Which grammar rule do you still have to think about?

[JennaGlatzer]

When you write, are there any grammar rules you know you have to pay attention to, or you'll mess 'em up?

For me, it's "only." I have to consciously think through the placement of the word "only" in sentences. For example, it's "I ate only two cookies," not "I only ate two cookies." (Because the second sentence means I didn't do anything else to the cookies besides eat them. But that's not true. I also picked them up and dunked them in milk and stuff. ;) ) The word "only" should almost always be placed next to the word or words it refers to.

So, what are yours?

[Dawno]

The comma splice. I'm pretty sure I still break that one all the time. I'm a big fan of long sentences using "and" connections.

[Medievalist]

The comma splice. I'm pretty sure I still break that one all the time. I'm a big fan of long sentences using "and" connections.

If you're using and, you're probably not indulging in the dreaded comma splice.

[JennaGlatzer]

Are you thinking of run-on sentences?

[Sean D. Schaffer]

Are you thinking of run-on sentences?


My problem isn't run-on sentences, but close, as I have a tendency with the use of commas, semi-colons, and em-dashes as well as parentheses, to just keep writing the same sentence on and on and on. When I'm done writing a 1st Draft, I have to go back and edit my loooooooooong sentences into numerous shorter ones.

Oh, well. I constantly remind myself I've given myself permission to write crap, like Uncle Jim always tells us. If I don't, I freak out big-time.

:D

[Marlys]

I always have to think about semicolons; for some reason, I can't quite internalize their usage.


For me, it's "only." I have to consciously think through the placement of the word "only" in sentences. For example, it's "I ate only two cookies," not "I only ate two cookies." (Because the second sentence means I didn't do anything else to the cookies besides eat them. But that's not true. I also picked them up and dunked them in milk and stuff. ;) )
Depends on the context--by assuming in your second example that "only" modifies just the verb "ate," you overlook the possibility that it's modifying the phrase "ate two cookies."

I would use "I ate only two cookies" if I were specifying exactly what I did or didn't eat:

Despite the temptations of the dessert table, I ate only two cookies.

But if a character is justifying or defending the action, I would use "I only ate two cookies."

Sheesh. It's not like I killed somebody--I only ate two cookies.

[Maryn]

I'm perfectly aware that I screw up lay/lie often, so I have a Word document spelling it out in terms I can understand (if not remember). I last opened it on Thursday. Woo-hoo, I went 3 days without needing it! Am I cured? Oh, wait. No. I didn't write over the weekend.

Maryn, old dog, new tricks victim

[Chumplet]

I am guilty of overusing the word 'just'. I have to go back and take them all out.

[BlueTexas]

Lay/lie. I hate those words and I'll spend ten minutes rephrasing rather than looking it up. Hate it!

And parallel structure. I can do it if I don't think about it, but as soon as I try, I mess it up.

[MidnightMuse]

Dialog tags. I was raised to "be more creative and avoid them" - which is stupid - so now I have to train myself to at least occasionally use: He said, She said now and again.

[MelodyO]

I'm also in the lay/lie camp. It's just too messy when you're writing in the past tense. I go to some lengths to avoid it altogether.

Maryn, I'd love to take a look at that Word Document laying it all out! :)

[WackAMole]

Lay/Lie

I also struggle with the semicolon and its usage

My biggest problem is the overuse of certain phrases like "in that moment/at the moment"

The other day I started thinking about how I seem to be in a slump in my writing. I get discouraged thinking about all the "work" involved in creating the perfect literary masterpiece. I decided yesterday "to hell with it all".

I am just going to write because I love to and work out the crimps later.

I would love to see that document too Maryn.

I have some book I need to dig out that is great for explaining basic grammar. It was from my Eng 101 class a few years back. I keep it and use it now and then for reference but I cant bloody remember what the name of it is.

