Writing Tips
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Compound Possessive (noun + pronoun)
This morning, I received the following question about compound possessives from William Tate:
What about when yourself and someone else are in possession. Do you say “me and Sarah’s house” or “Mine and Sarah’s house” or “Sarah’s and my house”?
In this case, I would choose “Sarah’s and my house.”
To review, the rule for indicating joint possession for compound nouns is to make only the second noun possessive by adding ’s to the end. But when one of the possessors is a personal pronoun, it doesn’t make sense to follow that rule. Here’s how the online Guide to Grammar and Writing puts it:
When one of the possessors in a compound possessive is a personal pronoun, we have to put both possessors in the possessive form or we end up with something silly: “Bill and my car had to be towed last night.”
* Bill’s and my car had to be towed last night.
* Giorgio’s and her father was not around much during their childhood.
If this second sentence seems unsatisfactory, you might have to do some rewriting so you end up talking about their father, instead, or revert to using both names: “Giorgio and Isabel’s father wasn’t around much . . . . ” (and then “Giorgio” will lose the apostrophe +s).
Also keep in mind that “me” is the objective form, not the possessive form, of “I.”
Finally, according to the Chicago Manual of Style, “mine” is the absolute, or independent, form:
[Mine] can stand alone without a noun . . . The independent form does not require an explicit object: the thing possessed may be either an antecedent or something understood {this dictionary is mine} {this cabin of yours} {Where is hers?}.
Cheers,
Tara Treasurefield
Tara’s Writing Studio
Grammar Contest Winner
Tim Dougherty, an English teacher at a Catholic school in Delaware, is the third winner of a March 2008 grammar contest on this blog. Here is the sentence that I invited readers to correct:
Dr. Gonstead was a pioneer in the chiropractic profession, developing equipment and a method of analysis that used more than one criteria to verify the precise location of vertebral subluxation.
Tim wrote that the plural form, “criteria,” is not correct. It should be the singular form, “criterion,” as below:
Dr. Gonstead was a pioneer in the chiropractic profession, developing equipment and a method of analysis that used more than one criterion to verify the precise location of vertebral subluxation.
Tip: There can be two, three, or more criteria, but there is only one criterion.
Tim also noticed an error in one of my September 2008 posts, in which I offered the following as an example of a sentence with a nonrestrictive dependent clause:
People whose thoughts are mostly positive are happier than people whose thoughts are mostly negative, in my opinion.
In fact, as Tim wrote, “in my opinion” is a prepositional phrase. Here’s a correct example of a nonrestricitve dependent clause. Notice that the clause begins with a subordinate conjunction (if) and has both a subject (you) and a verb (want):
People whose thoughts are mostly positive are happier than people whose thoughts are mostly negative, if you want my opinion.
Cheers,
Tara Treasurefield
Tara’s Writing Studio
Prepositional Phrase, Adverbial Phrase
Heard on the radio:
In a startling announcement, the New York Mint plans to release a limited number of $100 union silver coins to the public.
There’s only one thing wrong with this sentence: it doesn’t make sense.
The opening prepositional phrase, “In a startling announcement,” modifies the infinitive “to release.” By specifying where the mint will release the silver coins, this prepositional phrase is also an adverbial phrase. That’s fine. Prepositional phrases often double as adverbial phrases.
The problem is that there is no way to release silver coins in a startling announcement. You might release them in a bank, a restaurant, or even a drugstore, but definitely not in a startling announcement.
Here are two ways to make this sentence logical:
In a startling announcement, the New York Mint divulged plans to release a limited number of $100 union silver coins to the public.
See? Now “in a startling announcement” modifies “divulged.” It is logical to divulge plans in a startling announcement.
Here’s another option:
Recently, the director of the New York Mint made the startling announcement that the mint plans to release a limited number of $100 union silver coins to the public.
In this sentence, the prepositional phrase “At a recent press conference” doubles as an adverbial phrase. It modifies the verb “made” and tells readers where the director made the startling announcement. It is logical to make an announcement (startling or not) at a press conference.
Cheers,
Tara Treasurefield
Tara’s Writing Studio
Comma (with coordinate conjunction)
This use of the comma is simple. If a coordinate conjunction (and, but, or) connects two independent clauses, insert a comma before the conjunction:
I prefer classical music, but Wilbur likes jazz.
I picked blackberries, and Alphonso went swimming.
When there is no coordinate conjunction between two independent clauses, punctuate with a semicolon, never a comma.
I picked blackberries; Alphonso went swimming.
I prefer classical music; Wilbur likes jazz.
Or, when you’ve got two independent clauses and no conjunction between them, you could use a period instead of a semicolon. If you do, be aware that you are promoting the independent clauses to sentences:
I picked blackberries. Alphonso went swimming.
I prefer classical music. Wilbur likes jazz.
What’s the difference? Emphasis. Degree of independence.
Cheers,
Tara Treasurefield
Tara’s Writing Studio
Comma (after dependent clause)
As a general rule, use a comma when a dependent clause precedes an independent clause.
The sentence above is an example of the rule it describes!
“As a general rule” is incomplete; it can’t stand on its own. That makes it a dependent clause.
“Use a comma when a dependent clause precedes an independent clause” is complete; it can stand on its own. That makes it an independent clause.
The comma in the first sentence of this post is doing a legitimate job. It separates the dependent clause from the independent clause that follows it.
Cheers,
Tara Treasurefield
Tara’s Writing Studio
Dangling Modifier
A few weeks ago, I heard this ad on the radio:
Like most Americans, your bills are probably keeping you awake at night.
