tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92032604989318498742026-10-27T05:21:41.790-04:00The Snarky Student's Guide to Grammar"I won't not use no double negatives." —Bart SimpsonSnarkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07813344126019286979noreply@blogger.comBlogger224125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9203260498931849874.post-65584948220837944172012-11-11T09:59:00.001-05:002013-04-18T13:18:36.957-04:00Justin Bieber: If I Was Your Subjunctive Fail Claryssa writes: For extra credit, I am looking for examples of music lyrics that don't use the subjunctive when they should. I think Justin Bieber's "Boyfriend" is one. Am I right? Yep. In fact, this is a stellar example of where the subjunctive should be used. Where does the Biebs go wrong? His wishful, hypothetical statement requires a subjunctive verb. Blech, the Snarkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07813344126019286979noreply@blogger.com282tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9203260498931849874.post-48096238996554278072012-11-11T07:56:00.001-05:002012-11-11T08:47:14.425-05:00SAT Question: Appositive Feedback Shane writes: Hi Snarky. Yesterday's SAT Question of the Day is my nightmare. I always get this kind of question wrong, because I don't understand why one sentence is better than the others. Please help. No problem, Shane. Let's break it down. Here's yesterday's question: Part or all of the following sentence is underlined; beneath the sentence are five ways of phrasingSnarkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07813344126019286979noreply@blogger.com167tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9203260498931849874.post-52364956347598882512012-11-05T13:53:00.000-05:002012-11-05T13:53:03.037-05:00Correction: Honey, I Shrank the Kids Belinda writes: This movie title has always bothered me. Shouldn't it be 'Honey, I Shrank the Kids?' That's one of two easy fixes. Shrink is an irregular verb. In the past tense, its participles are shrank and shrunk. Quick rules: Shrink is the verb in the present tense. If you leave your jeans in a hot dryer for too long, they shrink.  Snarkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07813344126019286979noreply@blogger.com138tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9203260498931849874.post-76390690410317043012012-11-05T06:03:00.000-05:002012-11-05T06:03:16.167-05:00Punctuation Saves Lives: Please Use Caution When Hunting Pedestrians Punctuation saves lives, people. From @wrdinc on Instagram.Snarkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07813344126019286979noreply@blogger.com147tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9203260498931849874.post-52453998931943139372012-11-04T17:58:00.000-05:002012-11-04T17:58:30.874-05:00Apocalypto: Pronoun-Antecedent Disagreement Samantha writes: Snarky, my ELA assignment is to find the error on this poster. Help! The mistake is in the tagline running along the bottom of the poster just above the credits. No one can outrun their destiny.   Where does this movie poster go wrong? The possessive pronoun, their, does not agree with its antecedent, no one. 'No one' is singular so it needs a singular Snarkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07813344126019286979noreply@blogger.com249tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9203260498931849874.post-62707020954907142982012-11-04T12:18:00.002-05:002012-11-04T12:18:39.693-05:00Dispose vs. Dispose Of: Grammar Police Protect an IKEA Bathroom On Instagram, grammar hound @jenni_bea shared a goof she apparently spied inside the ladies' room at IKEA. @snarkygrammar Someone corrected it!   Look carefully and you'll see that, lo and behold, it's true. Some grammatically savvy gal after my own heart has inserted the word 'of' after 'dispose.' Where does this IKEA notice go wrong? It fails to use the Snarkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07813344126019286979noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9203260498931849874.post-20890357989808740842012-11-04T10:49:00.002-05:002012-11-04T10:49:55.044-05:00Comma Splice: As Seen in Bamshaft Ad Declan writes: Snarky, my teacher has been teaching us about comma splices and I think I found one in this ad in Lacrosse magazine. Am I right?   Absolutely! Where does this ad go wrong? The headline uses a comma to join two independent clauses. That's an error known as a comma splice. Remember, commas are used for separating, not connecting. In this ad, we have Snarkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07813344126019286979noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9203260498931849874.post-51709096449987550752012-11-04T10:25:00.002-05:002012-11-04T10:25:17.437-05:00Hold the Hyphen: Daydreaming Ethan writes: Hi Snarky. It's the end of the first quarter and I need to bump up my English grade. My teacher says he'll give extra credit for finding examples of grammar and punctuation errors in magazines and newspapers. I think the hyphen in this headline is a mistake. Yes?   