GMANews.TV Editors Workbench

Common pitfalls in grammar

English is not a simple language, and unfortunately, many professional communicators have never mastered it. Mistakes common to all copy – from a beginning reporter’s weather report to nationally syndicated column – are those of grammar, punctuation, spelling, word usage and style.

Subject and Verb Agreement

The basic rule is that the subject and predicate (or main verb) must agree in number. To apply this rule, first determine the subject of the clause, then determine whether the subject has a singular or plural meaning. Here are some rules concerning subject-verb agreement.

1. When two or more subjects are connected by the conjunction and, use a plural verb:

An introvert and an extrovert rarely make good partners.

Use a singular verb, however, when two parts of a compound subject refer to a single person or thing:

His friend and partner is very patient.

2. A noun or pronoun joined to the subject by phrases that act as prepositions rather than conjunctions is not part of a compound subject. Examples of such phrases are along with, accompanied by, as well as, including, in addition to and no less than. Identify the subject and then apply the basic rule that the subject and the predicate must agree in number:

John, as well as Jim, is going to play on the team.

The order form, in addition to a money order, is required.

Mary, as well as her mother, is on the guest list.

3. When two or more subjects are joined by or or nor, the verb should agree with the nearest subject:

Mary or her sisters are going to keep the appointment.

Mary or her sister is going to keep the appointment.

Neither John nor his children are required to attend.

Neither John nor his son is going fishing today.

If both subjects are singular, the verb is singular:

Either Jim or Jack is to be at the stadium by 1 p.m.

If both subjects are plural the verb is plural:

Neither the boys or the girls are doing well on the agility test.

4. Don’t let words before or between the subject and the verb mislead you. First find the subject of the sentence, then make its predicate agree:

The last two innings of the game were dull.

In this sentence, the prepositional phrase “of the game” comes between the plural subject “innings” and the predicate “were”.

5. The prepositional phrase between fractions and percentages used as subjects influences the verb:

Three-fourths of the students are prepared for college.

Three-fourths of cup of water is needed in the recipe.

6. These pronouns, when use as a subject, always takes singular verbs: it, each, either, anyone, everyone, much, no one, nothing, someone, such. For example:

Each student has lunch money.

Everyone has lunch money.

No one has money for lunch.

Much has been written about grammar.

Someone is going to meet us at the airport.

It seems like years since we last met.

Pay special attention to the placement of each in a sentence. As a subject it takes singular verb. But as an adjective in apposition with a plural subject, it needs a plural verb:

John and Mary each are scheduled to meet the president of the company.

7. Collective nouns take a singular verb when use in the sense of a single unit operating in agreement but take a plural verb when the collective operates as individual units or in disagreement. These are some collective nouns: jury, team, army, audience, family, faculty, couple, group, staff, club, class, committee, crowd. Treat the names of organizations as collective nouns as well: National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, Alliance of Concerned Teachers, Kilusang Mayo Uno.

For example:

The team is going to compete for the championship.

The individuals are working together as a single unit operating in agreement, so you would use a singular verb.

The combination of a plural verb with singular-sounding nouns sounds unnatural, although it is technically correct:

The team were arguing about the individual playing assignments and the selection of the captain.

The plural verb is used because the team is in disagreement; the individuals are not working as a unit. To avoid the strange sound, most people would probably write or say “The team members were arguing…” or “members of the team were arguing…” Another example:

The couple were married yesterday and left on their honeymoon.

They will return home next week.

Couple takes a plural verb in this example because the word refers to the two people. But:

Each couple is going to buy a ticket.

In this example the word “couple” refers to a single unit. Some authorities say to use the singular form if the meaning is “the couple” and the plural form when the meaning is “a couple.”

The couple is planning to attend the banquet.

A couple are planning to attend.

8. Number, majority and total are singular if preceded by “the” but plural if precede by “a”:

The number of convictions is increasing.

A number of people were convicted on those charges.

The majority has voted for Jones.

A majority of citizens agree that the laws should be enforced.

