IN THIS CHAPTER

Avoiding double negatives

Distinguishing between similar words

Dealing with difficult verbs

Eliminating nonstandard words and expressions from your writing

In folk tales and myths, demons are supernatural creatures that cause trouble everywhere they go. Grammar has demons, too, and there’s nothing supernatural about them. In fact, grammar demons are the mistakes that writers fall into naturally — and avoid easily with just a little practice. In this chapter, you sharpen your demon-slaying skills.

Dropping Double Negatives

In some languages, the more negatives you pile into a sentence, the more strongly you’re saying no. In English, though, two negative words make a positive statement. For example, “Henry did not want no vegetables” means that Henry wanted some vegetables (perhaps just not the one that was on his plate). Unless you’re trying to say something positive, steer clear of these double negatives, presented here with examples:

• WRONG: Lucette cannot help but dance when the salsa band plays. (not and but = negatives)
• RIGHT: Lucette cannot help dancing when the salsa band plays.

• WRONG: Elizabeth can’t hardly wait until the music starts. (can’t and hardly = negatives)
• RIGHT: Elizabeth can hardly wait until the music starts.

• WRONG: Tom, the guitarist, hadn’t but ten minutes until showtime. (not, which appears in the contraction hadn’t, and but = negatives)
• RIGHT: Tom, the guitarist, had only ten minutes until showtime.

Identify the double negatives. Rewrite the sentence correctly.

Telling Word-Twins Apart

Do you know any twins who resemble each other but have completely different personalities? If so, you already understand that each half of a similar-sounding pair may function differently, and woe to the writer who sends one to do the other’s job. This section helps you employ word-twins (and some triplets) properly. Take a look:

• Your and you’re. Your shows possession: Your foot is on my seat. You’re is short for “you are”: You’re very rude.
• Its and it’s. Its shows possession: The table fell when its legs snapped. It’s is short for “it is”: It’s at the repair shop now and should be ready in time for the party.
• Whose and who’s. Whose shows possession: The clerk whose line is longest is the slowest worker in the office. Who’s is short for “who is” or “who has”: Who’s going to fire that clerk and hire someone faster?
• Their, they’re, and there. Their shows possession: The clients took their business elsewhere. They’re is short for “they are”: They’re tired of waiting. There is a place: The clients found a more efficient office and went there.
• Two, to, and too. Two is a number: You have two hands. To may attach to a verb to form an infinitive (to show, to dream, to be) or show movement toward something or someone (to the store, to you): Go to the kitchen and use those hands to wash the dishes. Too means “also” or “more than enough”: Michael will wash too, because there is too much work for one person.”

Choose the correct word and write it in the blank.

Distinguishing Between Commonly Confused Words

What a difference a letter (or a few letters) make! The word pairs in this section are commonly confused, with one word appearing where the other is more appropriate. Take note of the difference, and use them wisely:

• Affect and Effect. Affect is a verb meaning “to influence”: Mallory’s tantrum did not affect her mother’s decision to leave the candy aisle. Effect is most often used as a noun meaning “result”: One effect of Mallory’s sweet tooth was a truly impressive dental bill.

  Both affect and effect may be used in other ways, though much less frequently. Affect as a noun means “the way someone displays emotions.” Effect as a verb means “to bring about a change in the face of opposition.” In this chapter, though, I concentrate on the more common usage for each.

• Farther and Further. Farther refers to distance: Mallory runs farther than anyone else when a candy bar is at stake. Further refers to just about everything but distance (intensity, degree, time, and so forth): When Mallory thought further about the matter, she decided that artificial sweetener was not a good choice.
• Continually and Continuously. Continually (and its close relative, continual) refer to actions that happen again and again, with little breaks between: Joe continually opened the oven to check on the cake baking inside. With continual drafts of cold air, the oven cooled down. Continuously (and its relative, continuous) refer a constant action that has no gaps: Without continuous heat, the cake took forever to bake. Margie scolded him continuously until he ordered a cake from the corner bakery.
• Accept and Except. Accept is “to say yes to, to agree, to receive”: Margie, who loves sweets, accepts every dessert offered to her. Except means “everything but”: Joe eats every type of dessert except pie, which he doesn’t like.
• Hanged and Hung. To hang is “to suspend.” In the present tense, hang works in every situation. In the past tense, though, two very different forms appear, hanged and hung. A person being executed for a crime is hanged, but a picture is hung on a wall.

