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Grammar – how to understand it

September 6, 2009 by Roy Johnson

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Grammar – definition

grammar The term ‘grammar’ refers to the structure of language.

redbtn This can be applied to a whole language or to any smaller unit of that language.

redbtn Grammatical study is often a systematic account of the rules of sentence structure, syntax, and semantics.


Examples

redbtn The study of grammar in any language focuses on:

tense concerning time sequence
person reference to people or things
syntax how parts relate to each other

redbtn A grammatical study of the following brief statement focuses on the same issues:

The cats drank the milk

The cats Subject – third person plural
drank Verb – past tense
the milk Object – third person singular

redbtn Notice that the statement follows normal English syntax (word-order)

Subject — Verb — Object


Use

redbtn An awareness of grammar or the structure of language can result in more efficient writing and speaking.

redbtn An understanding of the mechanics or workings of language is far more useful and more easily acquired than memorising technical terms.

redbtn You can understand the mechanics of language by studying utterances and their:

audience — form — function

redbtn The study of grammar in any language focuses on:

tense John ran up the stairs
[past tense of the verb]
person Joanna approached him
[third person singular]
syntax The dog bit the man
[subject – verb – object]

redbtn NB! Most people are not conscious of grammatical rules — but they use them quite naturally when speaking.

redbtn It is useful to be able to distinguish between the more grammatical items in a statement and those which have a mainly lexical function.

redbtn The grammatical items are the working parts of the statement, whilst the lexical items carry content or meaning.

redbtn There is no absolute distinction between grammatical and lexical items. However, it is possible to think of a continuum, with lexis at one end and grammar at the other.

redbtn For instance, the items in in the following statement can be seen as lexical, grammatical, and a combination of both:

‘Dorothy likes to come to our house every Tuesday and have tea with us.’

lexical Dorothy, house, Tuesday, tea
grammatical to, and, with

redbtn The terms ‘our’, ‘every’, and ‘have’ are between these two categories because they perform both a lexical and a grammatical function.

redbtn The study of English grammar study has developed over hundreds of years. The objective has generally been to find a set of rules which accurately and comprehensively define, describe, and explain the workings of the language.

redbtn In the past, grammar study was very prescriptive. Rules were laid down as to how English must be used. Many of these prescriptive rules were based on the rules of the Latin language which historically had strong religious and cultural ties with English.

redbtn Latin was regarded as the perfect language and as such was used as a model for English. However, it was a blueprint which didn’t fit, and the struggle to make it fit has left us with such prescriptive rules as ‘Never end a sentence with a preposition’.

redbtn In the past, the study of grammar was thought to be a series of rules and regulations:

  • Rules for writing good English
  • Learning to analyse sentences grammatically

redbtn The most significant development this century has been the move towards a descriptive and functional approach to understanding of the workings of English. That is to say, the emphasis currently is on observing how the language is actually operating in practice. Changes are charted and variations noted, with a neutral attitude.

redbtn A language is best seen as a living organism which is constantly in the process of evolution. The nature of its changes reflect and affect its users. As Latin has been a dead language for hundreds of years, its imposition on English is at best interesting and at worst ludicrous.

redbtn Every language has a basic structure. This is composed of its essential grammatical features, which are its working parts. It also has more superficial features such as its vocabulary, which changes and develops in accordance with cultural and social phenomena.

redbtn A good example of this can be seen in the recently acquired technological terms associated with the advent of the computer. The terms ‘hard disk’, ‘floppy drive’, ‘Web site’, ‘Internet’, ‘mouse’, and ‘downloading’ simply didn’t exist thirty years ago. Indeed, the World Wide Web – for many people the centre of the Internet – was only invented as recently as 1993.

redbtn Noam Chomsky perhaps made the most significant impact on the study of grammar by his Innateness Theory, which is now universally accepted as basically valid.

redbtn The Innateness theory of grammar is based on the notion that humans are genetically programmed to acquire language. The Language Acquisition Device (LAD) is a function which equips us for speech, just as other genetic features equip us for walking or breathing.

redbtn The prerequisite for language acquisition is what Chomsky calls comprehensible imput – which is hearing people around us use language.

redbtn Thousands of different languages exist, and the developing child acquires the language of its own culture. The vocabulary and content has to be learnt, but the fundamental grammatical workings are innate.

redbtn Evidence of this LAD at work can be observed in the so-called mistakes which young children make. These are utterances such as ‘I comed home’ or ‘I wented over there’ or ‘those two sheeps’ and ‘those three mouses’.

redbtn What is happening here should be celebrated as evidence of the child’s capacity for grammatical analysis. That is, the rule has been learned but over-applied.

redbtn The expression ‘I comed’ is evidence that the child has internalised the rule for forming the past tense, which is – add ‘—ed’.

redbtn ‘Sheeps’ and ‘mouses’ show that the rule for forming a plural has been learnt — add ‘—s’.