9. Deciding whether the collective noun is singular or plural is relatively easy, but no similar rule consistently applies for “non-accountable” nouns. Most of the non-countable nouns end in s, which make them appear to be plural, but they are not all plural.

These non-countable nouns ending in s always take singular verbs: apparatus, aesthetics, athletics, civics, economics, linguistics, mathematics, measles, mumps, news, shambles, summons, whereabouts. Some other non-countable nouns that take singular verbs are advice, encourage, fun, health, information, jazz and remainder.

These non-countables nouns need a plural verb: assets, earnings, goods, kudos, manners, odds, pants, proceeds, scissors, shears, tactics, thanks, wages.

These non-countable are either singular or plural, depending on context: politics, series, gross, headquarters, statistics, ethics, species. As a study of science, politics, statistics, and ethics take singular verbs:

Statistics is a required course for business majors.

Politics is not an exact science.

When in doubt, consult a dictionary to see which words ending in s need a singular verb or can be either singular or plural.

Noun and Pronoun agreement

The basic rule concerning noun and pronoun agreement is that pronouns agree with their antecedents in person (first, second, third), number (singular, plural) and gender (masculine, feminine, neuter). Let’s consider each idea separately.

10. Pronouns are substitute for nouns or other pronouns – their antecedents. Be sure that every noun has an antecedent and that, if other nouns or pronouns come between the pronoun and its antecedent, readers are not confused.

“John introduced Mary to his mother, whom he planned to marry.”

In this example, the clause beginning with whom is misplaced, because John planned to marry Mary, not his mother. The sentence should be written this way:

John introduced Mary, whom he planned to marry, to his mother.

11. Pronouns should agree with their antecedents in person:

I asked for my money.

He asked for his money.

12. Pronouns should agree with their antecedents in number. Singular nouns take singular pronouns (he, she, it, him, her, his, hers, its):

John lost his books.

The woman said she would compete in the race.

Plural nouns take plural pronouns (they, them, their, we, us, our):

The men said they would go in strike.

John and Mary received their new bicycles today.

The women asked that they be given equal pay for equal work.

Pronouns and collective nouns that take singular verbs (see Rules 6, 7 and 8) also take singular pronouns:

The team defended its championship.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines announced its position on the proposed legislation.

Either of the boys should receive his prize.

The faculty expressed its displeasure with the salary proposal.

Each of these girls received her invitation in the mail.

The position of each in a sentence determines whether the later noun is singular or plural (see the comment about each in rule 6). If each is in apposition with a plural subject, the later noun is plural. But if each is the subject, the noun should be singular. For example:

The girls each receive invitations.

Each of the girls receives an invitation.

Pronouns and collective nouns that take plural verbs (see Rules 7 and 8) also take plural nouns:

All of the students have their pencils.

A majority of voters cast their votes for Jones.

13. Pronouns should agree with their antecedents in gender. If the antecedent is male, the pronoun should be masculine (he, him,his); a feminine pronoun (she, her, hers) is used for female antecedents; a neuter pronoun (it, its) is used for neuter antecedents.

This rule is straightforward, but problems arise with either…or and neither… nor constructions where one subject is masculine and one is feminine. In that situation, the pronoun should agree with the antecedent that follows or or nor:

Neither Mary nor John has applied for his visa.

Neither John nor Mary has applied for her visa.

In this example, the plural pronoun “their” would be incorrect, because “neither” is singular. However, the phrase for a “visa” would be better in both cases.

Another consideration in choosing pronoun gender is to attempt to avoid sexism in journalistic writing. Traditionally, masculine pronouns have been used to refer to a singular antecedent that included both males and females, but most newspapers now try to avoid sexist terms (as well as racist and ageist terms). One way to avoid excluding women is to use the expressions “he or she” and “his or her”. A better way is to use plural forms and plural pronouns. Compare the following:

A journalist should edit his or her copy carefully.

Journalists should edit their copy carefully.

Reflexive and intensive pronouns

Reflexive and intensive pronouns, the self pronouns, are used when a noun acts on itself or when a noun must be emphasized.

