Grammar Basics: What Are Verb Tenses?

Verb tenses are forms of verbs that show whether we are talking about the past, present, or future. There are six classical tenses in English and an additional six tenses that are categorized as “perfect tenses.”

The classical tenses, using the verb “walk” as an example, are: Present simple (I walk) Present continuous ( I am walking)

Simple past (I walked) Past continuous (I was walking)

Simple future (I will walk) Future continuous (I will be walking)

The perfect tenses, using walk as an example, are:

Present perfect (I have walked) Present perfect continuous (I have been walking)

Past perfect (I had walked) Past perfect continuous (I had been walking)

Future perfect (I will have walked) Future perfect continuous (I will have been walking)

Many verbs, like “make,” “do,” “see,” and “be” are irregular in the past and perfect tenses, which means that they do not look like the regular verb “walk” when conjugated.

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

Texting: Ppl, Srsly, It’s OK 2 Uz TxtSpk Sumtimz

Text speak gets a bad rap.

It’s been pegged as barbaric, accused of ruining the English language, identified as a symbol of the millennial generation’s laziness, and perhaps worst of all, it’s been strung up as the next bad habit liable to rot kids’ brains.

That puts it in the same category as American English, according to Prince Charles, and rock ’n’ roll, according to conservative evangelical parents of the 1950s—two institutions that turned out pretty okay, according to the majority.

So then, is the phenomenon of using shortcuts, homophones, and the omission of non-essential letters in what’s usually but not exclusively digital communication really such a terrible thing?

Or for those fluent in text speak:

LOL. So then iz d phenomenon of UzN shortcuts, homophones & d omission of non-essential letters n what’s usu bt not exclusively digital cmUnik8shn rly such a terrible tng.

Researchers from Coventry University in England don’t seem to think so. In fact, they argue the contrary, asserting that text speak is actually beneficial to the way that children interact with language.

More specifically, after assessing primary and secondary school children annually for two years, they “found no evidence of a link between poor grammar when texting and the actual grammatical understanding of UK children.” What they did find was that “children’s use of text speak is not only positively associated with word reading ability, but it may be contributing to reading development.”

Children’s use of text speak is not only positively associated with word reading ability, but it may be contributing to reading development.

The astounding results motivated the Scottish Qualifications Authority to, in a shocking move, accept text speak on English tests as long as the answers demonstrated that students understood the subject. The New Zealand Qualifications Authority followed suit, giving partial credit for text speak answers that showed understanding but lacked grammatical correctness.

These über progressive boards still remain exceptions to the rule though. For the most part, it’s still expected that text speak make no cameo appearances on any kind of formal examination.

So when is text speak appropriate?

John McWhorter, an associate professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University, would argue that this shorthand of sorts is fair game when you’re communicating in a manner that channels the speed and flow of typical conversations. That’s because he’s a firm believer that text speak is not so much a bastardization of our beloved written language, but a language of its own.

In a TED talk he delivered in 2013, he explains how “the miraculous thing” is developing its own grammar and conventions and should be more closely identified as “fingered speech” than as writing.

The big takeaway from his argument? People who use both text speak and formal written English are actually bilingual and can appropriately identify the contexts that warrant one or the other.

And while that may be true the majority of the time, text speak h8ters have jumped at the opportunity to point out the situations where those fluent in the new way of communicating have slipped up and inappropriately LOLed or YOLOed. So, for those new to the language, and also just to take it one step further and clarify when it’s okay to use text speak, we’ve put together a little litmus test as well as a few key tips.

How to figure out if using text speak in written communication is appropriate

”1” Think about this text speak golden rule: speak unto others as they would speak unto you.

This little maxim is all about context. Think about the person who you’re communicating with. Just like you wouldn’t parlez Français to a Chihuahua, you shouldn’t LOL at your grandmother’s lack of bilingualism or ROFL at your technologically challenged manager’s unfamiliarity with a language that you think is, OMG, gr8. If you don’t think someone shares your text speak knowledge, err on the side of conservatism.

Similarly, if you’re in an environment where there are generational gaps and hierarchies to be considered (read: the workplace), take the lead from others before dropping the text speak bomb.

”2”Think about wot yor trying 2 sA

As McWhorter so aptly notes, text speak is more like casual speech because it mirrors the loose, telegraphic eight- to ten-word packets that we converse in. If what you need to communicate demands longer, more reflective, more informative, or more analytical thought, then it probably lends itself to formal written English.