After years of writing just because I loved it and never paying attention to the mistakes in it, I have developed AWFUL habits and if I try to fix them all as I write, I would probably never write again. :Shrug:

I dont really care if I ever sell a thing, but I do hope someday someone reads something I wrote and likes it.

[Britchik]

I am guilty of overusing the word 'just'. I have to go back and take them all out.
I'm in the same boat for this one. In my WIP I have used the word 'just' 31 times in 4 chapters. (Gotta love the word usage count feature!) It's going to be interesting to see how long it will take me to get rid of them all.

[Silver King]

I have to be ever watchful of using "who" when referring to people and "that" with everything else.

It happens often: "The man that did this."

"The woman that said she loves me."

"The people that vote Republican..."

All these should have "who" in place of "that," but I almost always get it wrong while writing and correct it when reading.

Judging from some of the posts I read, I'm not the only one who has that problem. :)

[maestrowork]

Prepositional phrases. I hate them. Is it "I've heard about her stories" or "I've heard her stories" or "I've heard of her stories"?

Don't even mention the differences between "come over" and "come of" and "come to" and "come with" and "come in" and "come out" and ....

<shake head violently>

[rugcat]

The relative pronouns that and which. (Also, the proper placement of punctuation in a sentence when using parentheses.)

[joyce]

I don't know what it is, but I have a thing for the word had. I wish I had (ha ha) a dollar for everyone I had to remove. Oh my gosh.......I'm addicted I just had to use the word in a sentence. I need rehab., or should I say rehad.

[Jersey Chick]

Who and whom. I hate who and whom. I hate it and I never get it right.

Could of vs could've and animals of this ilk.

Trying to rephrase sentences ending on prepositions, and no matter what I write, it sounds too stiff.

[Mel]

Lay/lie
that

I don't sprinkle -that- I dump it all over the place. Sometimes I notice while writing I have -thing- a lot. Guess I need to figure out what all the things are.

I also reword to avoid lie/lay.

[Maryn]

LAY is an action, a thing you do to something else. It means ‘put’ or ‘place.’ That makes it a transitive verb--a verb that has to have a direct object. You lay your coat on the bed, lay yourself down to sleep, or lay the blame somewhere--the coat, self, and blame are the direct objects. You can’t lay on the couch. LAY is also slang for having sex--and still requires a direct object.

Simple present tense: lay(s). The boy lays his book on the bed. We lay our guests' coats on the bed. They lay asphalt in twelve-foot sections.
Present participle: laying. Shelly is laying out napkins. I’m laying bricks this summer. You’re laying bratwurst on sourdough?
Simple past tense: laid. The sheriff laid the print-out on the dashboard. I laid down the flyswatter. Jared laid plenty of girls--in his imagination.
Past participle: laid. Marie had laid her fork on the plate. Workers had laid the bodies in rows. I’d laid out fresh towels in anticipation of their visit.

LIE is a situation, a way a thing can exist. It means ‘rest on a surface’ or ‘be situated.’ That makes it an intransitive verb--a verb that can’t have a direct object. You lie on the couch, or the goal lies within reach. The past tense of lie is lay, which is undoubtedly where the confusion comes from.

Simple present: lie(s). Antoine lies in wait. I lie on the sofa. You lie there like a dead fish.
Present participle: lying. The baby is lying in her crib. We’re lying on the sand. I’m lying here exhausted.
Simple past: lay. The seeds lay dormant all winter. We lay in bed that night. No, you lay in the hammock, remember?
Past participle: lain. The key had lain there unseen. He’d lain shivering through the night. Cows have always lain in meadows.

LIE is to state an untruth, to deceive. It is an intransitive verb--no direct object--but may have an indirect object, the person who is being lied to, or the person or thing being lied for.

Simple present: lie(s). Sam lies to his kids about the Tooth Fairy. I lie to mine, too. You lie to yours?
Present participle: lying. You’re lying about where you were. I’m lying, too, pretending to believe you. He’s lying for the sake of the kids.
Simple past: lied. He lied to her every day. I lied about my age. Sgt. Gundersen lied her way into the compound.
Part participle: lied. She had lied whenever anybody asked if her hair color was real. I’d lied on my application. You'd lied for the sake of honor.

