Download Common mistakes in English

M. Kwong
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Common mistakes in English
Common Word Choice Errors and How to Avoid Them
Of all the problems in formal writing, word choice is probably the hardest to correct--for the reason
that one's choice of word improves only with reading and study of diction through the use of a
dictionary. There are, however, a few extremely common specific errors that we can make you aware of.
Study these, master them, and then work on building vocabulary and studying a good dictionary.
There is no substitute for concentrated and extended work on vocabulary development. There are
several good books on the subject. Buy one, borrow one, or steal one; and then wear it out!
The general areas of this chapter are the following:
Avoiding the Wrong Word
Avoiding the Wrong Idiom
Avoiding Vagueness
Avoiding the Wrong Word
The words avoiding and wrong, as they are used in the remainder of this book, might offend some
sensitive souls, who might ask "Why Avoiding the Wrong Word'? Why not 'Using the Right Word.'"
The simple answer to this question is that there are many right words one might use in any writing
situation, but usually inexperienced writers will choose the same wrong word over and over. Thus, any
of the following sentences is perfectly acceptable:
(1) We will accept him in the club.
(2) We will welcome him into the club.
(3) The club will embrace him in membership.
(4) The club will enthusiastically celebrate his new membership.
However, the following sentence, containing a very common word-choice error, is unacceptable:
(5) We will except him in the club.
If you do not understand the error in (5), pick up your good dictionary and look up the words accept
and except.
Choosing the wrong word in a sentence sometimes results in what is called a malapropism: an
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unintentionally humorous misuse of a word, as in the use of except for accept. The sentence "I
resemble that remark" rather than "I resent that remark" contains a good "intentional" malapropism,
intentional in that it is frequently used for humorous effect.
The sentence "Jack Kavorkian is committing euphemism" when what is meant is "Jack Kavorkian is
committing euthanasia" contains a good unintentional malapropism, as does "The Dean is diabolically
opposed to our plans" when what is meant is "The Dean is diametrically opposed to our plans."
Choice of the wrong word is most frequently simply embarrassing for the writer, as in the common
confusion of affect and effect. Just as you would not jump out of an airplane without a parachute, you
should not write without a dictionary. You will use the dictionary every time you write if you write well.
If you hunt down someone you know who writes well, you will invariably find a well-used dictionary,
usually more than one, on that person's writing desk.
Wrong Idiom
"Idiomatic usage" refers to customary combinations of words. If a writer violates idiomatic usage, the
meaning of the sentence usually remains undisturbed, but the sentence does sound odd. Consider the
following example:
(1) A person may yawn, laugh, or use a certain facial expression at a specific time that will let the
hearer, or in this case viewer, know that the person is trying to make a particular face-threatening
strategy.
Everything in (1) sounds fine until the phrase "to make a particular face-threatening strategy."
Idiomatic usage is "to use a strategy" not "to make a strategy." One might "invent a strategy," but the
meaning of "invent a strategy" is very different from "use a strategy."
The following example also involves use of the wrong verb in combination with an object:
(2) I'm not saying that I agree with this stigma.
Since a stigma is a "sign of disgrace or infamy," one cannot "agree with" it. One might approve of its
being assigned to someone, or one might disapprove of its being assigned to someone.
The most common source of idiom errors is incorrect use of prepositions, probably a result of the
combination of there being very many different prepositions in English and inexperience on the part of
the writer in reading and writing. Consider the following:
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(3) It is offensive to the reader to suggest that he/she might be thinking along the same wavelengths as
Mrs. Turpin.
Idiomatic usage is either "in the same wavelengths" or "along the same lines."
The following example contains two non-idiomatic uses of prepositions:
(4) In the first half of the story, the Grandmother acts as the narrator, and it is through her
interpretations and beliefs that the reader must base his or her opinions on the other characters.
The first problem is the use of the preposition through. One does not "base anything through something
else"; one does "base something on something else." Furthermore, one does not have "opinions on the
other characters"; one has "opinions of the other characters."
One develops idiomatic usage by reading, writing, and listening.
Vagueness
Vagueness in formal writing results from the failure to be specific in word choice. Some of the most
common verb phrases used in order to avoid specificity are "deals with," "relates to," and "involved
how." Consider the following example:
(1) Positive face deals with a person's personality needs. It relates to a person's personality needs to be
well liked and respected. Negative face deals with a person's material needs such as time, money, and
things of that nature.
Positive face does not "deal with" or "relate to" a person's personality needs. Positive face specifically
is the human need to be well liked and respected by others. Negative face does not "deal with" material
needs. Negative face is the human need for one's material goods such as time and money to be
protected from others. By the way the phrase "things of that nature" is vague as well.
Some of the more common nouns used in order to avoid specificity are aspects, dimensions, facets, and
factors, as in the following example:
(2) There are many factors at work in this narrative.
A much more specific way of expressing (2) would be (3):
(3) This story employs several narrative techniques:
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foreshadowing,
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an
unreliable
narrator,
reversal
of
foregrounding
and
backgrounding,
story-within-story.
VII: Common Pronominal Errors and How to Avoid Them
There are two basic pronominal problems:
1. pronominal case
2. pronouns and their use with antecedents
Pronominal Case
We already know from Chapter 1 that pronouns have one of three cases in English: nominative,
accusative, and genitive.
Nominative Case
The nominative case is used for subjects of verb and predicate nominatives, as in examples (1) and (2),
respectively:
(1) I watched the baby for her.
(2) It was he who watched the baby.
Problems:
As (2) shows, if a pronoun shows up in the predicate nominative position, it should occur in the
nominative case, although the most common oral pattern is to use the accusative case, as in (3), which
contains the opening of a telephone conversation:
(3a) Hello?
(b) Hi. Is Brian there?
(c) This is him.
In a formal context, it would be more correct to say, "This is he."
Another common problem is the use of pronouns in elliptical adverbial clauses subordinated with as or
than. Consider the following examples:
(4) He writes better than ______.
(5) He writes better than ______ do.
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If the pronoun to appear in the blank in (4) is to be first-person singular, most people would produce
the accusative me orally. However, in formal written English, the correct choice is the nominative I,
even though it may sound overly formal in spoken English. One can see the reasoning behind the use of
I in (4) if one understands that (5) is the non-elliptical version of (4). The verb do has been elided in (4).
