Grammar Stammer - Grammar Stammer Blog

Loose Vs. Lose

8/31/2019

Loose and Lose are up there in the top words I see misspelled. They also sound different.

When saying loose, your vocal cords are not use when pronouncing the s. It sounds like /loos/.

When saying lose, your vocal cords are used when pronouncing the s, only it sounds like z. It sounds like /looz/.

Loose has a few different meanings:
1. Loose is the opposite of tight.
Example: My pants are never loose these days. They are often tight. I blame the pants.

2. Loose can mean free.
Example: There is a tiger on the loose in my neighbourhood.

3. Loose can mean “vague” or “not strict”.
Example: Some people speed when driving through a yellow light. That’s a loose interpretation of the rules because I think you’re supposed to slow down and stop.

Lose has a few different meanings:
1. Lose is the opposite of win.
Example: I play to win, but sometimes I lose.

2. Lose can mean “misplace”.
Example: I hate when I lose my keys to the house.

3. Lose can mean “stop having”.
Example: When sick, I often lose my appetite.

Are there any other meanings you can think of?

Gerunds and Infinitives - Part 2

7/31/2019

In my previous post, we learned about the basics of gerunds and infinitives.

But now I want to get into some subtleties. I want to talk about when some verbs are followed by gerunds AND infinitives, but with a significant change in meaning. The examples used here are the most commonly used words.

Forget:

Forget + gerund - The gerund action comes before the verb forget.
I forgot picking up my dry cleaning. - I picked up my clothing but then I forgot.
Forget + infinitive - The verb forget happens before the infinitive action.
I forgot to pick up my dry cleaning. - I forgot that I had dry cleaning to pick up.

Stop:
Stop + gerund - To no longer perform an action.
I must stop buying shoes. - I need to refrain from doing this.
Stop + infinitive - To stop one action in order to perform another.
I must stop to buy shoes. I need to stop whatever I’m doing so I can buy some shoes.

Regret:
Regret + gerund - Feeling bad about something that already happened.
I regret telling you the truth. I told someone the truth first and now I regret it.
Regret + infinitive - Feeling bad about something in the present or the future.
I regret to tell you the truth. I regret now that a future action has to happen.

Try:
Try + gerund - Experimenting/testing an action to see if it achieves a desired result.
My back is sore. I’ll try doing some stretches. - I’ll see if stretching will help heal my back.
Try + infinitive - Performing an action that might be a challenge or difficult.
My back is sore. I’ll try to do some stretches. - I’m not sure if I can stretch.

Bonus learning: [Try + and] is a grammatically incorrect structure, though often used.
The correct structure is [try + to]

Gerunds and Infinitives

6/15/2019

Gerunds

A gerund is a noun created from a verb. To form a gerund, you add “-ing” to the base form of a verb. You’ll have to remember spelling rules as they apply.
Gerunds, like nouns, can act as subjects and objects.
Examples:

Singing is something I do often, but probably not well. [Singing is the subject of the verb is]
When I read, I enjoy being on my couch with my cats. [Being is the direct object of the verb enjoy]

Be careful not to confuse gerunds with the progressive form or the present participle. Gerunds act as nouns, not verbs or adjectives.
Examples:

I am drinking coffee. [Drinking is a verb in the progressive form]
The Handmaid's Tale is a fascinating book. [Fascinating is the present participle used as an adjective]

Infinitives

Infinitives often take the place of nouns. To form the infinitive, you add “to” before the base form of the verb.
Infinitives, like nouns, can act as subjects and objects.
Examples:

To dine out with my husband is something I really enjoy. [The infinitive phrase (in bold) is the subject of the verb is]
I like to sing. [To sing is the direct object of the verb like]

Important:

Some verbs can only be followed by gerunds. Examples: enjoy, like, keep.
Some verbs can only be followed by the infinitive. Examples: decide, learn, want.
Some verbs can be followed by gerunds or infinitives with no major change in meaning. Examples: begin, hate, love, prefer.
Some verbs are followed by gerunds or infinitives, but with a significant change in meaning. Examples: forget, stop, regret, try.

In my next blog post, I’ll focus on item #4, where there are differences in meaning depending on whether a gerund or infinitive is followed by a common verb, like try.