Mnemonics:
Lay, lay, put away
Lie, lie, face the sky

Dead things lay, live things lie.

Maryn, whose request line is open, so keep those calls coming!

[BlueTexas]

Mnemonics:
Lay, lay, put away
Lie, lie, face the sky

Dead things lay, live things lie.

Maryn, whose request line is open, so keep those calls coming!

You remember The Exorcist? Yeah, my head is spinning like that. As soon as I look up the meaning of transitive verb, I'll get back to ya.

[Maryn]

Copy to your computer and absorb more slowly, or your head might burst!

Transitive verb: a verb that has to have a direct object. It's incomplete without one. Here, I'll underline the direct object and color the transitive verb, because that's what you do at 4:00 a.m.
Sara slapped her little brother. The DJ played our request. Mom takes the car most mornings. The governor ignored the question. My professor laid the chalk on his desk.
Those sentences wouldn't make sense if you omitted the underlined direct objects, because they use transitive verbs.

Intransitive verb: a verb that either can't have a direct object, or doesn't in this use.
Godfrey snores on his back. We live with our grandmother. Ryan paints poorly. The kids played inside. The body lay in the woods.

Some verbs can be transitive (with a direct object) or intransitive, depending on their use.
The kids played inside. The kids played Scrabble.
Ryan paints poorly. Ryan paints seascapes.
We lay awake last night. We lay our heads on our desks.

Clearer?

Maryn, who at least had fun with colors and underlining

[kristie911]

I'm a "that" user. I have to cut it ruthlessly from my work.

Lie/lay is a tough one for me too.

[dub]

Subjunctive kills me; I wish I was/were an Oscar Meyer Wiener.

[FennelGiraffe]

Some verbs can be transitive (with a direct object) or intransitive, depending on their use.
The kids played inside. The kids played Scrabble.
Ryan paints poorly. Ryan paints seascapes.
We lay awake last night. We lay our heads on our desks.

For that last example you're using two entirely different verbs. They just happen to be spelled the same. (And bring us full circle back to lie/lay.)

We lay awake last night. Past tense of to lie.
We lie on the bed now.
We lay on the bed yesterday.
We have lain on the bed many times.

We lay our heads on our desks. Present tense of to lay.
We lay the book on the table now.
We laid the book on the table yesterday.
We have laid the book on the table many times.

To lie never takes a direct object (intransitive).
To lay always takes a direct object (transitive).

[MidnightMuse]

For that last example you're using two entirely different verbs. They just happen to be spelled the same. (And bring us full circle back to lie/lay.)

We lay awake last night. Past tense of to lie.
We lie on the bed now.
We lay on the bed yesterday.
We have lain on the bed many times.

We lay our heads on our desks. Present tense of to lay.
We lay the book on the table now.
We laid the book on the table yesterday.
We have laid the book on the table many times.

To lie never takes a direct object (intransitive).
To lay always takes a direct object (transitive).

Now I'm dizzy - I think I'll place myself in a horizontal position!

[BlueTexas]

Copy to your computer and absorb more slowly, or your head might burst!

Transitive verb: a verb that has to have a direct object. It's incomplete without one. Here, I'll underline the direct object and color the transitive verb, because that's what you do at 4:00 a.m.
Sara slapped her little brother. The DJ played our request. Mom takes the car most mornings. The governor ignored the question. My professor laid the chalk on his desk.
Those sentences wouldn't make sense if you omitted the underlined direct objects, because they use transitive verbs.

Intransitive verb: a verb that either can't have a direct object, or doesn't in this use.
Godfrey snores on his back. We live with our grandmother. Ryan paints poorly. The kids played inside. The body lay in the woods.

