5 Cases of Erroneous Usage
Writers who have misheard words and expressions or remember them imperfectly are prone to misrepresenting them in their prose. The following sentences include examples of such errors, followed by discussion and revision.
Slangy, Trendy Words Are Still Words
What do these three words have in common? They are all enshrined in the English-speaking world’s long-reigning record of the language’s vocabulary. That’s right: The Oxford English Dictionary now includes YOLO, biatch, and moobs—and many people are not exactly squeeing about that. They think those words are at best cheeseball and at worst clifty, and they make them want to vom.
The Prefix Co-
If you’re the betting type, and you wager on whether a given word beginning with a prefix is attached directly to the root word or linked with a hyphen, bet against the hyphen: The trend—in American English, at least—is to close prefixed words and compound words. However, you won’t always win, because there are exceptions, even among words beginning with a particular prefix. Take the prefix co-, for example.
3 Problems with Suspensive Hyphenation
The grammatical convention known as suspensive hyphenation is employed when two or more adjacent and parallel phrasal adjectives, phrases that in tandem modify a noun that follows them, have a common element in the same position. Elision of one of the repeated words because it is clearly implicit is a common strategy, but misuse of suspensive hyphenation can complicate a sentence rather than simplify it, as the examples below demonstrate. (Each sentence is accompanied by a discussion and a solution.)
Punctuation Quiz #4: Phrasal Adjectives
All but one of the following sentences are incorrect; insert or omit a hyphen in the others as necessary.
3 Cases of Unnecessary Punctuation
In each of the sentences below, superfluous punctuation interrupts the flow of the sentence. Discussion and revision of each example indicates the correct treatment of the statements.
5 Awkward Sentences
Innumerable missteps in constructing sentences are possible. Here are five random statements with assorted obstacles to comprehension, each accompanied by discussion and a revision.
Hyphens Are Chains Linking Phrasal Adjectives
Writers frequently neglect to connect two words that together constitute a single grammatical unit modifying a noun that follows them. This error of omission is even more likely when the phrasal adjective consists of more than two words. The following sentences demonstrate such errors, and a discussion and a revision follow each example.
Atheists, Agnostics, and Apostates
What’s the difference between an atheist and an agnostic? As with most words, the answer lies in the etymological origins of the words.
Style Quiz #1: Months, Days, and Years in Dates
All but one of the following sentences demonstrate incorrect style for styling dates according to The Chicago Manual of Style; revise the style of the number as necessary.
5 Types of Punctuation Problems
Each of the following sentences omits or misuses punctuation, resulting in possible confusion when a word or phrase is attached to a main clause or a transition occurs. Discussion and revision explain and resolve each error.
It’s A Great Time to be a Freelance Writer!
Technology certainly created a period of prosperity for writers all around the world. Before the advent of the Web making money as a freelance writer was relatively difficult, because you had a limited number of local publications to work with. Today, on the other hand, there are literally tens of thousands of publications online, on all sorts of niches, and writing for one of them is sometimes just a matter of reaching out with an email!