Grammar
Agreement
More errors occur in agreement than in any other area of grammar.
The most common problem in agreement is the failure to recognize a collective noun and, as a result, using a plural pronoun or verb with it. Collective nouns are considered singular in the United States. Collective nouns are words like class, team, group, committee, club, fraternity, company, etc.
Here are examples of incorrect usage:
1. Meanwhile, SMU gave their new coach, Ron Meyer, a victory.
2. The tennis team will play their next matches on Saturday afternoon.
3. The Rotary Club will hold their luncheon Thursday at the YMCA.
4. He said the company is doing better than they have in the past.
5. A headline: Texas receiver corps rank among Big 12’s best
Sometimes a prepositional phrase comes after a singular noun and incorrectly influences agreement. A prepositional construction does not -- except in a rare instance -- affect the agreement.
Here are examples of that problem:
1. The Badlands Hotel is a row of buildings that include a saloon, which offers nightly entertainment.
2. At the beginners' craps table, a cluster of young men and women stand as self-consciously as amateur actors at a rehearsal of Guys and Dolls.
Watch especially sentences in which the word group or a similar word that may not be necessary is the subject. In such instances, eliminate the word group or whatever and make the sentence plural. This won't always work, but it will work surprisingly often.
Sentences that could be improved by editing out the group idea:
1. A group of 100 people were on hand to meet him.
2. A team of debaters are competing for the national title.
3. A committee of four sophomores, three juniors and five seniors were elected.
4. A fleet of boats provide trips during the day to nearby islands.
5. The group of agents looking into the killings are being directed by Edward Sharp, the head of the organized crime section of the FBI.
Occasionally the group is indeed an entity and should be kept in the sentence. In such instances, be sure of the agreement.
In this example group is appropriate, but agreement is incorrect:
A group of Dallas businessmen, spearheaded by magazine publisher Wick Allison and real estate developer Dave Fox, are promoting a back to basics movement in local education.
Remember this rule:
A prepositional construction after a collective noun does not affect agreement. You should get in the habit of reading the sentence with the prepositional phrase set aside in some way so that you can identify the correct relationships between nouns, verbs and pronouns.
Sometimes the sentence has other problems in addition to agreement. Even though you may immediately spot an agreement problem, look to see what else might be wrong with the sentence.
Here is such a sentence:
The game, which kept the standing room only crowd of 6,777 on the edge of their seats at Will Rogers Coliseum, was as thrilling as any playoff game in league history.
Remember that many writers use group, team, committee or some other collective noun without thinking about the structure they are getting into. Your job as an editor is to straighten out that lack of thinking. Sports announcers by and large ignore the rule and refer to the singular team with a plural verb or pronoun over and over. Perhaps that influences others to do the same.
Sometimes disagreement results with unnecessary shifts from plural to singular in the sentence:
Examples of incorrect shifts:
1. The artists displayed their work at the fair.
2. The students were lined up to pay their bill.
3. The rookies watched the last Cowboys-Packers game in the comfort of their living room.
4. The students said their lifestyle is better than that their parents enjoyed at the same age.
Number
Each and any word signifying each is singular: one, no one, someone, everyone, anyone.
Examples of incorrect use of each:
1. Each of us have our own transportation.
2. Each of us are going to the meeting in separate cars.
3. Each senator has their own personal mailbox.
Neither by itself is singular. In either/or and neither/nor constructions, the verb should agree with the closest subject.
Correct these sentences:
1. Neither of us are interested in going.
2. Neither CBS nor ABC have indicated any willingness to settle.
3. Neither his wife nor his parents was aware of the difficulty.
4. Either the officers or the fraternity have to take the blame.
The word number depends on whether “a” or “the” is used. The number is singular. A number is plural. Examples of correct usage:
The number of scholarships is limited.
A number of us are going to the game Saturday.
None can be singular or plural depending upon the context. However, many people prefer that none be used only in a singular construction. In sentences in which a singular usage with none isn't reasonable, get rid of the none and reword the sentence.
