Grammar Goodies 2
Parallel Constructions- Incorrect: The candidate is a former pumpkin tosser, turkey caller, and served three years in a federal prison.
- "The candidate is a former . . . served three years in a federal prison": nouns must be matched with nouns and verbs with verbs, etc. The first two elements in this series are nouns; the last element is a separate predicate.
- Correct: The candidate is a former pumpkin tosser, turkey caller, and federal prisoner.
Prepositions
It's permissible to end a sentence with a preposition:- That's the dragon I threw a barbecued hog to.
Pronoun and Antecedent
This is another common type of error:- Unclear: Although Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots, were cousins, she signed her death warrant.
- Who signed whose death warrant?
- Clear: Although Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots, were cousins, Elizabeth signed Mary's death warrant.
Pronouns: Me and I
Be careful of me (object) and I (subject):- Incorrect: Our Sherpa guide led Hillary and I up Mount Everest.
- Correct: Our Sherpa guide led Hillary and me up Mount Everest.
- Incorrect: Rowley and me voted against the Frankensalmon bill.
- Correct: Rowley and I voted against the Frankensalmon bill.
Spelling: Twenty-Six Commonly Misspelled Words
- accommodate
- deductible
- harass
- license
- privilege
- acknowledgment
- dependent
- inadvertent
- occasion
- proceed
- argument
- embarrass
- misspell
- indispensable
- occurrence
- separate
- commitment
- existence
- judgment
- perseverance
- supersede
- consensus
- foreword
- liaison
- prerogative
- withhold
continued on Grammar Goodies 3