14. Reflexive pronouns should be used alone without referring to a noun or pronoun earlier in the sentence:

The store manager himself waited on customers.

I myself don’t mind working hard. John injured himself.

The following usage is incorrect. “Sarah and myself will work hard”; “He divided the work between John and myself.”

Pronoun case

Case refers to the use of pronouns in the sentence. Nominative case is used for subjects of sentences and as predicate nominatives. Objective case is used for objects, indirect objects, objects of prepositions, participles, gerunds and infinitives. The objective case is also used as the subject of an infinitive. Possessive case shows ownership.

15. Pronouns agree with their antecedents in person (first, second, third) number (singular, plural) and gender (masculine, feminine, neuter), but they take their case from the clause in which they stand.

The Table below shows the person, number, case and gender of personal pronouns. The relative pronoun “who” also has a different form for each case: “who” is nominative case, “whom” is objective case, “who” is possessive case.

People have little problem distinguishing the proper case in simple sentences. But as sentence structure becomes more intricate, more effort is required to determine the role of each pronoun in each clause. The relative pronouns “who,” “whom” and “whose” are generally the most troublesome. In the following example, the relative pronoun is used as the subject of the sentence and thus needs the nominative case:

Who is coming?

In this example, the object of the preposition takes the objective case:

To whom should we address the letter?

The following example is more complicated:

He gave advice to whoever asked for it.

The subject of the independent clause is whoever, although the entire dependent clause is used as the object of the preposition to. Here, again, the nominative case is correct.

Jones, who I always thought was unapproachable.

In this case, “whom” is the object of the preposition:

We tried to discover to whom the gun belonged.

The final example clearly calls for the possessive case.

Whose gun is this?

16. Unlike all other subjects, which are in the nominative case, the subject of an infinitive is in the objective case. Doubt about the correct form usually can be erased by transposing the sentence. In the first example, the pronoun “him” is the subject of the infinitive to be:

They declared the culprit to be him.

If you transpose the sentence, you can clearly see that “him” is the direct object:

They declared him to be the culprit.

17. Do not confuse “who’s”, the contraction for “who is”, with the possessive form “whose”. The contraction for “it is” is “it’s”; the possessive form is “its”. For example:

Who’s going to ride in our car?

It’s unusually warm today.

An analysis of how the relative pronoun is used is the best way to determine the correct case. However, you can also try substituting “he” for “who” and “him” for “whom” to see whether the substitute sounds right. With intricate sentences, this system is not foolproof.

Essential and nonessential clauses

Both “that” and “which” are relative pronouns used to introduce clauses that refer to an inanimate object or an animal without a name. The use of “that” or “which” depends on whether an essential clause is being introduced. A nonessential clause gives additional information about the noun or pronoun it modifies. Because a nonessential clause could be eliminated from the sentence without altering its meaning, the clause is set off with commas. An essential clause, on the other hand, is necessary because it gives the sentence the intended meaning; thus, it is not set off from the rest of the sentence.

18. “That” should be used to introduce an essential clause; “which” is correct for nonessential clauses. In the following example, the clause is essential because it restricts or identifies the car:

This is the car that won the race.

In the next example, the clause adds nonessential information:

John Smith’s 1991 Ford, which won the race last weekend, is for sale.

The car that is for sale is sufficiently identified or restricted by the modifiers John Smith’s 1991 Ford. Note that commas set off the nonessential clause.

Possessive nouns

The possessive form of noun is used to show ownership.

19. Most nouns form their possessive by adding an ’s to the singular form:

girl’s book John’s glove horse’s saddle

20. If a noun ends in an s sound and is followed by a word that begins with s, form the possessive by adding an apostrophe alone:

For appearance’ sake for conscience’ sake

21. If the singular form ends in s, add ’s unless the next word begins with s, in which case just add an apostrophe to the singular form:

the hostess’s invitation the witness’s testimony
the hostess’ standards the witness’ story

22. To form the plural possessive, first make the noun plural; then add an ‘s if the plural noun does not end in s:

woman (singular) women (plural) women’s (plural possessive)