Some verbs can be transitive (with a direct object) or intransitive, depending on their use.
The kids played inside. The kids played Scrabble.
Ryan paints poorly. Ryan paints seascapes.
We lay awake last night. We lay our heads on our desks.

Clearer?

Maryn, who at least had fun with colors and underlining

Actually, that's really clear. Thanks for all the effort there. Some days it's shocking how much grammar I don't know. Surely I must have learned that somewhere along the line. Or maybe they taught that the year I switched schools mid-year and got a whole freaking year of Greek mythology in English class.

[Hillary]

Though my grammar is far from perfect, and this is slightly off-topic, I thought I'd share how I improved my grammar.

Was it sitting with my mother as she home-schooled me in grade school? No.
Was it being tutored for SATs? No.
Was in private high school AP English classes? No.
Was in the grammar tests I took at my university? DEFINITELY no.

(Can anyone sense my contempt for the amount of time and money that went into my education? No? Didn't think so! I hide it so well. *flips hair back*)

Anyway, it was the nine months I spent my Tuesday and Thursday nights volunteering as a teacher's aid in an ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) classroom. Attempting to explain why we do the things we do in English meant I had to understand why myself. It's just rules and memorization for us native speakers, but I discovered a rhythm and a method to the madness when I had to break it down and teach it to people who had never spoken my language before.

[Bartholomew]

I agree with Hillary.

If you really want to improve your English usage, explain sentence structure to a foreigner. You'll learn 10x faster than normal.

[SpiderGal]

Count me in the same camp.



Prepositional phrases. I hate them. Is it "I've heard about her stories" or "I've heard her stories" or "I've heard of her stories"?

Don't even mention the differences between "come over" and "come of" and "come to" and "come with" and "come in" and "come out" and ....

<shake head violently>

[Glenda]

Copy to your computer and absorb more slowly, or your head might burst!

Transitive verb: a verb that has to have a direct object. It's incomplete without one. Here, I'll underline the direct object and color the transitive verb, because that's what you do at 4:00 a.m.
Sara slapped her little brother. The DJ played our request. Mom takes the car most mornings. The governor ignored the question. My professor laid the chalk on his desk.
Those sentences wouldn't make sense if you omitted the underlined direct objects, because they use transitive verbs.

Intransitive verb: a verb that either can't have a direct object, or doesn't in this use.
Godfrey snores on his back. We live with our grandmother. Ryan paints poorly. The kids played inside. The body lay in the woods.

Some verbs can be transitive (with a direct object) or intransitive, depending on their use.
The kids played inside. The kids played Scrabble.
Ryan paints poorly. Ryan paints seascapes.
We lay awake last night. We lay our heads on our desks.

Clearer?

Maryn, who at least had fun with colors and underlining


Copied and past to my computer. Thanks Maryn, I need to learn.

[Glenda]

For that last example you're using two entirely different verbs. They just happen to be spelled the same. (And bring us full circle back to lie/lay.)

We lay awake last night. Past tense of to lie.
We lie on the bed now.
We lay on the bed yesterday.
We have lain on the bed many times.

We lay our heads on our desks. Present tense of to lay.
We lay the book on the table now.
We laid the book on the table yesterday.
We have laid the book on the table many times.

To lie never takes a direct object (intransitive).
To lay always takes a direct object (transitive).

I copied and past this also to my computer. I really have to study this, because right now I'm just a little confused.

[Glenda]

It is Dangling Modifiers. They dangle all over me and I just can't seem to shake them.

[ErylRavenwell]

For that last example you're using two entirely different verbs. They just happen to be spelled the same. (And bring us full circle back to lie/lay.)

We lay awake last night. Past tense of to lie.
We lie on the bed now.
We lay on the bed yesterday.
We have lain on the bed many times.

We lay our heads on our desks. Present tense of to lay.
We lay the book on the table now.
We laid the book on the table yesterday.
We have laid the book on the table many times.

