Category: Grammar Repair Shop

Check your writing twice for misuse of these easy-to-miss homonyms, which a spell-checker won’t catch:

Four sentences that need repair, along with fixes: 1. Subject/verb agreement. 2. Actionless, dull sentences. 3. Negative structure. 4. Comma splice.

One of the most common reader questions we receive is about the serial comma—that is, the comma that comes before the “and” when you’re listing a series of things. The question is, “Should I use it or not use it?” The answer is, it’s up to you. The serial comma is used by some publications and dismissed by others, which makes it a matter of style.

When choosing when you should use “these” or “those,” the decisive factor is whether the things you’re talking about are near or far. In some cases, it’s a psychological distance: Are you referring to something that you just mentioned or something that you mentioned a sentence or two ago?

A reader recently wrote: What gives with everybody using the words “to myself” instead of “to me”? The administrative people around me always write things like: “Please send your response to my secretary or myself.” That makes no sense … Did someone make this grammatically correct and forget to tell me?

A reader recently wrote asking about the usage of “per.” It’s common to see sentences such as: “I’ve attached a copy of the contract, per your request.” Some reference books point out that “per” is correctly used to mean “by the,” as in “per hour.” And other guides recommend using more familiar English words.

Restrictive vs. nonrestrictive clauses, and more.

Question: In the following sentence, should the words “on site” be hyphenated? They removed the trees and dumped them on site.

Steer clear of these three grammatical pitfalls: 1. “None”: It is always singular, never plural. 2. Learn when to use “lie” vs. “lay.” 3. It’s “between you and me,” not “you and I.”

“Because,” “due to,” “since”—which one is the right one to use? Use “because” instead of wordier options, such as “owing to the fact that” or “on the grounds that.” You could also use it instead of the persnickety “due to.” Example: “It was canceled because of illness.” “Since” often means the same thing as “because.”