Writing Tips
for clarity and concisenessArchive for Uncategorized
Blog Design
This morning I changed the design of this blog. With the previous design, the list of categories for my posts was way down at the bottom of the page. Now the categories are much closer to the top.
Does the new design work for you? I welcome your comments, positive or negative.
Thanks much,
Tara Treasurefield
Copulative Verbs
What the heck are copulative verbs?
Until last night, I didn’t have a clue. But thanks to The Copyeditor’s Handbook, by Amy Einsohn, I now know that copulative verbs are “verbs that express a state of being, rather than an action.” A few examples are be, become, feel, seem, smell, sound, taste.
Like good meditators, copulative verbs don’t just do something; they sit there and be. And because they express being rather than doing, they are unique among verbs in that they are modified by adjectives, not adverbs.
Here are some examples of modified copulative verbs, taken from The Copyeditor’s Handbook:
I am fine; he became sad; she feels bad; they felt ill; you seem happy.
This fish smells bad; the band’s new song sounds good; the souffle tastes delicious.
This next example, also from the Handbook, shows the dissonance that can result when an action verb winds up in the same sentence with copulative verbs:
Identical twins may look different, sound different, and walk differently.
See? Look and sound are copulative verbs, so they are modified by the adjective different. Then along comes walk, an action verb that requires the adverb differently. Jarring, isn’t it?
Amy’s advice:
For euphony [harmony] change the final item to “have different ways of walking.”
Cheers,
Tara Treasurefield
Ex- Very Punny
Just thought I’d tell you about an exchange I had some years ago with a friend.
Judging by the constant commotion, especially when I was trying to sleep, rats were having a grand old time in the attic of the cottage I lived in at that time. It might have been alright, except that I was having trouble sleeping. And, there was a good chance that I may soon find rats in my bedroom or kitchen.
I finally admitted that it would be wise to call an exterminator. To do as little harm as possible, I chose one who uses traps, not poison.
After the exterminator had come and gone, a friend stopped by. I said, “The exterminator was here today.”
She replied, “Oh, really? What does he do now?”
Get it? A pun is a play on words. Think “Ex (as in former) terminator.”
Cheers,
Tara Treasurefield
Tara’s Writing Studio
Context Matters
Here is the context for the sentence that was the example for last week’s vocabulary contest. The sentence is in italics.
When the first house was lighted with electricity the darkness did not groan and say, “How long have I been dark. How ignorant have been those who have permitted this darkness. What grievous mistakes they have made.” The darkness said nothing when the light spoke; and the light shown in that darkness and the darkness was not. There were no devious paths other than the discovery of the light. There was no judgment of darkness against the light. There was no action of darkness upon the light. The light merely exclaimed, “Behold, I come!” and the darkness disappeared.
Again, the error is the word “shown,” a homophone (sounds the same as) for the word “shone.” When corrected, the sentence reads like this:
The darkness said nothing when the light spoke; and the light shone in that darkness and the darkness was not.
Cheers,
Tara Treasurefield
Tara’s Writing Studio