More specifically, other than in quick text messages, text speak can be great for instant messaging via apps like Skype and Slack that act as digital stand-ins for chirpy spoken exchanges (as long as you’ve ensured that the people who you’re communicating with comply with tip one). Same goes for social media posts on platforms with limited word counts, like Twitter.

Text speak can also be appropriate when you urgently need to communicate something fleeting, like the fact that you’re running late, via a more formal mode of communication, like email.

Tips for using text speak in written communication

If you’ve thought about the two points above and are confident that—ding, ding, ding—your situation has qualified for text speak use, then it’s still not a bad idea to consider a few best practice points. This especially holds true for using text speak in the business world, where communication can make or break a deal, a job opportunity, and more.

Only use text speak shortcuts that are widely known.

You still want to communicate clearly, after all. So using complicated acronyms like IYKWIM (If You Know What I Mean) or IANAL (I Am Not A Lawyer) will only confuse people further.

Consider the tone of your message and think about using polite terms to soften things up.

As business etiquette expert and founder of the Protocol School of Palm Beach Jacqueline Whitmore advises, “Quick messages can make you come off as flippant or harsh. Instead of staccato phrases, write complete sentences. Add polite touches like ‘please’ (plz) and ‘thank you’ (tks).”

And of course, don’t text in all caps—it makes it seem like you’re screaming.

Don’t use text speak that you wouldn’t say out loud.

This seems like a no-brainer, but it’s still good to point it out. If you wouldn’t give someone a gap-toothed grin and exclaim, “LOL. What the f*^&? Did you move the deadline forward? F*^& my life,” then you probably shouldn’t text them that either.

Try not overuse pragmatic particles.

A pragmatic particle is a linguistic term for a word or phrase that doesn’t add any semantic meaning to a sentence, but that still adds value in the way that it communicates attitude, shows empathy or adds structure to the interaction.

In text speak, LOL is an example of a pragmatic particle. People often use it even when nothing is funny or they’re clearly not laughing out loud. They do this to communicate light-heartedness and a positive tone.

Like difficult acronyms and abbreviations, pragmatic particles can be confusing for and misunderstood by those not as adept at text speak. So before defaulting to frequent use, think about the person you’re communicating with.

What’s it to you? Do you think there’s a case for situation-appropriate text speak, and do you agree with our points about when to use it? Share your opinion in the comments section below or via our Facebook page or Twitter feed.

 

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Stephanie Katz is a San Francisco-based writer who, contrary to the way it may seem, won’t correct your grammar over beers, coffees or any other normal life interaction. She tells stories about health, history, travel and more and can be contacted via email at stekatz@gmail.com.

Presidential Debate Grammar Power Rankings

Ready or not, the U.S. presidential campaign season is upon us. Whoever your pick for POTUS, one thing’s certain—political topics inspire passionate discussions. With a light heart and heavy-hitting algorithms, we visited each candidate’s official Facebook page and looked at the comments there to see how well their supporters handle themselves when they communicate their ideas in writing.

Our first study put followers of Republican candidates—the participants in the first national presidential debate on August 6—in the spotlight. The Democratic candidates climb into the debate ring on October 13, so this time we put their supporters to the test. Then, in the spirit of friendly competition, we combined the studies into one infographic to allow for comparisons between the parties.

Whether your discussion style is passionate or placid, as the 2016 presidential election approaches there’s no better time for intelligent discourse.

 

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Please attribute this infographic to https://www.grammarly.com/grammar-check.

Methodology

We began by taking a large sample of Facebook comments containing at least fifteen words from each candidate’s official page between April, 2015 and August, 2015. Next, we created a set of guidelines to help limit (as much as possible) the subjectivity of categorizing the comments as positive or negative. Since the point of the study was to analyze the writing of each candidate’s supporters, we considered only obviously positive or neutral comments. Obviously negative or critical comments, as well as ambiguous or borderline negative comments, were disqualified.

We then randomly selected at least 180 of these positive and neutral comments (~6,000 words) to analyze for each candidate. Using Grammarly, we identified the errors in the comments, which were then verified and tallied by a team of live proofreaders. For the purposes of this study, we counted only black-and-white mistakes such as misspellings, wrong and missing punctuation, misused or missing words, and subject-verb disagreement. We ignored stylistic variations such as the use of common slang words, serial comma usage, and the use of numerals instead of spelled-out numbers.

