This week we ’re link by a special client blogger . Patricia T. O’Conner , a former editor program atThe New York Times Book Review , is the author of the national good - sellerWoe Is I : The Grammarphobe ’s Guide to Better English in Plain English , as well as other books about language . She is a regular monthly node on public radio station WNYC in New York . Learn more at her website , grammarphobia.com . Make her feel welcome !
1.IorMe?
The most common well-formed mistake in English is in all probability usingIwhen we should useme . We try this mistake all the clock time : " Thanks for inviting Bob andIto your day of remembrance smash . “ Or , " This was such a kickshaw for the children andI.“ Or , " To your female parent andI , your happiness think everything . “ Nice thoughts , but the right pronoun isme , me , me !
fortunately , there ’s an easy way to help determine whether to useIorme . Just mentally eliminate the other guy cable and the right countersign becomes obvious : " Thanks for ask for [ " ¦ ] meto your anniversary bash . “ Or , " This was such a goody for [ " ¦ ] me . “ Or , " To [ " ¦ ] me , your happiness means everything . “
And by the style , when you ca n’t decide betweenIandme , the resolution is not to repair tomyself ! That ’s not only a pig - out but also wrong . Words likemyself(they’re called reflex pronouns ) are used for only two things : to emphasize something ( " I did itmyself" ) , and to refer to a person already mentioned ( " I sawmyselfin the mirror" ) .
2.WhoorWhom?
It ’s a good affair to remember thatwhodoes something ( it ’s a subject , likehe ) , whilewhomhas something done to it ( it ’s an object , likehim ) . You might even try move the words around mentally and puttingheorhimwherewhoorwhomshould go : ifhimfits , you wantwhom(both end in m ) ; ifhefits , you wantwho(both end in a vowel sound ) .
model : " Who[orHe]threw the first punch atwhom[orhim]?“ asked the judge .
See?Whodoes it towhom . But do n’t be fooled by preposition — Word that direct other words , liketo , at , by , for , from , in , on , toward , with , and so on ) . A preposition is n’t automatically followed bywhom . It can be followed by a article ( a radical of words with both a subject and a verb ) that haswhoas its subject .
Consider this sentence : Hermione give help to [ whoeverorwhomever ] require advice . Don’t be misdirect by the prepositionto . It ’s follow by a article : whoeverorwhomeverneeds advice . Since the mystery story Holy Writ does something ( motive advice ) , it ’s a topic , so the answer iswhoeverneeds advice .
OK , now that you hump the rules , here ’s how to bend them . On more relaxed occasions , you’re able to sometimes get away with usingwhowherewhomis technically correct . Whois often less stuffy - sounding at the beginning of a sentence or a clause . Examples : Who ’s the email from ? Did I secern youwhoI saw?Whoare you waiting for ? No matterwhoyou invite , I ca n’t come . Good English would call forwhomin those cases , but you could usewhoin perfunctory conversation or informal writing .
But beware : Whosounds grate if used forwhomright after a preposition . you’re able to get around this by place who in front : Fromwhom?becomesWhofrom ?
3.ThatorWhich?
See if you’re able to guess the solution : Nobody likes a kid[thatorwhich]whines . I’ll end the suspense : it ’s that .
If you require to satisfy Miss Grundy , here ’s how to figure out whether a article ( a group of words with its own subject and verb ) should start withthatorwhich . When the clause ( thatorwhichwhines ) is n’t essential to the point of the sentence , choosewhich . But if the article is essential , choosethat . In this case , if we dropped the clause we ’d finish up withNobody likes a fry . Not quite the dot , is it ?
Another handy normal to commemorate is that awhichclause is carve up from the ease of the sentence by comma : Someone jaunt over the shaver ’s stroller , whichwas in the gangway . Or : The youngster ’s go-cart , whichwas in the gangway , was a safety hazard . So if a article makes you pause , it belike calls for which .
By the way , some of you may remember the wordthatcan’t refer to a somebody , onlywho . Wrong . This is another popular myth . If you need convincing , take a feel atthis entry in my web log .
4. “If Iwas" or “If Iwere"?
When you evince a wishing , or when you use an " if" assertion to speak about a something that ’s not true , expend " were" instead of " was . “ Why ? Because those place call for what grammarians refer to as the subjunctive mood , and not the usual indicative .
For deterrent example , you ’d say,“Last calendar week Iwason vacation"[indicative ] , but"This week I wish Iwereon vacation"[subjunctive ] , and"If Iwereon holiday [ subjunctive ] I would n’t be here at work . “
observe , however , that not every " if" statement promise for the subjunctive mood , only those that are undeniably adverse to fact . In display case where the statement may actually be true , wasremainswas . Examples : If Iwaswrong , I apologize.(I may have been wrong.)If shewasthere , I hazard I miss her.(She may have been there.)If itwasTuesday , I must have been at the gym.(It may have been Tuesday . )
5. Collective Nouns: Singular or Plural?
Should we say , " coupleis" or " coupleare" ? " Majoritywas" or " majoritywere" ? " Numberis" or " numberare" ? The answer : It all depends .
Many words that mean a aggregation of thing — likecouple , group , entire , numeral , bulk — can be either funny or plural , calculate on whether you mean the group as a whole or the individuals in the mathematical group . So postulate yourself whether you ’re talk about the whole or the parts . Sometimes this can be a near judgement call .
allow ’s appear atcouplefirst . Here are two examples from my grammar bookWoe Is I:“A match of tenant own geckos . The couple in 5 G have a family of mongoose . “Both sentences are satisfactory , one plural and the other singular . In the first one , you ’re talking about two separate tenants who own geckos . In the second , you mean one couple that owns mongooses .
Here ’s a hint : Think of the grammatical construction " The majority rules . “ It should cue you that if the word in front of a collective noun isthe , then the noun is unremarkably singular . If the word in front isa , particularly when the noun is followed byof , then it ’s commonly plural . So you ’d say,“Amajority of the resident were polled"(plural ) , but"Themajority was significant"(singular ) . And you ’d write,“Agroup of Dutch investors are building 25 homes"(plural ) , but"TheDutch investment group is make 25 homes"(singular ) .
