California University of Pennsylvania | Directory



Common Standard English Grammatical Inconsistencies

D. Nettles Revised April 2008

1. Use of homophones – Be sure to use the words “two” and “to” and the words “here” and “hear” appropriately. They are to be used interchangeably. Double-check these words when you use them because many spell-check or grammar-check programs will not correct this for you.

2. Use of parentheses -

When the words inside the parentheses make up a whole sentence, then you punctuate that sentence within the parentheses, and punctuate the previous sentence before the parentheses begin. For example:

When I was fifteen years old, we got a new puppy. (We named him “Clancy,” in honor of Dad’s favorite author.)

However, if the words inside the parentheses do not make up a whole sentence, then there is no punctuation inside the parentheses, and the punctuation to the previous sentence belongs on the outside, after the close of the parentheses. Here is an example:

When I was fifteen years old (and very lonely), we got a new puppy.

3. Use of quotation marks. These punctuation marks are not to be used indiscriminately; in other words, they must mark off someone’s direct quote. When the quotation mark begins a direct quote, start it with a capital letter. Here is an example:

Charlie said, “Mom, I don’t want to go to bed right now.”

They can also indicate a word or phrase that is unusual, catchy, or not a real word but someone’s rendition of a word. This is an example:

Please do not use any “cutesy” activities in your lesson plan.

In our profession, we write a lot about single letters or words; quotation marks need to offset these. For example:

The letter “a” is the first letter of the alphabet.

OR

I will teach the words “boardinghouse,” “intelligent,” and “restaurant.”

If there is a quote within a quote, then use a single set of quotation marks in the middle of the quotation. Here is an example:

She replied, “My favorite quote from Kennedy is, ‘Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country.’”

Notice that in all of the examples above, the punctuation goes inside the quotation marks. In American use of English, the punctuation goes inside quotation marks almost all the time. One notable exception: If you use a direct quote, then an APA citation in parentheses after the quote, you’ll need to put the period after the parentheses. For example:

Smith (1999) found that first grade readers whose parents read aloud to them on a daily basis had “more positive attitudes about reading than their peers” (p. 33).

4. Use of etc. Do not use the abbreviation “etc.” in your papers, unless you put it in parentheses. Instead, spell out the words “and so forth,” or something similar. Here is an example:

This classroom was full of all kinds of interesting learning materials, such as puzzles, games, books, paints, clay, and many others.

NOT: This classroom was full of all kinds of interesting learning materials, such as puzzles, games, books, paints, clay, etc.

5. Subject-predicate match. If you use a plural noun as part of the subject, be sure that you make the nouns in the predicate reflect this. For example:

The children were sitting at their desks. (NOT: The children were sitting at their desk.)

Also, make sure the verb matches the noun. For example:

The children were sitting at their desks. (NOT: The children was sitting at their desks.)

And, make sure the nouns and pronouns agree in plurality. This means that if you use a noun that is singular, such as “child,” then you must use “his” or “her” as the pronoun, not “their.” Here is an example:

A child needs to learn through his or her own mistakes. (NOT: A child needs to learn through their own mistakes.)

Speaking of “his” and “her,” APA style requires that gender not be revealed in the context of the paper. I will not be that strict about this. (The only time I am strict about this is in the reference section of your paper. But that’s another handout.) You may choose to use the words “his” and “her” interchangeably throughout the paper, rather than use both of them every time you refer to a single child. (This gets awkward.) For example:

A child needs to learn through her mistakes, and construct her own knowledge by interacting with her environment. (This is less awkward than: A child needs to learn through his or her mistakes, and construct his or her own knowledge by interacting with his or her environment.)

You can avoid this problem altogether by sticking with the plural form:

Children need to learn through their mistakes, and construct their own knowledge by interacting with their environment.

6. Use of the semicolon. This punctuation mark is a tough one! Many people are confused about how to use it. Listed below are the rules and examples that are most commonly used in this class.

Use a semicolon between the parts of a compound sentence when they are not joined by and, but, for, or nor. For example:

The teacher must work very hard; she must never give up.

