Without being too heavy on the grammar (which is nearly impossible when talking about writing or speaking, which is why it is important that grammar is paired with writing whenever possible). I want to discuss subjective and objective pronouns–and when to use each one.
First, we teach our students in our books that a pro-noun is “for a noun”–that is, it often takes the place of a noun. This is the most elementary description of a pronoun and one that is often accurate. (Of course, there are various classes and types of pronouns that can be extremely confusing, but for the instruction in subjective and objective ones, we will stick with the idea that pronouns are FOR nouns.)
Most everybody knows that we say I at the beginning of a sentence: I am going to the store.
And we say me at the end of a sentence: Give it to me.
But do we really know why?
The reason is because at the beginning of a sentence, generally speaking (and not utilizing sentence openers before the subject), the first part of a sentence contains the subject.
And generally speaking, a word at the end of a sentence is not a subject, but is an object.
And we all know that it is wrong to say Me am going to the store and Give it to I.
We usually understand that pronouns that are used as subjects (that is, subjective ones) include, but are not limited to, I, you, he, she, they, we. (Remember, these are used to tell who are what is doing the action–the sentence’s subject.)
We also usually understand that pronouns that are used as objects (that is, objective ones) include, but are not limited to, me, you, him, her, them, us.
So…why worry about subjective and objective pronouns at all? Join us tomorrow to find out!
If you are an avid reader, and especially if you are an avid reader of British literature, you may find yourself being led astray in the whole “commas and periods inside or outside of ending quotation mark” quandary.Why? Because British usage is different than American usage when it comes to this little rule.
The first rule that we teach in our writing books about quotation marks is this: Commas and periods ALWAYS go inside the final quotation mark:
She said, “Let’s go now.”
“Let’s go now,” she said.
He was reading the article, “Baby Geniuses.”
He was reading the article, “Baby Geniuses,” and he lost track of time.
Regardless of the reason for the quotationmark use (i.e. for a quote in 1 and 2 above or to show a minor work {article title} in 3 and 4), the ending period and comma always go inside the final quotation mark in US usage.
The reason that you might see it differently could be that you are reading a British author. (British usage bases the placement of the comma and period inside or outside of the quotation mark on whether the period/comma is part of the quoted material, like US grammar does for question marks and exclamation marks.) Or, it could be an error—I see this error more often than any other one error.
So remember this for you American writers/students: Periods and commas ALWAYS go inside the final quotation mark—never on the outside, regardless of the use in the sentence.
Today is my thirtieth wedding anniversary! Lots of well-wishes have been coming our way on FaceBook and in person–and I am in quite the celebratory mood! 🙂
Of course, any written words spark interesting discussions about grammar and usage (in my head at least!). And with my anniversary today and my birthday tomorrow, these greetings warrant a little “language lady” attention!
Obviously, happy, birthday, and anniversary are not proper nouns in themselves. However, when you write these as greetings, they should be capitalized.
However, you would not capitalize these same words within a sentence when describing a birthday or anniversary: I had a happy anniversary. I enjoyed by day and had a happy birthday.
So…Happy Anniversary and Happy Birthday to me! 🙂 and Happy Flag Day (tomorrow!) to you!
Another pet peeve of mine is popping up everywhere, so I thought I would share with our readers what it is and why it sounds so incorrect to me.
This pet peeve is people using the preposition with as an adverb (or, in the case of my daughter–with an understood object of the preposition–her way of using grammar terms to justify its use!).
Here is the run down on what I see as this pet peeve’s problem:
1. First of all, yes, words have multiple uses and parts of speech everywhere all the time. This is one reason why we advocate only using grammar programs for children that have the words used–not lists of words in which the student is to identify what part of speech it is. A part of speech is determined by the word’s use, not the word itself: a. jump–a student might determine that jump is a verb…which it can be. But it can also be a noun (she made a huge jump) and an adjective (it was a jump start program). b. to–a student might determine that to is a preposition…which it can be. But it can also be part of a verbal phrase known as an infinitive (to run).
2. With is not one of those “multiple use” kinds of words. With is almost always (and probably always) a preposition. a. With is a preposition because a preposition is a word that shows possession, has an object with it (the object of the preposition), and is the beginning of a prepositional phrase: with her, with the show, with the leader. b. With is seldom, if ever, used alone as an adverb (like many other prepositions can be): i. She is going along. (Along is an adverb here.) ii. She ran along the trail. (Along is a preposition here.)
iii. I told him to jump down. (Down is an adverb here.) iv. He ran down the street. (Down is a preposition here.)