No one, in spoken or written English, would use me in the blank in (5). All naturally use the
nominative I.
The following sentences illustrate the same points about elliptical adverbial clauses subordinated with
as:
(6) She speaks as quickly as _____.
(7) She speaks as quickly as _____ does.
The oral pattern is to use the accusative in (6), perhaps him. But everyone, in both speech and writing,
would use the nominative he in (7). One simply needs to remember that adverbial clauses like those in
(4) and (6) are elliptical and that one should use the nominative for their subjects.
Another common problem is illustrated by the following examples:
(8) I don't know ____ wrote this letter.
(9) I know ____ robbed the bank.
The case of pronouns is always determined by the immediate clause in which they occur. So, in (8) the
pronoun that would occur in the blank most immediate occurs inside the noun clause "_____ wrote this
letter." That pronoun is the subject of wrote; thus, if the choice is between who and whom, the correct
choice is the nominative who. The same is true for (9).
Accusative Case
The accusative case is used for the following grammatical relations:
(1) direct object
(2) indirect object
(3) object of a preposition
Thus, consider the following examples:
DO
(4) I hired her.
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IO
(5) I gave her the job.
ObjP
(6) I gave the job to her.
Problems
Some people tend to use the nominative for pronouns when the pronouns occur co-joined, even when
the accusative case is called for, as in the following:
(7)*He talked to Brian and I.
(8) He talked to Brian and me.
In (7), the first-person singular pronoun is the object of the preposition to. Thus, it should be in the
accusative case. Instead, in (7), it is in the nominative case. The correct accusative form occurs in (8).
More examples follow:
(9)*He sent Bill and I the report.
(10) He sent Bill and me the report.
In (9), the first-person singular pronoun is an indirect object. Thus, it should be in the accusative case.
Instead, in (9), it is in the nominative case. The correct accusative form occurs in (10).
One of the causes of this error is generally understood to be hypercorrection. A hypercorrection is an
error introduced through extending what is a good rule in its own environment into an environment in
which the rule does not apply. Thus, people are told not to say or write "Me and Bill sent the report" or
"Bill and me sent the report." Thus, they sometimes generalize that the nominative must be used in all
compounds and then produce sentences such as (7) and (9).
A second problem is the use of whom as an accusative pronoun when the nominative is called for. The
following example is from a student's essay:
(11) The reflector is the person whom is presented with the information.
In (11), the relative pronoun is accusative, but the nominative pronoun is called for because the relative
pronoun is the subject of the relative clause verb. Thus, the following is the correct version of (11):
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(12) The reflector is the person who is presented with the information.
Genitive Case
The genitive case is used in the following cases:
(1) for possessors
(2) for subjects of gerundive phrases
Consider the following examples:
(3) His dog is eating your shoe.
(4) I was not surprised by her tutoring my students effectively.
Example (3) has two genitive pronouns, both used to signal possessors. Example (4) also has two
genitive pronouns; the first is the subject of the gerundive tutoring, and the second is another possessor.
Problems
The most common problem with using the genitive for subjects of gerunds is simply not doing it.
Practice, practice! The following are ungrammatical:
(5)*I heard about him stealing the code.
(6)*Him studying only thirty minutes for the exam was a bad idea.
The following are grammatical:
(7) I heard about his stealing the code.
(8) His studying only thirty minutes for the exam was a bad idea.
A second, and more subtle problem is confusion of participials with gerunds. The underlying subjects
of participials do not appear in the genitive case. Consider the following:
(9) I saw him studying in the library.
In (9), the true object of the verb saw is him. The phrase"studying in the library" is a participial.
Consider the following:
(10) I heard about his studying in the library.
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In (10), the object of the preposition about is the entire gerundive phrase "his studying in the library."
Semantically, the participial is closer to signaling an actual event; the gerund is less close to signaling
an actual event. Thus, consider the following examples:
(11) I saw him as he studied in the library.
(12) I heard about him as he studied in the library.
Example (11) is identical in semantics to (9), whereas example (12) is not identical in semantics to
(10).
Pronouns and Their Use with Antecedents
An antecedent is the previous noun or pronoun that is referentially identical to a later pronoun.
Bowie is a good dog, mainly because he was raised in a loving home and taught proper family values.
In most cases, a pronoun should have a clear antecedent in the text. If a pronoun has an antecedent, it
should agree with its antecedent in person (1st, 2nd, or 3rd), number (singular or plural), and gender
(feminine, masculine, or neuter).
Failure of pronoun-antecedent agreement is an extremely common problem in student writing.
There are two common contexts for pronoun-antecedent disagreement:
avoidance of gender specification
failure to realize that some pronouns are singular in number
Another very common problem in pronoun-antecedent reference is confusion, for several specific
reasons, about the identity of the antecedent.
A second specific problem that frequently causes errors in pronoun-antecedent agreement is the
following set of pronouns:
each
anybody
either
everyone
neither
everybody
anyone
someone
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somebody
nobody
no one
Each of these pronouns is singular.
Thus, when they occur as subjects, they take singular verbs.
And when a later pronoun refers to one of them, the pronoun should be singular.
Consider the following examples:
(1a)*Each of the dogs is missing their tags.
(b)
Each of the dogs is missing its tags.
(2a)*Everyone is now bringing their dictionary to class.
(b)
Everyone is now bringing his or her dictionary to class.
(3a)*Neither of the professors brought their notes.
(b)
Neither of the professors brought her notes.
The a-sentences in (1)-(3) are all incorrect.
If (1a) and (3a) sound correct to you, you are probably
paying more attention to the number of the objects of the prepositions in those sentences than to the
singular pronouns that serve as subjects.
Referential Confusion
Pronouns must have referents which the pronouns are identical to in person, number, and gender.
"referents" we mean nouns that occur in the text or real entities that occur outside the text.
By
Thus, in
the sentence "The dog protects his bones with his life," the two pronominal tokens of his have a clear
and unambiguous referent--"the dog." In the sentence "You protect your family and home with your
life," the pronominal forms you and your have a clear and unambiguous referent--the reader of this text.
