FIXING YOUR GRAMMAR

How to Fix Your Grammar
By Barbara Wallraff
O, The Oprah Magazine | From the January 2010 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine

Good English sounds smart, and every one of us could stand to sound a bit smarter.

Just ask the president. A year ago he had trouble with I and me, saying things like "President Bush graciously invited Michelle and I...." But someone clarified this point of language for him: Whichever word you'd use if you were the only person involved (as in "President Bush graciously invited me") is the word you should use when someone else is, too. More tips:

"It's" So Easy

On paper many people are tripped up by it's versus its. The apostrophe in it's ("it is"), just like the one in we're ("we are") or I'm ("I am"), is standing in for a missing letter, in this case the i in is. That is its role. As opposed to: "That is it's role." Which would mean "That is it is role." Which in fact means nothing.

Beware the "Literal" Agenda

A literal-minded person lacks imagination. So does a "literal" expression: It means exactly what it says. So if you tell someone, "I'd kill to have your job—literally," watch out! You've just made a death threat.

That's Repetitive. And Redundant!

A sentence that starts with "The reason is" shouldn't continue with "because." "The reason" has already done all the work, leaving nothing for "because" to do. Other notorious wastes of words: "I thought to myself" (who else would you think to?), "advance reservations" (yep, that's when they're made), and "I am busy at this time" (but not so busy that you didn't have time for three useless words).

This story is part of O's Live Your Best Year Toolkit


MY THOUGHTS

some articles make me laugh - literally! hey, i'm not making fun of people who need to go back to school for grammar lessons. sometimes, i feel i need to take those lessons myself.

i'm not a good writer. sure i know how to 'dot the i's' and 'cross the t's". but i get so confused with "to","at", "in", "on". you know what i mean.

i didn't even know i have this problem. until one fine day. i took an online english test (no, not the jobstreet test - i'm still not confident enough to take that one!). so, going back online, there i was, armed with nothing but my 'pride'. i started taking the awful test! the first question wasn't that bad. the second, even the third - no sweat! when i got to the 4th test item, that's when i started thinking - "i am no better "than a third grader'!!!

but i wanted to pass the test. so, i went to my third grade teacher. nope, she wasn't online. she's from the 'typewriter generation' and looks at a computer with pure dismay. and she's my mom. she (my mom) passed the test with flying colors!!! in my name, of course! if you don't call that cheating, then i don't know what is.

i thought it was funny. for a while. then i realized i have to do something. i may not be a good writer but writing is part and parcel of my life- at work and at home. i decided to brush up and get over my grammar issues.

so, i went back to reading. (advice of my third grade teacher). not speed reading. pure unadulterated (had to check with collins for this one) reading- really taking note of how sentences are constructed, how words are spelled, how conjunctions are used. and i got reacquainted with the dictionary - looking up words i cannot understand, checking spelling and how certain words are pronounced. i'm still learning. it's a process. i suppose, it's a process that should never end. or i would really need to go back to third grade.

dear reader, don't get me wrong. i'm not advising you to do the same (although i'm hoping you would). i made the mistake of giving this unsolicited advice years ago - to an idiot (sorry - venting!venting!). the issue got so blown out of proportion it reached the office of the CEO. i could have killed the &*^%$# girl!!! (venting again). the nerve!!! and she didn't even know the difference between 'your' and 'you're'. (sorry again - bitching this time!)

i so wanted to slap her - with the dictionary (and the thesaurus - which she cannot even pronounce!!!- forgive me! the memory makes may blood boil). fortunately, only a bible was at hand. i was reminded - i'm a Christian. a work in progress. but a Christian, nevertheless.