Sequence of Tenses–Grammar Rules

The rules governing verb tenses are dictated by logic; an action in the future obviously cannot happen before an action in the past. In writing, it’s a matter of looking at your clauses and sentences and determining when each action is happening relative to everything else. The past must come before the present, and the present before the future, etc. Pay particular attention to the verb sequence when you have a dependent clause before an independent clause, or a result clause before the if-clause.

When an independent clause is in the past tense, any dependent clauses must also be written in the past tense, not the present tense or the future tense. Consider the example below for an illustration of this rule:

The cat was bathing because his feet are dirty.

The cat was bathing because his feet will be dirty.

Because the tense of the independent clause is in the past (was bathing), the verb in the dependent clause should also be in the past, as illustrated in the sentence below:

The cat was bathing because his feet were dirty.

As with many rules in English, however, there is an exception. In cases where a universal truth is conveyed, the present tense may be used after the past tense. Consider this example:

Even the early doctors knew that washing hands prevents infection.

The fact that handwashing prevents infection is a universal truth that doesn’t change with time, so it can be expressed in the present tense. Of course, the rule regarding the sequence of tenses doesn’t mean that the actual verbs have to be in chronological order, just the actions. We can put the dependent clause at the beginning of the sentence, as illustrated below:

Athena will continue to learn English when she gets to the States.

It’s alright to have the future tense (will continue) before the present tense (gets) because the temporal conjunction (when) shows that the second action actually happens first.

Surprise, Suprise or Surprize —Which Is Correct?

• Surprise is the correct way to spell the word.
• Surprize was once an alternative spelling, but it’s very rarely used today.
• Suprise is not an acceptable way to spell surprise.

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Once upon a time, it was possible to choose between two spellings of surprise, but nowadays there’s only one.

How to Spell Surprise

There is only one generally accepted spelling of surprise: two r’s and two s’s in total. Spelling the word without the first r—suprise—is an easy mistake to make. We often don’t pronounce the first r, suh-prize, which might lead you to think that there’s no r there at all. But there is:

Sylvia surprised us when she came home for the holidays.

He came home to find an unpleasant suprise—his dog had chewed up all of his shoes.

I’m throwing my sister a big surprise party for her birthday.

It’s not a suprise if you knew it was going to happen.

Surprize was once a common alternative spelling of surprise, but it’s now considered archaic, so you should avoid it.

It was a surprisingly comfortable flight.

The surprize came too late.

Examples

These screaming children were so excited when Iron Man made a surprise appearance at a birthday party.

The Daily Mirror

So, there was plenty of surprise when an email from the iPhone maker dropped into inboxes earlier in the week.

Irish Examiner

What can you do if you’re on the receiving end of surprise billing?

CBS News

In some cases, learning a couple of very helpful spelling rules can help you avoid making a spelling mistake, but with surprise, you need to remember that there are two r’s and two s’s. This one isn’t a matter of choice like apologise-apologize or realise-realize.

Truly or Truely —Which Is Correct?

• Truly is the only acceptable way to spell the adverbial form of the adjective true.
• Truely is not an alternative spelling; it’s a common mistake.

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Some adjectives like nice, fine, and blue retain their final e when adding the adverb suffix -ly: nicely, finely, and bluely. With truly, this is not the case.

Is It Truly or Truely?

Although some monosyllabic adjectives ending with “e” retain it when they adopt the -ly suffix to become adverbs, true isn’t one of them. This might be the reason some people mistakenly think that truely is the way to spell the word. It’s not. Truly is the only accepted spelling:

We would truly like to see you back next summer.

You have to end your letters with “yours truely“.

It was a truly wonderful performance.

I truely made an effort to finish the essay on time.

That girl can truly sing like an angel.

This is not what we truely wanted for Christmas.

Examples

The study is crammed full with old books, scattered manuscripts and mysterious potions, and the beasts as well as their individual habitats themselves are truly impressive.

Variety

Most of the time, the parents mean well and truly want to help.

CNBC

First of all, you need to truly understand the amount of work that is required.

Forbes

Most of us make spelling mistakes from time to time. Some words seem to almost invite us to make mistakes. “Forty” and “fourty” are such a pair, “preferably” and “preferrably” are another, and there is always “foolproof” and “fullproof” to keep us on our toes.

7 Things You Write Every Day That You Probably Forgot About

In some ways, everyone is a writer. Have you thought about how much writing you do in one day? Don’t overlook these seven daily writing tasks!

Emails

According to Lifewire.com, people around the world send more than two billion emails per day. That’s 2.4 million emails every second! The format of some emails closely resembles that of physical letters. For example, business emails contain the salutation, body, and closing that you would find in a business letter. Other emails are like articles or bulletins, providing news and information. How do you use email?

Instant Messages

Even if you are reminding your husband to pick up some mustard on his way home from work, an instant message counts as writing! Some people don’t mind writing out whole phrases. Others try to keep messages as short as possible. IMs (instant messages) often contain slang, abbreviations, and shorthand. For example, ROFL means “rolling on the floor laughing.” Can you guess what LMK means?

Lists

Lists are also writing exercises. One of the most common types is the grocery list, which enumerates all the things someone needs to buy at the store. However, people make lists for all kinds of reasons. A to-do list details what someone plans to accomplish in a given period of time. If you are moving, you may make an inventory, a list of all the items included in an individual box. This article itself is a listicle, an article that provides brief explanations of topics in a list form. Lists are all around you if you look. Can you think of some other types of lists?

