Editors Needed

So yes, there's a grammar mistake on this expensive-looking, official sign.  Some capitalization and punctuation problems.  But I'm not sure you can blame the altitude problem on language issues.  

I was still very happy they tried English...and it gave me a smile (and delusional bragging rights).  Plus, I suppose that if they'd added mm to the altitude, it might technically be correct.       

   

Commas Save Lives

I love good punctuation humor (yes, I'm a nerd), and I've read several books lately that suffer from the lack of a certain comma.  So, to help with the situation, I wrote a post at Writers on the Move about the vocative comma.  Don't worry about the term.  Just worry about Grandpa in the below example.

 
 
For more fun examples, check out the article here.

Grammar and Mechanics for Writers #1--Commas between adjectives

Commas between two adjectives

Quiz

Choose the right punctuation.

1)         a. She wore tall, leather boots.

            b. She wore tall leather boots.

2)         a. I want a talented, compassionate boss.

            b. I want a talented compassionate boss.

3)         a. Jack bought a new, electric razor.

            b. Jack bought a new electric razor.

Think you've got them? Click HERE for the answers. If you answered right with no problem, move on to the next chapter. If you got one wrong, read on.

Explanation:

When you have two adjectives in a row, sometimes you put a comma between and sometimes you don't. The fancy grammar explanation has to do with whether the adjectives are coordinate or non-coordinate, and their underlying semantic categories, but you don't really need to know all that. All you need is the rule of thumb.

Rule of Thumb:

If you can REVERSE the two words or put AND between them, and it still sounds okay, you need the comma (to show that the adjectives are equal).

If you can't reverse or put AND, you shouldn't put a comma.

Example 1:

The slippery, slimy frog (good)

The slimy, slippery frog (good)

The slippery and slimy frog (good)

You need a comma between

Example 2;

The big foreign car (good)

The foreign big car (sounds weird and unnatural)

The big and foreign car (sounds a little weird)

Don't put a comma

NOTE: If you've done the tests and it's still not clear (maybe one test sounds a little awkward, but not totally wrong), it can probably go either way, depending on what you want to emphasize. Just make the call and then don't worry too much about it.

For more advanced examples, click HERE.

Practice:

For each sentence, insert or delete commas between adjectives as necessary.

1) I hated the stupid iron bars on the windows.

2) She worked twelve hours a day in a cold wet cave.

3) He sang to his laughing, gurgling baby.

4) They ate delicious, ham sandwiches in a bright airy diner.

5) The sleek, silk dress must have cost a fortune.

6) The fluffy purring kitten softened his hard unyielding heart.

7) We suffered through the long boring meeting.

8) They all understood the complicated, geometry problem.

9) No one wanted the old, beat-up, lawn chair.

10) Samantha's wide, happy smile shone like the warm summer sun.

Practice ANSWERS

1) I hated the stupid iron bars on the windows. (Correct as is)

2) She worked twelve hours a day in a cold, wet cave.

3) He sang to his laughing, gurgling baby. (Correct as is)

4) They ate delicious ham sandwiches in a bright, airy diner.

5) The sleek silk dress must have cost a fortune. (If it were "silky," you'd put a comma)

6) The fluffy, purring kitten softened his hard, unyielding heart.

7) We suffered through the long, boring meeting.

8) They all understood the complicated geometry problem.

9) No one wanted the old, beat-up lawn chair. (the comma between "old" and "beat-up" is correct, but you can't reverse "beat-up" and "lawn" (The lawn, beat-up chair), so you don't need a comma there.  See "More Advanced Examples.")

10) Samantha's wide, happy smile shone like the warm summer sun. (Correct as is)

How did you do? If you need more help, try:

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/commas-with-adjectives (My hero, the Grammar Girl)

http://www.getitwriteonline.com/archive/042301comcoordadj.htm 

Commas Between Subjects and Verbs

I just read the first two pages of a novel and had to stop.  Why?  Commas.  Our little curly-tailed friends drove me to close the book and push it as far away as I could.