To lie never takes a direct object (intransitive).
To lay always takes a direct object (transitive).


I'll add: Therein lies the problem (inversion of subject).

[Puma]

Off the lie/lay issue - I've discovered I have a terrible habit of using "so" at the beginning of sentences - So, what's the story? So, they went on to the next stop. Of course, this is a cut down from the old "and so", but man am I overusing it. I also have to watch my use of "that".

I do sometimes check grammar rules, but I taught English/writing in the workplace for a while and as someone else mentioned, teaching really brings those grammar rules home. Puma

[CaroGirl]

Affect/effect. Why I cannot keep them straight is beyond me.

[maestrowork]

ground and round. I just realized I always write "a ground of golf" or "the next ground of booze." Of course I know the difference, but I often slip for some reason.

[MelodyO]

ground and round. I just realized I always write "a ground of golf" or "the next ground of booze." Of course I know the difference, but I often slip for some reason.

You obviously want your writing to stay grounded, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Groan! I couldn't resist. ::slinks away::

[Azraelsbane]

ground and round. I just realized I always write "a ground of golf" or "the next ground of booze." Of course I know the difference, but I often slip for some reason.

I noticed this in one of your posts :) I thought, hmm, he must've slipped on the keyboard.

For me, it's lay/lie as well, and making sure that I separate narration lay/lie from dialog lay/lie, since in speech some things just sound naturally better, even if they're wrong, oh...and like my characters would really CARE if it was wrong anyway. :)

Also, I have to go back and delete like 50% of my adverbs. I hate adverbs, though when I look back at my writing, it's hard to believe.

[savail]

Thanks for the useful document. I hate having to deal with lie/lay. Thankfully, it rarely seems to pop up. My main problem tends to revolve around implementing grammar. It always seems so forced.

If you really want to improve your English usage, explain sentence structure to a foreigner. You'll learn 10x faster than normal.

A friend and I were just discussing different languages the other day (she's fluent in Spanish, English, French, and that syllable deal, as well as learning Latin and Esperanto), more specifically the amount of effort that must be put into learning them. If you have ever studied any other language, even minimally, you might be surprised to learn that many other languages involve considerably less irregularities than our own. English is quite the oddball language, to be honest. :e2shrug: I am just glad that most of it comes naturally.

[Enraptured]

I always have to look up "farther" vs. "further."

[BardSkye]

I have to be ever watchful of using "who" when referring to people and "that" with everything else.

Judging from some of the posts I read, I'm not the only one who has that problem. :)

Once it was pointed out to me, I cut almost 4000 "that"s out of the last manuscript.

[Chasing the Horizon]

Wow, that is a lot of 'that's :D

I purposefully avoid learning too much 'proper' grammar (like what a 'dangling modifier' is) because I've noticed proper writing often doesn't sound natural to the ear (or eye, when it's written). My narrative voice follows the same patterns as my speech (only clearer, of course, since I have a delete button and unlimited time to think).

While I don't doubt that 'I ate only two cookies' is technically correct, 'I only ate two cookies' sounds more natural and is what I would use in the narrative.

That said, I think I've been doing em-dashes wrong. Looks like there isn't a space on either side of them. Great, now I'm in the habit of putting spaces *sigh*. I'll do a find replace later.

[maxmordon]

Thanks for the useful document. I hate having to deal with lie/lay. Thankfully, it rarely seems to pop up. My main problem tends to revolve around implementing grammar. It always seems so forced.



A friend and I were just discussing different languages the other day (she's fluent in Spanish, English, French, and that syllable deal, as well as learning Latin and Esperanto), more specifically the amount of effort that must be put into learning them. If you have ever studied any other language, even minimally, you might be surprised to learn that many other languages involve considerably less irregularities than our own. English is quite the oddball language, to be honest. :e2shrug: I am just glad that most of it comes naturally.

For some reason Napoleon called English "The Shopkeeper's language"

[robertpri007]

I always have to look up "farther" vs. "further."

