Etymologie, Etimología, Étymologie, Etimologia, Etymology, (griech.) etymología, (lat.) etymologia, (esper.) etimologio
US Vereinigte Staaten von Amerika, Estados Unidos de América, États-Unis d'Amérique, Stati Uniti d'America, United States of America, (esper.) Unuigintaj Statoj de Ameriko
Grammatik, Gramática, Grammaire, Grammatica, Grammar, (esper.) gramatiko

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grammarbook.com
Grammar E-Newsletter Archive

FREE Online English Usage Rules

Grammar Rules

• Finding Nouns, Verbs, and Subjects
• Subject-Verb Agreement
• Clauses and Phrases
• Pronouns
• Who vs. Whom
• Whoever vs. Whomever
• Who, That, Which
• Adjectives and Adverbs
• Prepositions
• Effective Writing

Punctuation Rules

• Spacing With Punctuation
• Periods
• Ellipsis Marks
• Commas
• Semicolons
• Colons
• Question Marks
• Exclamation Points
• Quotation Marks
• Parentheses
• Apostrophes
• Hyphens
• Dashes

Other Rules

• Capitalization
• Spelling, Vocabulary and Commonly Confused Words
• Writing Numbers

2017

• 05-24 - Word Choice: Small Is Still Better Than Big
• 05-17 - When to Add s to a Verb
• 05-10 - Tightening Verb Phrases for Making an Engine That Purrs
• 05-03 - That’s What That Means?
• 04-26 - Striking the Surplus from Tautologies
• 04-19 - Writing Dates and Times
• 04-12 - Whether to Give a Hoot About Moot
• 04-05 - Comma Chameleon
• 03-29 - Lack of Commas Costs Company Millions in Dispute
• 03-22 - A/An vs. The
• 03-15 - Titles of Books, Plays, Articles, etc.: Underline? Italics? Quotation Marks?
• 03-08 - Choices vs. Options and Alternatives
• 03-01 - Small Dishes
• 02-22 - Hyphenation with Numbers and Units of Measure
• 02-15 - Words Can Be Bullies
• 02-08 - A Fine Distinction
• 02-01 - Spell Check Overreach
• 01-25 - In Print Is Forever
• 01/18 - Verbal Illusions
• 01/11 - Among vs. Between
• 01/04 - Year-End Quiz

2016

• 12/13 - Lie vs. Lay
• 12/06 - Annual Christmas 'Log Review
• 11/30 - Go Trendy, Stay Alive
• 11/15 - Beware the Internet
• 11/08 - The G-Rated Truth
• 11/01 - Apostrophes with Words Ending in s
• 10/25 - Big Words We Can Use
• 10/18 - Attention-Span Blues
• 10/11 - Tom Stern, In Memorium
• 10/04 - Pop Gets It Wrong
• 09/27 - Pop Tunes and Grammar
• 09/20 - You Can't Coin What's Already Coined
• 09/13 - What Is-Is Is, Is Exasperating
• 09/07 - Test Your Vocabulary
• 08/30 - Hyphens: We Miss Them When They're Gone
• 08/23 - Nothing Poetic About This Verse
• 08/16 - Media Watch
• 08/09 - More Fun with Irregular Verbs
• 08/02 - Arcane Words and the "Intuitive" Reader
• 07/26 - A Sportswriter Cries "Foul!"
• 07/19 - The Haves and the Have Gots
• 07/12 - Spell Check
• 07/05 - Small Dishes
• 06/28 - Confessions of a Guerrilla Grammarian
• 06/21 - Clear as Mud
• 06/14 - Test Your Vocabulary
• 06/07 - Copy Editors Are People Too
• 05/31 - Might You Mean May?
• 05/24 - A Couple of Things, and a Couple More
• 05/17 - Irregular Verbs: Handle with Care
• 05/10 - Media Watch
• 05/03 - The Only Truth
• 04/26 - Punctuation Only Matters When You Speak
• 04/19 - The Rise and Fall of Vogue Words
• 04/12 - Punctuation or Chaos
• 04/05 - When Branding Undermines Spelling
• 03/29 - Autoantonyms Speak with a Forked Tongue
• 03/22 - Spell Well, and Excel
• 03/15 - Pronoun Puzzlers
• 03/08 - No Question About It
• 03/01 - Hypercorrection
• 02/23 - No Shortcuts with Irregular Verbs
• 02/16 - Words in Flux
• 02/09 - Media Watch
• 02/02 - You Lost Me After "Feb"
• 01/26 - Pleonasms Are a Bit Much
• 01/19 - That's nyooz to me
• 01/12 - Ain't That a Shame
• 01/05 - Resolutions for Word Nerds

2015

• 12/15 - Year-End Quiz
• 12/08 - The Spell of the Holidays
• 12/01 - Give the Gift of Pedantry
• 11/24 - They Never Said That
• 11/17 - Things We Will Never Say
• 11/10 - The Oxymoron: Simply Complicated
• 11/03 - Media Watch
• 10/27 - Test Your Vocabulary
• 10/20 - When Idioms Become Monsters
• 10/13 - Slipshod Extension
• 10/06 - Why Irregular Verbs Are Strong
• 09/29 - Each Other vs. One Another
• 09/22 - You Can Say That Again
• 09/15 - You Can Look It Up
• 09/01 - What's That I Spell?
• 08/25 - Colons and Capitals
• 08/18 - Compare To vs. Compare With
• 08/11 - Anachronisms: Time Out!
• 08/04 - Media Watch
• 07/28 - Grammar, Vocabulary Go Hand in Hand
• 07/21 - Numbers: Words or Numerals?
• 07/14 - Don't Put It in Writing
• 07/07 - Irregular Verbs Can Be a Regular Pain
• 06/30 - Misbegotten Views on Gotten
• 06/23 - The Lowdown on Different Than
• 06/16 - Say It Again, Sam
• 06/09 - Singular They Part II
• 06/02 - How Can They Be Singular?
• 05/26 - Spell Check
• 05/19 - What Kind of Rule Is Usually?
• 05/12 - A Twenty-first Century Usage Guide
• 05/05 - Media Watch
• 04/28 - Rewriting Great Poetry
• 04/21 - Evolution or …?
• 04/14 - The Elusive En Dash
• 04/07 - Stengelese Spoken Here
• 03/31 - The Man Who Hated Semicolons
• 03/24 - Proper Pronunciation: A Sound Policy
• 03/17 - That and Which: Rule or Guideline?
• 03/10 - Capitalizing Composition Titles, Part II
• 03/03 - Capitalizing Composition Titles: The Lowdown
• 02/24 - Spell Check
• 02/17 - Media Watch
• 02/10 - Rules, Policies, and Judgement Calls
• 02/03 - Are Two r's One Too Many?
• 01/27 - Nice Publication—Until You Read It
• 01/20 - Get Thee to a Dictionary
• 01/13 - Words in Flux
• 01/06 - Resolutions for Word Nerds