In the sentence "I protect my family and home with my life," the pronominal forms I and my have a
clear and unambiguous referent--the writer of this text.
The reference of pronouns in formal written English must be clear and specific.
Clear and specific
reference demands clear and specific thinking. Be sure that you have an unambiguous nominal referent
for every single pronoun that you use.
Reference of pronouns most frequently becomes a problem when the referent for a pronoun becomes
ambiguous, non-specific, or colloquial.
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Ambiguous Reference
Ambiguity in reference occurs when a pronoun may be interpreted as referring to two or more
completely different referents.
In real examples, the referents are usually vague as well, as in the
following example:
(1) Determining whether free indirect thought signals irony or empathy is problematic because it
depends on the reader's beliefs, or ability to relate the particular character or event, and the context in
which it is used.
The second it in (1) probably refers to "free indirect thought." But the first it is ambiguous between
referring to "determining whether free indirect though signals irony or empathy" and referring to an
unstated but implied (and therefore vague) referent--whether free indirect thought signals irony or
signals empathy.
The following passage is similar to (1). Example (2) is taken from a student paper.
(2) The use of repetition is a unique device and it is used in eveyday language. Flannery O'Connor
along with a host of other authors use repetition in thier works. In this paper I will discuss the different
type of repetitions and apply it to everyday situations.
There are at least five problems with the passage in (2):
1.the writer needs a comma before and because it joins two independent clauses,
2.the word everyday is misspelled
3.the verb agreement is incorrect with use since the real subject is "Flannery O'Connor" (the phrase
"along with a host of other authors" is a prepositional phrase and is thus not part of the simple subject)
4.the word their is misspelled,
5.and finally it is ambiguous between referring to type and perhaps an unstated analysis.
Non-Specific Reference
A very common kind of pronoun reference error is that of non-specific reference, by which we mean
the use of pronouns to refer to vaguely defined ideas in the previous text. There are two patterns of
nonspecific reference errors:
1. the use of this or it to refer to some vague notion expressed in the preceding text
2. the use of which in a relative clause in which ’which’ refers to the entire preceding clause
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Formal writing requires that pronouns have clear and specific nominal referents.
The following passage contains an example of the first pattern:
(1) The above passage reveals that O'Connor did not have a firm understanding of the "accuracy" of
direct discourse. This is because, in the passage, the statements in quotation were not said, but thought.
In (1), it is not at all clear what the pronoun this refers to. It certainly does not refer to any nominal
antecedent. Avoid using this to refer vaguely to previous discourse. Use this as a pronoun only when it
has a clear nominal antecedent.
The following passage contains two similar examples:
(2) He appears to be an extremely evil character. This is shown through simile. However, O'Connor
adds to this by forcing the reader to see Thomas' description of the two characters getting out of the
car.
The first this probably refers to the character being an extremely evil character. Thus, the first use of
this is not ambiguous. However, its use here is still incorrect because this does not have a NOMINAL
referent (either a noun or another pronoun). The referent for the second this is not as clear. It might
refer to the same proposition as the first this; it might refer to simile.
Recall that the second pattern for broad reference is the use of which in a relative clause in which
which refers to the entire preceding clause.
The following sentence contains an example of the second pattern:
(3) O'Connor was an avid fanatic of religion, which clearly surfaces in almost all of her work.
In (3), the relative pronoun which refers to the entire preceding clause--"O'Connor was an avid fanatic
of religion." In formal writing, pronouns must have nominal referents--either nouns or other pronouns.
A rewrite for (3) would be (3'):
(3') O'Connor was a religious fanatic; her fanaticism clearly surfaces in almost all of her work.
An example similar to (3) follows:
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(4) If we accept Thomas's thought, which is most likely, we will then continue through the story
believing that the mother is very naive and that Star is in fact a "slut."
The pronoun which in the relative clause in (4) refers to the entire proposition "we accept Thomas's
thought." Again, even though the reference is clear, the sentence is incorrect since all pronouns must
have nominal referents. A rewrite for (4) would be (4'):
(4) It is likely that we will accept Thomas's thought; consequently, we will continue through the story
believing that the mother is very naive and that Star is in fact a "slut."
Colloquial Use of You
A common problem in student writing is the use of you in a colloquial sense. In formal writing, if the
writer uses you, the pronoun must refer to the reader. But even then, it is not a good idea to use the
pronoun you.
Consider the following examples:
(1) As you can see, by facilitating production, comprehension, connection, and interaction, repetition
serves to create personal involvement.
(2) Until, though, you see that the people in need to which she refers are "trash," the reader empathizes
with the character.
(3) In face-threatening situations people should be cordial and friendly; approach the person and be
genuinely sorry for your mistake.
None of the uses of a second-person personal pronoun is justifiable in (1)-(3). Each of these examples
is taken from a formal essay. It is best not to refer to the reader at all in a formal context. Otherwise, as
in (3), the formal essay can begin to sound like a self-help book. Revised versions of (1)-(3) appear
below:
(1') As one can see, by facilitating production, comprehension, connection, and interaction, repetition
serves to create personal involvement.
(2') Until readers see that the characters in need to which she refers are "trash," they empathize with
the characters.
(3') In face-threatening situations people should be cordial and friendly; one should approach the
injured person and be genuinely sorry for one's mistake.
VIII: Common Inflectional Errors and How to Avoid Them
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Inflectional errors are those prescriptive errors that result from incorrect application of inflectional
categories such as tense, aspect, person, number, and case. We have already dealt with inflectional
errors in other chapters, such as pronoun agreement in chapter seven. In this chapter, we concentrate on
three common verb inflection errors: verb agreement errors, verb tense errors, and verb voice errors.
Subject Verb Agreement
Verbs in English must agree with their subjects in person (first, second, or third) and number (singular
or plural). Thus, consider the following tables:
I run.
We run.
You run.
You run.
He/She/It runs.
They run.
Table 1: Subject-verb Agreement with the Regular Verb run
I am.
We are.
You are.
You are.
He/She/It is.
They are.
Table 2: Subject-Verb Agreement with the Irregular Verb to be
As you can see from Tables 1 and 2, the forms of the verbs are very easy to predict for regular verbs
and only slightly harder for irregular verbs.