One method I was taught is "far" inside "farther. The "far" always refers to distance.

It was much farther than I thought.
He was much further along in his studies.

Or, so I was taught.

[Death Wizard]

I consider myself above-average strong on grammar and punctuation, but lay/lie gets me too. Pisses me off, but it's true.

[Tifferbugz]

Thank you all for explaining the lay/lie difference; I have to think about them whenever I write too.

I'm improving with this problem but I admit that I have to go back and verify that I didn't write anything wonderful like, "A person will know when they look back and see...". I'm getting better at it (or trying to at least)!

I'm still working on my knowledge of grammar, but I think that I learned more about sentence structure in my French classes than any English class I was in throughout school.

[Sunnyside]

I'm another one of those that and which abusers. I still have to look it up every time, and I still can't come up with any handy or clever way of keeping them straight.

On the affect/effect difficulty, a journalist once told me that he tries to remember that affect and action both start with a, and that's how he reminds himself that affect is generally the verb. That's the hinky rule I try to keep in mind, at any rate...

[WriterInChains]

lay/lie
overuse of that
And my nemesis: past perfect. I'd rather write 400 pages of present tense than one paragraph of p/p.

Thanks, Maryn, for the lay/lie primer! :Hug2: Hopefully one day it'll sink in.

[Glenda]

I also have problems with then/than. I never can figure out which goes where. Any rules to these two?

[Maryn]

Than is for comparisons. Then is for when something happened. I remember chanting then rhymes with when in my childhood, but I finally mastered that one. Only another bazillion grammatical oddities to go!

Maryn, ungrammatical oddity

[Glenda]

Thanks Maryn, you have been a big help.

[Scrawler]

I have a grammar black hole when it comes to was/were. I not only have to think about it, I always need to look it up. Sometimes I'll even look up the lyrics "If I Were a Rich Man" just see if it's was or were.

[jennifer75]

When you write, are there any grammar rules you know you have to pay attention to, or you'll mess 'em up?

For me, it's "only." I have to consciously think through the placement of the word "only" in sentences. For example, it's "I ate only two cookies," not "I only ate two cookies." (Because the second sentence means I didn't do anything else to the cookies besides eat them. But that's not true. I also picked them up and dunked them in milk and stuff. ;) ) The word "only" should almost always be placed next to the word or words it refers to.

So, what are yours?

I never realized this/that.

Thanks for the lesson!

[Glenda]

Ok, have another one. Gerunds! I know nothing about them and now have to research.

[tomW]

I accidentally used the subjunctive in an indirect question that was presupposed to be contrary to fact a while back. The exception to the exception, I suppose...

And I still use "just" and "that" a little more frequently than I'd like, though I catch them in editing passes.

And then there are a few places where I wrestle at the edge of the rules--what kind of dialog tag to use for rhetorical questions, where does a grammatically correct "whom" sound unnatural, that sort of thing.

[Braydie]

When referring to inanimate objects:

We set the table in the center of the room. Yes?

The table set in the center of the room? Not sure.
or
The table sits/sat set/sets in the center of the room? Not sure.
or
In the center of the room set the table. Not sure.
or
The table is/was in the center of the room. Sure. :)

Your help will be greatly appreciated on this. Thanks in advance. :)

[Duncan J Macdonald]

When referring to inanimate objects:

We set the table in the center of the room. Yes?
Depends. There are two possible meanings here (there may be more).
1) After carrying in a table, it was set in the middle o the room, or,
2) We placed dinnerware, cutlery, and a flower vase on the table.