Circle the best word or phrase in each set of parentheses.

Counting and Measuring Grammatically

Lost in the fog of the history of English is the reason why different words are used to describe singulars and plurals when you’re counting or measuring:

• More than, many, and fewer work for plurals: more than 19 witnesses, many problems, fewer than 50 coffee cups. These words work well with things you can count. Less, much, and over take you into singular territory: less interest in the sport, much unrest, over an hour. These words are best with things you can measure but not count.

  The word over is frequently misused in place of more or more than.

• Amount is appropriate when the item you’re discussing is singular: the amount of enthusiasm. Number applies to plurals: the number of bowties.
• Between is the word you want when you’re talking about two people or things: I’m having trouble choosing between pistachio and chocolate chip. Among is for groups of three or more: Among the twelve candidates for mayor, Shirley stands out.

Uncover your toes (in case you need to count higher than ten) and take a stab at these sentences. Circle the correct word in each set of parentheses.

Taming Tricky Verbs

Sit (not set) yourself down for some practice with six headache-inducing verbs. Afterward you can lie (not lay) down for a rest. You have nothing to lose (not loose) if you let your inner grammarian loose (not lose).

• Lie and Lay. One meaning of lie is “rest or recline the body.” (Yes, it also means that you aren’t telling the truth, but that definition isn’t a problem.) The past tense of lie is lay. The form of the verb lie that combines with has, have, or had is lain. To lay is “to place something” or “to put.” The past tense of lay is laid. For lay, the form that combines with has, have, or had is laid.
• Sit and Set. To sit is “to bend your knees and put your bottom on some sort of surface.” The past tense and the combo form are both sat. To set is “to place, to put something somewhere.” The past tense and combo forms are also set.
• Lose and Loose. To lose is “to be unable to find” or to “come up short in a contest.” To loose is “to set free,” or, as a description, “roomy, unleashed.”

To help you remember the difference between the first two pairs of verbs, think of lie and sit as actions that a person does to himself or herself: I lie down, I sit in the chair. Lay and set, on the other hand, are actions that a person does to something else: I lay the check on the desk, I set the vase down on the piano.

Don’t set down your pen until you try the following questions. Circle the correct form of the verb in the parentheses.

Banishing Bogus Expressions

English should of been easier. Being that English is difficult to learn, I’m going to try and spend more time studying it. Irregardless, I gotta have time for origami, a hobby I can’t resist. Alright, I admit that this hobby has alot of relaxing qualities. So does eating grill cheese. My brother and myself plan to have some for lunch.

By now I’m sure you’ve figured out that the italicized words in the preceding paragraph are all problematic in proper English. Check out Table 20-1 to see some acceptable substitutes.

Here’s your challenge: Check out the following sentences, identifying those using Standard English. You may find one, more than one, or none.

Calling All Overachievers: Extra Practice with Tricky Words

In the following figure, check out an obituary that (never, I assure you) appeared in a local paper. Whenever you encounter a misused word, correct the clunker. You should find 15 mistakes.

Answers to Grammar Demon Problems

Keeping tricky words straight takes a lot of effort. Use the answers below to check your work on the practice exercises.

1 Vincent is humming so loud that I can hardly think. The double negative can’t hardly should be can hardly.

2 Candice has no problem with Vincent’s noisy behavior. Ain’t isn’t standard, and pairing it with no creates an additional problem.

3 The teacher looked at Vincent and declared, “I do not allow singing here.” If you place not and no together, you have a double negative. Get rid of no, as I did, or do not: I allow no singing.