Subject-verb disagreement is a more common problem that you might think given the ease with which
we can predict the verb forms that go with person and number in the subject. There is usually a
complicating factor in subject-verb disagreement, and that complicating factor normally is difficulty in
determining which noun phrase in a sentence is the subject or difficulty in determining the number of
the noun phrase functioning as the subject.
However, sometimes one comes across examples like the following, in which there is no obvious
complicating factor. The writer just got it wrong. In each example, the verb with incorrect agreement is
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highlighted in red. Its subject is highlighted:
1. For example, it say that, "She and the child's mother were underneath the window the child
was looking down from."
2. In the next example, Rayber's feelings interrupts what would normally be unbiased objective
narration.
Tense Sequence
Unless there is some particular reason for using the past tense to indicate what an author wrote (e.g.,
your essay concerns historical variants of a manuscript), use the present tense consistently to speak of
occurrences in a novel, short story, or poem.
The major problem with tense in apprentice writing is unmotivated shifting of tenses.
Let's take some
real examples and talk about them one at a time.
(1) It's about this time when Flannery O'Connor switches the point of view of the story's characters
from the Grandmother to the Misfit. It appeared as if O'Connor introduced the Grandmother as a
bearable person for the sole purpose of deteriorating her character over the course of the story.
The first two verbs are in the present tense (is and switches). The final two verbs are in the past tense
(appeared and introduced). One could argue that all verbs in this passage should be in the present, as
in (1') below:
(1') It's about this time when Flannery O'Connor switches the point of view of the story's characters
from the Grandmother to the Misfit.
It appears as if O'Connor introduces the Grandmother as a
bearable person for the sole purpose of deteriorating her character over the course of the story.
Consider example (2):
(2) Both of these examples referred to animals that were not present in the story.
The third way
Hemingway uses animals is through animal imagery. There are many good examples of this in his
writing.
In example (2) there is a shift from past tense to present tense.
However, all verbs in the passage
should be in present tense, as in (2'):
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(2') Both of these examples refer to animals that are not present in the story.
The third way
Hemingway uses animals is through animal imagery. There are many good examples of this in his
writing.
A similar, although much more complicated example, occurs in (3):
(3) "If I
Were a Man" contained dialogue, yet it was mainly in the form of gossiping.
This story is
about a woman who constantly wished that she were a man only to find that one day that she is now
indeeda man.
There are seven highlighted verbs in (3). The first--were--is part of a story story title and thus does not
count in our analysis.
present tense.
Of the remaining six verbs, all but were in "that she were a man" should be in
Were in "that she were a man" is actually the form of the subjunctive mood (used for
wishes and statements contrary to fact).
The prescriptively correct version of (3) follows in (3'):
(3') "If I
Were a Man" contains dialogue, yet it is mainly in the form of gossiping. This story is
about a woman who constantly wishes that she were a man only to find that one day that she is now
indeed a man.
Voice
As you recall from chapter two, voice refers to the semantic status of the subject of the sentence.
the active voice, the subject is the actor.
In
In the passive voice, the subject is the undergoer, the
participant that suffers the change occasioned by the event.
Active: Bill ate the cake.
Passive: The cake was eaten by Bill.
In the active sentence "Bill ate the cake," Bill is the subject/actor while the cake is the object/undergoer.
In the passive sentence "The cake was eaten by Bill," the cake is the subject/undergoer while Bill is the
prepositional object/actor.
The passive voice has three formal characteristics:
1. a form of the verb be the following verb in the past participial form
2. an optional by prepositional phrase containing theactor
3. The be and past participial verb occur last in the verbphrase, after aspect markers, as in the
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followingexamples:
TENSE/ASPECT
VOICE
The cake was being eaten.
past progressive passive
The cake is being eaten.
present progressive passive
The cake has been eaten.
Present perfect passive
In the sentences above, the forms that signal tense/aspect are highlighted in red, the forms that signal
passive voice in blue.
Many prescriptivists will tell you to avoid the passive voice altogether.
However, it is a useful
construction when you want to focus on the undergoer of the event rather than the actor of the event.
You do want to avoid the unnecessary shift from the active to the passive in the same sentence, as in
the
following example:
(1) If we look at descriptions of peacocks, a majestic beauty is seen.
In (1), the writer shifts from the use of the active voice in the introductory adverbial clause to the use of
the passive voice in the main clause.
Example (2) demonstrates a much better way of expressing the
same propositional material:
(2) We see a majestic beauty in the narrator's description of the peacocks.
You also want to avoid the overuse of the passive, especially in passages in which the actual actor of
the event is important, as in the following example:
(3) What is also established early on in the story is that the supporting cast in the story is not very
interesting. Bailey and his wife, whose name is never given, are perceived as being very dull people
who lead very dull lives.
When a writer uses a passive and then deletes the prepositional phrase containing the actor, the writer
must be sure that the actor is either known or unimportant. Neither is the case in the passage in (3).
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Who establishes the fact that the supporting cast in the story is not very interesting?
Who perceives
Bailey and his wife as being very dull people who lead very dull lives? The answer is probably "the
writer of the essay."
The specific problem with these passives is that the deleted actor is important
because not everyone is going to agree with the judgments within them.
IX: Basic Modificational Errors and How to Avoid Them
Modificational errors are those errors resulting from the misuse of adjectives, adverbs, or phrases used
as adjectives or adverbs. There are three specific and common problems that we will address in this
chapter:
1. Imprecise Modifiers
2. Dangling Modifiers
3. Misplaced Modifiers
Imprecise Modification
Absolutely, the most common problem with modification in the writing of relatively inexperienced
writers is imprecise modification, by which we mean in most cases the overuse of modificational
elements such as very, really, definite, definitely, especially, a lot, and other degree adverbs and
adjectives. These degree adverbs and adjectives in students' writing are almost always not necessary.
Consider the most elegant sentence in the King James Bible: "Jesus wept." It is beautiful, convincing,
moving, and dramatic. Now, consider the following rewrites of this sentence with some addeddegree
adverbs:
(1) Jesus really wept.
(2) Jesus definitely wept.
(3) Jesus wept a lot.
