Grammar
Posted by: Ratipharos
Date: 2009-07-13 21:42:27
You saw this coming.
Preliminary Grammar Notes:
Please note that every personal pronoun is capitalized, (eg. Names, cities), single 'I's are capitalized and every sentence ends in a period.
1. Apostrophes
Misuse of apostrophes is, and will always be, my biggest pet peeve. They are so often used incorrectly, especially in the case of possessive ITS. As a general rule, an apostrophe comes in place of a vowel. (eg. It's (It is), They're (They are) and Don't (Do not)) However, when used with the letters ITS, they get a different spin.
ITS is odd in its way of having no apostrophe be possessive. When you say 'It's' you are saying it is, but if you say 'Its' you are saying that the object in question belongs to, or pertains to, 'It'. To remember this in simpler terms, if 'Her' fits logically where you want to put 'Its', you are putting the correct format. If 'It is' fits logically, you should use 'It's'.
In other cases apostrophe S is used to describe possession, whereas S at the end of a word is used for plural. (eg. Jack's Pianos, Jack having mulitple pianos.)
2. Commas
Commas are used as a breather in a sentence. If you want to add a pause to a sentence, you would use a comma. If you want to seperate two or more things, you would use a comma. (eg. 'I thank my parents, Jack and Jill.' In this you are thanking your parents and stating their names. In 'I thank my parents, Jack, and Jill' you are saying that you thank your parents, a person named Jack and a person named Jill.)
The book Eats, Shoots and Leaves makes a good point in the title by simply using excessive commas to portray verbs instead of nouns. The Panda 'eats shoots and leaves', not the Panda 'eats, shoots, and leaves.' In the former it says that the Panda eats certain foods, whereas in the second it says that the Panda walks in, eats food, shoots people and leaves.
By using excessive commas, it is hard to understand you and you could have a totally different meaning than what you intended. If you use commas correctly, you are easier to understand.
3. I Versus Me
I and me are often misused. (eg. Peter and me are going on a walk, That book belongs to Peter and I.) Those are both wrong. The easiest way to figure this out is to take away the name. 'Peter and me' becomes me and 'Peter and I' becomes I. After this it is easy to see which is which.
In general, I refers to the person performing the verb, whereas me refers to the person that the verb is happening to.
For the case of Us Versus We, just use 'we' where you could use I and 'us' for where you could use me.
4. Affect Versus Effect
This rule, like the I Versus Me rule, is easy to grasp and only takes a bit of brainspace. Affect is used as a verb, whereas effect is used as a noun. (eg. I affect the Goats, the Goats do not like the effect.) In this case, I am doing something to the Goats, and thus affecting them. They do not like the effect of what I am doing to them. Affect is a verb, effect is a noun.
(MORE TO COME.)