Using Commas Correctly

I have always thought that I used commas appropriately (for the most part), but I thought it would benefit me if I gave myself a quick refresher on when it's necessary and not necessary to use commas.


One standard use for commas is to separate elements in a series.

Example : "I brought a pen, a notebook, and a ruler to class."

Pausing for a moment...the first comma in that sentence is necessary. The second comma is called the Oxford comma. An Oxford comma is used after the last item in a list of three or more items, before 'and' or 'or'.

I believe the Oxford comma is necessary. I almost always use it. If I don't...well, I think of this cartoon.




I turn to the Oxford comma for clarity.

Another standard use for commas is to separate independent clauses. You can use commas to separate independent clauses that are joined by "and", "but", "for", "or", "nor", "so", and "yet".

Example: My father is very kind, and I have learned a lot from him. 

An independent clause is a sentence that can stand on its own. To test this out, you need to see if the second part of the sentence would be a full sentence on its own after the removal of the comma and "and". This example works, and this is an example of using a comma to separate independent clauses. 

Another standard use for commas is to separate an introductory word or phrase. 

Example: However, I don't think this is true. 

Commas can get tricky. Sometimes they are put in places where they do not belong. This can cause confusion. I found a couple of sentence examples where a comma is used incorrectly. At first glance, I would not think that the following sentence was incorrect. 

Lisa waved at Nancy, laughing joyously. 

When I first looked at this sentence, I thought it was correct. Then I read the question next to the sentence: Who is laughing, Lisa or Nancy?

WELL, good question. Who IS laughing? I am assuming that it is Lisa, but the sentence isn't clear. The following would be a much more appropriate way of wording the sentence. 

Laughing joyously, Lisa waved at Nancy.

It makes sense to me now, but this probably would have been a mistake I would make in my writing.



A good general tip I found is to use commas whenever necessary to prevent confusion or misreading. While you do not want to put unnecessary breaks and pauses into a sentence, you want to make sure that you are conveying what you want to say in a clear way.

I mean, we have all seen these ecards floating around on Facebook and Pinterest.



And goodness knows I don't want to eat my dog.


References
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/607/

Lay and Lie

"Lay" and "lie" are two words that I used to think were interchangeable. When I learned they were not, I found it very confusing trying to determine when they should be used in sentences. In all honestly I still find it a little confusing, but I feel more confident now that I have looked up some more information.





The above comic illustrates a common misuse of "lay". I do this all the time! Perhaps this is why I can't get my dog to listen to my "Lay down!" command. I found a handy tip to help me remember which one to use in the present tense.

*You lay something down, and people lie themselves down.* 

• The verb that means “to recline” is to lie, not to lay. Thus, if we are talking about the act of reclining, we must use to lie, not to lay: “When I get a headache, I need to lie down and close my eyes.”

• The verb laid will always have a direct object: for us to use the word laid correctly in a sentence, something or someone in the sentence must be getting “put” or “placed”: “I laid my car keys on the counter when I came home.”(getitwriteonline.com) 

"Lay" requires a direct object, and "lie" does not. This is why I lie down on the couch (there is no direct object), but I lay the book down on the table (the book is the direct object). This is in the present tense, of course. Looking at these words in the past tense gets more confusing. Even The Grammar Girl herself admitted that she often has to look it up to make sure she is using the correct word.

I found a chart which lists the present, past, past participle and present participle terms for "to lay" or "to lie".



When I saw this chart, I immediately noticed a word I have never used before. "Lain". "Lain" is the past participle of "to lie". I found an example of a sentence using the word "lain":

“We have lain on every mattress in the store, and now we must decide which one to purchase.”

When I read that sentence, I thought to myself, "I would have used the word 'laid' without a second thought". It turns out I am not alone, because the next sentence explained how many people have not even heard of the word "lain". I don't feel so alone now!

I think I have the present tense down for deciding whether to use "lay" or "lie" in a sentence. While the past tense is a little trickier, I think I found some tips that will help me.  



References
http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/lay-versus-lie
http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/lay-vs-lie
http://www.getitwriteonline.com/archive/051402lielay.htm

Who Vs. Whom

I enjoy writing, but a word I never choose to use in my writing is "whom". The reason I never choose this is because I am not sure if I am using it correctly. I decided I wanted to look more into this word and see if there are some tips and tricks I can find to help me in my quest to learn how to correctly use the word "whom".