23. If the plural form ends in s, add only an apostrophe:

Boy (singular) boys (plural) boys’ (plural possessive)

24. For compound words, add an ’s to the word closest to the object possessed:

the major general’s decision (singular)

the major generals’ decisions (plural)

25. To show that two people own something jointly, use a possessive form after only the last word. If the objects are individually owned, use a possessive form after both nouns:

John and Mary’s home (joint ownership) John’s and Mary’s projects (individual ownership)

26. For descriptive phrases, no apostrophe is needed for a word ending in s. to determine whether the word or phrase is used in a descriptive sense, try using “for” or “by” rather than “of”. The following is correct:

New York Yankees pitcher

27. Use s for a plural word that does not end in s:

women’s hospital men’s team

28. For corporations or organizations with a descriptive word in their name, use the form that the group uses:

Writer’s digest the Veteran’s Administration Diners Club

Journalistic style cautions against excessive personalization of inanimate objects. Often a phrase referring to an inanimate object is clear if an of construction is used instead of a possessive form:

mathematic’s rules the rules of mathematics

Personal pronouns and relative pronouns have separate forms for the possessive and do not need an apostrophe: my, mine, our, ours, you, yours, his, her, hers, its, theirs, whose. The exception is one’s, the possessive form for one.

Sequence of tenses

The tense of a verb describes the time of the action. Newswriting commonly uses past tense to report what has already happened. But confusion about the proper verb tense often arises when journalists paraphrase and attribute information.

29. The basic rule is to select the verb tense that describes the time of the action and to tick with the tense unless a shift is needed to show a change in time. Do not shift tenses unnecessary. In this example, all actions are in the past tense:

The Senate passed the tax bill, defeated the food stamp proposal and sent the defense measure back to the appropriations committee.

Now let’s shift the tense from past to past perfect to indicate that the House action took place before the Senate action:

The Senate defeated the food stamp proposal, which had been approved by the House of Representatives.

A shift from past to future tense again indicates different timing of the action:

The Senate sent the defense measure back to the committee, where it will be amended.

30. Grammarians agree on the basic rules for consistency in verb tenses, but neither grammarians nor newspaper editors agree on the importance of a rule governing the sequence of tenses in reported speech. That rule states that when reported speech is used, the verb of attribution governs subsequent verbs in the sentence.

To a great extent, journalistic work involves reporting what has happened in the recent past and what sources have said, so journalists commonly use reported speech, which can be distinguished from direct speech and parenthetical speech.

“I disagree with the mayor’s policies, but I don’t confront him about them,” Jim said. (direct speech)

Jim disagrees with the mayor’s policies, he said, but he doesn’t confront him. (parenthetical speech)

Note that, in parenthetical speech, the quote is paraphrased and the attribution is in the middle of the paraphrase. In reported speech, in contrast, attribution is at the beginning of the sentence:

Jim said he disagreed with the mayor’s policies, but he didn’t confront the mayor about them. (reported speech)

In this example, the verb of attribution is in the past tense, so other verbs are in the past tense as well.

It can be argued convincingly that reported speech confuses readers. Does Jim still disagree with the mayor, or it is the disagreement a thing of the past? Strict proponents of following the sequence of tenses in reported speech can argue that the job of the newspaper is to report what the source said at the time the reporter received the information (“Jim disagrees with the mayor”) rather than being concerned about whether the source changed his mind between the time he said it and the time the article was published. Of course one way to avoid the problem is to use a present-tense verb of attribution (“Jim says he disagrees”), but typical usage in news stories calls for past-tense attribution.

The rule for sequence of tenses in reported speech requires that the verb used in direct speech should be changed one degree: from present to past (disagrees to disagreed), from past to past perfect (disagreed to had disagreed), from future to future perfect (will disagree to would disagree).

Some grammar books omit entirely the sequence-of-tenses rule for reported speech, and many editors pay no attention to it. Other editors are rigid in their adherence to the rule. The late Theodore M. Bernstein, for many years a wordsmith at The New York Times, devoted six pages to an explanation of sequence of tenses in his book “Watch Your Language.” He ended his discussion with this suggestion: “Normal sequence of tenses is desirable except when it produces obscurity or ambiguity.” So even Bernstein, who stood firmly by the rules of sequence of tenses for reported speeches, would allow a variation for perpetual truths, referred to as “exceptional sequence.”

