Grammar Rules: That and Which

There’s a lot of confusion about that and which. These two words are often used interchangeably, even though they’re not necessarily interchangeable.

Historically, that and which may have carried the same meaning, and some English dialects may allow for that and which to be swapped without affecting the meaning of a sentence.

However, in American English, the grammar rules offer a distinct difference between the two words. By the time you’re done reading this post, you’ll fully understand the difference between that and which, and you’ll be able to use both words correctly. Read more

Grammar Rules: Who vs. Whom

It sounds pretty old fashioned: To whom have you sent those letters? Modern colloquial speakers expect something more along the lines of Who did you send those letters to?

While whom may sound outdated, it can pose a problem, especially if you’re writing for an erudite audience or if you are a stickler for using words properly and adhering to all known grammar rules.

In the example above, the second sentence (Who did you send those letters to?) breaches the standards set forth by proper grammar by ending a sentence with a preposition, and it breaks the rules of usage in the ongoing battle of who vs. whom.

Here are the two grammar rules violated by our example sentence: Read more

Grammar Rules: Lay or Lie

One of the most common grammatical mistakes that we see in both speech and writing is the misuse of the words lay and lie.

This error is so common, it even slips past professional writers, editors, and English teachers — all the time.

Maybe eventually these two words will morph into one and have the exact same meaning, but until then, it’s worthwhile to learn proper usage. For now, their meanings are completely different.

Let’s take a look at this interesting word pair and find out whether we should be using lay or lie based on each word’s definition.

Lay

Dictionary.com lists 42 different definitions for the word lay. Of these, 28 are categorized as a verb used with an object, eight as verbs used without an object, and six are simply nouns. Plus, there are 15 verb phrases that use the word lay, as well as nine idioms. This is a word that can be used in a lot of different ways!

Let’s keep things simple by focusing on what differentiates lay from lie.

In short, lay is something you do to something else. You might think that sounds funny, especially considering idiom number 58 (get laid), but it’s true and of course “getting laid” is exactly what you should use to remember that you lay something (down).

Lie

The word lie only has 27 definitions, so that’s a relief. Though, that’s not taking into consideration the nine additional definitions that deal with falsehoods.

Again, we’ll keep it simple. Just remember that you should use the word lie when there is no object involved.

Lay or Lie

Here are some tips to help you remember whether to use lay or lie in a sentence:

Every sentence has a subject and a verb. An example would be the following:

I write.

“I” is the subject, and “write” is the verb. Many sentences also have an object:

I write poems.

In this example, the word “poems” is the object. The object in a sentence receives the action of the verb. The subject is taking or making that action.

Subject: I (does the action)

Action: write (the action)

Object: poems (receives the action – i.e. gets written)

Learning to Use Lay or Lie is Easy!

The word lay should be used when there is an object receiving the action, i.e. something or someone is getting laid (down) by something or someone else.

I always lay my pencil by the phone.
I laid the book on that chair.
I am laying down the law.

Conversely, the word lie is used when there is no object involved, i.e. the subject of the sentence is doing the lying.

I lie down every afternoon.
The kitten lies there, dozing.
The dog is lying down.

Wait — There’s More

As with every rule, there are exceptions. Consider the following line: “Now I lay me down to sleep . . .” Well, in that sentence, the speaker (I) is laying himself or herself down. We don’t normally speak like this: I lay myself down. However, if you were to include yourself in a sentence as both as subject and object, you would use lay rather than lie.

Matters get even more confusing when we look at the past tenses of these verbs. For example, the past tense of to lie is lay:

Present tense: I am lying on my bed.
Past tense: I lay on my bed last night.

The past tense of lay is laid:

Present tense: I am laying my book right here.
Past tense: I laid my book right here yesterday.

Discerning between lay or lie is not an easy feat, but once you memorize the meanings and conjugations of these two oddly similar words, using them correctly will be a snap.

Do you have any tips for remembering whether a sentence calls for lay or lie? Are there any word pairs or grammar rules that confuse you? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment.

Grammar Rules: i.e. and e.g.

Occasionally, we come across the abbreviations i.e. and e.g., but what do they mean, and what is the difference between them? How do grammar rules apply?

These two terms originate in the Latin language and are just two of the many Latin phrases that have survived into modern language.

Both i.e. and e.g. are abbreviations for longer Latin phrases, so one of the smartest ways to memorize these terms is to learn what they stand for. Read more

Grammar Rules: Fewer or Less

It’s a battle between words: fewer or less. Are they interchangeable? Do these words have different meanings? How can we use them correctly?

Many people don’t realize that these two words do not share the same meaning and therefore cannot be used interchangeably. As a result, both fewer and less are often used incorrectly.

The difference may be subtle but it’s significant and remarkably easy to remember. Let’s see what Dictionary.com has to say about these two words:

fewer: adjective 1. of a smaller number: fewer words and more action.

less: adjective 1. smaller in size, amount, degree, etc.; not so large, great, or much: less money; less speed.

The grammar rules are clear; let me break them down for you.

Fewer or Less? Which is Correct?

Fewer and less respectively refer to a number of items or an amount of something. The easiest way to remember which of these adjectives to use in a given situation is this:

Fewer should be used when the items in question can be counted.

She has fewer books than her brother.

Less is used when the amount of something cannot be counted.

She has less interest in reading than her brother does.

Note that books can be counted item by item. However, interest is not a thing that can be counted, though we can discuss how much of it someone has.

