Grammar-O

Grammar-O Wednesdays
with Ocieanna

Welcome to grammar day on Seriously Write. If you’re a regular visitor here, you know that Ocieanna, our good friend and fellow blog hostess, went into cardiac arrest early in January. She’s doing well, but needs further rest. In the meantime, Annette and I (Dawn) will carry on in Ocieanna’s place until she can return. Please continue praying for her. Thanks!


Ready to test your skills?

The following sentences may contain grammar, punctuation, spelling, or other writing misdemeanors. Your job is to find the infraction and set it right. Try not to look at the answers below.

Have fun!

Sentences to correct:

1) We live in a techno crazed world. There was a time when blackberrys were used in making jams and pies.

2) Now the Blackberry is a gadget which includes a mobile phone, email, a silent messaging system, and internet access.

3) I admit to having a cell phone, it’s a helpful tool. My car has experienced a few flat tires that I didn’t care to change on my own. After all, what intelligent women wants to reck her newly polished nails on a good pair of slacks when AAA is only a call away?

4) You can’t go anywhere without seeing someone talking on a cell phone. People attach them to their ear while driving, shopping, and attempting business transactions. Some conversations rely important information: others occur to help alleviate boredom.

5) In movie theaters, stage performances, and aboard airplanes, people have to be reminded to turn off their cell phones in order to not to be disruptive. And how many times during worship has your pastor been forced to ignore a cell phone ringing while delivering a message?

6) This has all led to me thinking about prayer. In comparison to the amount of time we spend chatting on our cell phones, how much time do we spend conversing with our Lord?


Corrected sentences:

1) We live in a techno-crazed world. There was a time when blackberries were used in making jams and pies.

2) Now the BlackBerry is a gadget that includes a mobile phone, e-mail, a silent messaging system, and Internet access.

Note: Which clauses require commas; that clauses do not require commas.

3) I admit to having a cell phone; it’s a helpful tool. My car has experienced a few flat tires that I didn’t care to change on my own. After all, what intelligent woman wants to wreck her newly polished nails or a good pair of slacks when AAA is only a call away?

4) You can’t go anywhere without seeing someone talking on a cell phone. People attach them to their ears while driving, shopping, and attempting business transactions. Some conversations relay important information; others occur to help alleviate boredom.

5) In movie theaters, before stage performances, and aboard airplanes, people have to be reminded to turn off their cell phones in order to not be disruptive. And how many times during worship has your pastor, while delivering a message, been forced to ignore a cell phone ringing?

Note: I removed an extra “to” after the word “not” in the first sentence.
Note: The way the second sentence was originally written, the cell phone could be delivering a message.

6) This has all led me to think about prayer. In comparison to the amount of time we spend chatting on our cell phones, how much time do we spend conversing with our Lord?

How well did you do?

I use The Chicago Manual of Style and Webster’s Dictionary as my sources.