4 Vincent had but five minutes to finish the math section of the test. The contraction hadn’t contains not, a negative, and but is also negative. Change hadn’t to had and the sentence is fine. You can also substitute only for but.

5 “I can’t help thinking that your rule is unfair to musicians,” said Benny. Inside can’t is the negative word not. But is also negative. Change but think to thinking and the sentence is correct.

6 Who’s, your. In the first blank, you need “Who is.” In the second, a possessive form is required.

7 It’s, there. In the first blank, “it is” (it’s) makes sense. The second blank needs a place, there.

8 too, to, to, their. In the first blank you want a word to show “overly,” too. The next two blanks are part of infinitives, so to is appropriate. In the last blank, a possessive form is what you want.

9 whose, you’re, two. The first blank requires a possessive. The second needs “you are,” which is you’re. Finally, you want a number (two).

10 it’s, too, to, they’re. It is, or it’s fits the first blank. In the second blank, you want a sense of “more than enough,” or too. Next up is movement, so you want to. Last, “they are,” or they’re, is needed.

11 further. Once you’re talking about extra information, farther isn’t an option, because farther refers to distance. Go for further.

12 accept. Substitute “receive” and you see that accept is the word you want here, not except, which means “everything but.”

13 affect. In this sentence, you want a synonym for “have influence on,” which is affect.

14 continually. The judge interrupted from time to time, so continually fits best.

15 further. You’re not talking about distance, but rather about additional speech, so further is the word you need here.

16 hanged. To have a rope around your neck is to be hanged, not hung.

17 continuous. The hammering never stopped, so it was continuous.

18 effect. Here you need a synonym for “result,” which is effect.

19 affected. Nothing influenced the judge’s ruling, so affected is your answer.

20 hung. The word hung is best when you refer to something suspended on a wall.

21 further. Further refers to time, the context of the word in this sentence.

22 affects, accept. In the first blank, you want a synonym for “influences,” so affects is your answer. In the second blank, you need a synonym for “agree to,” or accept.

23 more than. Memos, a plural, calls for more than.

24 among, much. Because more than two employees are talking, among is the one you want. Between works for couples, not mobs. In the second parentheses, much is the choice because difference is singular.

25 less. The word paper is singular, so less is appropriate.

26 many, amount. Many works for plurals, and memos is a plural word. In the second parentheses, the singular paper is the issue. Number works with plurals, but amount is for singular expressions.

27 more than. When you’re talking about sheets, you’re in plural land. Use more than.

28 less. It may take fewer employees to shelve the issue, but it takes less energy, because energy is singular.

29 over. One year calls for over, the term for singulars.

30 amount. The word material is singular, even though the term may refer to a ton of stuff, as in the material in my file cabinet that I don’t want to work on. Singular takes amount.

31 between. In comparing two potential candidates for leadership awards, between is best.

32 fewer. Employees is a plural, so fewer does the job.

33 amount. Here you’re talking about barking (yes, the boss barks too), so amount is needed for the singular term.

34 Among. If you’re looking at all the inhabitants of New York City, you’re talking about more than two people. Hence, among.

35 lies. The character, in suitably pale makeup, rests in bed, so lies is correct.

36 sit. The doctor isn’t placing something else on the bed but instead is making a lap. Go for sit.

37 set, lose. To place something somewhere calls for the verb set. To lose your temper is an idiom, an expression that doesn’t always fit the dictionary definition of the words in it. “Temper” is a state of mind, especially in terms of anger or calmness. “To lose your temper” is “to become angry.”

38 lie, sit. Both of these spots call for personal body movements, not the placement of something else. To lie and to sit deal with plopping in bed, on the couch, or in a chair.

39 laid, loose. Because the doctor placed the wreath, the verb of choice is to lay, and the past tense of to lay is laid. The dog got free, or loose.

40 lies. This one is a bit tricky. The doctor lays the wreath, but the wreath itself just lies (rests) there.

41 sit, lose. The lover will pull out a chair and sit in it, not place an object somewhere. Eventually the lover will depart, so the doctor will lose the lover.