Now, most writers polish their first line until it's perfect.  Many revise it, revise it, throw it out, start over.  Any professional is at least going to check it twice for typos and punctuation errors.  Not so with this work.  The novel shall remain nameless, since I don't want to crush the author under the fist of my punctuational tyranny.  I do, however, feel rather strongly about it, and hope that I may help future writers.  As I'm keeping the novel anonymous, I also had to change the actual words of the first line, but I kept the exact structure.  Observe:

*With a sensation of being pulled underwater, Thomas John Rawhide, kept his eyes on the horizon.  (ungrammatical)

Eeek!  What on EARTH is that second comma doing there?  Commas are a dastardly bunch.  No one agrees exactly where they belong.  Some of the rules are quite complicated, even if you subscribe to them.  There are, however, some things most experts and editors do agree on.  One of them is that a comma never, ever, ever goes between the subject and the verb (as above), unless the comma is setting off an appositive (a word or phrase that redefines the noun right next to it).  Example:

Thomas John Rawhide, rancher extraordinaire, kept his eyes on the horizon.  (grammatical)

Or:  Thomas John Rawhide, who had never seen snow in his life, kept his eyes on the horizon.  (grammatical)

Since I found the exact same error five lines down, and again on page two, I had to conclude that the author simply didn't know the rule.  Maybe she had polished her first line.  She just didn't have the right tools.  The editor, however, had absolutely no right letting that slip.  Which leads me to believe it was self published, which thing I had not expected, as the book's copyright was from 1979, and I hadn't realized vanity publishing was a big thing then.

So, if you plan on self-publishing and don't want to annoy your reader, or if you don't want to get instantly rejected by every agent you ever query, or if you're learning how to write essays for school, here's a rule to remember: 

Comma Rule #1:  NEVER put a comma between a subject and a verb, unless the comma sets off a non-restrictive clause.

INCORRECT:  The computer I use at work, is broken.

CORRECT:  The computer I use at work is broken.

INCORRECT:  The man who shot me, got out of prison today.

CORRECT:  The man who shot me got out of prison today.

CORRECT:  Alfred F Gully III, who shot me last year, got out of prison today.

Punctuation is no picnic.  Used correctly, however, it clarifies your writing.  Master it before it masters you.

Grammarians Beware: Dangling Prepositions

I hate stupid rules.

I'm a writer, a linguist, and a teacher of English as a Second Language.  In descriptive linguistics and in teaching ESL, we talk about English as it's spoken, not as it's "supposed" to be spoken, according to grammar textbooks from the 50s.  I'm a stickler for the important rules, but it really bugs me when people get on their high horse about things like how you should never end a sentence with a preposition.    

Sometimes, I agree it's more elegant.  "I want to go" is cleaner than "I want to go with."  This, however, is simply a case of an extra word.  When you have to start doing linguistic gymnastics just to avoid a preposition at the end, that's where I draw the line.  "Where are you from?" is quite preferable to "from where do you come?" 

I think one of the reasons people think it's improper is that in Latin and other Romance languages, it's either impossible or incorrect to end a sentence with a preposition.  We—and especially our 18^th and 19^th century grammarian predecessors—seem to have this strange idea that Latin is the most wonderful language ever.  But guess what?  English is NOT a Romance language.  It's Germanic.  And Germans dangle their prepositions all over the place.

Another thing about Germanic languages is the prevalence of phrasal verbs, something native speakers rarely hear about because we all instinctively know how to use them and what they mean.  However, they give learners of English nightmares.  Phrasal verbs consist of a verb and one or more prepositions, like break up with, hang out, and get over.  They often have meanings unrelated, or only loosely linked, with their base verbs.  Hanging out with your friends doesn't generally involve any actual hanging.  When a building blows up, it doesn't lift its mouth to the sky and exhale. 

When an intransitive phrasal verb comes at the end of a sentence, there's rarely a good way to avoid that final preposition, and there's absolutely no reason to try.  "The White House blew up!" or "Up blew the White House!"  You tell me which is better.  How about this:  "Let's get this over with."  If there's a way to naturally rephrase that, I can't figure it OUT.

So, if you insist on never dangling your prepositions, start speaking Latin or Spanish, because terminal prepositions in English are something grammarians are just going to have to deal WITH.  Here's a link to a great video on the topic from Merriam-Webster.  Check it OUT.