Seen at Grammar Girl: Other than maintaining formality, there are two valid reasons you might want to use “which” instead of “where.” Many times, you can add a preposition before the relative pronoun “which” to make your sentence quite precise. For example, “The house at which I saw you” has a slightly different meaning from… Continue reading “In Which” Versus “Where”
Category: Grammar
When should you capitalize words?
From Grammar Girl: One reason capitalization matters is that a word’s meaning can change depending on whether it’s uppercase or lowercase. “See those three domiciles over there? Well, I live in the white house.” That’s quite different from, “I live in the White House [capital W, capital H].” That White House is where the president… Continue reading When should you capitalize words?
Verbs sandwiched between singular and plural nouns
From Grammar Girl: As we all learned in school, a singular subject agrees with a singular verb, and a plural subject agrees with a plural verb. Sometimes, though, other parts of the sentence get in the way and confuse you. Here’s an example of the kind of sentence we’re talking about: “The star attractions at… Continue reading Verbs sandwiched between singular and plural nouns
Poll: Do you say “phone” or “call”?
When you’re going to contact someone on the telephone, which of the following do you use? I will phone Jill. I will call Jill. Please comment below which you use (or if you use something else entirely), and let me know where you live.
All-Purpose Pronoun
Found at the New York Times: Traditionalists, of course, find nothing wrong with using he to refer to an anybody or an everybody, male or female. After all, hasn’t he been used for both sexes since time immemorial? Well, no, as a matter of fact, it hasn’t. It’s a relatively recent usage, as these things go. And it wasn’t… Continue reading All-Purpose Pronoun
How to use parallel construction correctly
From Grammar Girl: A common problem in writing today is the false series. It happens when a writer combines three or more seemingly related elements in a series, but the syntax is wrong. When you get the sentence right, you’re said to be using parallel construction. How to Use Parallel Construction Correctly
Can you start a sentence with “which”?
From Grammar Girl: You could perhaps say, “I ate all the cookies. Big mistake.” Here, “big mistake” is a sentence fragment, but it’s OK because it allows you to emphasize your point. “Which” clauses that appear at the beginning of a sentence or paragraph are likewise incomplete sentences, and you are allowed to use them… Continue reading Can you start a sentence with “which”?
Canadian Style Tip #36: School subjects, courses & degrees
This post is part of the Canadian Style series. 4.12 School subjects, courses and degrees Capitalize the names of languages. Do not cpitalize the names of other disciplines when used in a general sense. Capitalize them when referring to school sbject or the names of particular courses. I started taking French in grade 6. I… Continue reading Canadian Style Tip #36: School subjects, courses & degrees
Canadian Style Tip #35: Fractions
This post is part of the Canadian Style series. 5.08 Fractions In non-technical writing, spell out simple fractions, especially when used in isolation: The recipe calls for one-quarter cup of flour. I ate two thirds of my sandwich.
Canadian Style Tip #34: Use of commas in dates
This post is part of the Canadian Style series. 7.20 Use of commas in dates You do not need commas when writing dates in the order day-month-year. If you use month-day-year order, a comma separates the day and year. The year should be followed by a comma within a sentence. I was married 5 May… Continue reading Canadian Style Tip #34: Use of commas in dates