2014

• 12/16 - What Have We Learned This Year?
• 12/09 - 2014 Christmas 'Log Review
• 12/02 - Begging the Question
• 11/25 - Media Watch
• 11/18 - Don't Dis Disinterested
• 11/11 - Fighting for Literally
• 11/04 - Verbal Illusions
• 10/28 - What About and/or?
• 10/21 - Thrash the Slash
• 10/14 - All About etc.
• 10/07 - i.e.vs. e.g.
• 09/30 - Wails from My Inbox
• 09/23 - A House Is Not a Hone
• 09/16 - Rules and Preferences
• 09/09 - Old Superstitions Die Hard
• 09/02 - Essential and Nonessential Elements, Part III
• 08/26 - Essential and Nonessential Elements, Part II
• 08/19 - Essential, but Is It Important?
• 08/12 - People vs. Persons
• 08/05 - Media Watch
• 07/29 - The Best Thesaurus
• 07/22 - Nothing Is True Forever
• 07/15 - Jargon Is No Bargain
• 07/08 - Collective Nouns and Consistency
• 07/01 - These Nouns Present Singular Problems
• 06/24 - Based Off Is Off Base
• 06/17 - Italics cs. Quotation Marks
• 06/10 - Be Careful with the -a Team
• 06/03 - Apostrophes: Not Always Possessive
• 05/27 - Apostrophes: Dueling Rules
• 05/20 - Apostrophes and False Possessives
• 05/13 - Apostrophes and Proper Nouns
• 05/06 - Apostrophes: Worth the Trouble
• 04/29 - When They Is a Cop-out
• 04/22 - Media Watch
• 04/15 - More Of
• 04/08 - Wisdom of Yogi Berra
• 04/01 - The Wicked Of
• 03/25 - (All About) Parentheses
• 03/18 - The Case of the Missing Hyphen, Part 2
• 03/11 - Cheap Talk Can Cost You
• 03/04 - Hyphen Help Us
• 02/25 - Simple Words, Fancy Label
• 02/18 - An Unparalleled Letdown
• 02/11 - Media Watch
• 02/04 - Feb-roo-ary vs. Feb-yoo-ary
• 01/28 - Sic for Sick Sentences
• 01/21 - The Future of English?
• 01/14 - Revised and ExpandedBlue Book Coming Next Month
• 01/07 - I Don't Use Use To but I Used To

2013

• 12/17 - Christmas 'Log Review
• 12/10 - Don't Blur Fine Distinctions
• 12/03 - Look Who's Talking
• 11/25 - Media Watch
• 11/19 - Learning From the Masters
• 11/12 - We the People, or...?
• 11/05 - We the People, or...?
• 10/29 - Two More Reasons Pronouns Plague Us/a>
• 10/22 - Shape-shifting Troublemakers
• 10/14 - I Subject, Your Honor
• 10/08 - I Subject, Your Honor
• 10/01 - Sweating the Small Stuff
• 09/24 - To Split or Not to Split
• 09/17 - Whoever Would Use Whomever: Read On
• 09/10 - Whom Abuse Is Rampant
• 09/03 - Words Can Be Bullies
• 08/27 - Leonard's Ten Commandments
• 08/20 - Sabotage in Broad Daylight?
• 08/13 - How Did They Get in Here?
• 08/06 - How Did They Get in Here?
• 07/30 - I'll be hanged! Or, have I just gone missing?
• 07/23 - Farther vs. Further
• 07/16 - Assure vs. Ensure vs. Insure
• 07/09 - The Media Made Me Do It
• 07/02 - Pled vs. Pleaded & Enormity Defined
• 06/25 - Paraprosdokian Sentences
• 06/18 - Basically, why your cohort isn't your buddy
• 06/11 - Internal Dialogue: Italics or Quotes?
• 06/04 - "None Were" vs. "None Was"
• 05/28 - Bad vs. Badly
• 05/21 - Word nerds: Verbal custodians trapped in a time warp
• 05/14 - Confusing Possessives: Holidays
• 05/07 - I vs. Me
• 04/30 - The Subjunctive Mood
• 04/23 - Rules Do Change
• 04/16 - Nuggets from Ol' Diz
• 04/09 - Question Marks with Quotation Marks
• 04/02 - Periods with Quotation Marks
• 03/19 - Ring vs. Rang vs. Rung
• 03/12 - More Mangled Language and Pompous Usages to Avoid
• 03/05 - Commas, Part 10
• 02/26 - Remembering Jane
• 02/19 - Commas, Part 9
• 02/12 - Commas, Part 8
• 02/05 - On To vs. Onto
• 01/29 - The Word Nerd: 6 Pitfalls Writers (And Others) Should Avoid
• 01/22 - Spelling: -ce vs. -se
• 01/15 - Commas, Part 7
• 01/08 - Commas, Part6

