Grammar girl presents the ultimate writing guide for. Our position is that content on the internet should be treated the same as content in print. Stream tracks and playlists from grammar girl on your desktop or mobile device. Mignon fogarty is the creator of grammar girl and the founder and managing director of quick and dirty tips. When two or more singular nouns or pronouns are connected by or or nor, use a singular verb. If you too feel difficulties with these two conjunctions, read on as this article makes distinctions between nor and or clear. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing. However, it is possible to use nor without neither. She is also the founder of the quick and dirty tips podcasting network. Listen to grammar girl quick and dirty tips for better writing on spotify.
In fact, grammar girl is highly credited with sparking a fresh interest in grammar throughout our culture. See more ideas about grammar, learn english and english grammar. Get the grammar girls take on correctly using nor in a sentence. If you want the dictionary definition, just double click on any word. As she does in previous volumesgrammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing 2008 and the grammar devotional 2009fogarty affects an earnest and upbeat tone to dissuade those who think a grammar book has to be annoying, boring, and confusing and takes on the role of grammar guide, intent on demystifying grammar.
However, here is what the chicago manual of style says. Online sensation grammar girl makes grammar fun and easy in this new york times bestseller. How to use either, neither, or, and nor correctly the write practice. If both elements are singular, then the verb is singular too.
Consider, green eggs and ham was samiams favorite dish. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing is an educational podcast produced by mignon fogarty that was launched in july 2006 and the title of a print book by fogarty. If the first denied action had been, for example, wasnt forcing myself to say anything that would make them think i was a great fan of. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing by. Secret intersex explores what it means to be born genderless by following a range of intersex cases. You may either go to the library or a book store to get a copy of the required reading materials. There needs to be a preceding use of no, or not any or none, or neither, before the use of nor. Results for grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better. Grammar rules the blue book of grammar and punctuation. A singular subject she, bill, car takes a singular verb is, goes, shines, whereas a plural subject takes a plural verb. Normality is centuries older, though, and many english authorities consider it the superior form, for what thats worth.
When they act as pronouns either means one or the other while neither indicates not one or the other both these roads go to rome. Written with the wit, warmth, and accessibility that the podcasts are known for, grammar girl s quick and dirty tips for better writing covers the grammar rules and wordchoice guidelines that can confound even the best writers. Its not interchangeable with other types of dashes. By the way, it is equally correct to say bad grammar. On the other hand, 1, neither nor is a longstanding clause that fits perfectly into your sentence. How to use either, neither, nor and or kaplan blog.
The podcast does not overlap with the book and vice versa. Better versus best quick and dirty tips get grammar girls take on better versus best. But the best way to choose the correct one is to remember that nor always conveys a negative message. How to use nor correctly grammar girl quick and dirty tips. We cover punctuation, grammar, style, word histories, idioms, and more. Books similar to grammar girls quick and dirty tips for. Mignon has come up with clever ideas to help even the most grammatically challenged person remember the rules.
Be especially careful of mixing up simple past tense i danced all night and past perfect tense i had danced all night. Obviously ws2 a native speaker actually prefers nor in this exact context. There are multiple tenses beyond past, present, and future, and they are worth knowing. When quoted in text or listed in a bibliography, titles of books, journals, plays, and other freestanding works are. Beware double negatives with neithernor grammar monster. Neither nor used in a sentence in the negative sense when you want to say that two or more things are not true. Nevertheless, this book is not intended for people who make their. My mother seems to appreciate having a grammar lover in the family. The most common types of dashes are the en dash and the em dash. Anonymousi think, if you are good today, i would let you watch tv tonight definitely sounds incorrect in comparision to the above first conditional where we use will. Yes, that is a good way to make sure you are using the correct word.
Difference between nor and or compare the difference. When to use commas with for, and, but, or, yet, so, nor. Grammarly is like a little superpower, especially when i need to be at. Both john and fred dont like doing the dishes i want neither the red shirt nor the blue shirt. Grammar girl presents the ultimate writing guide for students. Nouns ending in cy usually come from adjectives ending in tfor example, pregnancy from pregnant, complacency from complacent, hesitancy from hesitantwhile adjectives ending in l usually take the ity suffix. Adam did not find the key neither on nor under the mat. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing book. I know im not supposed to have favorites, the the grammar devotional is my favorite book. In the phrase whether or not, the or not is often optional. Anonymousif you are good today, you can watch tv tonight. Another easy solution is you can usually replace onto with upon. You must commit to memory some of the basic rules governing the correct use of.