Finally, we calculated the average number of mistakes per one hundred words by dividing the total word count of the comments by the total number of mistakes for each candidate.

An Introduction to Verb Tenses

When using multiple verbs in a clause, it’s important to keep them in the same tense. For example: I went to the store, buy an apple, and ate it on the way home. ‘Went’ and ‘ate’ are both in past tense, but ‘buy’ is in present tense.

To fix this sentence, use ‘bought,’ which is the past tense of ‘buy.’ I went to the store, bought an apple, and ate it on the way home.

Another example: I went to the store and bought an apple, and now I am eating it.

‘Went’ and ‘bought’ are both in past tense and ‘eating’ is in present tense. In this case, the two different verb tenses are in two separate clauses, separated by a comma, so it is ok that they’re in different tenses.

For more information on verb tenses, read this blog post about the difference between gone and went.

Monday Motivation Hack: Use Your PTO

You think you’re locking in your career by never missing a day.

You’re not alone.

Research shows that more than a quarter of workers fear that taking time off will make them seem less dedicated. Others think that vacation-time martyrdom will boost their chances for a raise or a promotion (it doesn’t).

But, this (very American) cultural phenomenon of rarely taking time off and almost never using all of one’s vacation days is bad news for employers and employees alike. And managers know it.

According to Project: Time Off, managers agree that paid time off (PTO):

• improves health and well-being (82 percent)
• relieves burnout (81 percent)
• increases employees’ focus after return (78 percent)
• improves employees’ commitment to their jobs (70 percent)

So, if the boss is on board, why did Americans donate 658 million vacation days to their employers in 2015?

More than 66 percent of employees report getting mixed or negative messages about time off and just don’t want to take the risk, deal with the stress, or let the work build up.

However, there are important reasons to make PTO a priority.

Why You Absolutely Must Start Using Your PTO

Recently, we explored the benefits of self-care and treating yo’self for motivation and productivity. Using up your PTO takes these ideas to the next level, and the benefits are just as profound.

• Vacation can save your life—literally. Research shows that high-risk middle-aged men who took regular vacations were less likely to die of all causes and significantly less likely to die of heart attack during the course of a nine-year study. Vacation has also been shown to have an effect on your body and mind similar to that of meditation.
• Time off is critical to self-care, creativity, and motivation. Though research shows the halo-effect of vacation is short lived, it is a vital part of recharging your batteries and your willpower.

How to Get the Most from Your PTO

Put a little excitement in this Monday, and do these things today:

1. Find out how many vacation days you currently have. (Check with HR if you have questions about how or when you need to use PTO.)
2. Mark out paid holidays on your calendar.
3. Pick three fun things you could do with the vacation time you have.

When you have an idea of what you’re working with, there are a few best practices that will set you up for success when you do take time off.

Plan ahead.

Planning is highly correlated with increased use of time off. Many people fear the amount of backed-up work they’ll come back to if they take time off. By wrangling your workload effectively, you will be able to build in adequate buffers to your vacation time and remove the stress that can accompany time off.

Here’s a tip: Plan your workflows as if you’re taking 30 to 50 percent more time off. This way, when you come back to your desk, day-to-day tasks are sorted and you can focus on any catch-up—like email.

Plan around slow seasons.

Take advantage of lulls in your industry to minimize backlogged work before and after vacation.

Piggy-back on holidays.

A lot of people take vacation whenever they can squeeze it in. By planning, you are able to optimize not only workflows but also total time off, getting the maximum bang for your days-off buck.

Communicate with your team.

Advanced notice to your team—with regular reminders—works wonders. You can set early deadlines, and your colleagues will often cooperate to make project requests farther in advance so you’re not bottlenecked before or after your time off.

Make vacation planning a reward.

By planning far-ish in advance for PTO, you get to look forward to your coming vacation. It’s fun to see the details come together. Plus, on rough days, it can be highly motivating to have something concrete to look forward to/daydream about.

Now that you know how much time off you have, when some good times to go on vacation are, and how you’re going to plan for that time, let go of the worry that your boss will be angry or that you’ll fall behind, and plan a trip!

How much vacation do you take? How do you prepare for it and what tips would you share?

How Reading Affects Your Brain

As you read these words, your brain is decoding a series of abstract symbols and synthesizing the results into complex ideas. It’s an amazing process. The English writer Katie Oldham described the “surreal” act of reading a book this way: “You stare at marked slices of tree for hours on end, hallucinating vividly.”