Self-assessment quiz follows >>>

© Roy Johnson 2003


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Filed Under: English Language Tagged With: English language, Grammar, Language

Grammar for Teachers

July 17, 2009 by Roy Johnson

essential guide to how English language works

The UK government’s latest policy on English teaching insists that it should be presented ‘across the curriculum’. What this means is that teachers of subjects other than English have to focus the language of their practice as part of normal classroom teaching and learning. This can leave teachers of chemistry, home economics, and physical education feeling rather exposed where formal grammar is concerned. John Seely’s latest book to the rescue! It is aimed at teachers in primary and secondary schools, and will also be useful for those preparing to teach modern foreign languages and English as an additional or foreign language.

Grammar for TeachersAnd he’s well qualified for the job of explaining complex issues. His previous books include Words, The A-Z of Grammar and Punctuation, Effective Writing and Speaking, and Writing Reports.

These are all very popular books which introduce linguistic facets of everyday life in a straightforward manner. This one follows the same pattern. He explains how sentences are built up from subject, verb, and object (Elephants like grass) but puts his emphasis on recognising clause patterns. Then comes an explanation of different types of noun (proper, countable, uncountable) adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and all the other common parts of speech.

In keeping with all the normal rigour of language studies, nothing is examined beyond the length of a single sentence, and his explanations are all as simple and clear as possible. Despite this, there’s still quite a lot of grammatical jargon to take on board (clause elements, prepositional phrases, and modal auxiliaries).

A lot of what he offers is a common sense approach to explaining the categories of grammar – that is, what function a word is performing in any given statement. For instance, work can be a verb or a noun, depending on the context in which it is being used.

The book is in three parts. The first offers basic definitions and explanations; the second goes into more detail; and the third is a big glossary which explains all the technical terms used throughout the book. It also includes other terms that may be be particularly useful for teachers of modern foreign languages. There’s also an appendix explaining what’s required of teachers implementing the literacy strategy in primary schools.

© Roy Johnson 2007

Grammar for Teachers   Buy the book at Amazon UK

Grammar for Teachers   Buy the book at Amazon US


John Seely, Grammar for Teachers, Oxpecker Press, 2007, pp.172, ISBN: 095534512X


Filed Under: Grammar, Language use Tagged With: English language, Grammar, Grammar for Teachers, Language

Graphology – how to understand it

September 7, 2009 by Roy Johnson


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Graphology – definition

graphology Graphology is the study of the system of symbols which communicates language in written form.

redbtn In its more popular sense, it is the study of handwriting.


Examples

redbtn This is an example of a pictographic symbol.

hand-r


Use

redbtn In the English language, writing starts on the left and moves to the right. It begins at the top of the page and moves downwards.

redbtn This might seem rather obvious, but writing in some other languages is arranged differently. Hebrew moves from right to left in rows, and Japanese from top to bottom in columns.

redbtn NB! Graffiti is a type of graphology, but if you confuse the two you’ll end up in trouble.

redbtn Graphology in context. ‘Grapheme’ is the term for the smallest unit of written communication. A letter of the alphabet or a punctuation mark is a grapheme. A scientific, mathematical, or any other kind of symbol is also a grapheme.

redbtn English is an ideographic language. This means that the writing system is based on a set of symbols. These have no intrinsic connection with what they are expressing.

redbtn Chinese on the other hand is known as a logographic or pictographic language. This is because the characters of that language were historically pictorial representations of the object being expressed.

redbtn Over the centuries these pictures have been stylised to the extent that they no longer resemble houses, people or trees. They now seem, to the uninitiated, just as arbitrary in their function as the English alphabet.

redbtn In linguistic study, graphology is a level of analysis along with phonology, vocabulary, grammar and semantics. It includes the study of layout, the use of logos and any other feature of graphical communication.

