HELP WITH YOUR GRAMMAR

One of the subjects I got asked most about during the last year as the RLF Fellow at the LSE was about grammar. Always as if it was a dirty secret. Something people should be ashamed of. So although I've written about it before on here, I thought it might be useful to pass on some of the best sites I've found on the internet.


1. Grammar Girl. Who knew that grammar could ever be so entertaining, let alone ‘quick and dirty’ but this is someone who loves her stuff and wants you to love it too. Just be warned that this is an American site, so you may need to double check the British usage.

2. Royal Literary Fund Fellowship Although primarily designed for students, these pages offer some good, clear advice about grammar, structuring an argument and how you can prepare yourself for writing.

3. Plain English More than thirty years ago, the Plain English Campaign started their campaign against official ‘gobbledygook’. They offer a series of free guides on their site covering subjects such as letter, report and even business email writing.

ITS/IT'S

OK, here's another grammar clunker ... when do you use it's and when is it just its?

Simple rule - NEVER put an apostrophe in ITS when it's used to indicate a possession. For example, this blog likes its short stories. But you ALWAYS put the apostrophe in when it's being used as a short form of IT IS. It's clear this blog likes its short stories.

And a nice segue (oh beautiful beautiful word) to my new find, The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks. "Loving" this example in particular...



Read More:

* THAT/WHICH

* AFFECT/EFFECT

AFFECT/EFFECT

What's the difference between affect and effect?

This is another question that's been sprung on me recently, and here's what I said:

To affect someone means that you have an impact on them, whereas to effect means to bring about, or to cause something.

So...

The new leader is effecting big changes, which directly affect my work.

The best tip I've heard of if you are unsure is to see if you can put in the verb 'to make' for effect without, er, affecting the meaning.

Read more:

* That or Which

THAT/WHICH

One of the good things about my newish job at the London School of Economics is having to find stuff out. Interesting how often this will be answers to questions that have been hanging around in the back of my mind for some time.

Such as what's the difference between THAT and WHICH?

So here's my answer to the THAT/WHICH rule:

That is defining, and Which is not, so you would use That in a restrictive clause.

Er, yes. And...

I know, that helps me like a sack of potatoes too. How about if you use them in this way:

The essays that have to be in on Tuesday should be written in black ink

and

The essays, which have to be in on Tuesday, should be written in black ink.

See?

The THAT example implies that ONLY the essays that have to be in on Tuesday should be written in black ink, and the WHICH example suggests ALL the essays need to be both in on Tuesday and written in black ink.

I've looked back through my old stuff and I've - mostly - used these two words correctly so the rule must have been implanted many years ago, but I've never actually unpacked it before.

Call me anal, but I LOVE all this.

Any grammar questions/rules/tips you want to throw at me before the students put me on the spot will be gratefully received.


Related posts:

How are your sentences?

Writing Do's and Don'ts

I'm a Winnie the Pooh Fellow