2012

• 12/18 - Commas, Part 5
• 12/11 - Commas, Part 4
• 12/04 - Stubborn Stinkaroos
• 11/27 - Commas, Part 3
• 11/13 - Commas, Part 2
• 11/06 - Commas, Part 1
• 10/30 - That's what that means?
• 10/23 - Capitalization of Governmental Words
• 10/16 - That vs. Which
• 10/09 - Who vs. That
• 10/02 - Allot vs. A Lot; Allowed vs. Aloud
• 09/25 - Spell Check Overreach
• 09/18 - What Does vs. What Do
• 09/11 - Some vs. Any
• 09/04 - When vs. Whenever
• 08/28 - Consistency: Treatment of Numbers
• 08/21 - Reflexive Pronouns
• 08/14 - Pronouncing the Word Blessed
• 08/07 - What is a Gerund and Why Care?
• 07/31 - Kinship Names: To Capitalize or Not to Capitalize?
• 07/24 - Parallel Construction
• 07/17 - Connecting Sentences with Commas and Semicolons
• 07/10 - If I Would Have... vs. If I Had...
• 07/03 - Into vs. In To (Expanded)
• 06/26 - Hyphenating Between Words
• 06/19 - Hyphens with the Prefix re
• 06/12 - Proofreading Well
• 06/05 - Commas before and in a Series
• 05/29 - If I Would Have... vs. If I Had...
• 05/22 - Whoever vs. Whomever
• 05/15 - Plural and Possessive Forms with Names Ending in y
• 05/08 - Quotations within Quotations
• 05/01 - Effect vs. Affect
• 04/24 - Parentheses
• 04/17 - Writing Addresses
• 04/10 - Writing Elegantly
• 04/03 - Good vs. Well
• 03/27 - Fractions, Decimals, and Money
• 03/20 - I vs. Me (Review)
• 03/13 - The Number vs. A Number
• 03/06 - Writing Dates and Times
• 02/28 - Numbers as Adjectives
• 02/21 - Writing Numbers
• 02/14 - When to Capitalize People’s Titles
• 02/07 - Pronoun Tips
• 01/31 - Pronoun Tips
• 01/24 - On to vs. Onto
• 01/17 - Problems with Prepositions
• 01/10 - Spell-checkers Can't Think for You
• 01/03 - Clearing Up Confusing Words

2011

• 12/20 - Assure vs. Ensure vs. Insure
• 12/13 - Farther vs. Further
• 12/06 - Abbreviations vs. Acronyms vs. Initialisms
• 11/29 - Ellipsis Marks
• 11/15 - Use of Brackets
• 11/08 - Colons (Continued)
• 11/01 - Colons with Lists
• 10/25 - Semicolons
• 10/18 - Nouns Can Become Verbs
• 10/11 - Subject and Verb Agreement with Collective Nouns
• 10/04 - When to Add "s" to a Verb
• 09/27 - The Apostrophe with Numbers, Letters, and Abbreviations
• 09/20 - Dashes
• 09/13 - Writing Dates and Times
• 09/06 - Some "All" vs. "Al-" Words
• 08/30 - Can vs. May
• 08/23 - Irregular Verbs
• 08/16 - Fractions, Decimals, and Money
• 08/09 - Adding Suffixes: To Double or not to Double Consonants
• 08/02 - Plural and Possessive Forms with Names Ending in y

"§"
prowritingpartner.com
Guide to Grammar and Writing

While grammar is something we learn in the early years of our education, there are so many rules and regulations when it comes to grammar, we can’t know them all by heart. If you’re a writer or simply have to write something on certain occasions, you might want to reach for a grammar guide, to make sure that your writing is on point. And since there are so many aspects to grammar, there is more than one kind of a grammar guide, to make the process of learning and checking grammar faster and easier.

Thankfully there’s a large variety of grammar guides that are available to lead us through our writing process. Below you’ll find a helpful list of resources that will help you through your journey with grammar.
...

"§"
Grammar Girl
Grammaria (W3)

Grammar Girl

Your friendly guide to the world of grammar, punctuation, usage, and fun developments in the English language.