The basic difference here is countability. Use fewer for countable nouns like individuals, cars, and pens. Use less for uncountable nouns such as love, time, and interest. Do note, however, that there are some sticky spots to watch out for when determining whether you should use fewer or less. For example, you might need less paper but you will need fewer sheets of paper.

Fewer or Less

Now you know how to tell the difference.

Do you have questions about correctly using fewer or less or any other word pairs? Maybe you have something to add to this linguistic look at tricky adjectives. Share your thoughts by leaving a comment and let’s discuss.

Grammar Rules: Capitalization

Proper capitalization is one of the cornerstones of good grammar, yet many people fling capital letters around carelessly.

Not every word deserves to be capitalized. It’s an honor that must be warranted, and in writing, capitalization is reserved only for special words.

Most of the grammar rules are explicit about which words should be capitalized. However, there are some cases (like title case) in which the rules are vague.

Capitalization of Titles

There are several contexts in which we can examine capitalization. When writing a title (of a blog post, for example), almost all of the words in the title are capitalized. This is called title case.

Title case is used for titles of books, articles, songs, albums, television shows, magazines, movies… you get the idea.

Capitalization isn’t normally applied to every word in a title. Smaller words, such as a, an, and the are not capitalized. Some writers use a capitalization rule for only those words longer than three letters. Others stretch it to four.

There’s no fixed grammar rule for which words aren’t capitalized in a title, although they tend to be the smaller and more insignificant words; you should check your style guide for specific guidelines.

Capitalization of Acronyms

Every letter in an acronym should be capitalized, regardless of whether the words those letters represent start with capital letters:

• The acronym for Writing Forward would be WF.
• WYSIWYG is an acronym that stands for what you see is what you get. Although the words in the original phrase aren’t capitalized, every letter in the acronym is capitalized.
• Most people use acronyms heavily in text messaging and online messaging. In common usage, these acronyms are rarely capitalized: omg, btw, nsfw. However, if you were using these acronyms in a more formal capacity, they would be entirely capitalized: OMG, BTW, NSFW.

First Word of a Sentence

As I’m sure you know, grammar rules state that the first word in a sentence is always capitalized.

Capitalization of Proper Nouns

To keep things simple here today, we’ll refer to a noun as a person, place, or thing. You need not worry about the other parts of speech because only nouns are eligible for perennial capitalization.

There are two types of nouns that matter in terms of capitalization: proper nouns and common nouns. Proper nouns are the names of specific people, places, and things. Common nouns are all the other, nonspecific people, places, and things.

When considering whether to capitalize, ask whether the noun in question is specific. This will tell you if it’s a proper noun, which should be capitalized, or a common noun, which remains in all lowercase letters.

Proper Noun Capitalization Example

The word country is not specific. It could be any country. Even if you’re talking about the country in which you live, which is a specific country, the word itself could indicate any number of nations. So keep it lowercase because it’s a common noun.

Conversely, Chile is a specific country. You can tell because Chile is actually the name of a particular land in which people reside. When you discuss the people of that land, you won’t capitalize the word people. However, if you’re talking about Chileans, you definitely capitalize because Chileans are a very specific people, from a very specific country, Chile.

Hopefully that makes sense. If not, keep reading because I’m about to confuse you even more.

Capitalization of Web and Internet

Have you ever noticed the word Internet capitalized? How about the word Web? The linguistic jury is still out on these newfangled technology terms, but generally speaking, the Internet is one great big, specific place. The Web is just another word for that same place.

Wait — what about websites? Do they get capitalized? Only if you’re referring to the name of an actual site, like Writing Forward. A website can be any number of pages online. Think of it like a city in Chile, which is similar to a website on the Web or Internet.

Capitalization of Web and Internet is not a hard and fast grammar rule. Lots of people write these words in all lowercase letters. Do note, however, that when these terms are used as adjectives (also known as modifiers or descriptive words), they should never be capitalized:

I was accessing the Internet from an internet café.

The first occurrence of “Internet” uses capitalization because it refers to the (specific) Internet. But an internet café is a type of café and in this example, internet is used as an adjective rather than as a proper noun, and is therefore not capitalized.

Again, capitalizing Web and Internet is optional.

Common Capitalization Errors

Folks often think that capitalization should be applied to any word that’s deemed important. Here’s an example:

We sent the Product to the local Market in our last shipment. Have the Sales Force check to see if our Widgets are properly packaged.

It’s not uncommon, especially in business writing, to see nouns that are crucial to a company’s enterprise capitalized. This is absolutely incorrect. Here’s correct capitalization of our example:

We sent the product to the local market in our last shipment. Have the sales force check to see if our widgets are properly packaged.

Now, in a rewrite of the example, some of the words will be again capitalized, but only if they are changed into proper nouns – names or titles of things and people.

We sent the Widgetbusters (TM) to WidgetMart in our last shipment. Have our Sales Manager check to see if our widgets are properly packaged.

What about Capitalization for Job Titles?

Ah, this one’s tricky. Job titles are only capitalized when used as part of a specific person’s title:

• Have you ever met a president?
• Did you vote for president?
• Do you want to become the president?
• Nice to meet you, Mr. President.
• He once saw President Obama in a restaurant.

Again, this has to do with specificity. “The president” or “a president” could be any president, even if in using the phrase, it’s obvious by context who you mean. However “Mr. President” or “President Obama” are specific individuals and they call for capitalization.

Grammar Rules!

Do you have any questions about grammar rules regarding capitalization? Any additional tips to add? Leave a comment!