redbtn Children learn to form individual letters and later to produce joined-up writing. Some students find it difficult to make the transition from upper case printing to continuous script. This can be a significant impediment to their studies.

redbtn However, with literacy and maturity, we develop our own style of hand-writing. There is commonly a variation in the way we form our letters which is subject to context.

redbtn For instance, we may form a flamboyant ‘s’ at the end of a word, but a conservative version of that same grapheme if it occurs in an initial or medial position.

redbtn It is important to be able to distinguish between upper and lower case letters in order to punctuate. This is not possible with printing. Continuous script can also be produced much more rapidly.

redbtn Continuous script is easier to read than printing, because the eye is led by the connecting strokes between the characters. This is the same principle as the use of sefifed fonts in the layout of continuous writing.

redbtn Approaches to teaching hand-writing have changed over the years. It is interesting to note that each generation seems to have its own style of handwriting. Our parents and their contemporaries seem to produce the same script style, while their parents’ generation also have their own similarly distinct style.

redbtn Perhaps parallel with the phenomenon of speech style, handwriting styles are easier to categorise from a distance. Our children may see our contemporaries’ handwriting as belonging to an identifiable style, whilst we ourselves consider each person’s handwriting to be idiosyncratic.

Self-assessment quiz follows >>>

© Roy Johnson 2003


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Filed Under: English Language Tagged With: English language, Grammar, Graphology, Language, Writing

Homonyms – how to understand them

September 7, 2009 by Roy Johnson

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Homonyms – definition

homonyms Homonyms are words which are spelled the same, but which have different meanings.


Examples

bear – an animal
bear – to carry

bore – to drill a hole
bore – a tedious person

down – at a lower part
down – bird’s feathers

draft – preliminary sketch
draft – a money order


Use

redbtn The apparent similarities in these words sometimes causes confusion — particularly to non-native speakers.

redbtn Such words may or may not have the same etymological origins.

redbtn NB! Homonyms are a rich source of puns in English.

redbtn Strictly speaking, homonyms may be broken down into two different categories – homophones and homographs.

redbtn Homophones are words which are pronounced in the same way, but which have different spellings:

threw flung
through from end to end
bow incline from the waist
bough large tree-branch

redbtn Homographs are words which have the same spelling, but which are pronounced differently:

lead a heavy metal
lead to walk in front
wind air movement
wind to coil

redbtn One reason for these similarities is that spelling is only a rough approximation to pronunciation.

Self-assessment quiz follows >>>

© Roy Johnson 2003


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Filed Under: English Language Tagged With: English language, Grammar, Homology, Homonyms, Language

How to avoid jargon

December 15, 2011 by Roy Johnson

how to recognise and avoid using jargon terms

What is jargon?

Jargon is defined as ‘the specialized language or the technical vocabulary of a profession or group’.

Jargon terms act as a sort of shorthand between one person and another in their group. Special terms eliminate the need for lengthy explanations – because both parties to the communication understand what the terms mean

For instance a solicitor might use a term such as probate, The word ‘probate’ means ‘the legal process of administering the estate of a deceased person by resolving all claims and distributing the deceased person’s property under a valid will’.

Most people probably wouldn’t know what the term probate means, but two solicitors can use one word instead of twenty-five in their dealings with each other.

Jargon exists in all groups and occupations – from carpenters to brain surgeons, and from printers to astronauts. The most important thing is that jargon terms should only be used when communicating with people in the same group.


The problem of jargon

Jargon becomes a problem when it is used by specialists communicating with non-specialists – such as the general public. This is how the term jargon has come to acquire such a negative sense.

Here is an example, taken from a letter sent from the government Revenue (the tax office) to an ordinary member of the public.

The basis of assessment for Schedule D Case I and II, other than commencement and cessation, is what is termed a previous year basis.

There is no way an ordinary person could know what Schedule D Case I and II actually means, and at the end of the ‘explanation’ the term previous year basis is still completely obscure.

The person writing this letter has used specialist terms (jargon) which most ordinary people will not understand. That is bad manners and poor communication. It also illustrates another negative feature of jargon, which is that some people use it in order to maintain positions of influence or power. They exclude other people from the group to which they belong by using language which will not be understood.

Teenagers do the same thing when they invent their own slang and jargon terms in order to exclude parents and teachers.