Mignon Fogarty

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• wreaked
• 'Wreaked' Versus 'Wrought'
• Ammon Shea Bad English Book Cover
• Words That Aren't Words
• Alphabet of Errors poem
• 'Alphabet of Errors' Poem
• Fall Versus Autumn
• fmri
• What New Research on the Brain Says Every Writer Should Do
• monies moneys
• Money, Monies, or Moneys?
• archenemy
• Archenemy Versus Arch Enemy
• AP Crash Blossom Tweet
• Fun with Crash Blossoms
• names plural s
• How to Make Names that End in -s Plural
• French Cooking Words
• 7 French Food-Related Words That Became English
• Guillotine
• The Man Who Unwittingly Lent His Name to the Guillotine
• Capitalize French in French Fry
• Should You Capitalize the French in French Fries?
• White Tower Sign
• A Language Lover's Trip to England
• tldr semicolon
• Is the Semicolon in tl;dr Ironic?
• Australian Slang
• 9 Australian Slang Terms that Make Horrible Things Sound Fun
• Good On You
• Good on You Versus Good for You
• frustrated writer
• How to Kick Your Annoying Preposition Habit
• capitulate
• Capitulate Versus Recapitulate
• ESL: How to Teach English
• Punctuation with Trademark Symbols
• commas
• Commas: Oxford, Appositive, Nonrestrictive
• checklist
• Grammar Girl's Editing Checklist
• Reign, Rein, and Rain
• Reign, Rein, and Rain
• Filled to the brim
• Filled to the Brim or Filled to the Rim?
• Amount Versus Number
• Poetry Contest Winners
• Shakespeare
• Words Invented by Shakespeare
• click bait
• The -Bait Suffix Trend: Linkbait. Clickbait. What's Next?
• The 7 Reactions to Language Change
• Addictive or addicting
• Addictive Versus Addicting
• A Quick Amazing Tour of British Accents
• A grammer story
• An April Fools' Day Story
• More Than Versus Over AP
• "More Than" Vs. "Over": A Big Change at the Associated Press
• Grammar Girl Webcast: Supercharge Your Writing
• Begs the Question
• Begs the Question: Update
• cash money regional
• Is "Cash Money" a Regional Expression?
• Preventative
• Preventive Versus Preventative
• cancel
• Canceled or Cancelled?
• OED Appeals
• The Oxford English Dictionary Needs Your Help
• Grape variety varietal
• "Variety" Versus "Varietal"
• PLL
• Pretty Little Liars Actress Troian Bellisario Is Making Up Words
• units of measure
• Units Of Measure
• Adjectives
• The Secret to Writing a Bestselling Novel
• Imply or Infer
• Imply Versus Infer
• Tenterhooks
• Tenterhooks or Tenderhooks?
• Victor Hugo
• Oh, Those Wacky French Immortals
• quotation marks
• How to Use Quotation Marks
• grammar pop winterfest iOs mobile game
• Give the Gift of Grammar - Grammar Pop Winterfest!
• passive mistake
• Avoid This Common Passive Voice Mistake!
• The Lord Is Come?
• kneeled versus knelt
• "Kneeled" Versus "Knelt"
• Irregardless Versus Regardless
• Grammar Pop iPhone
• Grammar Pop for the iPhone
• What Is a Theory?
• Biweekly Versus Semiweekly
• in to or into
• "In to" or "Into"?
• phenomenon or phenomena
• Phenomenon or Phenomena
• Like Versus As
• Like Versus As
• gray or grey
• Gray or Grey?
• prepositions
• Prepositions
• Despite or In Spite Of
• grammar pop
• Color: A Secret Weapon for Your Memory
• yellow star
• Grammar Girl's Top 3
• Grammar Pop
• Grammar Pop: A New iPad Word Game
• should of or should have
• Should Have or Should Of?
• faze or phase
• Faze or Phase?
• Apostrophe McCaffrey
• Apostrophes in Science Fiction and Fantasy Names
• 101 Troublesome Words
• Oral or Verbal
• top 3
• Grammar Girl's Top 3
• Victoria's Secret Apostrophe
• Apostrophes and Plurals
• winch or wench
• Wench or Winch
• egregious flock
• How "Egregious" Went from Good to Bad
• star
• Grammar Girl's Top 3
• rogue
• Rouge or Rogue?
• chai tea redundant
• Is "Chai Tea" Redundant?
• favorites
• Grammar Girl's Top 3
• dangling participles
• Dangling Participles
• spaces are important
• Why We Have Spaces Between Words
• favorites
• Grammar Girl's Top 3
• favorite
• The Top 3 (July 14)
• start a sentence with a preposition example
• Can You Start a Sentence with a Preposition?
• mondegreen
• What Is It Called When You Mishear Song Lyrics?
• apron
• How A Napron Became An Apron
• making iphone 4s plural
• How to Make Weird Nouns Plural
• How to Avoid a Common Comma Error: The Comma Splice
• "Donut" Versus "Doughnut"
• How Texting Is Changing English
• "Moot" Versus "Mute"
• The Language of Crime
• Chicago Manual of Style
• Why Would Anyone Use The Chicago Manual of Style?
• spillates icktionary
• Bad Portmanteau Examples
• Noun or Adjective?
• Good Versus Well
• Irish influences on English
• Irish Influences on English
• Crazy English Idioms
• Where Do I Use Commas?
• valentine subject object
• I Love You: A Subject-Object Valentine
• Why Doesn’t “Explanation” Have an “I” Like “Explain”?
• Starting a Sentence With "However": Right or Wrong?
• Can Apple Get Away with “Funness”?
• 5 Uncommon Figures of Speech to Spice Up Your Writing (Part 1)
• Brandalized
• Is it "a company who..." or "a company that..."?
• who or that
• Pronouns for People and Animals: "Who" or "That"?
• 2012
• A Word Lover’s Highlights of 2012
• calendar dates