Yes, Ethan. Go ahead and hand it in. Where does this ad go wrong? It puts an unnecessary hyphen inSnarkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07813344126019286979noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9203260498931849874.post-75548892509417584372012-11-01T07:05:00.000-04:002012-11-01T07:05:27.756-04:00Desert vs. Dessert: Easy Way to Remember the Difference A lot of people mix up desert and dessert. This is an easy way to remember how to spell dessert.Snarkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07813344126019286979noreply@blogger.com391tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9203260498931849874.post-70324249134303333972012-10-30T18:56:00.002-04:002012-10-30T18:56:52.598-04:00This Joke Kills at the Word-Nerd Convention Definitions: agnostic (n.) - a person who is uncommitted to believing in the existence or nonexistence of God insomniac (n.) - a person who has a prolonged disability to sleep dyslexic (n.) - a person with a neurological disorder that typically manifests as a learning disability involving difficulties in acquiring and processing language Snarkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07813344126019286979noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9203260498931849874.post-83328274943646693392012-10-30T11:42:00.003-04:002012-10-30T11:42:53.262-04:00Writing Tip: With Exclamation Points, Less is More One of the best editors I've ever known once told me that you should limit yourself to three exclamation points in your entire lifetime. It was an exaggeration, of course, but he was making a good point. When writing for school or work, a plain old period is the perfect choice for most sentences. Mind you, this advice isn't as imporant for casual writing. Feel free to shout Snarkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07813344126019286979noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9203260498931849874.post-10016029051837167382012-10-30T09:47:00.000-04:002012-10-30T09:47:27.420-04:00Affect vs. Effect: The Easy Way to Remember Do you get confused between affect and effect? This is the best way I know to remember the difference.Snarkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07813344126019286979noreply@blogger.com44tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9203260498931849874.post-24099994678279031482012-10-30T08:30:00.002-04:002012-10-30T08:30:34.801-04:00Auto Correct Can Go Straight to He'll Snarkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07813344126019286979noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9203260498931849874.post-37923707349482353842012-10-25T06:54:00.002-04:002012-10-25T06:54:41.630-04:00Awkward Wording: Schools for Hookers and Touching These made me laugh. Charles writes: Hi Snarky. I thought you might enjoy these. They're a reminder to always keep your audience in mind and choose your words carefully. Snarkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07813344126019286979noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9203260498931849874.post-32236835767957582922012-10-24T08:18:00.000-04:002012-10-24T08:18:16.871-04:00It's a Snap! Share Your On-the-Go Grammar Goofs on InstagramI really love when readers send me photos of the grammar bloopers they spy in their day-to-day lives—and now there's an even easier, quicker way to contribute pics. Next time you run across a blooper, gaffe, or head-scratcher, please share it on Instagram. I may use it in the blog or share it on Facebook.   I'll be posting tidbits of advice on grammar, Snarkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07813344126019286979noreply@blogger.com61tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9203260498931849874.post-10969087191291746342012-10-22T19:48:00.000-04:002012-10-22T19:48:15.792-04:00Hyphen Nation: Third-Debate Moderator vs. Third Debate Moderator A third-debate moderator is not the same as a third debate moderator. Quick rules: Use a hyphen between two words that work together to describe a noun, when the compound adjective comes directly before the noun. Maria shared her blue-ribbon recipe. Don't use a hyphen when the two words come after the noun. Marie shared the recipe that won a blue ribbon. Don't use a hyphen when theSnarkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07813344126019286979noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9203260498931849874.post-7675476344643079352012-10-22T13:06:00.002-04:002012-10-22T13:06:12.574-04:00Zombies: The Hot New Grammar Secret Weapon Thanks to a tweet from @johnsonr, who teaches the brave men and women of the USMC, we all have a foolproof and fun way to determine whether a sentence is in the passive voice: If you can insert 'by zombies' after the verb, you have the passive voice.   