42 lain. The lover has been stretched out in a bed, in the traditional soapy coma, so the verb must be a form of lie. The combo form of lie is lain.

43 sits. The doctor isn’t placing something, just staying in a chair, eating. The verb is to sit, and the form that matches doctor is sits.

44 II. Irregardless has gained acceptance in recent years, but Standard English still scoffs at this word. Substitute regardless. A lot is always written as two words. Option II makes both corrections. Option I correctly includes a lot but leaves irregardless. Option III has both errors.

45 I, III. Another nonstandard expression is being that. Use because or as, which appear in options I and III. To express an A-OK situation, opt for all right. The single-word version (alright) is all wrong. Both errors appear in option II.

46 I. The expression try and says that the speaker is going to do two things: try and answer. But the real meaning of the sentence is “try to answer.” Option I changes try and to try to. Option III includes myself used for emphasis, a proper job for that sort of pronoun, but does not correct try and.

47 II. Try and isn’t Standard English because it refers to two separate actions. Substitute try to. The expression should of isn’t standard; substitute should have (as in option II) or should’ve (as in option III). The two-word expression, a lot, is acceptable. The single-word (alot) is a no-no. Option II also fixes all three problems, but the other options don’t.

48 I, III. The expression would of isn’t proper English, so option II is out. Should have (option I) and could have (option III) are fine. All the options properly write all right as two words.

49 III. Being that isn’t standard, so option II drops out. Option I incorrectly inserts himself where he should be. The -self pronouns provide emphasis or show that the action doubles back onto the subject. Only option III corrects both mistakes.

50 I, II. The contraction should’ve is the short form of should have. The contraction appears in option I and the full version in option II. Option III incorrectly changes this expression to should of.

51 II. While, a word that refers to time, doesn’t fit the context of this sentence, so option I is wrong. Being that isn’t standard, so option III drops out. Option II correctly substitutes because for being that. All three options correctly use could’ve or could have.

52 II, III. Option I includes gotta, a nonstandard expression. The substitutes has to (option II) and must have (option III) are fine. Did I catch you with tries and fails in option II? Tries and implies two separate actions, and in option II two actions appears: Kevin tries (option I) and fails (option II).

53 I, III. Delete being that wherever you find it (option II, for example); send in because or as instead, as options I and III do.

54 I, III. The expression being is fine in options I and III because it’s not used as a faulty substitute for because. Instead, it’s a gerund — a fancy grammatical term for an -ing verb form functioning as a noun. Option II incorrectly includes being that as a reason, not as a gerund. In all the options, himself is properly used as a pronoun doubling back to refer to the subject

55 III. Myself adds emphasis or may show action doubling back on the subject. Neither condition exists, so options I and II are wrong. Option III correctly substitutes I.

Here are the answers to the “Overachievers” section:

1 Farther refers to distance; further is for time, intensity, or duration.

2 Effected can be a verb, but as such it means “to be the sole agent of change.” In this sentence “influenced” is the more likely meaning, so affected is the one you want.

3 A lot is always written as two words.

4 Should of isn’t proper English. Go for should have or should’ve.

5 The double negative couldn’t hardly should be replaced by could hardly.

6 Who’s is short for “who is,” but here you want the possessive, whose.

7 Continuously means there are no breaks, and the action never stops. Lectures occur from time to time, so continually is the word you need here.

8 Being that isn’t proper English. Opt for because.

9 Its is a possessive form. Here you need the contraction it’s, which is short for “it is.”

10 All right is always two words, never one.

11 Sat is the past tense of sit, which is the verb you want for plopping your body in a chair. Set is to place something somewhere else.

12 Although some grammarians accept irregardless in informal conversation, this word isn’t appropriate for a newspaper article or anywhere else you need formal language. Regardless expresses the same idea and is correct in Standard English.

13 The cheese sandwich is grilled, not grill.

14 Lie is “to rest or recline”; lay (in the present tense) is “to put something down somewhere.” Demos wants to rest, so lie is appropriate.

15 Fifty books is plural, so more than comes into play. Over is for singular terms.