In (1)-(3), we have murdered the King's English.
The following examples of imprecise modification come from student essays:
(4) In O'Connor's narrative structure, we can see definite similarities to Labov's structure.
(5) The idea is then put forth that O'Connor's narratives are extremely effective in that they are
excellent storytelling devices.
(6) The use of body parts, those which are used to describe the main characters of her stories, are
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especially important in the development of the idea of the grotesque in O'Connor's stories.
(7) Not only do these body parts paint a realistic and horrifying portrait, but they also are used in very
specific ways with specific characters.
Compare the effect of sentences (4)--(7) with and without the intensifying adverbs which are
highlighted in red. By the way, did you notice the subject-verb disagreement error highlighted in blue?
Imprecise modification is a very common problem because the intensifiers that we have listed here are
extremely common in oral discourse. Definitely try to eliminate them from your formal writing.
Rarely, as in the following, the modification is redundant in a comical way:
(8) Mrs. McIntyre became mentally insane.
Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers
Modifiers such as participial phrases, gerundive phrases inside prepositional phrases, and elliptical
clauses must modify noun phrases within the main clause. If they do not, they are classified as dangling
modifiers. That is, they dangle with no noun-phrase attachment to the main clause. The following is an
example of a dangling modifier:
(1) Thinking about this story, it is obvious that it is flawed.
In (1) the introductory participial phrase should modify the subject of the main-clause verb. But it
doesn't. The underlying subject of "thinking about this story" is most likely something like I or readers.
The subject of the main-clause verb is it.
Those same phrasal and clausal modifiers, as well as other modifying phrases and clauses, must occur
as close to the elements that they modify as is grammatically possible. If the modifiers do not occur as
close as is possible to the elements that they modify, those modifiers are classified as being misplaced.
The following is an example of a misplaced modifier:
(2) I gave the book to Jeremy that is yours.
In (2) the relative clause "that is yours" is misplaced in that it does not occur next to the element that it
modifies--"the book."
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Misplaced Modifiers
In formal written English, modifiers should come as close as is stylistically possible to the words that
they modify. Thus, in the following the introductory modifier is misplaced:
(1) By making the statement out of the side of her mouth, the reader understands that she is being
sarcastic.
The modifier highlighted in red in (1) is a gerundive phrase embedded in a prepositional phrase headed
by by. Introductory modifiers of this kind should modify the subject of the main clause, in this case
"the reader." But the modifier modifies "she" instead, which refers to the character that makes the
statement out of the side of her mouth. Thus, the modifier is misplaced. Note that the modifier does not
"dangle." Modifiers dangle when they have no element in the main clause that they modify. They are
misplaced when they do not occur as close as is stylistically possible to the words that they modify. A
grammatically correct version of (1) follows:
(1') The reader understands that in making the statement out of the side of her mouth, the character is
being sarcastic.
Note now that the prepositional phrase containing the gerund occurs before the item that it modifies
and that both occur embedded in a noun clause as the object of understands.
Sometimes one simply needs to move the modifier from the beginning of the sentence to the end, as in
(2):
(2) When compared to indirect discourse, there are many more past tense verbs in free indirect
discourse.
In (2) the introductory elliptical clause should modify the subject of the main clause. But there are two
problems: 1) the real subject occurs after the verb, and 2) that subject is "past tense verbs" while "when
compared to indirect discourse" logically modifies "free indirect discourse." One fix of (2) occurs in
(2'):
(2') There are many more past tense verbs in free indirect discourse when compared to indirect
discourse.
In (2'), the elliptical clause now stands next to the noun phrase that it modifies. However, another, and
perhaps even better, fix to the problem occurs in (2''):
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(2'') There are many more past tense verbs in free indirect discourse than there are in indirect
discourse.
Example (2'') simply uses a comparison adverbial clause.
Another problem that some prescriptivists have given up on is the split infinitive. This "error" has been
with us for several centuries. It wasn't taken wide notice of until sometime in the eighteenth century
Latin educated scholars noticed that no Latin writer splits his/her infinitives. The reason that
miraculously no Latin writer spit his/her infinitives is that Latin infinitives are ONE word in length:
amare
"to love"
debitare "to owe"
They couldn't have split them if they had wanted to. But we who write English can, and there are some
who don't like it when we do. Thus, in self-protection, we had best not split infinitives. The following
are examples of what not to do:
(3)*Her health began to noticeably decline.
(4)*He wanted to quickly leave.
In (3) and (4), the infinitives, in red, are split by the adverbs, in blue. The following are corrections of
(3) and (4):
(3') Her health began to decline noticeably.
(4') He wanted to leave quickly.
One final problem is the use of the adverbs almost, just, nearly, and only. These adverbs may be used to
modify the verb or a grammatical relation to the verb (e.g., subject, object, object of a preposition).
They can be easily misplaced, as in the following:
(5) He almost ate four tortillas.
(6) She just painted the bedroom.
(7) She nearly rode ten miles on her bicycle.
(8) The flood only killed five characters.
In (5)-(8), the adverbs almost, just, nearly, and only modify their respective verbs. It is improbable that
any writer would intend that modification because (5) literally signals that he almost ate four tortillas
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but for some reason decided not to eat any of them, because (6) literally signals (if we assume the
"only" meaning of just) that she only painted but did not also clean the bedroom, because (7) literally
signals that she nearly rode ten miles on her bicycle but from some reason decided not to ride any of
them, and because (8) literally signals that the flood only killed the five characters rather than kill and
perhaps disembowel them.
The following are the corrected versions of (5)-(8), based on what are most likely the intended
meanings:
(5') He ate almost four tortillas.
(6') She painted just the bedroom.
(7') She rode nearly ten miles on her bicycle.
(8') The flood killed only five characters.
X: Common Clausal Errors and How to Avoid Them
Common clausal errors in English include the following:
fragments
comma splices
fused sentences
The first error--the sentence fragment--results from not having an independent clause in a sentence.
The second and third errors--comma splices and fused sentences--result from joining two or more
clauses without the proper conjunctions, either coordinating or subordinating.
Sentence Fragments
Sentence fragments lack an independent clause. Remember from Chapter 5 that an independent clause
contains a subject and a tensed verb and is not subordinated.