Last week, my mother emailed to ask if she was using the word nor correctly, which brings me to todays post. A word about nor this article is about a word about nor enjoy your reading. But you definitely need or not when you mean regardless of whether, as in, im out of here whether you like it or not. Mignon fogarty born 1967 is a former faculty member in journalism at the university of nevada, reno, and a former science writer who produces an educational podcast about english grammar and usage titled grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing, which was named one of the best podcasts of 2007 by itunes. The result is a landmark resource that will offer clear guidelines to students, writers, and editors alike. Prior to computers, people were taught to underline titles of books and plays and to surround chapters, articles, songs, and other shorter works in quotation marks. In fact, grammar girl has appeared or been mentioned on the oprah winfrey show, the new york times, and usa today, to name a few. We can either eat now or after the show its up to you 2. The grammar girl podcast has also won best education podcast multiple times in the podcast awards, and mignon is an inductee in the podcasting hall of fame. Subjectverb agreement grammar rules the blue book of. Fogarty has written several books on grammar and provides sneak peaks from her works on the grammar girl website. The construction no nor is certainly understandable but not common. Ive since seen it used in quite a few places online but have never seen it used or written here in the uk. Mignon fogarty is the founder of the quick and dirty tips network and creator of grammar girl, which has been named one of writers digests 101 best websites for writers multiple times.
When the subjects are joined by and, the verb is in plural. Grammar girl is your friendly guide to the english languagewriting, history, rules, and cool stuff. Note how we use the plural word surfers at the end there to keep everything in agreement. When the choice is up to you, you can generally use either whether or if. The proscription against using or, rather than nor, with neither i was neither here or there instead of i was neither here nor there is likewise not absolute, but nor is most common, and in this case i support the restriction. Beware double negatives with neithernor the pairing neithernor plays a negative role in a sentence. Home page for english grammar today on cambridge dictionary. A subject will come before a phrase beginning with of. All the grammar, punctuation, and usage rules and examples on the website plus dozens of quizzes with answers. Grammar girl is an online resource that provides answers to commonly misunderstood grammar issues.
Written with the wit, warmth, and accessibility that the podcasts are known for, grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing covers the grammar rules and wordchoice guidelines that can confound even the best writers. Nor doesnt necessarily have to appear in a sentence with the word neither. With the trademark wit, warmth, and approachability that the podcasts are known for, grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing covers the grammar rules and word choice guidelines that can confound even the best writers. I am by no stretch of the imagination a grammarian nor do i have the intention of. Books similar to grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing. Ten grammar rules every writer should know writing forward.
April 16 is the 50th anniversary of the publication of a little book that is loved and admired throughout american academe. From grammar and spelling to style and tone, grammarly helps you eliminate errors and find the perfect words to express yourself. New york times bestselling author mignon fogarty shares her weekly grammar girl podcast and video tips about english, grammar, and writing. Neither my mother nor my father went to university. Get your copy of the blue book of grammar and punctuation. Fivetime winner of best education podcast in the podcast awards. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing is an educational podcast produced by mignon fogarty that was launched in july 2006 and the title of a print book by fogarty that was released in july 2008. Each entry starts with a simple explanation and basic examples before moving to reallife, entertaining examples. April 16 is the 50th anniversary of the publication of a little book that is loved and admired throughout american. It can be difficult to determine whether to use nor versus or, especially since both words are used to group two objects in a sentence. Sentence subjects that have multiple nouns connected by and that refer to a singular thing require singular verbs. While either has a positive connotation, neither holds a negative significance. If you too feel difficulties with these two conjunctions, read on as this article. For all those instances when either and neither behave like pronouns, the structure of the sentence would be.
English is fun precisely because its, not to put too fine a point on it, crazy. For christmas one year, she even bought me the book i judge you when you use poor grammar. In this sentence, green eggs and ham is one specific dish in and of itself, so you use the singular verb. A hyphen is a punctuation mark thats used to join words or parts of words. With the trademark wit, warmth, and approachability that the podcasts are known for, grammar girl s quick and dirty tips for better writing covers the grammar rules and word choice guidelines that can confound even the best writers. Jan 06, 2010 another easy solution is you can usually replace onto with upon. In a straight answer to your questions, 2 is grammatically fine, but not idiomatic. Awardwinning picturebook author tony johnston presents the poignant story of a loving. Foreword by mignon fogarty grammar girl xvii introduction xix 1grammar 1 finding subjects and verbs 1 finding verbs using verbs to.