Use a semicolon before words like therefore, however, and thus when they connect two independent clauses. For example:

Constructivism is a philosophy of teaching and learning; therefore, it influences many classroom practices.

Use a semicolon after each clause in a series of three or more clauses. For example:

Children were working; the teachers were observing; the principal was listening; and the parents were happy.

Use a semicolon to offset lists and explanations introduced by expressions such as for example, that is, namely. Here is an example:

This teacher gave the students many chances to construct their own knowledge; for example, she asked them to observe the several different types of leaves and determine how they were all alike.

7. When to use I or me. Whenever you have a clause that contains two subjects, such as “Dan and me,” you need to know whether to use the word “me” or the word “I” in the clause. Here’s a way to test this: Take the other subject out. (In this case, it’s Dan.) Then try the clause both ways ---using “me” in the clause or using “I” in the clause. See which one makes sense. Two examples are shown below.

Example #1

CORRECT: Dan and I went to the football game.

NOT: Dan and me went to the football game.

(Using the test I showed you above, if you take Dan out of the second sentence, you have: Me went to the football game. This is not syntactically correct. We don’t say it that way in Standard English. But look again at the first sentence. If you take Dan out of it, you have: I went to the football game. That makes perfect sense!)

Example #2

CORRECT: The quarterback waved at Dan and me.

NOT: The quarterback waved at Dan and I.

(Again, using the test I showed you above, if you take Dan out of the sentence, you have: The quarterback waved at I. This is not syntactically correct. We don’t say it that way in Standard English. But, look again at the first sentence in this example. If you take out Dan, you have: The quarterback waved at me. This makes perfect sense.)

8. Punctuating titles of books in your paper. When you name the title of a book or magazine within the body of your paper, the title needs to be capitalized AND either italicized or underlined. (In the reference list, it’s a whole different ballgame. Here, I am only referring to naming a book or magazine title in your paper.) And, titles of stories that are not whole books, poems, articles in magazines, and chapters within books are not underlined or italicized when naming them within the body of your paper. Instead, they are capitalized with quotation marks around them. For example:

The teacher read the poem, “Zebra Question,” from Shel Silverstein’s Light in the Attic, to her class.

I particularly enjoyed Smith’s article, “Why Young People Aren’t Voting This Year,” which was in the latest issue of Time magazine.

“Literacy Theories and Their Implications” is the most well-written chapter in Dugan’s textbook, Teaching Reading and Writing to Elementary Grades.

My favorite fairy tale from Grimm’s Fairy Tales is “Rumplestiltskin.”

9. Use of apostrophes. Now for my pet peeve. This is an area that REALLY needs work for lots of people. But do not feel too bad; mistakes with apostrophes are common, even in newspapers and on billboards. The rules are shown below. Please study them and use them.

Grammar Rules to Know: Possessives, Plurals, and Apostrophes

* When you make a noun plural, simply add an “s.” For example:

boy -- boys

Sentence: There are four boys in my class.

* When the singular noun becomes possessive (which means the noun shows ownership), add an apostrophe, then the “s.” For example:

boy -- boy’s

Sentence: The boy’s coat is blue.

This sentence refers to only one boy, who owns a blue coat.

* When a plural noun becomes possessive, add the “s” first, then the apostrophe. For example:

boy -- boys’

Sentence: The boys’ coats are all different colors.

This sentence refers to several boys, each of whom own a coat, and they are different colors.

There are, of course, exceptions to this. Some words become plural by changing their spelling, not by adding “s.” For example, the word “child” becomes “children.” In this case, you obviously don’t add “s” to make the word plural; however, you do add an apostrophe then the “s” to make it plural possessive. Here is the progression:

Singular: child --- There is one child in the backseat.

Singular possessive -- child’s -- The child’s seatbelt is fastened.

Plural -- children -- There are three children in the backseat.

Plural possessive -- All of the children’s seatbelts are fastened.

Therefore, when you refer to literature that is written for children, you will use the plural possessive: “children’s literature.”

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