• Should You Use Words or Numbers for Dates?
• How to Use a Hyphen
• burned
• “Burned” Versus “Burnt”
• How to Use an Asterisk
• then versus than
• "Then" Versus "Than"
• Google Ngram and "Impact" as a Verb
• ghost words
• Ghost Words
• "Ironic" Versus "Ironical"
• Dragged Versus Drug
• "American" and Other Demonyms
• color versus colour
• Why We Have Both "Color" and "Colour"
• Modifying Absolutes
• How Do You Tell If Something Is True?
• Words Actually Can Express...
• Cookbooks in the Fridge?
• "Baited" Versus "Bated"
• "Decimate"
• could care less
• "Could Care Less" Versus "Couldn't Care Less"
• troublesome words
• "Jealousy" Versus "Envy"
• Should I Capitalize "First Amendment"?
• Are Nicknames Capitalized?
• linking verbs
• "It Is I" Versus "It Is Me"
• bachelors degree
• "Bachelor's Degree" or "Bachelors Degree"?
• How Much Is a Billion?
• how to write numbers
• How to Write Numbers
• Janus Words: “Sanction” and “Cleave”
• Hopefully
• dashescoloncomma
• Dashes, Colons, and Commas
• bring take
• Bring Versus Take
• Paddy Versus Patty
• A National Grammar Day Tale of Love
• When Should I Capitalize "Constitution"?
• Does "You" Come First or Last?
• Why Do Kids Say "Versing"?
• slink slunk slinked
• "Slink," "Slunk," "Slinked"
• Do You Use an Apostrophe to Make “OK” Past Tense?
• Should We Abandon Standard Spelling?
• "Commiserate" Versus "Commensurate"
• Johannes Gutenberg: Language Rock Star
• "Personal" Versus "Personnel"
• "Tenet" Versus "Tenant"
• stationery
• Spelling "Stationery" and "Compliment"
• "Disinterested" Versus "Uninterested"
• "Valuable" Versus "Invaluable"
• "Memento" or "Momento"?
• "Stationery" Versus "Stationary"
• Question Tags
• Direct and Indirect Quotations
• "Specially" Versus "Especially"
• "Palette," "Palate," and "Pallet"
• Emoticons: Noses or Noseless?
• Blond or Blonde?
• Ending a Sentence with an Abbreviation
• Is "Impact" a Verb?
• night circus
• “The Night Circus”: First, Second, and Third Person
• When Do You Capitalize Academic Degrees?
• "None Is" or "None Are"?
• Hyphens in Compound Words
• Until, Till, and 'Til
• Where Did the @ Symbol Come From?
• "Flout" Versus "Flaunt"
• capitalize directions
• When Do You Capitalize Directions?
• flier or flyer
• "Flier" or "Flyer"?
• fragments
• Sentence Fragments
• Is "Gifting" a Word?
• The Strunk and White Rap
• christmas card grammar
• Are Your Holiday Cards Grammatically Correct?
• Sometimes, Some Time, and Sometime
• Are High Odds Good or Bad?
• "Purposely" Versus "Purposefully"
• Combining Quotation Marks, Question Marks, AND Commas (Whew!)
• "Backward" Versus "Backwards"
• Do Turkeys Come From Turkey?
• What Is the Plural of "iPad 2"?
• 10 Tips to Banish Typos
• What's a Brouhaha?
• "Rifle" v. "Riffle"
• bulleted list
• Formatting Vertical Lists
• Can You Start a Sentence with "Because"?
• Why Commas Matter
• What Is a Shibboleth?
• How to Search a Corpus
• super
• Don't Call This a Superlative Tip
• RBI
• How Do You Make "RBI" Plural?
• "Ado" Versus "Adieu"
• Why Does "Gadaffi" Have Different Spellings?
• they generic singular pronoun
• Generic Singular Pronouns
• Myriad Of
• Can Cigarettes Possess Something?
• When Does "Grown Up" Need a Hyphen?
• apostrophes possessive
• How to Make Names With Apostrophes Possessive
• Advice for New College Grads: How to Find Work as a Freelance Writer
• Is "Apple Cider" Redundant?
• French Academy Tries to Ban English Words (Again)
• Anyway or Anyways?
• Is It "Previously-Explained Goal" or "Previously Explained Goal"?
• Coaches Care About Grammar
• doublenegatives
• What's a Double Negative?
• "Wool" Versus "Woolen"
• Two Weeks' Notice
• bad lyrics
• Is Bad Grammar Acceptable in Music?
• The Grammar Devotional
• Eachother or Each Other?
• Dear Comma
• E-mail or Email?
• The Mercedes "Less Doors" Commercial
• spendy dialect map
• Spendy
• The Oxford English Dictionary Adds "Kewl"
• bow up dialect map
• What Does "Bow Up" Mean?
• Is "OK" Okay?
• Irregular Verbs
• How to Show Instead of Tell
• needs washed dialect map
• Needs Washed
• "A Ukulele" or "An Ukulele"?
• Quotation Marks with Periods and Commas
• Single Quotation Marks Versus Double Quotation Marks
• capitalize dog breeds
• Capitalizing Dog Breeds
• High Odds or Low Odds?
• Circumvent Versus Circumnavigate
• Portmanteaus
• fun_adjective
• Who Says "Fun" Can't Be an Adjective?
• Capitalizing Titles
• there is
• Oddness When You Start a Sentence with "There Is"
• Is "Graduated College" Wrong?
• I.e. Versus E.g.
• Camel Case
• capitalize god
• Do You Capitalize “God”?
• Should it be "You" or "Your" with Gerunds?
• Ending a Sentence With a Preposition
• cocktail
• When Should You Capitalize Cocktail and Food Names?
• Are You Using Hyphens Correctly?
• Can You Start a Sentence with "However"?
• Punctuating Questions
• Punctuating Questions
• a historic an historic
• 'A Historic' Versus 'an Historic'
• Why Photo Captions May Deserve a Grammatical Pass
• Titled or Entitled?
• Former or Latter?
• Periods and Parentheses
• photo captions
• How to Write Grammatically Correct Photo Captions
• "Kicked Off" or "Kickoffed"?
• Do You Capitalize "Google"?