Take a good look at this sentence. Notice that unless your bills possess a kind of magic that empowers them to yell at you or shake you when you are trying to sleep, they are not keeping you awake. It’s worrying that’s keeping you awake.
There’s another problem, too. The ad compares “most Americans” to “your bills.” That’s nonsense, because most Americans certainly are not like your bills–or mine, either.
In the Copyeditor’s Handook, author Amy Einsohn explains why:
[When a sentence begins with a modifying phrase], the noun that heads the second clause must be the element that is being modified by the phrase in the first clause.
Here’s how to fix the dangling modifier:
Like most Americans, you probably lie awake at night worrying about your bills.
Another option is to turn the introductory modifying phrase into a dependent clause:
If you’re like most Americans, worrying about your bills is probably keeping you awake at night.
Cheers,
Tara Treasurefield
Tara’s Writing Studio
Neither-nor: singular or plural verb?
According to the Chicago Manual of Style, in a sentence with more than one subject, the subject that’s closest to the verb determines the form of the verb:
Neither Henry nor his sons have a Prius (sons is plural and is closer to the verb than Henry is)
BUT
Neither the boys nor Henry has a Prius (Henry is singular and is closer to the verb than boys is).
If you believe that have sounds better, Chicago suggests arranging the sentence so that a plural noun is closer to the verb than a singular noun (Neither Henry nor the boys have a Prius).
And of course, not everyone abides by the Chicago Manual of Style. Other authorities say to use the plural form of the verb when any subject in a sentence is plural. (Link provided by Ted Dorsey.)
Cheers,
Tara Treasurefield
Tara’s Writing Studio
Neither-nor and the Freedom of Choice
I am having so much fun today I can hardly stand it. It’s the 4th of July, and I am celebrating the precious freedom to spend my time as I choose.
What does freedom of choice have to do with neither-nor, a pair of correlative conjunctions? It relates to a rule of grammar I described a few days ago. Here’s an excerpt from this rule as it appears in The Chicago Manual of Style:
Correlative conjunctions are used in pairs, often to join successive clauses that depend on each other to form a complete thought. Correlative conjunctions must frame structurally identical or matching sentence parts . . . each member of the pair should immediately precede the same part of speech. Examples:
Neither Sarah nor Sam plans to attend the concert.
Either George or the twins are going to bring the sushi.
In The Copyeditor’s Handbook, author Amy Einsohn explains that while grammatical formalists “insist that a pair of singular nouns joined by neither . . . nor is singular . . . notionalists allow the pair to be treated as singular or plural, depending on the emphasis desired.” Einsohn offers the following example:
Neither the president nor the secretary was at the meeting . . .
But . . .
Neither the president nor the secretary were at the meeting.
Are you a formalist or a notionalist? The choice is yours. It may be a small matter: But small choices make up much of our lives and so determine the extent of our freedom.
Cheers,
Tara Treasurefield
Tara’s Writing Studio
Neither: an Indefinite Pronoun
Neither sometimes serves as an indefinite pronoun, which the Chicago Manual of Style defines in part as follows:
An indefinite pronoun is one that generally or indefinitely represents an object . . . The most common are another, any, both, each, either, neither, none, one other, some, and such . . . Each, either, and neither are also called distribute pronouns because they separate the objects referred to from others referred to nearby.
Chicago goes on to say that as the subject of a verb, an indefinite pronoun is usually singular, and that the form of an indefinite pronoun isn’t affected by gender or person.
Here are two examples:
Neither of the men knows how to sew; for that matter, neither of the women knows how to sew, either!
Neither of the peaches is ripe.
See? Since men, women, and peaches are plural, you may think that the verbs in these examples should also be plural (men know, women know, peaches are ripe).
Think again, and look for the subject: It’s not men, women, or peaches; they have full-time jobs as objects of the preposition of.
Surprise, surprise! Neither is the subject of both sentences, acting as an indefinite pronoun.
Caution: Don’t confuse the indefinite pronoun neither with the pair of correlative conjunctions neither-nor, the topic of yesterday’s post: Neither-Nor and Subject-Verb Agreement.
Cheers,
Tara Treasurefield
Tara’s Writing Studio
Neither-nor: Correlative Conjunctions
Over 30 years ago, I had a British boyfriend named Philip. He was sophisticated, well educated, and played classical music (beautifully) on his grand piano.
That alone would have been enough to blind me to his imperfections. But on top of all that greatness, his wife had died and he was raising their daughter Melanie on his own. In my eyes, he verged on sainthood, and I was in awe of him.
One day, Philip said something I have never forgotten:
Neither Melanie nor I watches much television.
Watches? Really? I would have put it this way:
Neither Melanie nor I watch much television.
Dead certain that Philip the Great couldn’t be wrong, I kept my preference for watch a secret, substituting alternatives such as these for neither-nor:
Melanie and I don’t watch much television.
I don’t watch much television; Melanie doesn’t, either.
I don’t watch much television and neither does Melanie.
And wouldn’t you know it? I was right all along! After all these years, I have finally learned that according to the Chicago Manual of Style, compound subjects joined with either-or or neither-nor take the form of the verb that goes with the subject closest to the verb, in both number and person. Here are a few examples:
Neither Sarah nor Sam plans to attend the concert.
Either George or the twins are going to bring the sushi.
Neither Henry nor his sons have a Prius.
Neither the boys nor Henry has a Prius.
And (drumroll):
Neither Melanie nor I watch much television.
By the way, neither-nor is a pair of correlative conjunctions. Like other correlative conjunctions (as-as, if-then, either-or, both-and, where-there, so-as, and not only-but also), neither and nor used together “join successive clauses that depend on each other to form a complete thought.” (Chicago Manual of Style.)
Cheers,
Tara Treasurefield
