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Author Archives: languageandgrammar
Do You Bathe or Bath?
A friend of mine once said, “I’m going to bath the dog.” I didn’t have the heart to correct her grammar, but it’s been several years, and it’s still with me. (I know what you’re thinking, but I DO actually … Continue reading
Posted in grammar, language, writing
Tagged bath, bathe, colloquialisms, common grammar errors, English
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And Yet, But Yet: Pick a Coordinating Conjunction, Any Coordinating Conjunction
When using but and yet as coordinating conjunctions, you can only use one at a time (otherwise, you’re creating a redundancy for the category of the redundancy category :)). Use either but or yet when conveying two ideas that are … Continue reading
Posted in grammar
Tagged and yet, but yet, coordinating conjunctions, grammar errors, Shakespeare, writing
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Is it Beside or Besides the Point?
Beside/besides seems to fall into the same grammar error category as toward/towards, forward/forwards, and backward/backwards. Many people aren’t sure when to use the one with the -s. Beside means by the side of or next to. He sat in the … Continue reading
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Tagged beside, beside the point, besides, English, grammar errors, language, writing
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Are You Well, or Are You Good?
If you’re healthy, are you well or good? If you’re happy, are you well or good? If you score a lot of touchdowns in football without getting a black eye or a broken leg, are you playing good or well? … Continue reading
Lose versus Loose: Let’s Lose This Spelling Error
A couple of readers sent me e-mail to ask that I write about the difference between loose and lose. It seems that I’m not the only person to have seen these two spelling errors. When talking about something that is … Continue reading
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Tagged English, grammar, lose or loose, spelling error, verb lose, writing
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Subjunctive Uses I Wish I Were, Not I Wish I Was
When describing something that is contrary to what is true, you cannot use the regular past tense of the verb to be. You must, instead, use the subjunctive. The subjunctive is necessary in many situations, but I’ll discuss two of … Continue reading
Posted in grammar
Tagged grammar, I wish I was, I wish I were, subjunctive, subjunctive and to be, was or were, was versus were, writing
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Bring versus Take
Bring and take are easily confused because their meanings are so similar, but the difference is in the perspective. Bring is done toward you, the speaker, as in the song Bring Me Some Water. Anything transported to you is brought … Continue reading
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Tagged bring or take, English, grammar error, language, writing
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Rid Yourself of Hisself, Theirself, Ourself, Theirselves, and Oneselves
I’ve already written about the correct use of reflexive pronouns in This Redundancy Is Self-Evident, but several people still wanted confirmation on the use of words such as hisself. The indefinite pronouns are myself, ourselves, yourself, yourselves, herself, himself, themselves, … Continue reading
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Tagged English, grammar errors, herself, himself, hisself, indefinite pronouns, itself, myself, oneself, oneselves, ourself, ourselves, theirself, theirselves, themselves, writing, yourself, yourselves
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Dragged or Drug: Look What the Cat Dragged In
I was horrified to see that an online dictionary is now even mentioning the word drug as a non-standard past tense conjugation of the word drag instead of what it is, which is substandard. I haven’t checked to see whether … Continue reading
Posted in grammar
Tagged dictionaries, dragged vs drug, grammar, grammar error, past tense of drag, writing
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Dived or Dove: Let’s Dive Right In
Ok, here’s the deal. Dive is a regular verb, and a regular verb makes its past tense form by adding –ed to the end (or just –d if there’s already an –e at the end of the word). The past … Continue reading
Posted in grammar, language, writing
Tagged conjugation, dived or dove, English, grammar error, irregular verb, language, regular verb, writing
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Everything Language and Grammar 