• A Versus An
• Weather or Whether
• People or Persons?
• How to Pronounce "The"
• These Ones
• "Nowadays" or "Now a Days"?
• Em Dash Space
• "Much Thanks" or "Many Thanks"?
• Should You Capitalize Coen Brothers?
• CamelCase
• Disc or Disk?
• Pronoun Order
• Anxious or Eager?
• Each and Every
• Gallery
• Supposably
• Not Only But Also
• subjectobject
• Subject and Object
• name_spelled
• Why Can't I Determine How My Name Is Spelled?
• "Sculpture" Versus "Sculptor"
• How Do You Pronounce 2011
• space
• Should You Ever Put a Space Before a Period?
• plural of cul-de-sac
• What Is the Plural of "Cul-de-Sac"?
• serial comma
• Serial Comma
• How to Make Family Names Plural
• Top Grammar Articles of 2010
• canard
• What Is a Canard?
• How to Pluralize Family Names
• Peek, Peak, and Pique
• Why Doesn’t “Veterans Day” Have an Apostrophe?
• How to Write a Better Résumé
• strawman
• What Is a Straw Man Argument?
• show, don't tell
• Show, Don't Tell
• Should I Capitalize Award Names?
• How to Write Millions
• Colons
• Capitalizing Proper Nouns
• "The Situation" Does Grammar
• run-on sentence dog
• What Are Run-On Sentences?
• "Gorilla" Versus "Guerrilla"
• Is It OK to Abbreviate "Barbecue" as "BBQ"?
• Active Voice Versus Passive Voice
• "Exorcise" or "Exercise"?
• Comma Splice
• Is It "Which" or "That"?
• How to Get Started Blogging
• ellipses
• Ellipses
• "A While" Versus "Awhile"
• parenthesis
• Dashes, Parentheses, and Commas
• although
• "Although" Versus "While"
• "Emigrate" or "Immigrate"?
• "Bad" Versus "Badly"
• "Beckon Call" or "Beck and Call"?
• "Further" Versus "Farther"
• What Is Poetic License?
• Hey, That's Not Grammar Girl!
• always, usually, never
• Always, Never, Usually, Often, Most, and More
• daylightsaving
• Daylight-Saving Time
• "Milk It for All It's Worth" or "Milk It for All Its Worth"?
• Are Region Names Capitalized?
• Top Ten Grammar Myths
• "In Regard To" Versus "In Regards To"
• Does the Olympic Theme Song “I Believe” Have a Grammar Error?
• "Cannot" Versus "Can Not"
• "Between" Versus "Among"
• "Toward" Versus "Towards"
• How Come We Say "How Come"?
• funny errors
• Readers Share Their Funny Errors
• ideals
• "Ideas" Versus "Ideals"
• Does "Thank-You" Have a Hyphen
• Is It "Two Thousand and Ten" or "Two Thousand Ten"?
• How Do You Pronounce 2010?
• Lay Versus Lie
• Twitter
• Strunk and Twite
• "Which" Versus "That"
• ellipses
• Ellipses Spurned
• How to Use Semicolons
• keeping a journal
• Should Writers Keep a Journal?
• How Many Spaces After A Period?
• british american english
• Why Are British English and American English Different?
• Did I Tweet or Did I Twitter?
• myself pronoun
• "Myself"
• How to Organize a Book
• grawlix
• Swear Words in Text
• dash versus colon
• Dashes Versus Colons
• Elements of Style
• Strunk and White
• abbreviations
• Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Initialisms
• blog comment
• How to Write a Great Blog Comment
• Subjunctive Verbs
• flammable
• "Flammable" Versus "Inflammable"
• Splitting Verbs
• overusingof
• Do You Overuse "Of"?
• Does Grammar Really Matter?
• How to Podcast a Book
• Top Five Pet Peeves of 2008
• How to Write Your First Novel
• metaphor
• Mixed Metaphors
• An Example of Irony
• idiom
• Wordiness And Idioms
• female
• Woman Versus Female
• funnest
• Is "Funnest" a Word?
• Begs the Question
• threwthrough
• Through, Threw, and Thru
• affect effect aardvark
• Affect Versus Effect
• Graduated versus Graduated From
• Citing Podcasts and Websites
• percent
• How to Write Percents
• how to write numbers
• How to Write Numbers
• which versus that
• Which Versus That
• Present Tense Books
• Who Versus Whom--Advanced
• May Versus Might
• Zeroscape Versus Xeriscape
• Hyphens
• farmers market
• Apostrophes
• Yo as a Pronoun
• gonemissing
• Went Missing
• sit
• Sit Versus Set
• used to
• Used to Versus Use to, and Other Listener Questions
• Greeting Card Grammar
• companies
• People Versus Entities
• Interviewing Tips
• Daylight-Saving Time
• A Few Short Questions
• Formatting Hyperlinks
• Verbification of a Noun
• hopefully
• Starting a Sentence With "Hopefully"
• Compound Possession
• Simplify Your Writing
• The The -- The Double The
• asterisk
• The Asterisk (Trust Me About Grammar, Not About Baseball)
• Unlawful Versus Illegal
• Your Versus You're
• Regionalisms
• between you and me
• Between You and Me
• On accident
• On Accident Versus by Accident
• writers block
• Generating Story Ideas and Overcoming Writer's Block
• misplaced modifiers
• Misplaced Modifiers
• Text Messaging Grammar
• Who Versus Whom
• Semicolons
• myself
• How to Use "Myself" and Other Reflexive Pronouns
• Grammar Manners
• apostrophe
• Apostrophe Catastrophe (Part Two)
• hanged
• Hanged Versus Hung
• Apostrophe Catastrophe (Part One)
• Woman Versus Female
• chaucer
• Who Versus That
• proofread
• Proofreading Tips
• Abbreviations
• Abbreviations, Acronyms, And Initialisms
• Excessive Redundant Redundancies
• title capitalization rules
• Title Capitalization Rules
• what is a style guide
• Grammar Style Issues
• Threw, Through, Thru

