Some Common Errors in Grammar and Syntax

While editing theses, dissertations, and manuscripts for publication, I have encountered a significant number of errors in grammar or syntax that recur frequently. Below is a list of the most common such errors and the grammatical principles of correct usage. Please note that this essay presumes a prescriptive grammar, which will be explained and defended in another article.

Definite and indefinite pronouns:

That is a definite pronoun. It is used to denote a characteristic or identifying position that defines the subject of the sentence.

Which is an indefinite article that introduces a characteristic inessential to the root meaning of the sentence. The meaning can be important to you, or important to the meaning of the passage, but it is not the denotation of the sentence, itself. The sentence can be constructed without the clause following the word, 'which.' That clause could be introduced in a separate sentence.

"I have found the book that explains the meaning of pedantry, which, incidentally, is green," means that you have found one book on pedantry, and it happens to be green. "Hand me the book on pedantry that is green on the table," means that there are several books on the table, perhaps more than one on pedantry, but there is only one green one and that is the point of the sentence. 'Which' can be set off by commas. However, 'that' is never set off by commas.

Some commonly misused words:

Infamy does not mean, really, really famous. It means well known for undesirable reasons or bad characteristics.

Notoriety is closely akin to infamy. It is a fame in the sense of widely known but, as 'infamy' it is for a negative reason.

The parts compose the whole. The whole comprises the parts. The construction, "...is comprised of..." is never correct. Many divers (sic) neighborhoods compose a city. A city comprises many divers neighborhoods. "A city is composed of many divers neighborhoods" is a syntactically identical sentence.

'Divers': various, several.

'Diverse': significantly varying from each other. This fine but important literary distinction is already nearly lost. "Divers" is a word on its way out. It is considered poetic, or frankly archaic usage. I mourn that; it is a distinction in meaning that is exact and precise in its power. It is one word, without which it would take at least a sentence to convey the intended meaning.

I am nauseous means you have the quality to induce nausea in others; you are 'nauseating.' I am nauseated means that you are seriously in danger of barfing (I like that coinage.) I am nauseous means that the people around you are seriously in danger of vomiting. This distinction, too, is being lost. However, as there are simple and exact ways of specifying this difference (nauseated, nauseating) it is not a great loss.

Political conservatism properly denotes a strict construction of the constitution. That's construction not destruction. Try that one on the people who call themselves conservatives today.

Oversight means overlook, to not notice. It does not mean to look over or monitor. Unfortunately, though, it is probably a better descriptor of what congressional oversight committees actually do than what it is intended to denote. (This is in no way useful, it's merely a comment.)

Jealousy refers specifically to the affection of another person. "Envy" refers to the emotion of wanting another person's possessions, achievements, or characteristics. You might be envious of someone's ability to attract other people but unless one of those other people is your beloved, you are not jealous.

Yet is a multipurpose word. It refers to time as 'until now' or until some unspecified or implied time. Is it raining yet? He had not done it as of yet. It can imply a superlative. "The best up to this time" is not nearly as strong a statement as, "The best yet." There is an implied absence of something. Nothing better yet. Not yet here. Even the 'best yet' implies the absence of something better.

Still implies continuation. Something is continuing to occur. There are nearly equivalent meanings, such as 'best yet' and 'best still' but even those have different implications. 'Best yet' is a very positive connotation. 'Best still' connotes continuation but some doubt about the future. Put simply, 'Is it raining yet?' means it hasn't begun to rain to the knowledge of the questioner. "Is it raining still?' means it was raining the last time the questioner knew.

'Shall': In the first person it merely means intent. 'I shall do this' means I intend to do it. In the second and third person it is an imperative. It is strong and beyond simple suggestion. 'You shall do it' is an order. 'He shall do it' is a strong statement that implies certainty or threat.

'Will': In the first person is an imperative. It denotes determination. 'I will do it' it a promise with determination. In the second and third persons, 'will' connotes simple intent without the imperative. You will do it is practically a question. In other words, the words reverse their meaning depending upon the person.

Since, always should refer to time, not cause. "The car fell apart since John began driving it," means that sometime after John began to drive it, the car fell apart. It does not necessarily imply that the car fell apart because john began to drive it. If that's what you mean, that's what you should say.