Sentence fragments are always either
dependent clauses unattached to an independent clause or phrases that are unattached to clauses.
The sentence fragment is one of the most common and most serious errors that apprentice writers
commit. Used judiciously in informal writing, they can support the tone of carefree informality, as in
the following paragraph, in which the sentence fragments are highlighted:
Heard about the job offer.
Living in Georgia.
That's great!
Man, you're gonna be pullin' some fat bass lip down there.
Assuming that this paragraph is part of an informal e-mail to a friend who bass-fishes and just received
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a job offer from a company in bass-rich Georgia, we can conclude that the highlighted sentence
fragments are appropriate.
The first sentence fragment ("heard about the job offer") is a verb phrase
with a tensed verb. But the sentence contains no subject. The second sentence fragment ("living in
Georgia") is a stranded participial phrase, as we can see in the following rewritten paragraph:
I heard about the job offer.
That's great!
Living in Georgia, you are going to be catching some big bass.
Given the informal context and content, the first version is better than the second.
But when we are
expected to write formal English, we are never in an informal context.
Comma Splices
The words in the following table are NOT coordinating conjunctions.
They are conjunctive adverbs,
also known as transitional adverbs.
moreover
furthermore
rather
thus
hence
however
then
consequently
therefore
besides
accordingly
nevertheless
If you try to use these as coordinating conjunctions between independent clauses, you will create what
is known in the business as a comma splice, one of the most common errors in student writing.
A
comma splice occurs when two or more independent clauses are joined in one sentence without the use
of a coordinating conjunction.
The following are examples:
(1) The dog jumped in the water, however he could not swim.
(2) The peacock has no spiritual value, rather it is just another mouth to feed.
(3) I graduated from college, then I hopped a train for Margaritaville.
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Sentences (1)--(3) may be corrected in one of two ways. The first way is to use a semicolon before the
conjunctive adverb and a comma after it:
(4) The dog jumped in the water; however, he could not swim.
(5) The peacock has no spiritual value; rather, it is just another mouth to feed.
(6) I graduated from college; then, I hopped a train for Margaritaville.
The second way is to put the two clauses in two separate sentences.
Don't forget the comma after the
conjunctive adverb:
(7) The dog jumped in the water. However, he could not swim.
(8) The peacock has no spiritual value. Rather, it is just another mouth to feed.
(9) I graduated from college. Then, I hopped a train for Margaritaville.
Fused Sentences
Another common grammatical error is the fused sentence. The fused sentence is different from the
comma splice only in the absence of the comma. Both have in common the joining of independent
clauses without the use of coordinating conjunctions. In the following, the comma splices occur as the
(a) sentences while the fused sentences occur as the (b) sentences:
COMMA SPLICE
(1a) Joseph Conrad was multilingual, he wrote Lord Jim.
FUSED SENTENCE
(b) Joseph Conrad was multilingual he wrote Lord Jim.
COMMA SPLICE
(2a) His perl code is overly complex, he is a beginner.
FUSED SENTENCE
(b) His perl code is overly complex he is a beginner.
XI: Common Punctuation and Mechanics Errors and How to Avoid
Them
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In this chapter we will treat the more common punctuation and mechanics problems. We will not
discuss all punctuation and mechanics marks but instead only those that are likely to give the student
problems. Thus, we do not treat the period, the parenthesis, or the exclamation mark.
The following are the punctuation marks that we will consider in this chapter:
comma
quotation marks
colon
semicolon
ellipses
brackets
Commas
The comma is probably the most misused punctuation mark simply because it has so many different
and sometimes confusing uses. We will vary the style of this book a bit in this chapter by using UPPER
CASE to tell you what to do and what not to do with some punctuation and mechanics marks.
Whatever you do, don't assume that commas always go where you might pause in speech. It is a
commonly repeated rule, for the simple reason that it is easy to remember. That easy-to-remember rule
of thumb works sometimes, but not always. Forget that rule and learn the following rules, which are
based on grammatical structure. Grammatically-based rules work almost without exception.
Recall that the asterisk before example in this book means "ungrammatical."
Don't separate the subject from the verb with a comma:
SUBJECT
VERB
(1)*But the importance, lies not only in the presupposed knowledge but also in the view it gives us of
the character's views.
SUBJECT
(2)*Note that the line between this example and the
VERB
first, can become hazy at times.
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Do use a comma to separate independent clauses when joined by coordinating
conjunctions:
(3) She ignores it, and then he tries to disparage the beauty of the beast.
(4) Mrs. McIntyre became insane, and only the grand peacock was left after Mr. Guizac was murdered.
Don't use a comma to separate only two items (other than independent clauses) that are
joined by a coordinating conjunction:
VERB PHRASE
VERB PHRASE
(5)*She ignores it,
and tries to disparage the beauty of the beast.
NOUN PHRASE
NOUN PHRASE
(6)*He brought chips,
and salsa.
NOUN PHRASE
(7)*Her attitude is that the world,
NOUN PHRASE
and her own family are against her.
Do use a comma to separate words, phrases, and clauses in a series. A series is composed
of three or more items:
NOUN PHRASE
(8) Her attitude is that her coworkers,
NOUN PHRASE
her friends,
VERB PHRASE
(9) He wakes up,
NOUN PHRASE
and her own family are against her.
VERB PHRASEVERVERB E
eats breakfast,
VERB PHRASE
goes to work,
VERB PHRASE
and thus returns some order to his life.
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Don't use commas to set off restrictive relative clauses:
(10)*Without the parenthetical sentence, Parker sounds like a smart guy, who looks good with his shirt
off.
Sentence (10) implies that all smart guys look good with their shirts off. It is the comma preceding the
relative clause that signals this meaning. Recall that nonrestrictive relative clauses do not restrict the
reference of the modified noun phrase. Instead, they simply add information about that noun phrase.
Thus, (10) implies that a smart guy, by nature, will look good with his shirt off.
Do use commas to set off nonrestrictive relative clauses:
(11) My mother, who is a nurse, convinced me to stop smoking.
Do use a comma to set off parenthetical elements:
(12) He could, however, be implying that the hat is a symbol.
