https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/Recent content in Usage and Mechanics on Teddy Rook Bookhttps://teddyrookbook.com/img/share.jpghttps://teddyrookbook.com/img/share.jpgHugoenhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/sv-agreement/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/sv-agreement/A singular subject takes a singular verb (“The dog barks”); a plural subject takes a plural verb (“The dogs bark”). Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/agreement-interrupters/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/agreement-interrupters/The verb agrees with its subject, not with a noun in a phrase that comes between them: “The box of crayons is on the shelf.” Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/agreement-compound/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/agreement-compound/Subjects joined by and usually take a plural verb. With or or nor, the verb agrees with the nearer subject. Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/agreement-indefinite/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/agreement-indefinite/Each, everyone and nobody take singular verbs; both and many take plural ones; some, all and most depend on the noun they refer to. In American English a collective noun like team usually takes a singular verb. Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/agreement-inverted/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/agreement-inverted/In questions and in sentences that start with there or here, find the subject after the verb: “There are two reasons.” Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/pronoun-antecedent/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/pronoun-antecedent/A pronoun agrees in number and person with the noun it stands for (its antecedent): “The girls packed their bags.” Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/singular-they/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/singular-they/For a person whose gender is unknown or not the point, writers choose he or she, rewrite in the plural, or use singular they. Style guides differ on which they prefer. Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/vague-pronouns/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/vague-pronouns/Each pronoun should point to one clear noun. “When Ana called Mia, she was upset.” Who was upset? Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/pronoun-case/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/pronoun-case/Use I, he, she, we and they as subjects; use me, him, her, us and them as objects. Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/compound-pronouns/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/compound-pronouns/To choose the pronoun in a pair, take out the other person: “Sam and I went” (I went); “for Sam and me” (for me); “between you and me.” Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/who-whom/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/who-whom/Who is a subject, like he; whom is an object, like him. Choose by the pronoun’s job in its own clause. Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/reflexive-pronouns/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/reflexive-pronouns/Use myself when I is already the subject (“I made it myself”) or for emphasis, not in place of I or me. Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/simple-tenses/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/simple-tenses/The simple past, present and future: I walked, I walk, I will walk. Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/irregular-verbs/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/irregular-verbs/Many common verbs make their past forms in their own ways: go, went, gone; see, saw, seen; bring, brought, brought. Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/progressive-tenses/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/progressive-tenses/A form of be plus an -ing verb shows an action in progress: I am reading, I was reading, I will be reading. Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/perfect-tenses/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/perfect-tenses/A form of have plus a past participle shows an action finished before some time: I have eaten, I had eaten, I will have eaten. Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/tense-shifts/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/tense-shifts/Stay in one tense unless the time really changes. Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/lie-lay/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/lie-lay/Lay, set and raise take an object (you lay the book down); lie, sit and rise don’t (you lie down). Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/active-passive/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/active-passive/In the active voice the subject acts (“Sam threw the ball”). In the passive voice the subject receives the action (“The ball was thrown by Sam”). Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/verb-mood/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/verb-mood/The indicative states and asks, the imperative commands, and the subjunctive states wishes and conditions that aren’t true: “If I were you…” Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/comparatives/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/comparatives/Use -er or more to compare two and -est or most for three or more; a few change form: good, better, best. Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/adjective-or-adverb/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/adjective-or-adverb/Good is an adjective and well is usually an adverb (“She did well”). After a linking verb, use an adjective (“I feel bad”). Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/double-negatives/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/double-negatives/Standard English uses one negative word per idea: “I don’t have any,” not “I don’t have none.” Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/misplaced-modifiers/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/misplaced-modifiers/Put a modifier next to the word it describes. Only, just and almost go right before the word they limit. Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/dangling-modifiers/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/dangling-modifiers/An opening phrase must describe the subject that comes right after it: “Walking home, I saw a fox,” not “Walking home, a fox appeared.” Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/commas-series/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/commas-series/Use commas between three or more items in a series. Style guides differ on the comma before the last and (the serial, or Oxford, comma). Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/commas-everyday/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/commas-everyday/Use commas in dates (May 4, 2025), between a city and its state (Akron, Ohio), after yes and no, and around the name of someone you speak to (“Thanks, Sam.”). Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/commas-compound/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/commas-compound/Put a comma before and, but, or, so or yet when it joins two independent clauses. Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/commas-introductory/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/commas-introductory/Use a comma after an opening dependent clause or a long opening phrase: “When the bell rang, we left.” Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/commas-coordinate/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/commas-coordinate/Use a comma between coordinate adjectives (“a long, cold winter”) but not between cumulative ones (“a big red barn”). Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/commas-nonessential/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/commas-nonessential/Set off information the sentence could do without: “My brother, who lives in Ohio, is visiting.” Don’t set off information that identifies which one. Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/semicolons/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/semicolons/A semicolon joins two closely related independent clauses, and separates items in a list when the items already have commas. Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/colons/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/colons/A colon comes after a complete sentence to introduce a list, an explanation or a quotation. Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/apostrophes-possessive/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/apostrophes-possessive/Singular: the dog’s bone. Plural ending in s: the dogs’ bones. Other plurals: the children’s books. Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/contractions/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/contractions/In a contraction the apostrophe stands for missing letters: do not → don’t, it is → it’s. Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/quotation-marks/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/quotation-marks/Put a speaker’s exact words in quotation marks. In American style, periods and commas go inside the closing mark. Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/titles-italics/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/titles-italics/Italicize the titles of long works (books, films, newspapers); put the titles of short works (poems, articles, songs, chapters) in quotation marks. Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/dashes-parentheses/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/dashes-parentheses/Dashes set off a sharp break or something to stress; parentheses set off quieter extras; an ellipsis (…) marks words left out of a quotation, or a pause. Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/hyphens/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/hyphens/Hyphenate a compound modifier before a noun (“a well-known author”), but usually not after it (“the author is well known”), and numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine. Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/fragments/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/fragments/A fragment is a piece of a sentence punctuated as a whole one: it lacks a subject, a verb, or an independent clause (“Because it rained.”). Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/run-ons/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/run-ons/A run-on, or fused sentence, runs two independent clauses together with no punctuation between them: “I ran I won.” Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/comma-splices/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/comma-splices/A comma alone can’t join two independent clauses: “It rained, we stayed inside” is a comma splice. Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/fixing-run-ons/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/fixing-run-ons/Use a period, a comma and a coordinating conjunction, a semicolon, a subordinating word, or (when the second part explains the first) a colon. Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/parallel-lists/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/parallel-lists/Items in a list or a series take the same grammatical form: “hiking, swimming, and biking.” Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/parallel-pairs/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/parallel-pairs/Words joined by both…and, either…or, not only…but also, and comparisons with than or as need matching forms. Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/capitalization/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/capitalization/Capitalize proper nouns and proper adjectives, titles right before a name, and the names of regions, but not compass directions or titles used alone. Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/title-case/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/title-case/Capitalize the first and last words and the important words of a title. Style guides differ on short words in the middle. Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/confused-common/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/confused-common/Its and it’s, there, their and they’re, your and you’re, to, too and two, and then and than sound alike but mean different things. Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/confused-advanced/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/confused-advanced/Affect and effect, accept and except, fewer and less, imply and infer, lose and loose, complement and compliment. Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/standard-forms/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/standard-forms/Write could have (not could of), supposed to, a lot, regardless and all right: the forms that formal writing expects. Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/usage-myths/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/writing/usage-and-mechanics/usage-myths/Splitting an infinitive, ending a sentence with a preposition and starting one with And or But are not grammar errors, though some readers still object. Know the range. Usage and Mechanics · Writing & Grammar Ladder