Irony is the use of words to express something different from and often opposite to their literal meaning. Buy our book smashing grammar 2019 written by the founder of grammar monster, smashing grammar includes a glossary of grammar essentials from apostrophes to zeugma and a chapter on easily confused words from affecteffect to whetherif. So neither the men nor the woman is a good surfer is correct, as is neither the woman nor the men are good surfers. Either or used in a sentence in the affirmative sense when referring to a choice between two possibilities. Fogarty not only offers the grammar rules, but clear and sticky examples that should help anyone. Each entry starts with a simple explanation and basic examples before moving to real. A dash is longer than a hyphen and is commonly used to indicate a range or a pause.
Learn when to use the words more or most and when to use the suffixes er and est. The topic of tense warrants an article of its own or maybe an entire book. If it will in some way improve your writing, its fair game for grammar girl. Anonymousif you are good today, i will let you watch tv tonight. Read more about using a singular or plural verb with eitheror and neithernor. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Learn when to use nor instead of or, and how to avoid common mistakes. I would call this a promise even though its conditional on being good. Find books like grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing from the worlds largest community of readers. Every year in the uk, 2,000 babies are born with ambiguous genitalia. I have to say, the first time i read the word normalcy i was sure it was a typo.
The chicago guide to grammar, usage, and punctuation by bryan. Users can view posts by date or topic grammar, punctuation, word choice, style, or general tip or view all entries. And theres a reason that the grammar girl said thats where its at when. Everyone can be a great writer grammarly allows me to get those communications out and feel confident that im putting my best foot forward. When using either or and neither nor, note the following rules. If you know that list is the subject, then you will choose is for the verb. Neither cameron nor john saw the car until it was nearly upon them. Basic english grammar rules your must know hbr ascend. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing quick. Sarcasm is a cutting, often ironic remark intended to wound. Neither is used as a determiner before a single noun. The source of these answers is the sites host, former magazine and technical writer mignon fogarty.
Jan 01, 2010 so neither the men nor the woman is a good surfer is correct, as is neither the woman nor the men are good surfers. A magazine writer, technical writer, and entrepreneur, she has served as a senior editor an. Mar 15, 2017 in formal writing, single quotation marks are only valid within a quotation quotation marks, rules 7 and 8b. The term refers also to the study of such rules and this field includes phonology, morphology and syntax, often complemented by phonetics, semantics and pragmatics. Grammar girl is similarly a pseudonym for mignon fogarty, a former magazine and technical writer whos also the sites founder, and she offers writing and usage tips in blog posts, podcasts, and newsletters. Apr 28, 2014 not all subjects using and to connect nouns are plural, though. When a compound subject contains both a singular and a plural noun or pronoun joined by or or nor, the verb should agree with the part of the subject that is nearer the verb.
Despite this, id go with the phrasing data are not generated nor transferred which would convey the meaning just as well, while. And its easy to construct shorter or longer versions of the same basic construction, which steer us more definitively towards or or nor respectively. Each episode of grammar girl is available in both audio and text format. We have bought 5 other grammar books for homeschooling and this is one of our favorites. Oct 15, 2011 nor vs or nor and or are conjunctions in english language that create problems with their usage for non natives as they are unable to differentiate between these two words. Nor vs or nor and or are conjunctions in english language that create problems with their usage for non natives as they are unable to differentiate between these two words. To the delight of word nerds everywhere, grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing came out yesterday. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing wikipedia.
Nor after negatives the conjunction nor can serve either as a coordinating conjunction or as part of the correlative conjunction neither. When the subject is singular, the verb is singular. Single quotation marks are sometimes used in newspaper headlines to save space. The chicago guide to grammar, usage, and punctuation is a magisterial work, the culmination of garners lifelong study of the english language. Grammar girl quick and dirty tips for better writing. Mignon fogarty, grammar girl, wrote a nyt bestseller, grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing. I said, i like and not love grammar, which allows ones interest. A subject and its verb must both be either singular or plural. Normality and normalcy are different forms of the same word.
808 1001 1034 1512 1013 558 1498 1430 702 533 1538 669 354 709 39 68 502 183 1678 205 1529 1332 63 1422 633 1025 587 1165