It's National Grammar Day!

March 4th is National Grammar Day. Who knew? Apparently real editors knew this. I'm such a fraud, I've never even heard of National Grammar Day. National Punctuation Day, yes. Grammar Day? No.
So, of course, I had to post some sort of homage to this day by sharing a few grammar tips with the world in the name of all the proper sentences all over the world.



Tip #1:

Pronouns must agree in number with their antecedents, or the words they refer to.

Original: Bathe each dog before they come inside the facility.

This sentence is incorrect because "each dog" is singular and "they come" is plural. For a proper agreement, this sentence should read one of two ways:

Bathe each dog (singular) before it comes (singular) inside the facility.
Bathe the dogs (plural) before they come (plural) inside the facility.


Tip #2:

When using apostrophes to show possession, be sure to correctly indicate whether you mean joint possession or singular possession, or both.

Original: Melissa and Mike's books were stolen last week.

There is nothing wrong with this sentence, if you're referring to the books that Melissa and Mike owned together. However, if Melissa's books were stolen and Mike's books were also stolen, you'd rewrite this sentence:

Melissa's (her books) and Mike's books (his books) were stolen last week.


Tip #3:

Avoid repetition. Don't use three or four words when you can use one or two. It's very common for people to unnecessarily use two or more words that mean the same thing. Sentences like to be simple, they really do.

Original: Each and every one of you will lose if you fail to plan ahead.
Rewrite: Each of you will lose if you fail to plan.

Original: The perpetrator vandalized 15 stores in the month of February.
Rewrite: The perpetrator vandalized 15 stores in February.

Original: After I mixed together several cleaning products, I began to feel nauseous.
Rewrite: After I mixed several cleaning products, I began to feel nauseous.


Tip #4:

In addition to subject-verb agreement, the subject and verb have to make sense together, meaning the subject has to be able to "do" the verb.

Original: The restaurant hopes its new low-calorie sandwich will attract more customers.

The restaurant can't hope, but its owner or manager can.

Rewrite: The owner hopes the restaurant's new low-calorie sandwich will attract more customers.

Doing the “Double Talk” Dance

I was watching an episode of The Golden Girls the other night when Dorothy, my favorite character, said she had reached her limit at the automated teller machine. It occurred to me that I hadn’t heard this full pronunciation of "ATM" in a very long time. And that if I walked outside and asked someone where the closest automated teller machine was, it would probably take him or her a moment to process what I was asking. Someone younger than twenty would probably shrug their shoulders in total confusion.

However, if I were to ask anyone where the nearest "ATM machine" was located, we'd all be on the same page. But let's look at what I'd be asking: "Excuse me, where is the nearest automated teller machine machine?" This question is an example of a redundonym, and those who use them (pretty much all of us), are doing the "double talk" dance. A redundonym is an acronym ("ATM") that is followed by a word already included in the acronym ("machine").

When you go the ATM, would you say you enter your personal identification number (PIN), or your personal identification number number (PIN number)?

Would you go to your bank to inquire about an individual retirement account (IRA), or an individual retirement account account (IRA account)?

Would you search for a book using its International Standard Book Number (ISBN), or its International Standard Book Number Number (ISBN number)? [note: I only recently realized that I've never not used this redundonym.]

Much of this is colloquial, meaning we say it all the time in our informal communications, and unfortunately, in formal speech and writing where these casual “everybody does its” can make the writer look amateurish and sloppy. I’m trying to be more careful with my use of these, but it’s not easy. Want to know a secret? I prefer saying “PIN number” because to me, it’s a PIN number! I’ve never entered a PIN a day in my life. (Never said I was perfect…just telling you how to be).

Here are some other examples of redundonyms, courtesy of The Copyeditor’s Handbook by Amy Einsohn (great book by the way):

Incorrect= GRE exam (correct= GRE)
Incorrect= HIV virus (correct= HIV)
Incorrect= UPS service (correct= UPS)