Acceptable uses of jargon

It is perfectly reasonable to use jargon when discussing the technical aspect of a subject with a fellow specialist. The following are all examples of specialist, technical language

Law probate, conveyance, intestate
Computing download, Megabyte, serial port
Engineering sprocket, crankshaft, centrifuge
Gardening mulch, perennial, phlox

There is nothing wrong when jargon is used amongst members of the same group. It often acts as a sort of shorthand, which eliminates the need for lengthy explanations. For instance, the foreman in a garage does not need to write on a mechanic’s worksheet:

Please regulate the device which provides a constant supply of petrol to the inlet manifold of the engine.

He uses jargon and simply writes ‘Adjust the carburettor’ – or even ‘Fix the carb’. Both the foreman and the mechanic know what a ‘carburettor’ – and that ‘carb’ is a shortened form of the word.


How jargon abuse happens

Jargon becomes abusive when it is used by people to inflate the importance of what they are doing or when trying to appear impressive for dubious reasons.

For instances if a town council advertises for Environmental recycling engineers when the job is actually emptying dustbins, they are creating a form of bureaucratic jargon – at the same time as trying to glamourise a fairly humble job.

Sometimes a technical term might pass into common use – such as the salary paid for a particular job. Jargon abuse occurs again when the finance or the human resources department refers to this as a personal remuneration package.

It is abusive for two reasons. First, three unnecessarily complex words are used where one short and simple word will do. And second, the three words actually obscure the thing being described – which is how much the applicant will get paid for doing the job.


How to avoid jargon

The simplest way to avoid using jargon is to keep two things in mind whilst speaking or writing:

  • your audience – the people with whom you are communicating
  • your vocabulary – the terms you use to convey your message

If your audience is the general public, you should avoid using any specialised or technical terms. All the terms you use should be plain and simple which most people will be able to understand. The following example shows the difference between a statement made in technical and non-technical form:

Technical — Chlorophyll makes food by photosynthesis.

Non-technical — Green leaves build up food with the aid of light.

Both of these statements are valid. Using them in the appropriate context is the main issue.

Only use the specialised terms of your subject if you are quite sure of their meaning. Never use jargon to show off or impress your reader. It is likely to create the opposite effect.

Do not use a jargon term where perfectly ordinary terms will be just as effective. There is not much virtue in using terms such as aerated beverages instead of fizzy drinks. These simply cause disruptions in tone and create a weak style.

Jargon abuse is a form of bad manners in writing, and it often goes along with bureaucratic over-complications. For this reason, another good way to avoid jargon is to write in short, clear sentences. If you put a limit of (say) twenty words on the length of a sentence, it will help you to express your ideas clearly.


Acronyms

An acronym is an abbreviation created from the initial letters of a phrase or title – such as BBC = British Broadcasting Corporation.

Some are very well known, such as NATO, IBM, and AGM – but they become jargon when the original expression or name is not well known. A general reader cannot be expected to know that CASM means Community Action Selection Meeting.

The golden rule with acronyms is that names and titles should be spelled out in full the first time they are used – like this:

The committee elected four new members to the Corporate Affairs Steering Group (CASG) who will report immediately before the annual general meeting (AGM) at the end of July.

Use acronyms as little as possible, and only if they are convenient for your readers. You should use full words – Vice President, not VP – and use a shortened word form – each camera, not each CCTV unit.

Red button More on acronyms


Jargon buster

Jargon circulates so widely that certain terms actually become fashionable. They are then classed as buzzwords and are used almost as a substitute for clear thinking and expression.

This practice seem to be particularly widespread in local government, business management, advertising, marketing, political parties, and the military.

Here are some examples. You will notice that these terms overlap with the realms of cliché, inflation, pretentiousness, and sheer gobbledygook.


JARGON What it actually means
as it were completely meaningless filler
at this point in time now
blue sky thinking inventive, imaginative
due diligence research
economically marginalized unemployed
focussed around centred on
friendly fire killing your own troops
going forwards ongoing, in future
granularity detail
joined-up thinking logical, coherent
negative economic growth recession
outside the box imaginative
paradigm shift radical change
proactive active
re-focussing the company’s skill set firing staff
so to speak completely meaningless filler

© Roy Johnson 2012


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How to use and in a sentence

January 31, 2013 by Roy Johnson

And – definition

How to use andMany people have difficulties knowing how to use and in a sentence. That’s possibly because it is such a common word.

The term ‘and’ is a conjunction – which is a word used to connect other words or clauses that are to be taken jointly.