Uses of none that would better be reworded to eliminate the none:
None of us are going to be able to make it to the game Saturday.
None of the 40 members of the organization said they could go.
Verbs
The verbs that give everyone the most trouble are lie/lay, sit/set, affect/effect/lend/loan and proved/proven.
Lie/lay: The principal parts are lie/lay/lain/lying and lay/laid/laid/laying. To lie is intransitive, meaning that it cannot take an object. To lay is transitive, meaning that it must take an object. Here are examples of correct usage:
She was lying on the sofa.
She lay down to take a nap.
She laid the book on the table.
Lie and lay figure in many colloquialisms. It's the lie of the ball and the lay of the land. Laying by is a farming term.
Don't confuse these words with the verb to lie, meaning to make a false statement. The principal parts are lie/lied/lied/lying. Don't use this lie unless you mean it and are able to prove it. To lie, meaning to tell a falsehood, is most derogatory.
The flowers that you get in Hawaii are a lei (singular) or leis (plural).
Sit/set: The principal parts are sit/sat/sat/sitting and set/set/set/setting. Sit is intransitive. Set is transitive. Examples of correct usage:
She sat down at the piano and began to play.
She set the bottle on the mantel.
Affect/effect: Affect is a verb. Effect can be a noun or a verb. Usually it is a noun. Examples:
Don't let her situation affect you.
What are the effects of her action?
When effect is a verb, it means to bring about, cause to occur, as in to effect a settlement.
Lend/loan: Use lend as a verb and loan as a noun. The principal parts of lend are lend/lent/lent/lending.
Proved/proven. Use proved as a verb, proven as an adjective. The principal parts of verb are prove/proved/proved/proving. A proofreader reads proofs, but the verb to prove should be used to explain that the reader had proved type that has been set (not proofed).
Linking Verbs
Being able to recognize a linking verb can be important for two reasons: 1) you can identify situations in which you must use a predicate nominative; and 2) You can know when to use an adjective (a predicate adjective) instead of an adverb after a verb.
The common linking verb is to be in all its forms: is, are, was, were. After a to be verb, you must use a predicate nominative. Example:
It was he who called.
Other verbs can be linking also. These additional linking verbs have to do with looking, appearing and feeling. The most common linking verbs, in addition to the forms of to be, are
appear, become, feel, get, grow, look, seem, smell, sound, taste.
Knowing that these are linking verbs tells us that they take an adjective and not an adverb. Examples:
He feels bad.
He looks bad.
Some other verbs may be linking verbs in instances in which the action reverts to the subject. These include lie, sit and turn. Examples:
He lay still.
He sat erect.
This milk has turned sour.
The weather is going to turn bad.
When the emphasis is on the verb, the adverb would be correct, as in:
He sat directly across the aisle from her.
He turned slowly.
Read slowly.
Deciding whether bad or badly is correct is a common problem. Bad is an adjective and can be easily recognized as an adjective in bad storm, bad health, bad debt. Badly is, obviously, an adverb. But when is badly the appropriate word to use? Here's the rule: When the action relates to the verb and not to the subject, use the adjective.
The best sentence to use in trying to think through this problem is:
The skunk smelled (bad, badly).
Bad indicates that the skunk is bad to the smell. Badly would indicate the skunk had trouble smelling. But, knowing that smell is a linking verb is of utmost importance. Because it is, it must take an adjective. Another example:
The child felt bad about dropping the cup.
Again, felt is a linking verb and must take the adjective bad, not badly.
Pronouns
A basic problem in all forms of communication is the misuse of the pronoun.
Misuse of pronouns seems to have gotten more common through the years. Here's a review of the two main cases of pronouns:
Nominative: I, we, she, he, they, who.
Objective: me, us, her, him, them, whom.
Pronouns are used in the nominative case as the subject of the sentence, or as predicate nominatives. Pronouns are used in the objective case as the object of the preposition or the indirect object of the verb. Pronouns are used in the possessive case to show possession.