Some common errors of number:

Everyone and everybody are singular words; singular, as in, one, he, she, not they. Everyone cannot get their boots on. Everybody cannot raise their hand. The problem in writing arises because of the awkward construction of the phrase, 'his or hers.' The solution is to change the construction to match the thought. For example, "All of you should put on your boots," or "Raise your hands," where the plural subject is simply implied. The awkward 'her or his' construction can be circumvented either by this transformation of the sentence, as above, to the plural, or through the use of the word 'one' to replace the gender specific 'him' or 'her.' For example, "Everybody can reduce one's chance of drowning by wearing a safety jacket." Although this is, indeed an awkward construction, it is grammatically correct. As opposed to the sentence, "Everybody can reduce their chance of drowning by wearing safety jackets." (Or, even worse, "...by wearing a safety jacket.") In most cases of this type, the easiest, best sounding, grammatical construction would be the simple conversion to the consistent use of the plural, "All (or 'people') should reduce their chances of drowning by wearing safety jackets."

The word, 'none' is properly used as both singular and plural. Although it derives from the Old English word, 'an', meaning 'one', it is and has been used as both singular and plural since its inception. It has the meaning of either, 'not one', or 'not any' and, in some constructions, must be used with a plural verb, such as, "None, but a handful of fools, were (not 'was') left on the battlefield. The presence of the phrase, "handful of fools," defines the word as plural, demanding a plural verb. However, the sentences, "None were left," or, "None was left," without the specific reference to more than one are both correct - and mean the same thing.

The difference between a preposition and a conjunction:

'From' is a preposition; 'than' is a comparative conjunction used to introduce the second element or clause of unequal comparison. 'Greater than, lesser than, better than,' all contain a direct comparisons. 'Different than me,' does not. It is the syntactic equivalent of saying, "Get away than me." An item can be more different from the norm than another item is. In that case, a comparison is introduced. The sentence, "This picture is different than that picture," is a grammatical and syntactic abomination.

Quotation marks:

The use of the single, versus the double quotation marks, historically, is simple. The primary use of the single mark is to note a quotation within another quote. He said, "Well, her answer was, 'Screw you, too.'" However, I believe that they are proper in another usage that is not generally given in introductory English composition texts. In the many tortuous sentences above, I have used them in the following way. Double quotation marks imply an actual statement or thought. The single quotation mark is reserved to imply that the word or phrase between them is being used as something other than a simple part of the sentence. For example, the sentence, "When you use 'that' in a sentence, it must denote a specific quality necessary to the root meaning of the sentence," is a very interesting construction in which the rules are bent to illustrate another point. Setting off the word, 'that' by the single quotation marks means that the word is not used as a part of the sentence but rather as an object, that happens to be a word. The sentence, itself, was set off between double quotation marks despite the fact that it was not something said as a quote. The quotation mark, single or double, indicates that the sentence is being used as an object and is not in the direct flow of the paragraph. In this particular case, however, because of the word that is set off within the sentence itself, the use of the single mark would conflict with those surrounding the word. Hence, the double mark serves in its place, which it can do. A set of single quotation marks, however, cannot be used to set off an actual quotation in place of the double marks. So, the double can be used for all purposes that quotation marks serve. The single, however, cannot. It can never be used to denote an actual quote, except within a quote.

I must admit that my use of the single quote to denote 'special' word usage is not universally recognized, although I have found it frequently so used. I like that distinction so I am pretending it is standard in the hope that enough people will believe me so that it will come true. I think this is a change in usage that has a useful purpose, increasing precision.

Instead of the somewhat confusing use of quotation marks, printed text resorts to italics, when possible, or underlining, when not. The availability of italics varies from one word processing or typing program to another, but is universal in commercially published materials. The underline is also the generally used indicator in place of single quotes in handwritten documents

As an aside, the practice, exclusively in the Southern United States, to put quotation marks around nearly anything, for little or no purpose, is abominable. Advertising signs use quotation marks for apparent emphasis or to suggest that this is a company motto. This usage is in direct conflict with another derivative use that is intended to cast the content in doubt. For example, he was an "honest man" could be used to connote sarcasm or irony. Sometimes, this is implied in speech with a finger gesture. I shall not comment on that "sophisticated" usage.

This very brief presentation of a few grammatical issues is, of course, far from complete. It was driven by observations of the most common errors I encountered when editing manuscripts. Also, some of the recommendations above are not universally accepted or thought necessary. They reflect my bias, a bias that derives from my desire to retain the precision and, consequently the potential elegance, of the English language.