Try it. It works. The concert was staged [by zombies] in the park instead of the auditorium. That test was given [by zombies]Snarkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07813344126019286979noreply@blogger.com281tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9203260498931849874.post-33545892462295072812012-10-22T11:57:00.001-04:002012-10-22T11:57:37.437-04:00Apostrophe Fail: The Year's Have Been Kind to You When you care enough to send the very best apostrophe fail, here's the card for you. Thanks to @Colbear for sharing this on Twitter. Where does this card go wrong? It uses an apostrophe to form a plural word.Quick rules: To turn a singular word into a plural word, just add 's' or 'es' with no apostrophe. Birthdays come once a year. John loves watching football games from theSnarkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07813344126019286979noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9203260498931849874.post-45772448003397087552012-10-22T11:01:00.000-04:002012-10-22T11:02:38.084-04:00Less vs. Fewer: Presidential Debate Grammar Check Chad writes: I've got one for you, Snarky. My social studies class has been reading from the transcript of the second debate between President Obama and Governor Romney. In this excerpt, Romney makes a grammar fail. "But the key thing is to make sure you can get a job when you get out of school. And what’s happened over the last four years has been very, very Snarkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07813344126019286979noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9203260498931849874.post-2778102480055394492012-10-21T16:40:00.000-04:002012-10-21T16:55:15.695-04:00Hyphen Nation: Top-Selling DVD vs. Top Selling DVD A top-selling DVD is not the same as a top selling DVD. Quick rules: Use a hyphen between two words that work together to describe a noun, when the compound adjective comes directly before the noun. Tom wore his brand-new shirt. Don't use a hyphen when the two words come after the noun. Tom wore a shirt that was brand new. Don't use a hyphen when the first word in a compound Snarkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07813344126019286979noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9203260498931849874.post-51046175644060535212012-10-19T11:47:00.001-04:002012-10-19T12:03:02.912-04:00Minimal vs. Minimum: Making Small Talk   Jinny writes: Hi Snarky! Here's one that has always bugged me, and today I finally snapped a picture. To my mind, minimum sounds weird and minimal sounds correct. Is that just my brain being weird? I'd love a ruling from Snarky ;-) Thanks!   There's nothing wrong with your brain. These words are commonly mixed up because they are extremely close in meaning. Yet there Snarkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07813344126019286979noreply@blogger.com53tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9203260498931849874.post-86679948218424247932012-10-15T11:41:00.003-04:002012-10-15T11:41:37.410-04:00Correct Use of 'Comprise': Go From Big to Small Julia writes: I'm considering applying to Penn State. I read your post last week on Commonly Misused Words: Comprise and then spotted a mistake on this page on the Penn State website: Five-hundred-and-forty acres, which includes more than 12,000 trees, are devoted to classrooms and office buildings, residence halls and laboratories, with more than 750 buildings comprising the main Snarkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07813344126019286979noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9203260498931849874.post-55171045373089889952012-10-15T10:29:00.001-04:002012-10-20T07:04:25.702-04:00Apostrophe Fail: Mom's Are Great at Ironing Out Life's Wrinkles On Twitter, bestselling Harlequin Romance author @LynnRayeHarris posted an apostrophe fail she stumbled upon while shopping with her mother-in-law. Oh, the irony. (Ha! A pun!) Where does this sign go wrong? Besides promoting an outdated, derogatory cliché about mothers, this rather tacky item of home décor uses an apostrophe to form a plural Snarkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07813344126019286979noreply@blogger.com35tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9203260498931849874.post-19217624626690377072012-10-14T10:10:00.001-04:002012-10-14T10:10:32.548-04:00Eminent vs. Imminent Christian writes: Hi Snarky. I asked my sister to buy me this t-shirt on Zazzle and she said it would make me a walking grammar fail. I asked her why and she told me to look it up. Your sister has saved you from public mockery, so be very grateful. Where does this t-shirt go wrong? It mixes up eminent and imminent. These words are commonly confused, even bySnarkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07813344126019286979noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9203260498931849874.post-49083127583931205702012-10-13T15:07:00.002-04:002012-10-13T15:17:54.220-04:00Double Negative: Can't Hardly, Barely, Scarcely Jack writes: My ELA teacher said to avoid using double negatives. What does that mean and can you please give some examples?   Sure thing, Jack. Two negative expressions in the same sentence is a double negative. The two negatives usually cancel each other out and you end up with a net positive—the opposite of what the writer intended. Most people will Snarkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07813344126019286979noreply@blogger.com7