Thus, this sentence would be correct:

She said that the earth revolves around the sun.

Irregular verb forms

Irregular verbs change the middle of the word to create the past tense instead of adding “ed”, “t” or “en” at the end, as is the pattern for regular verbs.

31. Check a dictionary when you are uncertain about forming the past and past participle forms of a verb. These are the principal parts (present, past, past participle) for some of the irregular verbs are frequently misused:

Awake, awoke, awakened
Be (am, is, are), was (were)
been, bear, bore, born
Bite, bit, bitten
Broadcast, broadcast, broadcast
burst, burst, burst
Catch, caught, caught
Cling, clung, clung
Do, did, done
Drink, drank, drunk
Drive, drove, driven
Drown, drowned, drowned
Eat, ate, eaten
Find, found, found
Fly, flew, flown
Fly, flied (for a baseball)
Forsake, forsook, forsaken
Get, got, got (gotten)
Go, went, gone
Hang, hanged (as in “execute someone”)
Hang, hung, hung (as in hang a picture”)
Hide, hid, hidden
Hit, hit, hit
Know, knew, known
Lay, laid, laid (transitive verb meaning “to place”)
Lead, led, led
Leave, left, left
Lie, lay, lain (intransitive verb meaning “to recline’)
Mean, meant, meant
Pay, paid, paid
Ring, rang, rung
Rise, rose, risen (not to be confused with transitive verb raise)
Say, said, said
Set, set, set (transitive verb meaning “to place”)
Shake, shook, shaken
Shine, shone, shone
Show, showed, showed (shown)
Shrink, shrank, shrunk
Sit, sat, sat (intransitive verb)
Spring, sprang, sprung
Steal, stole, stolen
Strive, strove, striven
Swear, swore sworn
Swim, swam, swum
Swing, swung, swung
Tear, tore, torn
Weave, wove, woven
Wring, wrung, wrung
Write, wrote, written

Pay particular attention to the correct meanings and principal parts of lie/lay, sit/set and rise/raise. Lie and lay are particularly troublesome because the past tense of lie is the same as the present tense of lay. Set, lay and raise are transitive verbs and need direct objects.

Subjunctive mood

Some usage experts (Rudolf Flesch, for one) argue that the subjunctive mood is dead or is dying and has little practical use. Other grammarians (Theodore M. Berstein, for example) say that the subjunctive mood is alive and necessary.

32. Use the subjunctive mood to express a condition that is either contrary to fact or is purely hypothetical:

If I were president of the company, I would give workers a salary increase.

“Were” is used instead of “was” because the condition is contrary to fact; I am not president of the company.

Except for forms of to be, the present tense of the subjunctive mood is the infinitive without the to. That verb form is the same as the indicative mood for the first and second persons but not for the third-person singular:

Indicative Subjunctive

I run I run
you run you run
she runs she run

If Jennifer were in shape to run faster, the coach would not have asked that I run the final leg of the relay.

Misplaced and dangling modifiers

Modifiers are used to make writing more descriptive and interesting. To avoid confusion, modifiers should refer clearly and logically to some specific word in the sentence. Modifiers that aren’t attached grammatically are called “misplaced” or “dangling” modifiers. They can bring a humorous a picture to mind, as in this example:

Running down the road, my nose got cold.

You have a couple of options for correcting this dangler:

Running down the road, I felt my nose getting cold.
As I ran down the road, my nose got cold.

33. Modifiers must be attached grammatically to the word they modify to avoid reading confusion. Consider this sentence: “To grow strong good diet is important.” What is to grow strong?” Not the diet. The infinitive phrase has no word to modify in this sentence. Give it a logical noun or pronoun to modify.

To grow strong, children need a good diet.