3. With is not an adverb by itself. It is not the kind of word that can stand alone as another part of speech. It is a preposition that needs an object to show a relationship (with whom? with what?).
So…tell who you are going with–and use with as a preposition, the way it was intended to be used! Smile…
The other day as I was reading aloud to my sons out of a book about Clara Barton, I came across a sentence that i read, then re-read, then re-read again. It was about Clara Barton, the founder of the US Red Cross during the Civil War, becoming weary on the battle front. I was sure that the author had misused the word weary–and really needed wary. It was then and there that I decided that the concept of weary and wary warranted its own “Tricky Trick to Help It Stick”!
Weary is a word that means tired or overwhelmed from something, such as too much work, no rest, difficult circumstances, etc. Wary is a word that means to be paranoid or suspicious.
Both words are adjectives, meaning they describe nouns (or sometimes pronouns, in the case of predicate adjectives: I am weary.). So, what can we use for a Tricky Trick?
Well, I will propose one that has worked for me since my Clara Barton encounter–see if it helps you as well:
1. The day was dreary, so she grew weary–just remember that the spellings are the same–dreary and weary (dreary weather makes you tired or weary!).
2. The salesman was scary, so the buyers were wary–just remember that the spellings are the same–scary and wary (a scary saleperson makes you wary or suspicious/paranoid).
Now, I hope you don’t get weary in your grammar studies–or wary when you write a sentence using weary/wary!
Sit and rise have I’s–and lie does too. “Coz these are things that I, all by myself, can do. Set, raise, and lay are words that you choose When each one has an object after it to use.
Here we are at the end of our Wacky Word pair—lie and lay.
Remember these lie and lay tips:
Lie has an I—and I alone can do it (it is not done TO something else).
I lie in bed at wide awake.
Yesterday I lay awake half the night.
Before that I had lain down when the cat jumped on me.
Lie means to stretch out in a flat position—anybody or anything can lie, as long as it does it by itself (i.e. it is NOT laid)
She lies down with a headache every day.
The sun is lying low.
She has lain down for a nap.
Lay must have an object following it—something that it is being laid down.
Lay your book on the table.
He laid his money down.
She has laid the towels in the sun.
Okay…the tenses for the three:
1. Lie
a. Base form: lie—Tomorrow I will lie down early. (Remember—no object; down is an adverb; early is an adverb here, not an object.
b. Past simple: lay—Yesterday I lay in the sun. (Tricky part: past tense of lie is lay; lay is also the present tense of lay—to lay something down!)
b. Past participle: lain—They have lain low ever since then.
d. Third person singular: lies—The dog just lies under the tree all day long.
e. Present participle/gerund: lying—The sun was lying on the horizon for so long today.
2. Lay
Base form: lay—I lay the kids’ clothes out every day. (Tricky: lay is the base form of lay (to put something down; it is also the past tense of lie—to stretch out by yourself or itself.)
Past simple: laid—Yesterday I laid the pink pants out for Jon.
Past participle: laid—Before the dog came in, I had already laid his bones out.
Third person singular: lays—He lays the book down every night at ten.
Present participle/gerund: laying—I am laying the swim suits out to dry.
Tricky Tricks to Help It Stick
Again, do sit/set first (all same base word for tenses of set!) or rise/raise (since many people get this pair correct even if they do not know sit/set and lie/lay very well).
Do rise/raise after sit/set or sit/set after rise/raise (saving lie/lay for last).
Memorize acronym/rhyme to cement the fact that all three with I’s are the ones that are done by someone or something (not to something).
When you get to lie and lay, to lie first all by itself until it is memorized. Then do lay. (I am starting to wait a week between the two with lots of practice on lie during that week before moving on to lay.)
I’m officially done with sit/set; rise/raise; and lie/lay! Time to move on. I feel that I have risen to the occasion and am glad that I did not sit idly by and lay these tricky ones aside. Glad I did not let people lie in agony over these Wacky Words. I would like for all of us to set our grammar burdens aside and raise a toast in honor of sit/set; rise/raise; and lie/lay! J (Last time for a while, honest!)