Do use commas to set off expressions that introduce direct quotations:
(13) He wrote, "Flannery O'Connor said that she was an innocent speller."
Do use commas to set off introductory phrases and introductory adverbial clauses:
(14) After he left, the party broke up.
(15) Leaving the party, he complained that the noise was too loud.
Quotation Marks
Quotation marks are used to enclose exactly quoted material either from speech or from writing.
Do not use nominal subordinators to introduce complete direct quotations:
Thus, the example in (1) is incorrect:
(1)*Blakemore asserts that "In this paper I will assume that readers are familiar with the broad
outlines of Martin's work."
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A corrected version follows:
(2) Blakemore asserts, "In this paper I will assume that readers are familiar with the broad outlines of
Martin's work."
If the quotation is less than complete at the beginning of the quotation, then use a subordinator, as in
(3):
(3) Blakemore asserts that she "will assume that readers are familiar with the broad outlines of
Martin's work."
Do not forget to close the quotation:
(4)*They remark that "reducing conversation to underlying actions, intentions, or moves is like
studying what a musician does but ignoring the music played. They point out that the coherence of a
participant's move to a preceding one may be deficient in the "particularities of its wording."
A correction follows:
(5) They remark that "reducing conversation to underlying actions, intentions, or moves is like studying
what a musician does but ignoring the music played." They point out that the coherence of a
participant's move to a preceding one may be deficient in the "particularities of its wording."
Do not use quotation marks around titles of books. Do use them for short stories, short
poems, and articles.
The following is incorrect:
(6)* In the book "Language, Gender, and Sex in Comparative Perspective," Marjorie Goodwin and
Charles Goodwin discuss their theories of the interaction of biology and language.
A correction follows (that is, use italics for longer works):
(7) In the book Language, Gender, and Sex in Comparative Perspective, Marjorie Goodwin and
Charles Goodwin discuss their theories of the interaction of biology and language.
The following is correct:
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(8) In the article "Causal Semantics and the Ordering of Clauses," Hardy and Leutchman argue that
topic is a difficult term to define.
Finally, do use single quotation marks to indicate quotations within
Quotations.
The following is incorrect:
(9)*Richard Giannone notes, "The peacock" begins "The Displaced
Person." The word "peacock" is
also in the last sentence. The "cycle" is complete, and all things have returned to the "Creator."
The problem with (9) is that the writer has not enclosed the entire quotation in double quotation marks.
The following is a correction:
(10) Richard Giannone notes, "'The peacock' begins 'The Displaced Person.' The word peacock is also
in the last sentence. The 'cycle' is complete, and all things have returned to the 'Creator.'"
Colons
The colon serves to introduce one of the following three items:
a list
an explanation or exemplification
a subtitle
When the colon is used, the introductory clause must be complete. The following is incorrect:
(1)*Later on, the bull looks even more majestic when: "The bull lowered his head and shook it and the
wreath slipped down to the base of his horns where it looked like a menacing prickly crown."
Just before the colon in (1), the writer begins a subordinate adverbial clause but does not complete it. It
appears as if the writer meant the quotation that follows the colon to complete the adverbial clause.
However, this use of the colon in (1) is ungrammatical. The following is a correct version of (1):
(1') Later on, the bull looks even more majestic: "The bull lowered his head and shook it and the wreath
slipped down to the base of his horns where it looked like a menacing prickly crown."
As we said above, the colon may be used to introduce a list, as in (2):
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(2) I regularly read four magazines: Academe, Lingua Franca, Smithsonian, and Texas Monthly.
One may also use a colon to introduce an explanation or exemplification (1') above and (3) below:
(3) There is only one indispensable factor in success: hard work.
Finally, one should use a colon between a title and a subtitle, as in (4):
(4) The title of the book is From The New Criticism to Deconstruction: The Reception of Structuralism
and Post-Structuralism.
Semicolons
The semicolon is a useful punctuation mark, especially with complicated sentences. One thing to
remember with the semicolon is that it works something like a coordinating conjunction. Thus, the
items joined with a semicolon must be of equal syntactic rank.
Do not use the semicolon to join items of different syntactic rank:
(1)*It is this basic involvement that I wish to investigate; how involvement
strategies, specifically the
use of detail, differ between spoken and written discourse.
Do use the semicolon to separate independent clauses not joined with coordinating
conjunctions:
(2) I am interested in religious fiction of the twentieth century; therefore, I read a lot of Flannery
O'Connor and Walker Percy.
Do use the semicolon to separate coordinate elements that themselves have punctuation:
(3) Books that I have particularly enjoyed include Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood, The Violent Bear
It Away, and Everything That Rises Must Converge; Clyde Edgerton's The Floatplane Notebooks,
Killer Diller, and Walking Across Egypt; and Mark Leyner's My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist, and Et
Tu, Babe.
In (3) a series of three noun phrases with internal noun phrases is coordinated and punctuated with
semicolons.
(4) The menu having been meticulously planned, I was disappointed, when the night of the dinner party
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finally arrived, the 3rd of August, to learn that Bill, who had been taking cooking lessons with me,
couldn't be there; his wife did come, however, and took some leftovers home to him.
In (4), two independent clauses, each with its own punctuation, are joined with a semicolon.
Ellipses
Use three periods with one space before and after each of them to indicate the ellipsis of a word or
words within a quotation. Thus, the following are all acceptable ways to quote the sentence "I both love
and hate traditional grammar and its devotees."
(1) He said, "I both love and hate traditional grammar and its devotees."
(2) He said, "I . . . hate traditional grammar and its devotees."
(3) He said, "I . . . love . . . traditional grammar and its devotees."
(4) He said, "I both love and hate traditional grammar . . . .".
(5) He said that he has ambivalent emotions about "traditional grammar and its devotees."
Nothing is elided in (1). The words "both love and" are elided in (2), and the words "both" and "and
hate" are elided in (3). Even though (2) and (3) are grammatical, they severely misrepresent the
meaning of the author or speaker. In (4), the words "and its devotees" are elided. Note the necessary
final period in (4). Finally, in (5), note the absence of ellipses when it is obvious that the quoted
material is a fragment of a sentence.
