Category Archives: Grammarland

Simon Heffer at UK’s Telegraph “Strictly English”

Posted on September 6, 2010 by Jodi

In light of today being a National holiday I will let Simon Heffer over at the Telegraph do my post for me.  A hat tip goes to my dear aunt who emails me interesting tidbits from around the world whenever … Continue reading →

Posted in Featured Resource, Grammarland, Language usage | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Another Reason Grammar is Important

Posted on August 9, 2010 by Jodi

Take a look at this picture and see if you can tell me what’s wrong. Catch it?  Yes, this carpeting store has made one of the lethal writing mistakes – confusing ‘to’ and ‘too.’  Many out there think writing rules … Continue reading →

Posted in Grammarland | Tagged , , , , , , | 20 Comments

The Great Space Debate

Posted on August 6, 2010 by Jodi

Recently I was looking through submission guidelines on a site and stumbled across one that shocked me.  To be considered for this particular publication you must only use one space between sentences. ONE? When did this happen?!?  I’ve never heard … Continue reading →

Posted in Grammarland, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Grammar is Back! The ‘That, Which, or Who’ Debate

Posted on July 26, 2010 by Jodi

We had a long discussion about the word ‘that’ a while back, talking about all of its various uses and also where it might not be needed.   If you missed it, click here for the post:   That Dratted “That” Today … Continue reading →

Posted in Grammarland | Tagged , , , , , , | 18 Comments

That dratted “That”

Posted on June 9, 2010 by Jodi

Poor ‘that’ has fallen into the ‘unnecessary words targeted for removal’ category along with the words just, very, and a healthy selection of adverbs.  I have been slamming my brain against the desk to figure out why.  After digging deep … Continue reading →

Posted in Grammarland | Tagged , , , , , , | 17 Comments

The Evil Adverb

Posted on June 2, 2010 by Jodi

Every writing book I’ve read offers this bit of advice to help strengthen writing – eliminate adverbs.  Today we will refresh our memories on what makes an adverb and explore why they should be avoided. Let’s start by reviewing our … Continue reading →

Posted in Grammarland | Tagged , , , , , , | 154 Comments

“Dialogue punctuation?” he asked, “But why?”

Posted on May 26, 2010 by Jodi

It is Wednesday and we are returning to Grammarland: the magical place of punctuation rules, tips on language usage, and other useful tools for writers.  Today we are reviewing correct dialogue punctuation. First, the anatomy a dialogue sentence: “You are … Continue reading →

Posted in Grammarland | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Adding Emphasis with the Exclamation Mark!

Posted on May 12, 2010 by Jodi

Ah, the overused exclamation mark.  It peppers our papers and blogs in a desperate attempt to inject emphasis, often needlessly.  It is used as additional insurance for a writer, making sure that emphatic statements are noticed.  The difference between an … Continue reading →

Posted in Grammarland | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

The Ellipsis . . . Demystified

Posted on May 5, 2010 by Jodi

I most often I see the ellipsis (that’s the “. . .”) used as a way to add a dramatic pause in writing, especially in dialogue; or trailing at the end of a sentence to show an unfinished thought.  When … Continue reading →

Posted in Grammarland | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

The Comma, Clarified.

Posted on April 28, 2010 by Jodi

I could spend a very long time to write in my own words what so many people have already written about comma usage.  In fact, I just spent an hour trying to do just that, which was far more than … Continue reading →

Posted in Editing and Revision, Grammarland | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments