Did your writing skip a grade?

Today we celebrate some of the most important people in our society—teachers!

On National Teacher’s Day, it’s customary for younger students to bring their teachers apples or more modern gifts. Of course, the best way to thank teachers is by using the information they’ve taught us. As is evident from the show Are You Smarter than a 5^th Grader?, we are still occasionally missing the mark.

In honor of National Teacher’s Day this year, let’s revisit some of the most important writing lessons we learned in elementary school.

Pronoun agreement

The basic rule here is that pronouns must agree in number with the noun to which they refer.

Sometimes sticking with this rule is easy because the pronoun and the noun are close together in the sentence and the usage is clear: Jane forgot her lunchbox. But sometimes, things aren’t so simple. Indefinite pronouns like neither, anyone, or all sometimes tempt us to use a plural when we should use a singular.

Let’s look at an example: “Neither of the girls remembered her lunchbox.”

It’s tempting to use the pronoun their instead of her, because the closest noun is girls. But the true antecedent is actually the indefinite pronoun neither, which should be treated as a singular whenever possible.

At times, it’s not possible to treat neither as a singular. For example: “Neither Jane nor David remembered their lunchboxes.” In this case, you can’t use the singular his or her because neither pronoun applies to both Jane and David. Some writers will use the plural pronoun they in sentences like this, but many readers still consider it an error. It’s often better to rewrite the sentence to avoid the awkward wording: “Jane and David both forgot their lunchboxes.”

“Me” vs. “I”

We were all trained not to say things like “Jill and me went to the store.” We know the correct usage is “Jill and I went to the store.” The problem here is that we tend to overuse “I” instead of “me” in places where we don’t need to.

Have you ever heard something like, “Please save a seat for both Jack and I”? Does this sound correct to you? If so, you might be one of the frequent offenders. Here’s a quick and easy trick to make sure you always get this right. All you have to do is look at the noun (in this case, “Jack”) and the pronoun (“I” or “me”) individually. Try temporarily removing each one from the sentence.

“Please save a seat for Jack.” “Please save a seat for … ”—what sounds right here? Yep, it’s “me.” So the correct usage above is “Please save a seat for both Jack and me.”

For a more complete but still simple explanation, check out the eLearn English Language website.

That vs. Which

These two words may both be used to introduce an independent clause. The rule comes down to whether the clause is essential to the sentence. If it’s essential, use “that;” if it’s nonessential, use “which.” When you use “which,” it should always make sense to set off the clause with commas. When you use “that,” it should seem awkward to add a comma because the clause is essential.

For example: “I organized all of the books that were in the blue box.”

If you tried to use “which,” remember that “which” requires a comma: “I organized all of the books, which were in the blue box.” The sentence no longer says what it said to start, right? We’ve changed the meaning, so “which” is incorrect.

Another example: “I went to my first class, which was a good decision because we had a pop quiz.” Here, the comma makes sense, so “which” makes sense. You get the picture.

In this article on Lit Reactor, the author gives 20 examples of common mistakes that we all need to start getting right, including “That vs. Which.”

In looking at your writing, do you find that you missed a grade?

If not, thank a teacher.

What is the official language of the U.S.?

This poll is part of a series that Grammarly is running aimed at better understanding how the public feels about writing, language learning, and grammar.

Please take the poll and share your thoughts in the comments. We can’t wait to hear from you!

If you are interested in more, check out last week’s poll.

What do you think about gender-neutral pronouns? Take our weekly poll!

Gender-neutral pronouns are nouns that stand in for one’s name but do not reflect the sex of the referenced person. In contrast, he, she, him, her, his, hers, etc. are gendered pronouns, reflecting the sex of the referenced person. Many gender activists and even some linguists argue that plural gender-neutral pronouns — like they, them, their — are not acceptable substitutes for the unwieldy ‘his or her’, ‘he or she’ and ‘himself or herself’ constructions. There have been some attempts to create gender-neutral pronouns. But do we need them? Tell us what you think in the comments!

Do you want more polls? You can take last week’s poll.

 

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June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month. Celebrate human rights, tolerance, and equality with us throughout the month! #PrideMonth

Speak Like a Scientist: 4 Words to Try Using Differently

Scientific writing is known for its precision and accuracy. Other forms of written and spoken communication, however, are often filled with confusing and ambiguous vocabulary. Here are four words we’ve poached from the scientific world that should be adopted in non-scientific communication.

Abstract In scientific writing, an abstract summarizes the key points of a presentation or paper. Written scientific research is often lengthy, so an abstract serves as a way to let the reader know what he or she is getting into up front. Most people use the word “abstract” to describe art or theoretical concepts. But if you use its scientific meaning, whether you’re writing a long email or a detailed list of directions, you can create an abstract that summarizes the key points.

Volume In our everyday lives, we often talk about volume in terms of noise. In science, volume is the amount of space occupied by an object measured in three dimensions, expressed in cubic units. Try using “volume” as a more specific way of talking about how much space is available for or taken up by an object.