Lead/Led vs. Lead

5/26/2019

Lead, which sounds like [leed], is most often used as verb that means to guide.
It can also be used as a noun in the sense of meaning first position or a potential opportunity.

Led is a verb and is the past tense and part participle of lead. It sounds like [red].

Examples:
As a noun: I got a LEAD on a job opportunity. ~ sounds like [leed]
As a noun: I was the social media LEAD for 2 years. ~ sounds like [leed]
As a verb - present tense: I LEAD a simple life. ~ sounds like [leed]
As a verb - past tense: I LED him to the bike path. ~ sounds like [red]
As a verb - past participle: Peoples' hatred has LED me to believe they are in need of a better education. ~ sounds like [red]

So what is causing all the confusion?

LEAD - a metal. It sounds like [red]. It's a noun.

Examples:
LEAD is often used in pencils. ~ sounds like [red]
That went over like a LEAD balloon. ~ sounds like [red]

One more just for fun:
LEAD poisoning can LEAD to severe health problems. ~ first one sounds like [red]. Second one sounds like [leed].

Adjective Clauses - Part 2

4/10/2019

Identifying adjective clause: Alfie will for sure be the cat who judges me as I fall down the stairs. Non-identifying adjective clause: Saku, who is super cuddly, is brown.

Now that you’ve read Part 1 and understand the basics of adjective clauses, it’s time for us to take this to the next level - identifying and non-identifying.

Identifying adjective clauses are used when we are providing essential, very important information that defines the noun we are describing.

Non-identifying adjective clauses are used when we are providing additional information about the noun we are describing, but it is not used to, for lack of a better word, identify it.

Let me provide some examples, which will make everything clear.

Identifying:
I have two cats. My cat who pees in places other than the litter box remains my cat because she is so damn cute and cuddly.
Note: The adjective clause is necessary to identify which cat is meant. Also note that there is no comma separating the noun from the introduction of the adjective clause. In speech, no pause would be required.

Non-identifying:
I have two cats. Saku, who is ultra cuddly and affectionate with me, hates everyone else.
Note: The adjective clause is not necessary to identify which cat is meant. Also note that there are commas separating the adjective clause from the rest of the sentence. In speech, there would be a short pause, as required by the insertion of all commas.

One last note:
Do not use THAT to introduce non-identifying adjective clauses. THAT never follows a comma. Instead, use WHO for people and WHICH for places and things.

Adjective Clauses - Part 1

3/28/2019

I said clause, not claws!

There is quite a bit of information needed to fully understand adjective clauses. This is part 1 and it focuses on adjective clauses with subject relative pronouns.

A clause is a group of words that have a subject and a verb. Clauses can be independent or dependent. An independent clause can stand alone as a complete sentence. A dependent clause cannot stand alone. It needs an independent clause to be a complete sentence and to be fully understood.

Adjective clauses are dependent clauses – they cannot stand alone. They must be combined with an independent clause.

I think it’s safe to say that everyone knows that adjectives describe nouns (people, places, or things). Well, think of adjective clauses as doing the same thing; they describe a noun. An adjective clause is a group of words that typically start with relative pronouns. This post will focus entirely on subject relative pronouns, meaning that the relative pronoun that introduces the adjective clause is the subject in that clause. This is easy to recognize as the relative pronoun will be followed by a verb.

Use who to describe people.
Use that and which to describe places or things.

Examples:

I know the women who work at the bar. Explanation: Think of this as a combination of two sentences. I know the women. They work at the bar. “Who” is the subject of the adjective clause “who work at the bar”.
Ottawa is a city that attracts a lot of tourists. Explanation: Think of this as a combination of two sentences. Ottawa is a city. It attracts a lot of tourists. “That” is the subject of the adjective clause “that attracts a lot of tourists”.
Savannah, which is where I got married, is a beautiful city. Explanation: Think of this as a combination of two sentences. Savannah is a beautiful city. It is where I got married. “Which” is the subject of the adjective clause “which is where I got married”.

Some things to remember:

Pay attention to verb use in the adjective clause. If the subject relative pronoun refers to a singular noun, we use a singular verb. If the relative pronoun refers to a plural noun, use the plural form of the verb.
Never use subject pronouns (I, you, he, she, it, we, they) and a subject relative pronoun in the same adjective clause.

Part 2 of this series focuses on the two types of adjective clauses, namely, identifying and non-identifying.
Stay tuned!