The term ‘and’ occurs regularly in expressions such as –

  • bread and butter
  • fish and chips
  • two hundred and forty

Lists

The term ‘and’ is commonly used when describing a number of objects or listing characteristics.

  • She gave me an apple, an orange, and a banana.
  • There were three articles on the table: a hat, a scarf, and a penknife.
  • She is a tall, blonde, and attractive woman.

The use of the comma after the final item in a list is optional. However, using the final comma is never wrong, and it always helps to remove possible ambiguities. The following example is confusing.

  • The cafe offers a full range of snacks, meat and vegetable pies and sandwiches.

This suggests that the sandwiches contain meat and vegetables – which is probably not true. The statement should be punctuated as follows, keeping meat and vegetable pies as a distinct unit.

  • The cafe offers a full range of snacks, meat and vegetable pies, and sandwiches.

The final comma is often called the ‘serial comma’ or the Oxford comma. That’s because the Oxford University Press has traditionally insisted on its use as part of their famous house style.


Clauses

‘And’ is used to connect separate clauses that have a logical connection:

  • We crossed the road and then went into the park.
  • They have a large house and a cottage in the country.
  • I like apples and I’m very fond of bananas.

Incorrect use

When the separate clauses are not connected by logic, sequence, or topic, using ‘and’ to establish a connection is wrong.

  • Jane is twenty years old, blue-eyed and has red hair.
  • It was a rainy day, very windy and soon we felt tired.
  • Given training, workers can acquire the skills and interest in other jobs.

The ampersand

The ampersand (&) is a symbol that is often used as a substitute for the word ‘and’.

It often appears in company titles: Webster & Co – instead of writing Webster and Company.

It should not be used in any formal writing, such as academic essays, reports, or business letters.

The ampersand is actually a symbol that has evolved from the Latin word et, which means ‘and’. It combines the letters e and t into one shape.


Grammar rules

There is a traditional notion that it is incorrect to start a sentence with ‘and’. This is somewhere between a myth and a superstition. There are many cases where it might be appropriate.

However – unless you are experienced in writing, it is often dangerous to start a sentence with a conjunction (and, but, or, although). This can easily lead to the production of sentence fragments and grammatically incorrect expressions – such as this:

Although the weather was appalling, with arctic temperatures, a howling blizzard, and a solid sheet of sleet-covered ice over all the roads, which made it difficult to keep upright.

Actually three conjunctions (Although, with, and) combine in this example to kill off the creation of a proper subject and principal verb.

When ‘and’ is used as a conjunction to link together names, no comma is required.

  • London and Paris are major European cities.
  • Hemingway and Scott-Fitzgerald were once popular American writers.

The word ‘and’ is often used as a conjunction in expressions of emphasis.

  • “I’ve told you time and time again not to do that.” [repeatedly]
  • There are holidays and holidays. [different kinds]
  • This new exhibition should run and run. [last a long time]

Poetry

The technique of using ‘and’ to start a sentence is often used for poetic or dramatic effect. For instance, in John Betjeman’s poem, Christmas, four of the last stanzas begin with ‘And …’ to represent a child-like form of expression.

And London shops on Christmas Eve
Are strung with silver bells and flowers
As hurrying clerks the City leave
To pigeon-haunted classic towers,
And marbled clouds go scudding by
The many-steepled London sky.

And girls in slacks remember Dad,
And oafish louts remember Mum,
And sleepless children’s hearts are glad.
And Christmas-morning bells say ‘Come!’
Even to shining ones who dwell
Safe in the Dorchester Hotel.

The first part of the King James Bible begins with an account of the creation of the world which uses ‘and’ to generate a sense of magisterial force, logic, and inevitability.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.


Puzzle

Can you add the necessary stress to make sense of the following statement?

“The sign is OK, but there should be more space between Marks and and and and and Spencer.”

If you can’t work that out, maybe this will help:

“The sign is OK, but there should be more space between Marks and &, and & and Spencer.”

