 2

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English Poor English (EPE, almost the FOF)

By Pokeybun, on September 23rd, 2011%

I’ve been trying to work out just why certain grammatical errors annoy me so much. I think it’s because I see mucking up simple grammar as being particularly lazy. Many of the rules of grammar I’ll post over the coming weeks are logical. If you think about what you’re writing, the correct usage should usually . . . → Read More: English Poor English (EPE, almost the FOF)

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