I once again used June Casagrande's book Grammar Snobs are Big Meanies: A Guide to Language for Fun & Spite. She covers a lot of ground in her small paperback book, and I found that I am learning a lot by referencing it.

Casagrande writes in her book that many language authorities say that using the word "whom" is only required in formal speech and writing. As I wrote about in my short paper, language and grammar is always evolving and changing, and in the case of "whom" it may be true. But I would still like to know how to use it, and when I should use it. I love language! I'm an English major though and through.

I learned a very handy tip from Casagrande's book.

"Who" is a subject, "whom" is an object. 

Who, I, he, she, they, we = subjects
Whom, me, him, her, them us = objects

 If I'm ever wondering if I am using "who" or "whom" correctly, I can plug in one of of the above pronouns. 

For example: 

Who/whom cooked this delicious fish? 
In this case I would say "who", because the answer to the question is:
He cooked it! (Not "him" cooked it). 

Another example:

To who/whom did you give that sweater?
In this case I would say "whom" because the answer to the question is:
I gave it to him! (I wouldn't say "I gave it to he").

This is something so simple, I can't believe I didn't know it already! It's a very handy tool that I can use anytime I am wondering if I should use the word "whom" instead of "who". In my future career as a high school English teacher, I hope to pass this knowledge along to my students.

In the same token, I would also want to remind my students that using "whom" does not convey an idea more clearly than using the word "who", and it isn't going to make them sound smarter, especially if it is not used correctly.

However, if they use the above tips that I just learned, they shouldn't have that problem!



References
Casagrande, June. Grammar Snobs Are Big Meanies: A Guide to Language for Fun & Spite. Penguin Books, 2006.

Affect vs. Effect

Affect vs. effect is something that I have always struggled with. Are the interchangeable? Are the completely different? When will they invent a spellcheck that will check for grammatical errors?

Much like one of my literary heroes, Hermione Granger, my motto is: When in doubt, go to the library. I went to my local library in search of some books about grammar that could help me tackle this lifelong struggle.

I found a book called Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies: A Guide to Language for Fun & Spite by Jane Casagrande. Casagrande wrote a short chapter in her book called "How to Impress Brad Pitt: 'Affect' vs 'Effect'". As you can tell by the title of that chapter, her book is more tongue in cheek and funny than a traditional book about grammar rules. One sentence that she wrote in this particular chapter is, "Ninety-nine percent of the time, 'affect' is a verb and 'effect' is a noun." Of course, this is not true every single time, as the English language has many rules with exceptions. However, this is a helpful way to remember whether to use affect or effect in a sentence.

I also found a website that had a couple of helpful sentences and rules for affect vs. effect.

Affect is an action, to impact or influence. "The snow affected the traffic".
Effect is an end result. "I love coffee, the effect is amazing!" (standoutbooks.com).

Reading over these tips certainly simplifies the choice of using effect or affect in a sentence. While I'm sure I won't go through my entire life without doubting myself on this again, it's certainly something helpful that I will store in the back of my mind for a date in the future when I'm struggling internally with whether I should use affect or effect, or choose a different word entirely. (Hah!)



https://www.standoutbooks.com/remember-difference-affect-effect/
Casagrande, June. Grammar Snobs Are Big Meanies: A Guide to Language for Fun & Spite. Penguin Books, 2006.

Its...NOT it's!

My son is four years old and will be starting UPK (Universal Pre-Kindergarten) in the fall. I had to go to the school administration building this afternoon to hand in his paperwork. I was sitting in the waiting room, which was decorated with lots of colorful posters advertising the benefits of UPK and how it can positively impact children's lives.

I spotted one brochure that stopped me in my tracks. I had to take a picture.

"Children are the worlds most valuable resource and it's best hope for the future." - JFK

I often see people misusing the "it's/its", but I was very surprised to see the mistake being made on a brochure talking about educating children. I wonder if the person who typed up the brochure realized his/her mistake after stacks and stacks of them were printed off.

Perhaps I should email this very handy website to the school district: It's not Its | Its not It's .