About Mignon Fogarty

Mignon Fogarty is the creator of Grammar Girl and the founder and managing director of Quick and Dirty Tips. A magazine writer, technical writer, and entrepreneur, she has served as a senior editor and producer at a number of health and science web sites. She has a B.A. in English from the University of Washington in Seattle and an M.S. in biology from Stanford University.

Mignon believes that learning is fun, and the vast rules of grammar are wonderful fodder for lifelong study. She strives to be a friendly guide in the writing world. Her archenemy is the evil Grammar Maven, who inspires terror in the untrained and is neither friendly nor helpful.

Grammar Girl provides short, friendly tips to improve your writing. Covering the grammar rules and word choice guidelines that can confound even the best writers, Grammar Girl makes complex grammar questions simple with memory tricks to help you recall and apply those troublesome grammar rules. Whether English is your first language or second language, Grammar Girl’s punctuation, style, and business tips will make you a better and more successful writer. Mignon Fogarty is the creator and host of Grammar Girl. Grammar Girl is a Quick and Dirty Tips podcast.

Scripts written for Grammar Girl

(June 25, 2015)

• "Let's Go" Is Not the Same As "Let Us Go" (June 25, 2015)
• Why Do People Say "Ain't"? (June 25, 2015)
• Can You Process These Tricky but Grammatical Sentences? (March 13, 2015)
• The Meaning of "Minion" (March 13, 2015)
• Why Do People Say "Like" So Much? (Dec. 5, 2014)
• Make Me a Sandwich: A Joke about Verbs (Nov. 14, 2014)
• We Might Could Harvest the Corn (Sept. 26, 2014)
• How to Use the Conjunction Nor (Aug. 14, 2014)
• The FANBOYS Conjunctions (July 10, 2014)
• Can I Start a Sentence with a Conjunction? (May 29, 2014)
• Missing Apostrophes in Company Names (May 1, 2014)
• Can I Help Who's Next? (April 17, 2014)
• Is It OK to Start a Sentence with "Just Because"? (Apr. 4, 2014)
• I'm Smarter Than You're (Mar. 21, 2014)
• Why It's Hard to Talk about Substituting One Thing for Another (Feb. 28, 2014)
• The Hoax Behind Little Bunny Foo Foo (Feb. 21, 2014)
• Why Do Some Band Names Take "The"? (Jan. 23, 2014)
• Did Kanye West Invent Hashtag Rap? (Dec. 19, 2013)
• Because as a Preposition (Oct. 18, 2013)
• Participles and Gerunds (Aug. 23, 2013)
• Why Do We Have Both A and An? (July 19, 2013)
• Why Does I Take Plural Verbs? (May 26, 2013)
• Flashbacks (Apr. 12, 2013)
• Placement of Only (Mar. 1, 2013)
• Fossil Language (Feb. 22, 2013)
• Style and Register (Nov. 29, 2012)
• Writing Survey Questions (Sept. 6, 2012)
• Present Tense in a Story About the Past (Aug. 30, 2012)
• When Is W a Vowel? (Aug. 23, 2012)
• "Pet" or "Petted"? "Grit" or "Gritted"? (Aug. 2, 2012)
• The Verb "Do" Is Weirder Than You Think (May 1, 2012)
• Possessives Without Possession (Mar. 29, 2012)
• Tricky Conditionals (Mar. 8, 2012)
• Where Are You At? (Feb. 23, 2012)
• Omitting "That" (Jan. 19, 2012)
• Passive voice (Dec. 8, 2011)
• Active voice (Dec. 1, 2011)
• Christmas carol syntax (Nov. 24, 2011)
• Plurals inside compound nouns (Aug. 11, 2011)
• Each Other vs. One Another (June 30, 2011)
• Whoever or whomever? (June 18, 2011)
• Double subjects (May 6, 2011)
• Are conversate and orientate words? (Apr. 15, 2011)
• Mixing verb tenses (Mar. 25, 2011)
• Contractions (Jan. 27, 2011)
• How to write dialogue (Jan. 13, 2011)
• What is a gerund? (Nov. 22, 2010)
• "Talk with" vs. "talk to" (Oct. 21, 2010)
• Is Pig Latin a real language? (Oct. 14, 2010)
• Is it OK to switch verb tenses? (Sept. 2, 2010)
• Swearing (Aug. 12, 2010)
• When to use female nouns (July 8, 2010)
• When to use articles before nouns (June 4, 2010)
• Is a troop one person or a group? (May 26, 2010)

"§"
rutgers.edu/~jlynch
Guide to Grammar and Style
Lynch, Jack

Last revised 28 January 2011.

"§"
University of Chicago Press Staff
The Chicago Manual of Style

"§"
wordpress.com
Motivated Grammar

About

Grammar is a contentious point. Some argue that it’s horrifyingly appalling that ANYONE would ever utter the words “I drive pretty good”. (This, of course, is because good is an adjective, good is modifying drive, which is a verb, and our forefathers fought and died so that verbs would never be subjugated by adjectives.) Some would even argue that you are a fool, an ill-educated ass, and a corner-dwelling dunce if you managed to emerge from your schooling without learning that periods are properly placed INSIDE of quotation marks.
...

"§"
youtube.com - WC
Word Crimes

"Weird Al" Yankovic - Word Crimes

a video chock-full of griping about other people's language

Robin Thicke - Blurred Lines ft. T.I., Pharrell

Lingua Franca

Language and writing in academe.

July 29, 2014 by Ben Yagoda

You Say Expresso, I Say Espresso …

I know, enough already about Weird Al Yankovic’s "Word Crimes", but bear with me for one more comment on the music video that’s given language prescriptivism it’s its biggest shot in the arm since the glory days of Eats, Shoots & Leaves. Perhaps the weirdest of the 17 admonitions Weird Al crams into the song comes at about the halfway point, when he croons, “There’s no x in espresso,” over this image:
...

Lingua Franca

Language and writing in academe.

July 22, 2014 by Lucy Ferriss

Word Pardons

Weird Al’s "Word Crimes" video now has close to nine million hits, with the thumbs-up outweighing the thumbs-down more than 100 to 1. For those who take debates over prescriptivism in language usage seriously, there’s plenty of material for hand-wringing in the video, as evidenced by Lauren Squires’s perceptive piece in Language Log. But since there probably aren’t nine million people who have heard of prescriptivism in language, I wonder if there isn’t something else going on in the delight people seem to take in Weird Al’s ditty.
...

Lingua Franca

Language and writing in academe.

July 21, 2014 by Anne Curzan

Switchin’ It Up

Linguists sometimes get discouraged about the rampant prescriptivism in public discussions of language. This past week was no exception, as many of us watched with some dismay as both friends and strangers online delighted over Weird Al Yankovich’s new song "Word Crimes". As this song showed yet again, it can take only the smallest spark to ignite a stream of invective about “abuses” in/to the language and about those who commit these perceived abuses.
...

Weird Al grammar gaff in Word Crimes song

By Australian Associated Press

Published: 00:21 BST, 16 July 2014 | Updated: 00:21 BST, 16 July 2014

Weird Al Yankovic is so busy ripping pop stars apart with his musical parodies that he didn't notice his own mistake in his latest pop send up.

In Word Crimes, Yankovic's parody of Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines, the comedian is so busy preaching about grammatical errors that he, ironically, doesn't notice his own.
...

Weird Al’s "Word Crimes" and Prescriptive Grammar

Weird Al Yankovic’s latest album, Mandatory Fun, showcases his knowledge of grammar with the song "Word Crimes", a parody of last summer’s controversial hit "Blurred Lines". Among his peeves, Weird Al discusses the use of literally, whom, casual text speak, and apostrophes. Linguists view Weird Al’s new song as a teaching moment, though perhaps not of the variety that language enthusiasts might expect.

Word Crimes Lyrics

• Word Crimes victor steinbok
• Word Crimes Neal Whitman
• Word Crimes Victor Steinbok
• Word Crimes (Weird Al) Brian Hitchcock
• Word Crimes (Weird Al) Ben Zimmer

Weird Al's "Word Crimes" Video

Never mind, I give up.

By Mignon Fogarty , Grammar Girl

171: Word Crimes 2

5 August 2014 / Daniel Midgley / Comments Off

Weird Al Yankovic’s song “Word Crimes” combines grammar with music, and it’s fun to listen to.

But linguists are pointing out that these word crimes are not so felonious after all.

Linguist Daniel Midgley continues the investigation on this episode of Talk the Talk.

170: Word Crimes 1

29 July 2014 / Daniel Midgley / Comments Off

Weird Al Yankovic’s new parody “Word Crimes” is chock-full of grammar advice — but is it good advice?