Prepositional phrases often cause problems when misplaced or left dangling. Here’s an example of the problem: “As a member of Congress, I want to get your views on alleged ethics violations by some of your colleagues,” The reporter is not a member of Congress. The sentence could be written correctly in several ways. Here are two:

Because you are a member of Congress, I want to get your views on alleged ethics violations by some of your colleagues.

I want to ask you, a member of Congress, about your views on alleged ethics violations by some of your colleagues.

The word “only” as a modifier is frequently misplaced in sentences, leading to ambiguity. An omitted article (a/an for indefinite reference, “the” for definite reference) often causes the confusion with “only”. In these examples, the placement of “only” has a considerable effect on the meaning:

She was only a lawyer.
She was the only lawyer.
He gave the hungry children only money.
He gave only the hungry children money.
He gave the hungry children the only money.

Double negatives

A negative word is one that expresses no. The rule prohibiting the use of double negatives – two negative words in a row – has been drilled into us since elementary school. It is so fundamental that the “Associated Press stylebook and Libel Manual” does not even include it.

34. Avoid double negatives. “He don’t know nothing” is a construction that no journalist would use. Still, a double negative sometimes slips past, particularly in long sentences and especially when the adverbs hardly, rarely and scarcely are used. Consider the following pairs of examples:

She never hardly studies.
She hardly ever studies.
The store doesn’t have but one brand.
The store has but one brand.

But, when used as an adverb, is also a negative.
Negative adjectives (those with the prefixes, im, in, ir, non and un) may be used with negative adverbs. Therefore, the following are correct:

It is not impermissible to use negative adjectives with negative adverbs.

It is not incorrect to say it this way.

Authorities have mixed opinions on usage of the phrase “cannot help but,” as in

Workers cannot help but feel the effect of the wage freeze.

Bernstein, Flesch and the American Heritage Dictionary accept this usage; the Random House Dictionary says it is common usage but frowned on. To avoid the argument, omit but and use the present participle:

Workers cannot help feeling the effect of the wage freeze.

Parallel construction

Lack of parallel construction is another common pitfall in writing. Parallelism helps give a sentence balance, rhythm and symmetry.

35. Use the same grammatical patterns to express equal ideas in a sentence. Here along with improved versions, are examples of sentences that hinder the understanding because they lack parallel construction. The first set demonstrates the objects of a preposition should both be either gerunds or nouns:

Cardiovascular health is promoted by exercising frequently and a good diet. (not parallel)

Cardiovascular health is promoted by frequent exercise and a good diet. (parallel)

Cardiovascular health is promoted by exercising frequently and eating a good diet. (parallel)

Don’t mix two kinds of verbals:

Velcro is popular for fastening shoes and to keep compartments in handbags shut. (not parallel)

Velcro is popular for fastening shoes and keeping compartments in handbags shut. (parallel)

Avoid shifting from active to passive voice; consistency in voice speeds reading and aids comprehension:

Congress passed the tax-reform legislation, but the minimum-wage increase was defeated. (not parallel)

Congress passed the tax-reform legislation, but defeated the minimum-wage increase. (parallel)

In a series, don’t mix verbals and nouns:

He was charged with drunken driving, carrying a weapon, resisting arrest and possession of cocaine. (not parallel)

He was charged with drunken driving, carrying a weapon, resisting arrest and possessing cocaine. (parallel)

“Not only” should be followed by “but also”:

She not only sold some of her possessions, she took a second job to earn money to pay the hospital bills. (not parallel)

She not only sold some of her possessions, but she also took a second job to earn money to pay the hospital bills. (parallel)

Don’t mix nouns and a dependent clause in a series:

They elected him because of his knowledge, honesty and because he was personally appealing. (not parallel)

They elected him because of his knowledge, honesty and personal appeal. (parallel)

Source: Creative Editing for Print Media, Second Edition by BOWLES, Dorothy A., And BORDEN, Diane L

GMANews.TV Editors Workbench

Monday, August 11, 2008

Capital, capitol

Police ranks

MMDA

DILG

ARMM

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Grammar

ellipsis, comma; toward vs towards

Caps, lowercase

Person, people, militants etc

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