Legal Writing

Some Perennial Grammar Questions

By Maeve Maddox

The DWT team appreciate the great feedback to Daniel’s question “What topics do you want to see covered in the blog?” and are busily responding.

Questions of grammar and usage are never out of date. Doubtless we’ll be writing new posts on topics that have been dealt with in the past. Preposition usage, for example, could fill a book.

Here are some of the recent suggestions, together with links to archived posts that may have already addressed them.

Verbs used intransitively and transitively?
English grammar 101 introduction to the English verb

?if you could address who/whom it would be great
Beware of whom

the difference between principle and principal
Principle or principal

the difference between assume and presume.
Is there a difference between assume and presume?

I?d like to know when (or if) it became acceptable to refer to an individual in the military as a troop, i.e. ?Three troops were injured today.?
Soldiers or Troops?

Plural possessives?
The possessive apostrophe
When to form a plural with an apostrophe

give a list of ALL the parts of speech?
English grammar 101 parts of speech

use of the subjunctive subjunctive “if I was”
The subjunctive mood
I wish I were

Do you have an archive so I could catch up on topics already covered?
Archives

Please do a blog on the difference between lie (recline) and lay and their conjugations.
Lay/lie moribund but not dead yet
Mixing up lay and lie

the difference and usage of ?passed? and ?past?
Passed vs past
Confusing passed with past
Taking another pass-at ?passed?

I recall an experience from my days of classroom teaching. I’d just given a lesson on the use of the apostrophe to form the possessive. The students had been attentive and I was certain that my explanations and illustrations had been especially inspired. Still glowing as I passed a senior teacher, I shared my feeling that I’d settled the apostrophe problem for that group of students once and for all. I can still see the kind, but pitying expression that flitted across her face.

Common errors are common for a reason. At some level, the error makes sense to us. Once an error is habitual, effort and repetition are required to rid ourselves of the habit. And the first explanation is not necessarily the one that will prove effective in clarifying the matter.

Keep those suggestions coming.

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Full post as published by Daily Writing Tips on August 30, 2010 (boomark / email).