Grammar-O Wednesdayswith Ocieanna
Happy Wednesday, grammarians!
Welcome to our new feature. Each week I (Ocieanna) post a few sentences with grammar, punctuation, spelling, or other writing misdemeanors. Your job is to find the infraction and set it right. If you possess the courage, you’re welcome to post your corrections in the comments, or you may simply keep your grammar to yourself. Then next week, I’ll post the answers.
This week’s new batch:
1) I asked a friend “Are you enjoying Grammar-O”?
2) I’ve been doing alot of editing this week.
3) Its always interesting to discover the various mistakes people make in they’re grammar usage.
4) Every one seems to veer off in different ways. And that goes for me too!
5) Even though I must keep a close watch for grammar errors everyday writing this blog has been a good refresher for me.
Remember, the point is to hunt out the blatantly illegal, not matters of preference or opinion.
Good luck and have fun!
Here are the corrected ones from last week:
1) In our home-school lessons, we’ve finished are unit on the Dark Ages.
Correct: In our homeschool lessons, we finished our unit on the Dark Ages.
Tip: “We’ve” is technically legal, but it’s usually better to cut “have” whenever possible. However, if you left it as “we’ve,” don’t mark yourself wrong.
2) Conquerors of the Roman Empire, my children loved learning about barbarians. Argh!
Correct: My children loved learning about the barbarians, conquerors of the Roman Empire. Argh!
Tip: To avoid confusion (my children are wild, but I wouldn’t call them barbarians), keep your modifier near the word modified.
3) Charlemagne, King of the Franks and Emperor of the Romans, said that, “To have another language is to possess a second soul.”
Correct: Charlemagne, king of the Franks and emperor of the Romans, said that “to have another language is to possess a second soul.”
4) My kids did a skit called Baldur the Good. In it, Baldur a Viking mythological figure says about his relatives throwing stones and arrows at him, “It feels like a shower of flowers”!
Correct: My kids did a skit called, “Baldur the Good.” In it, Baldur, a Viking mythological figure, says about his relatives throwing stones and arrows at him, “It feels like a shower of flowers!”
5) Finally, we learned about the battle of Hastings. Irregardless of there might, the English couldn’t hold against William the Conqueror.
Correct: Finally, we learned about the Battle of Hastings. Regardless of their might, the English couldn’t hold against William the Conqueror.
Tip: Irregardless is not a word.
Well, how’d you do? Do you think you fixed all the sentences?
*Disclaimer: I’m by no means perfect at this. I use The Chicago Manual of Style and Webster’s Dictionary as my sources. The sentences to correct are fictitious.