© Roy Johnson 2013


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How to use quotation marks

July 13, 2011 by Roy Johnson

Quotation marks

quotation marks Quotation marks or quote marks are the single or double raised commas used at the beginning and the end of a written quotation.

quotation marks Single quote marks are shown ‘thus’.

quotation marks Double quote marks are shown “thus”.

quotation marks There are a number of instances where they are used.

quotation marks The simplest case to remember is that double quote marks should be reserved to show speech

“Good gracious!” exclaimed the duchess.

quotation marks The next most common use is when discussing somebody else’s writing:

In his recent account of the phone hacking scandal, Guardian journalist David Pallister mentions the ‘deep-seated culture of corruption’ shared by the police and the tabloid press.

quotation marks The words quoted are put into single quote marks for two reasons:

  • to show them distinct from the author’s own discussion
  • to respect the original and avoid any charge of plagiarism

quotation marks Remember that when a statement is ‘opened’ with a quote mark, it must be ‘closed’ at some point. It must not be left open.

quotation marks There are very few universally agreed conventions on the use of quote marks. Practice varies from one house style manual to another. The following are some general suggestions, based on current usage.


Emphasis

quotation marks In a detailled discussion, quote marks can be used as a form of emphasis, drawing attention to particular terms or expressions:

Internet users have developed their own specialist language or jargon. People ‘download’ software, use ‘file transfer protocols’, and run checks to detect ‘viruses’.

quotation marks An acceptable alternative would be to display these terms in italics.

quotation marks This distinction becomes important in academic writing where it is necessary to show a difference between the titles of articles and the journals or books in which they are published:

Higham, J.R., ‘Attitudes to Urban Delinquency’ in Solomons, David, Sociological Perspectives Today, London: Macmillan, 1998.


Quotes within quotes

quotation marks It is sometimes necessary to include one quotation within another. In such cases, a distinction must be shown between the two items being quoted.

The Express reported that ‘Mrs Smith claimed she was “deeply shocked” by the incident’.

quotation marks In this example, what Mrs Smith said is put in double quote marks (sometimes called ‘speech marks’) and the extract from the Express is shown in single quote marks.

quotation marks It’s very important that the order and the logic of such sequences is maintained – because this can affect the integrity of what is being claimed.

quotation marks Care should be taken with punctuation both within and around quotation marks.

The Express also pointed out that ‘At the meeting, Mrs Smith asked the minister “How could we as a family defend ourself against these smears?”‘


Titles

quotation marks Quote marks are commonly used to indicate the titles of books, films, operas, paintings, and other well-known works of art. An alternative is to show these in italics.

Charles Dickens’s novel ‘Bleak House’

Francis Ford Coppola’s film ‘Apocalypse Now!’

Benjamin Britten’s opera The Turn of the Screw

Pablo Picasso’s painting Guernica

quotation marks Quote marks can also be used to indicate the title of anything else which has a known existence, separate from the discussion:

photographs, exhibitions, television programmes, magazines, newspapers

quotation marks Quote marks are not necessary when indicating the titles of organisations.

Senator Jackson yesterday reported to the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives.


History

quotation marks The quotation mark started its life as a raised comma. It was used at a time when typogrphical marks available to a printer were rather limited.

quotation marks With the advent of the typewriter, a single and a double raised stroke were added to the marks available – and are still present on most keyboards.

quotation marks But typographical purists have now invented what are called ‘smart quotes’. These are single and double raised commas which are automatically arranged and inverted at the start and the end of a quotation:

"Good gracious!" cried the duchess.

© Roy Johnson 2011


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How to Write Good

March 19, 2015 by Roy Johnson

tips for guaranteed success with words

How to Write Good is a little catalogue of wisdom written by Frank L. Visco. It was originally published in the June 1986 issue of Writers’ Digest, where he claimed: “My several years in the word game have learnt me several rules.”

  1. Avoid alliteration. Always.
     
  2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
     
  3. Avoid cliches like the plague. (They’re old hat.)
     
  4. Employ the vernacular.
     
  5. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
     
  6. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
     
  7. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
     
  8. Contractions aren’t necessary.
     
  9. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
     
  10. One should never generalise.
     
  11. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said: “I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.”
     
  12. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
     
  13. Don’t be redundant, don’t use more words than necessary, it’s highly superfluous.
     
  14. Profanity sucks.
     
  15. Be more or less specific.
     
  16. Understatement is always best.
     
  17. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
     
  18. One-word sentences? Eliminate!
     
  19. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
     
  20. The passive voice is to be avoided.
     
  21. Go round the barn at high speed to avoid colloquialisms.
     
  22. Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
     
  23. Who needs rhetorical questions?
     
  24. Abjure polysyllabic obfuscations.
     
  25. Finally, chech for pselling errors and typeos.

How to Write Good Also see 26 Golden Rules for Writing Well

Most writing guides will give similar advice – but without the fun. Here is a collection of style guides for different types of writing – from academic scholarship, to business communications and commercial report writing. These guides cover topics such as word choice, clear expression, grammar, syntax, and case agreement, plus punctuation, editing and proof reading. It’s important to note that there are specific style conventions for different types of writing. What works for scientific writing may not be suitable for an engineering report or a business proposal.