And as if it weren’t already strange enough, consider this: If you do enough of it—that is, read a lot—it may not only rewire parts of your brain, but perhaps even make you a nicer person. (Maybe. More on that below.)

While the brain remains a massive and often murky frontier for scientific research, we’re devoted fans of the written word—and we’re always keen to learn more about the neurological effects of one of our favorite pastimes.

A recent adaptation

The act of reading hinges upon not one part of the brain but the interactions among several, which have to do with recognizing symbols, relating them to sounds and spoken language, and ultimately extracting meaning. That’s because, from an evolutionary standpoint, reading and the human brain are relatively new acquaintances. (In fact, the extent to which language—written or not—is a built-in function of the brain has itself been a subject of ongoing debate.)

To frame this another way, “We were never born to read.” So begins Maryanne Wolf in her book Proust and the Squid:

Human beings invented reading only a few thousand years ago. And with this invention, we rearranged the very organization of our brain, which in turn expanded the ways we were able to think, which altered the intellectual evolution of our species. . . . Our ancestors’ invention could come about only because of the human brain’s extraordinary ability to make new connections among its existing structures, a process made possible by the brain’s ability to be reshaped by experience.

—Maryanne Wolf

(Wolf has also noted that because the act of reading integrates other functions that have to do with your sense of place, as well as touch, diminishing those senses—as reading on a screen instead of a page often does—can make long reads tougher to navigate and harder to remember afterward.)

Just as the brain can learn to take on the multifarious requirements of processing language from symbols—thanks to a property called neuroplasticity—it seems apt to retain the effects of doing so, as well.

For instance, researchers at Emory University found that reading a novel heightens connections in the parts of the brain that deal with language reception. The study’s lead author, neuroscientist Gregory Berns, says it also taps into a process known as grounded cognition, by which reading about an action such as swimming activates neurons that are associated with that act, even while you’re sitting still:

The neural changes that we found associated with physical sensation and movement systems suggest that reading a novel can transport you into the body of the protagonist. . . . We already knew that good stories can put you in someone else’s shoes in a figurative sense. Now we’re seeing that something may also be happening biologically.

—Gregory Berns

Berns says it’s worth noting these effects aren’t limited to the moments while you’re reading; rather, they’ve been detected via brain scans several days after the fact. Even if a book doesn’t change your life, it might change your week.

Enhancing empathy?

That transportive property by which fiction can project readers into other people’s lives may also help us better relate in real life. Such was the finding of a 2013 study at The New School in New York, which found this benefit specific to the readers of literary fiction: They seem to excel at tests that involved understanding other people’s feelings.

That result did not hold for the readers of nonfiction or genre fiction, by the way. But before you toss out your beach reads and histories in order to focus on the complete works of Chekhov, you might want to be wary of headlines that overhype the conclusion—e.g., “‘Mind-Reading’ Skills Boosted By Reading Literature, Study Suggests.” The brain is monstrously complicated; we still have much to learn of its machinations.

Still, the suggestion seems to get some credence from more recent work by Keith Oatley, a University of Toronto cognitive psychologist who also happens to be a novelist. Fiction, Oatley says, is akin to a flight simulator—a kind of life simulation that allows us to gain experience without, you know, crashing and burning.

When we read about other people, we can imagine ourselves into their position and we can imagine it’s like being that person. . . . That enables us to better understand people, better cooperate with them.

—Keith Oatley, cognitive psychologist

There are skeptics, however, who worry such interpretations risk unduly narrowing the benefits of an activity we ultimately do for pleasure. Rather than “literature as PX90 workout for the soul,” book columnist Mark O’Connell argues, “I wouldn’t want to be without those books or my having read them, and . . . their importance to me is mostly unrelated to any power they might have to make me a more considerate person.”

Reading may just help your brain chill

Whether it ultimately makes you a better person or just a happier one, there is research suggesting the out-of-body experience that comes with a good book might be the empirically best form of relaxation. That’s from the work of David Lewis, a cognitive neuropsychologist at the University of Sussex:

This is more than merely a distraction, but an active engaging of the imagination as the words on the printed page stimulate your creativity and cause you to enter what is essentially an altered state of consciousness.