Or is it just a three-minute-long language peeve session? What should we take from the song, and what should best be left alone?

Linguist Daniel Midgley tells you what you need to know on this episode of Talk the Talk.

Al Yankovic

If you thought I didn’t know that I ended “Word Crimes” with a split infinitive… you don’t give me nearly enough credit.

22:06 - 19. Juli 2014

...
Weird Al’s “Word Crimes” parody song got all the ink, but I got a bigger kick out of another of his new songs, “Mission Statement,” which would be a spoof of corporate buzzwords if the subject weren’t already spoofproof. Watch the video and read about how TruScribe, a “video-scribing” company in Wisconsin, created the catchy and effective graphics. I learned about TruScribe via a Wall Street Journal blog post about the Yankovic video. One commenter wrote: “The beautiful part of this is that I can watch it at work with my headphones on and to anyone passing by it looks like I’m just watching some motivational business video.”
...

"Spastic" and a different kind of "word crime"

July 20, 2014 @ 10:19 am · Filed by Ben Zimmer under Language and culture, Language and music, Taboo vocabulary

Weird Al Yankovic's new song "Word Crimes" has generated a lot of heated discussion among linguists and other descriptivist types who didn't take kindly to its litany of language peeves — satire or no satire. (See my original post and Lauren Squires' guest post for extended commentary.) But in detailing various "word crimes," Weird Al managed to commit a linguistic foul of his own. And no, I'm not talking about the split infinitive at the end of the song ("Try your best to not drool"). Weird Al assured his Twitter followers that the line was an intentional bit of trolling:
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Word Crimes

July 15, 2014 @ 11:15 am · Filed by Ben Zimmer under Humor, Language and music, Peeving, Prescriptivist poppycock

For his new album Mandatory Fun, Weird Al Yankovic has crafted the ultimate peever's anthem: "Word Crimes," to the tune of last summer's big hit, "Blurred Lines."

Blog Excerpts

Weird Al's "Word Crimes" Takes on Language Peeves

July 16, 2014

Weird Al Yankovic's "Word Crimes" video transforms Robin Thicke's scandalous "Blurred Lines" into a prescriptivist grammarian's screed. We think it's brilliant and are happy to see it getting much play in the language-loving community this week. Not since School House Rock's "Conjunction Junction" has a grammar lesson been this entertaining.
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“Weird Al” Yankovic

"Blurred Lines" (englisch für "verschwommene Linien") ist ein Lied des US-amerikanischen R&B-Sängers Robin Thicke, zusammen mit dem Rapper T.I. sowie dem Sänger Pharrell. Es wurde am 15. März 2013 veröffentlicht und erreichte in verschiedenen Ländern, darunter Deutschland und die USA, den ersten Platz der Charts. "Blurred Lines" wurde von Pharrell produziert und von ihm zusammen mit Thicke und T.I. geschrieben. Am 10. März 2015 entschied ein Gericht, dass Teile des Titels ein Plagiat des Titels „Got to Give It Up“ von Marvin Gaye sind und sprach den Erben eine Entschädigungszahlung von 7,4 Millionen Dollar zu.
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Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic, born October 23, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter, film/record producer, satirist, and author. He is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts, original songs that are style pastiches of the work of other acts, and polka medleys of several popular songs, featuring his favored instrument, the accordion.
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Word Crimes

Dave Wilton, Wednesday, July 16, 2014

“Weird Al” Yankovic has a new video that’s making the rounds. It’s Word Crimes, a parody of Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines. It’s very clever (despite the “cunning linguist” chestnut; that ancient pun was only mildly amusing upon first hearing and just plain not funny subsequently; no self-respecting comedian should use it), but it’s also very wrong. Many of the “errors” that Yankovic descries are not wrong at all.

The things that Yankovic doesn’t understand about English:

• "Less" used to modify count nouns is perfectly acceptable
• I could care less is correct; it’s an idiom and doesn’t have to be logical (hint: acceptable usage is never determined by logic)
• Innovative abbreviations are okay; what’s important is that the message gets across
• "Whom" is dying; using "who" in its place is okay in most contexts
• "Good" can be an adverb too
• "Literally" has a figurative meaning too

In short, Weird Al is exposing himself as a peever, someone who doesn’t understand that:

• Language changes
• There is no single “correct” style that works in all cases; different contexts call for different styles and diction
• Use determines what is “correct,” not arbitrary rules or logic

There’s a place for artful, well-written English prose, but this kind of peeving has never led to better English, and when it’s wrong — as in this case — it tends to lead to stilted, poorly written prose.

Still, it’s an amusing and well-constructed parody.

Hey, Weird Al: Congratulations on Not Having a Language Disorder!

Oh boy. It’s no fun to be The Guy Who Takes Umbrage at a Novelty Song. So let me start by saying that, all things considered, I couldn’t be happier about “Weird Al” Yankovic’s recent viral resurgence. “Tacky,” his upgrade of Pharrell’s cloying “Happy,” is blue-chip parody pop: lively, goofy, subtly acerbic. (Subtext: you know what’s really tacky? Songs like “Happy.”)
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The problem with Weird Al’s ‘Word Crimes’

I’m late to the story of "Weird Al" and his "word crimes", and I’m too busy to do it justice, but luckily there has been a glut of good commentary already, some of it linked below.

First, the song, in case you’re catching up. "Word Crimes" is a new release from American comedian ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic, a novelty number about grammar, spelling and usage that borrows the template of a hit song from last year called "Blurred Lines". You might want to watch or listen first, if you haven’t heard it, and you can read the lyrics here.

The video can legitimately be called a viral sensation, having quickly hurtled past 10 million views on YouTube. I’d love to tell you I enjoyed it, but mostly I winced. The wordplay is ingenious, and the production is slick, but the message – and there is a message, parody or not – spoils it: it’s a "hotchpotch" of ill-informed prescriptivism, a mean-spirited rant about trivial linguistic errors, non-errors, and non-standard usages traditionally decried by hobbyist peevers.
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