Square Brackets
Use square brackets to indicate changes or insertions in quoted material. Thus, assume that you have
the following quotation that you want to use:
(1) "But the issues are larger than literary criticism" (Bishop 1986: 131)
The writer might assume that the reader would not recognize the identity of "the issues" unless those
issues had not been talked of in the recent text. Assuming that those issues have not been talked of, we
can use the following sentence to illustrate a way of using square brackets to help identify the issues:
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(2) Bishop (1986: 131) argues that "the issues [of social justice and
personal responsibility] are
larger than literary criticism."
Writers may also omit pronouns and replace them with the name of the referent in square brackets. The
following is an imaginary direct quotation:
(3) "O'Connor enjoyed her frequent correspondence with him although they never agreed on the
question of Satan's existence" (Bishop 1976: 123).
If readers do not know the identity of "him," the writer will want to provide that identity, as in the
following:
(4) Bishop (1976: 123) argues, "O'Connor enjoyed her frequent correspondence with [John Hawkes]
although they never agreed on the question of Satan's existence."
Mechanics is a loose collection of problems ranging from font choice (italicization) to the use of
numbers. The following are the mechanics that we will consider in theremainder of this chapter:
apostrophe
capitalization
hyphen
italics
numbers
Apostrophe
The main use of the apostrophe in English is used to signal--sometimes along with s--the possessor.
The following are its particular uses:
A. The apostrophe plus s is used to indicate the possessor of singular nouns:
(1) dog's coat
(2) bass's weight
If the singular noun ends in an s, as in (2), rely on your sense of good sound to determine whether to
use an s in addition to the apostrophe.
B. The apostrophe plus s is used to indicate the plural of letters, numbers, and words used as words:
(1) p's and q's
(2) 5's and 6's
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(3) Omit half of the of course's.
C. The apostrophe alone is used to indicate the possessor if the noun phrase is plural and ends
in an s:
(1) the churches' Celtic crosses
(2) the authors' works
D. The apostrophe alone is used to indicate letters omitted in contractions:
(1) can't
(2) won't
Whatever you do, do not confuse its and it's! Its is the possessor. It's is a contraction of it and is.
Capitalization
The following rules will cover most capitalization problems that students face.
Do capitalize the first word of a complete direct quotation, as in (1):
(1) He said, "The man in the truck is my father."
Do capitalize proper nouns (those nouns that refer to a named particular), as in (2):
(2) I asked Professor Heather Hardy to chair my committee.
Do not capitalize a noun if it refers to a class, rather than to an individual:
(3) A professor has spent on average eight years in a graduate degree program.
Do capitalize the first word and all other words, except articles, conjunctions, and
prepositions in titles:
(4) Interactive Grammar is your textbook.
(5) Interactive Grammar and Self Esteem in the New Millennium is your textbook.
Do capitalize the first word of a subtitle, no matter what its grammatical category:
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(6) The title of his book is The Newest Criticism: A Primer for Understanding Emily Dickinson and
Other Incomprehensible Poets.
Hyphen
The hyphen is used to join two morphemes (meaningful bits of words) that are closely related but not
so closely that they yet are spelled as one word. Thus, we take true-false tests and ask yes-no questions.
However, there is a great deal of variability in the use of hyphens. Thus, both pay as you go and
pay-as-you-go can be used as nouns, as in "Our system is pay as you go" and "Our system is
pay-as-you-go." However, if the word is to function as an adjective, it must be hyphenated, as in "It is a
pay-as-you-go system." The best way to determine whether or not to use the hyphen with a particular
combination of morphemes is to use a dictionary. However, there are a few rules that should be
consistently followed.
Adjectival fractions are written with a hyphen, as in the following:
(1) The project is one-half pork barrel; the other half is too embarrassing to label.
In (1), one-half functions as an adjective; thus, one must hyphenate it. Nominal fractions are written
without a hyphen, as in the following:
(2) Three quarters of the dogs understand the stay command.
In (2), three quarters functions nominally; thus, one should not hyphenate it.
Compound modifiers for nouns are written with a hyphen, as in the following:
(3) He has an in-your-face attitude.
(4) The dog had a "just-try-to-make-me-heel" look on his face.
In (4), just-try-to-make-me-heel appears in quotation marks to give the effect of a quotation from the
dog.
Numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine are written with a hyphen, as in the following.
(5) There are twenty-one dogs in my backyard.
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Italics
Italicize, or underline, the titles of books, magazines, newspapers, and other independently published
material, like long poems. The title of any publication that is part of another longer work, as a poem is
that appears in a book with other poems or as an article is that appears in a journal with other articles,
should be surrounded by quotation marks.
The following sentences are correct:
(1) Mark Leyner's My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist is one of the funniest books that I have read in the
last ten years.
(2) The magazine Academe gives readers a fairly accurate portrait of the state of crisis in
contemporary higher education.
In (1) the comma occurs as part of Leyner's title.
Italicize, or underline, numbers, words, or letters referred to as numbers, words, or letters. Thus, the
following sentences are correct:
(3) The word know is used thirty times in this story.
(4) The plural s has three different "pronunciations" in English.
Also italicize, or underline, foreign words and phrases in English texts:
(5) She felt many different emotions (e.g., happiness,
anger, resignation).
In (5), e.g. is an abbreviation of exempli gratia, meaning literally "for the sake of example."
(6) He felt exasperation (i.e., frustration) with the employees' behavior.
In (6), i.e. is an acronym for id est, meaning literally "that is."
(7) She graduated summa cum laude.
In (7), summa cum laude means "with greatest honor."
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Numbers
Numbers expressed in one or two words are written as words; numbers expressed in three or more
words appear in numeral form.
(1) I've had forty-one years of happiness.
(2) We have twenty-three cats and five hundred children.
(3) We will have 631 years of peace.
(4) The hospital will hold 523 patients.
The only exception to the rule above is numbers that start sentences. They must always be written as
words, as in the following:
(5) Six hundred thirty-one years of peace will follow.
(6) Five hundred twenty-three patients are in this wing of the hospital.
Teaching Notes: Common mistakes
35
M. Kwong
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much. The most important thing is that we should rule the money but not let money rule us.
Teaching Notes: Common mistakes
36