Forms

A trip to the bank or the driver’s license bureau may involve some writing. You might have to fill out forms with account details to receive service. If you are applying for a job, you may even have to include some short answer responses to questions.

Journaling

Writing doesn’t have to be for the public. Do you sometimes record your daily affairs in a journal or private blog? Most people already know that journaling improves mental health, but did you realize it can also be good for your body? James Pennebaker, a researcher at the University of Texas at Austin has found that journaling strengthens the immune system and decreases the severity of asthma and rheumatoid arthritis. How’s that for motivation to pick up your journal tonight?

Agendas

When you jot down the time and date of an appointment in a datebook, accurate writing is more important than ever. One mistake could cost you, so this form of writing needs your full attention. Putting things down in writing does more than help you remember them. Seeing all your appointments and due dates in one place can help you to manage your time wisely and avoid scheduling conflicts.

Captions

When you post a picture to social media, do you provide a little explanation of what it is? Often, these descriptions are informative or amusing ways to share your memories. If you haven’t tried adding a caption, visit the Frequently Asked Questions section of your social media site to find out how.

Now, do you agree? Everyone is a writer! Surely, though, this list is not exhaustive. What other ways do you use writing every day?

Grammar Basics: What is the correct word order in English?

Word order in English is fixed for most speaking and writing.

In English, sentences start with a subject and are immediately followed by a verb. In questions, this order is switched.

She is a friend.

Is she a friend?

To learn more about grammar and to help us celebrate National Grammar Day this March, visit our new resource page.

What Does Ikr Mean?

• Ikr stands for I know, right.
• Use ikr to agree with something someone said.

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While some of the phrases used in text speak originated in that medium, others, like ikr, are adopted from everyday life.

The Meaning of Ikr

Ikr is an abbreviation for the phrase “I know, right.” The phrase first appeared during the early 1990s, and its first uses in electronic communication can be traced back to at least 2004.

The phrase itself has been a pet peeve for some language commentators. The phrase “I know,” on its own, signals that we are aware of something another person is saying, or that we agree with it. According to some critics, adding the word “right” turns the phrase into a question. However, the “right” in “I know, right” is actually just a way of adding emphasis. Using “isn’t it” instead of “right” can also work in a similar way.

How to Use Ikr

Ikr is a little different from I know or yes because it can show that you strongly agree, or that you agree with someone’s disbelief. It can also convey a feeling of relief that someone else shares your feelings about something.

The abbreviation ikr is mostly used in informal communication, especially online or through texting. There’s no need to write it in all caps, although you can if you want to. It’s not written with a comma between the k and the r.

Examples

Jane looks better with shorter hair. Ikr, and the new color suits her well, too.

There’s no chance I’m going to be ready for tomorrow’s quiz. Ikr, Ms. Stevens is too demanding.

He’s such a snob. IKR?!

People shouldn’t be saying “right” after “I know.” Ikr ��

Humanity’s Best Eggcorn Examples

When singers use backing tracks to sing less (or not at all) during a performance, they have to do what is called “lip singing”—mouthing the words without actually making sound. Old-timer’s disease is a terrible illness that affects people’s ability to think, remember, and control their behavior. A mute point is an issue that could be argued, but could also have very little consequence. To eardrop is to listen in on someone’s conversation.

What do lip singing, old-timer’s disease, mute points, and eardropping have in common? Not much, except that each of these phrases is incorrect. Lip singing is in fact lip syncing, mute points are moot points, old-timer’s disease is Alzheimer’s disease, and eardropping is eavesdropping. We call this particular type of erroneous word usage an eggcorn.

Eggcorns are called eggcorns because “eggcorn” itself is an eggcorn—a word that sounds similar to and has a meaning that sort of works in place of the original. In this case, the original is “acorn.” In September 2003, the linguist Mark Liberman posted an article to the blog Language Log. In the article, he described the case of a woman who used the term “eggcorn” instead of “acorn.” His fellow linguist Geoffrey Pullum noted that, if there’s no other name for this type of mistake, it might as well be called “eggcorn.” Lo and behold, seven years later, the term “eggcorn” found its way into The Oxford English Dictionary. Merriam-Webster recognized it five years after that.

To qualify as an eggcorn, the substituted sound must preserve at least some sense of the original word. Lip singing is an eggcorn because it involves people move their lips as if they were singing. Old-timer’s disease is an eggcorn because the disease mostly affects the elderly. There are a few types of errors related to eggcorns—a mondegreen is almost like an eggcorn, but it involves misconstruing the lyrics of a song or other type of performance. A malapropism also features a similar substitution of sounds, but it results in a word or phrase that doesn’t make sense within the context.

However, eggcorns, just like malapropisms and mondegreens, have an abundant comedic potential. Case in point: the character Virginia, played by Martha Plimpton in the television show Raising Hope. Virginia was a very potent distributor of malapropisms, eggcorns, and other errors, linguistic or otherwise. She gave the world Obama-Car, an affordable car insurance program devised by President Obama. She also gave us self-refilling prophecies, infusiating into other people’s lives, and many other mistakes that made her a great character and made us laugh.

But if you think about it, eggcorns are often surprisingly witty as well. If you hear a word imperfectly, you have to make an educated guess in order to pronounce it yourself. Sometimes you’re right, but sometimes you come up with another word that sounds almost the same and seems to describe the same thing as the original word. All of this happens under the hood, without you even knowing it’s happening, and it demonstrates how great and flexible human brains are. And in a doggie-dog world, we need to be witty.

What are your favorite eggcorns? Let us know in the comments!