Grammar-O

Grammar-O Wednesdays
with Ocieanna

Happy Wednesday, grammarians! Ready to test your mad grammar skills?

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.

Have fun!

This week’s new batch:

1) I like to recognize the distinction between Advent Hymns, which talk about the coming of the Messiah, and Christmas Hymns, which celebrate his birth.

2) Traditionally, church’s only sang Advent hymns until Christmas Sunday when they rejoiced with Christmas hymns.

3) What’s your favorite hymns of the season? Here’s some of mine.

4) For Advent, I love O Come O Come Emmanuel. Such poignant Old Testament references!

5) My favorite Christmas hymn is What Child is This? The words draw me into the nativity scene, and the haunting melody.

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) Yesterday me and my husband celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary.
Correct: Yesterday my husband and I celebrated our nineteenth wedding anniversary.
Tip: According to Chicago Manuel of Style, numbers from one to ninety-nine are spelled out.

2) I think we compliment eachother well.
Correct: I think we complement each other well.

3) I pondered the seasons of our life together, relishing the memories.
Correct: Relishing the memories, I pondered the seasons of our life together.
Note: There’s a misplaced modifier. It’s unclear whether relishing the memories modifies “I” or “the seasons of our life together.”

4) The carefree pre-kid years seem a distant memory. Vacations. Interesting jobs. Late-night jaunts to coffee shops with friends and especially alone time.
Correct: The carefree, pre-kid years, filled with vacations, interesting jobs, late-night jaunts to coffee shops with friends, and especially alone time, seem a distant memory.

5) And then we had kids—everything else is literally a blur.
Correct: And then we had kids—everything else is a blur.
Tip: Be careful with “literally.” It means what it says. If everything was literally a blur, I’d need to get my eyes checked. :-D


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.