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Hyphens – how to use them correctly

September 7, 2009 by Roy Johnson

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Hyphens – definition

hyphens Hyphens are short horizontal marks – (shorter than the dash).

redbtn Hyphens are used to show a link between words.


Examples

mother-in-law
re-enter
matter-of-fact
author-critic
president-elect
co-operation


Use

redbtn Hyphens are used to join words when forming compounds.

redbtn They are also used after prefixes – especially where it is necessary to avoid an awkward or confusing sequence of letters (as in re-enter).

redbtn Notice the difference between a compound word and the same terms used separately:

a fifteenth-century manuscript
in the fifteenth century

redbtn NB! The hyphen is not the same thing as the longer dash ( — ) but this distinction is rarely made in the UK.

redbtn Hyphens should be used where it is necessary to avoid ambiguity:

two-year-old cats
two year-old cats

redbtn They should also be used to distinguish terms which are spelled identically, but which have different meanings:

reformation – change for the better
re-formation – to form again

recover – to regain control
re-cover – to cover again

resign – to stand down
re-sign – to sign again

redbtn Hyphens are used when new terms are formed from compounds, but they are dropped when the compound is accepted into common usage. (This process is usually more rapid in the USA than in Europe.)

bath-tub -> bathtub
book-shelf -> bookshelf
club-house -> clubhouse

redbtn This phenomenon is currently visible in computer technology, where all three forms of a term may co-exist:

Word processor
Word-processor
Wordprocessor

redbtn Remember that the hyphen is not the same thing as the longer dash. A distinction between the two is commonly made in the US, but not in the UK.

Self-assessment quiz follows >>>

© Roy Johnson 2003


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Filed Under: English Language Tagged With: English language, Grammar, Hyphens, Language, Punctuation, Writing

Idioms – how to understand them

September 7, 2009 by Roy Johnson

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Idioms – definition

idioms Idioms are fixed phrases which are only meaningful as a whole.

redbtn All languages contain idiomatic phrases.

redbtn Native speakers learn them and remember them as a complete item, rather than a collection of separate words.


Examples
IDIOM MEANING
a red herring a false trail
raining cats and dogs raining very hard
fly in the ointment spoiling the effect

Use

redbtn Idioms often break semantic conventions and grammatical logic – as in I’ll eat my hat [I’ll be amazed if …].

redbtn The object of the verb ‘to eat’ is conventionally something edible, but as part of this idiom it is something definitely inedible.

redbtn Non-native speakers find the idiomatic side of any language difficult to grasp.

redbtn Native speakers of a language acquire idioms from a very early stage in their linguistic development.

redbtn NB! You’re getting this advice straight from the horse’s mouth.

redbtn Idioms are generally impossible to translate between languages, although some families of languages use idioms based on identical ideas.

redbtn In French, for example, the idiomatic phrase ‘mon vieux’ is parallel in its meaning with the English ‘old chap’.

redbtn Idioms very often contain a metaphor, but not always. For example, ‘How do you do’ is an idiomatic greeting but it is not a metaphor.

redbtn Idioms are not always used or recognised by the whole of the language community. Sub-groups of speakers employ idioms peculiar to themselves.

redbtn Teenagers, occupational groups, leisure groups, and gender groups all employ idioms or special phrases. These will mean something within the context of the group and its communication.

Medicine I went to the GP for a check-up
Sport He was caught leg-before-wicket
Gender She was at her sister’s hen-party

redbtn Idiom also determines the way that certain combinations of words make meaningful statements, but not others.

redbtn For instance, we are ‘in a quandry’ but ‘at a loss’; we are ‘out of sorts’ but ‘in low spirits’; whereas the expressions ‘at a quandry’ or ‘in sorts’ would have no meaning in English.

Self-assessment quiz follows >>>

© Roy Johnson 2003


English Language 3.0 program
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More on grammar


Filed Under: English Language Tagged With: English language, Grammar, Idioms, Language

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