Predicate nominatives: This is most often a problem when the sentence is turned around, as in: Was it he? The pronouns surrounding the to be form of the verb must be in the nominative case:
I knew it was he.
If I were he ...
It was she.
Objective pronouns: One of the most common and most irritating solecisms comes from the confusion of the case of the pronoun. Me, us, her, him, them, whom are in the objective case. They must be used as the indirect object of the verb or the object of a preposition:
She gave me a present.
She gave the book to me.
I don't think anyone recognized the couple as Charlie and me.
These examples deal with me. But, of course, the situation is applicable to the other forms of the objective case. In a construction in which the preposition between is used, for example, the correct usage would be between him and me, between her and him, between her and me, between them and me, etc.
Possessives: Use the possessive in constructions such as: Is that car hers? or Is that Mary's? Also, use the possessive with a preposition in the construction: I am a friend of Mary's (not Mary).
The possessive is used before a gerund in: I don't like your going out at night by yourself. The objective form may be used when the meaning is emphatic: His mother was proud of him doing that. But, note that the objective form won't always be logically correct.
A better approach would be to use the possessive before a gerund, but change the sentence to create a prepositional construction for the emphatic meaning:
Mother discouraged my playing.
Mother discouraged me from playing.
Who and Whom
Who and whom may be difficult, but they are not impossible.
Mastering their use requires a great deal of attention in writing and speaking. But the reward is the satisfaction of knowing that you have mastered grammar's most tricky construction.
Who and whom often appear in sentences that are turned around or have more than one subject and verb. This is what makes the distinction difficult.
The best way to grasp the distinction in who and whom is to establish in what situations who and whom appear, and to collect sentences that conform to each of the various usages.
Who appears in three instances:
1. When who is the subject of the verb and the verb is with who.
Who is it?
Who asked for me?
May I say who is calling?
Who called last night while I was away?
Maybe they just broke up with someone who meant a lot to them.
2. When who is the subject of the verb but another noun and verb are inserted between who and its verb.
She is the woman who police believe took the jewels.
Ed (Too Tall) Jones, who Landry says is playing at a more consistent level than at any time in his pro career, was named the Oak Farms Most Valuable Player for his efforts against the Cardinals.
3. As a predicate nominative.
He knows who the winner is.
Do you remember who it was we invited first?
Whom appears in two situations.
1. As the object of the preposition.
A. In one instance the preposition and whom may be together:
To whom did he give the money?
B. Or, whom can be separated from the preposition, as:
Whom did the police come for?
You know whom you are dealing with.
2. As the indirect object of the verb.
They asked whom he would name.
Who was the Black Rider whom the Hobbits saw in the foggy darkness?
It was not unusual for a team, before making a pick, to run to the phone to call one of its friends around the country to find out whom it should select.
Conner declined to say whom he contacted in the White House to arrange the meeting.
Whoever/whomever follow the same rules:
She is encouraging them to write to their favorite player, whoever that may be.
Give the package to whoever answers the door.
Here are examples of misuse of who and whom:
Since her election, Mrs. Whitmire has been silent on who she would appoint as chief.
Now he is a prophet and patriarch, looking much like Tolstoy, who he once read, with his long beard and graying hair.
Wright's last primary opponent was former City Councilman Tommy Thompson, who Wright defeated by more than 10 to 1.
Those include Jim Spanarkel, who SMU fans might remember seeing in the fall when Duke ravaged the Mustangs in Moody Coliseum.
Timothy Leary's sell-out audience at Emory University Tuesday night did not contain the ones who consider him a vile moral corrupter, but mostly curious college students who he urged, as he pranced back and forth with the microphone, to get off his planet.
The Conditional
The conditional is the required tense when presenting an idea is that is improbable. Examples:
If she were alive ...
If I were in her shoes ...
If I were he ...
If I were in Boston ...
Note that the concept being discussed might be possible. But it is unlikely.
Also notice that the If I were he construction creates a predicate nominative.
Like and As
Like and as may be a preposition or conjunction, depending upon usage.