The table set in the center of the room? Not sure.
No. Sat
The table sits/sat set/sets in the center of the room? Not sure.
Sits/Sat
In the center of the room set the table. Not sure.
No. Sat.
The table is/was in the center of the room. Sure. :)
:-)
Your help will be greatly appreciated on this. Thanks in advance. :)Also see Link (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Set). Afer some 119 different usages, they povide the following usage notes:

—Usage note The verbs set and sit are similar in form and meaning but different in grammatical use. Set is chiefly transitive and takes an object: Set the dish on the shelf. Its past tense and past participle are also set: Yesterday he set three posts for the fence. The judge has set the date for the trial. Set also has some standard intransitive uses, as “to pass below the horizon” (The sun sets late in the northern latitudes during the summer) and “to become firm, solid, etc.” (This glue sets quickly). The use of set for sit, “to be seated,” is nonstandard: Pull up a chair and set by me.
Sit is chiefly intransitive and does not take an object: Let's sit here in the shade. Its past tense and past participle are sat: They sat at the table for nearly two hours. Have they sat down yet? Transitive uses of sit include “to cause to sit” (Pull up a chair and sit yourself down) and “to provide seating for” (The waiter sat us near the window).

[Braydie]

Duncan J Macdonald,

This information is a tremendous help. Thanks so much. :)

[CreativityWorks]

Can anyone recommend a general good grammar book? Seems I need a refresher course and schools out.

[Braydie]

Can anyone recommend a general good grammar book? Seems I need a refresher course and schools out.


Even though I questioned set/sat :)...

The Gregg Reference Manual is one I'd suggest. A friend once told me it was recommended where his daughter attended college.

For a wide selection, you might go to www.amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com) , chose books and search "grammar".

[acharity]

Mnemonics:
Lay, lay, put away
Lie, lie, face the sky

Dead things lay, live things lie.


Ha! I always forget that stuff, too!

Whenever it comes time for me to use it, I kind of just sit there and try to remember how it all goes :D And I usually never get it right ~_~

[melaniehoo]

I, too, have problems with that. It's just that I find that a thought that I want to express sounds more complete with it included.

But seriously, I usually have to go through and knock out about half of them.

[Sage]

were/would/could/could have (etc.) in the past tense. After having a really great thread about it, I think I'll have to refer to it every time I write in the future.

The past tense of lay & lie. I think I have them down in the present, but once I go past tense I get confused.

its/it's. I know which to use, but I have to stop & think about whether it's "it is" or not.

[maestrowork]

I often have problems (not that I don't know better, but I still make the mistake) with something like:


One of the students require attention. (should be "requires")

or

Many kinds of fish jumps above water. (should be "jump")


It's just that my brain goes into autopilot -- sees the plural noun (or singular) and uses the wrong verb tense.

[acharity]

Oh, I do that, too, with having to think if it's "it is" *shakes head* not as often as the lay/lie dilemma, though! And in many ways, the wrong way usually sounds correct to me... I think it's a habit that, once you have it, will never be kicked! :O

[Sage]

I often have problems (not that I don't know better, but I still make the mistake) with something like:


One of the students require attention. (should be "requires")

or

Many kinds of fish jumps above water. (should be "jump")


It's just that my brain goes into autopilot -- sees the plural noun (or singular) and uses the wrong verb tense.Oh, that reminds me of the "neither...nor..." issue. The verb is supposed to agree with the second subject, right? ("Neither the kids nor the teacher has a pencil"?) Maybe I'm still learning that one....

[RLB]

The word "hopefully." I still can't get it through my head that it means "full of hope" and not "I hope that."

[scully931]

When you write, are there any grammar rules you know you have to pay attention to, or you'll mess 'em up?

For me, it's "only." I have to consciously think through the placement of the word "only" in sentences. For example, it's "I ate only two cookies," not "I only ate two cookies." (Because the second sentence means I didn't do anything else to the cookies besides eat them. But that's not true. I also picked them up and dunked them in milk and stuff. ;) ) The word "only" should almost always be placed next to the word or words it refers to.

So, what are yours?

Well, now it's "only." :(

[Glenda]

Ok how about rather/whether. I can never get it right on how to use these in a sentence. I rattle my brain and then wind up guessing. Simplfy this please.:D