—David Lewis

That also seems to hold true even if you’re not inclined to tangle with the likes of Tolstoy while trying to de-stress: “It really doesn’t matter what book you read,” Lewis says, so long as it’s “thoroughly engrossing.”

Whether you read to soak in brilliant writerly techniques for your own next draft, or simply because it’s too loud on the train to enjoy podcasts—and whether you prefer leather-bound first editions or the alluring glow and convenience of a smart phone—Grammarly is glad to be part of the way you enjoy words.

Earliest Convenience: Is It Awkward to Use This Phrase?

Your out-of-office email message says, “I’m away from my desk right now, but I’ll get back to you at my earliest convenience.” Have you created a grievous business faux pas? Surely, you meant well. How could it possibly be impolite to say that you’ll do something just as soon as it’s convenient for you?

Language has power. Words and phrases are open to interpretation. They can convey a certain tone, depending on the context in which they’re used.

Mark Twain said, “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—’tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” The trick to clear communication lies in choosing words and phrases that are less likely to be misinterpreted—the lightning bugs rather than the lightning.

Is there a problem with “earliest convenience”?

As impolite phrases go, there are certainly worse offenses. Whether this one rubs us the wrong way depends on the context in which it’s used.

At my earliest convenience

Let’s look at our out-of-office message example from above.

I’m away from my desk right now, but I’ll get back to you at my earliest convenience.

Our Verdict: Don’t use

Saying you’ll return someone’s email or call at your earliest convenience sounds impolite. Yes, you mean that you’ll get back to the person who’s contacted you as soon as you can, but what the recipient hears is something more like, “I’ll get back to you when (and maybe if) it’s convenient for me.” The implication is that you’ll do it when you feel like it, or when you’re good and ready, or maybe never. Snooty!

At your earliest convenience

But what if you’re using “at your earliest convenience” to tell someone that you’re okay with them getting around to your request when it’s convenient for them? Let’s look at an email between colleagues, John and Mary.

Hi Mary,

I’m going to need our profit and loss statement from Q1 in order to prepare a report. Would you send it to me at your earliest convenience?

Thanks, John

Our Verdict Okay to use, but . . .

. . . there are better ways to express that a request isn’t urgent. Although it isn’t rude to tell Mary that it’s okay for her to tend to your request when it’s convenient, “at your earliest convenience” still falls short on a few counts.

• It’s not specific enough. You’ve told Mary you need something, but you didn’t tell her when you absolutely need it by. She could assume you don’t really need it at all. A better option would be “. . . at your earliest convenience, or no later than [date].”
• It sounds jargony. One of the reasons many people dislike “at your earliest convenience” is that it sounds like business jargon—something we all love to hate. Use plain language instead.
• It’s easily misinterpreted. What if Mary sees your request as urgent when you meant to say that you were in no hurry? She may take time out of her day to rush through your task, which could turn out to be anything but convenient for her.

Alternatives to “Earliest Convenience”

As phrases go, dropping “earliest convenience” from your repertoire is the safest bet. But what should you use instead?

At my earliest convenience

We’ve already stated that you should drop “at my earliest convenience” from workplace and personal communication tout de suite. It comes across as inconsiderate, if not outright rude.

If you do have time to honor a request, instead of saying you’ll get around to it when it’s convenient, tell the person when they can expect your response. (“I’ll reply when I return to the office on [date].”)

At your earliest convenience

Although there’s nothing wrong with this phrase, it might actually be too polite, or at least too open-ended. Although you could use softer, less jaron-laden language like “whenever you have time” or “as soon as you’re able”, once again, we prefer specificity.

Let’s revisit the John and Mary email example and make it more specific.

Hi Mary,

I’m going to need our profit and loss statement from Q1 to prepare a report I’ll be presenting next Monday. Would you be able to send me the P&L no later than Wednesday of this week?

Thanks, John

Here, instead of telling Mary to get around to sending the P&L statement whenever it’s convenient for her, and leaving her to wonder how soon he needs them, John has used a call-to-action to ask whether she would be able to send them over by Wednesday.

Now, Mary knows what John needs and when he needs it. Plus, having the CTA in the form of a question could prompt her to reply, letting him know whether she’ll be able to accommodate the request.

Bonus: Mary’s reply will document the exchange. If she says that yes, she can have the P&L statement ready by Wednesday and doesn’t deliver, John can follow up. If she still doesn’t respond, he can point to this email trail when he has to explain why the P&L didn’t make it into his report. Way to cover your backside, John!