Hypothesis In the scientific world, a hypothesis is a supposition made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation. In our everyday conversation, the word “hypothesis” can often be substituted for the word “idea.” For example, if you’re planning a bake sale and you base your sales projections on how many cookies and cupcakes you sold last year, you might say you have “an idea” of how much money you’ll make this year. Since your idea is based on evidence from the year before, it’s actually a hypothesis.

Conductor A train conductor, a symphony conductor…we know conductors as people who orchestrate actions. In the scientific world, a conductor is a material or an object that conducts heat, electricity, light, or sound. For example, the cord between your lamp and the wall is a conductor of electricity. (Interestingly, the plastic or rubber casing around the wire acts as an insulator and the internal metal wiring is the strict conductor.) Once you know what a conductor is, you’ll start seeing them everywhere! Use this word from the science world to identify the conductors around you — even in a literary sense!

What other scientific words should be adopted for everyday use? Share your suggestions in the comments!

Can You Define These Tricky Vocabulary Words?

English can be tough, but what part of grammar is the most confusing?

This poll is part of a series that Grammarly is running aimed at better understanding how the public feels about writing, language learning, and grammar.

Please take the poll and share your thoughts in the comments. We can’t wait to hear from you!

If you are interested in more, check out last week’s poll.

“Barking up the wrong tree” and Other Funny Idioms

Have you heard the expression “barking up the wrong tree?” According to North Carolina State University, there are 23,000 different kinds of trees. What type of tree is incorrect? Idioms can be puzzling, but perhaps less so when you learn more about the phrases. Let’s delve into six interesting idiomatic expressions.

Barking up the wrong tree

Hunters sometimes use scent hounds to locate and pursue animals. When the dogs trap, catch, or even kill an animal, they bark to alert their masters. Certain quarry, such as squirrels and raccoons, climb trees to escape. Occasionally, dogs lose the scent or become confused by an old scent trail. The animal is long gone, but the mistaken dogs circle a tree where they believe it to be hiding and sound the alarm. The fruitless barking of the dogs represents pursuing a mistaken or misguided course.

Brenda thinks she’s going to make money on that shady investment scheme, but she’s barking up the wrong tree!

Sick as a dog

Speaking of scent hounds, was it a touch of congestion that befouled their hunting expedition? Why are dogs associated with illness in the phrase “as sick as a dog?” Canines don’t get sick more often or with more severity than other animals. Disappointingly, the McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs reports only that the first recorded mention of the simile was in 1705 and adds, “why a dog should be viewed as particularly sick remains unclear.”

After cleaning Fido’s vomit from the carpet, I was the one who felt as sick as a dog.

Smell a rat

A rat is a slang term for an untrustworthy person. If you “smell a rat,” you suspect something is wrong or that a person has been disloyal. Skunks are famously stinky, but live rats aren’t heavily malodorous. However, many homeowners have located dead rodents in the walls or floors of their homes by following a stench.

The uniformed man claimed to be a home inspector, but I smelled a rat.

Curiosity killed the cat

In Ben Jonson’s play, Every Man in His Humour, the phrase “care will kill a cat” appears. Care (as in worry), not curiosity, is the supposed source of danger in this earlier expression from the 1500s. In 1909, O. Henry was the first to use “curiosity killed the cat.” Nowadays, you would say it to warn someone not to meddle in an affair that doesn’t concern them or to explain why adverse consequences result from being overly inquisitive.

The cops arrested George because he was snooping around the scene of the crime. Curiosity killed the cat!

Don’t count your chickens before they hatch

Despite a mother hen’s best efforts, there are predators—even curious cats—that would devour a tasty egg. Temperature changes and other factors can also affect an embryo, so you can’t be sure of an egg’s viability until it hatches. Written around the sixth century BC, the story collection known as Aesop’s Fables included the tale of a milkmaid carrying milk on her head. She fantasizes about selling butter and cream to buy eggs. The dream of hatching and selling the chickens is so real that she tosses her hair in anticipation of the young admirers who will check out her newly purchased dresses. She drops the milk, illustrating that you can’t ascertain the result of a hypothetical situation in advance.

I am expecting a raise this quarter, but I don’t want to count my chickens before they hatch.

Every cloud has a silver lining

“There does a sable cloud / Turn forth her silver lining on the night, / And casts a gleam over this tufted grove.” In the 1600s, John Milton penned these words in Comus: A Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle. Captivated with the pretty verse, many writers wrote about “Milton’s clouds” with silver linings. In time, people applied the idea to dark situations in life. In time, you often find that something good can follow unpleasant circumstances.

Ramona’s grandmother congratulated her on how much she improved her reading the summer that she broke her leg: “See! Every cloud has a silver lining.”

If you try to find literal meaning in idioms, you can end up as disappointed as dogs baying at the bottom of an empty tree. Many idioms, like the ones above, have fascinating origins. What expressions would you like to research next?