Past Modal Verbs

2/22/2019

Facepalm cat is embarrassed at people's ineptitude to correctly spell could have, should have, and would have.

Should've, Could've, Would've. Didn't.

These are called past modal verbs, often referred to as the unreal conditional. We use these when talking about unreal events in the past - used to describe what someone should have done, could have done, or would have done, but didn't. Alternatively, it can be used to describe what someone shouldn't have done, couldn't have done, or wouldn't have done, but did.

The structure is as follows:

Could have + past participle
Should have + past participle
Would have + past participle

Couldn't have + past participle
Shouldn't have + past participle
Wouldn't have + past participle

Examples of the past participle (irregular verbs):

More examples:
I could have been an astronaut, but decided I wanted to be an English teacher.
He shouldn't have had that extra piece of chicken. He did, and now he feels sick.
We should have gone to Florida this winter, but decided to spend our money on concerts instead.
I could have easily broken my back shovelling. Good thing I have a snow blower!
If I were her, I would have begun the meeting by introducing all the participants. Now everyone is guessing who everyone else is.
I could have eaten more cake, but that would have been selfish.

Before I finish, I need to impart some invaluable knowledge. When speaking, it's OK to use the contracted form of these words. However, in formal writing, contractions are frowned upon, so correct spelling is incredibly important. To do otherwise reflects poorly on you.

So here is the official edict:
Could've = could have NOT could of
Should've = should have NOT should of
Would've = would have NOT would of

Twerk

1/26/2019

The word ‘twerk’ most likely brings up images of Miley Cyrus dancing, rigorously thrusting her butt and hips. It does for me, anyway. But a friend of mine pointed out that the word actually goes back almost 200 years ago. Having a love for learning about word origins, I ventured to look this one up and make it my January blog post.

And here we are.

In modern times, the word twerk can be traced back to the New Orleans “bounce” of the early 90s. That's in line with what is means today.

But it can be traced even further back in time. The first known use of the word twerk was actually back in 1820, in a letter to Mary Shelley - the author of Frankenstein.

“Really the Germans do allow themselves such twists & twirks of the pen,
that it would puzzle any one." (1820 Charles Clairmont, Letter, 26 Feb.)

Back then it was a noun - synonymous with ‘twitch’ - and was originally spelled ‘twirk’. Usage eventually had dictionaries using ‘twerk’ as the popular way to spell the word.

From there it went through a slew of different meanings. From referring to a worthless person, to a fool, to a jerk by 1928, and then morphing into a verb - a twist - by the late 1940s, until we reach the 1990s, where we have our notorious dance.

And on that dance move, how many of us have actually tried it? I have, and it wasn’t pretty.

References:
blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2013/08/29/what-is-the-origin-of-twerk/

Christmas Expressions

12/23/2018

I was listening to some Christmas music when I decided what to write about this month - Christmas expressions.
I picked three fun ones.

Christmas comes but once a year - Literally, it means that Christmas comes but once a year, but what is implied here is that we should enjoy it to the fullest. More often than not, it means, at least in my circles, to indulge in food and drink.
Example: Bonnie, do you want another piece of cake? Umm yes, please. Christmas comes but once a year. (However, I have been known to say this for birthdays and other such celebratory occasions.)

Christmas came early (this year) - This is said when someone receives unexpected good news, as Christmas is a happy time of the year.
Example: Shelly is doing much better and is back from the hospital. Looks like Christmas came early this year for her and her family.

The holiday spirit - This is said when one is excited about the holiday (Christmas).
Example: I've been listening to classic Christmas songs all afternoon. I'm really feeling the holiday spirit.

Share your favourite expressions!

Conscience vs. Conscious

11/12/2018

Conscience is a noun. It’s that inner voice inside your head that gives you some “moral” guidance – to know the difference between right and wrong. The conscience is what is responsible for making people feel guilty of actions they did or did not do. For example, I should go to the gym tonight and work out. I have a guilty conscience because I know I won’t go. But what clears my conscience is knowing that I am working on this blog post – not just lazing around. That's today's excuse, anyway.

Conscious is an adjective. Conscious is a description of a state. If you’re awake, you are conscious – meaning that you are aware of your surroundings. But being asleep is not the same as being unconscious. A sleeping person will respond to loud noises or a gentle shake – an indication that they are aware of their surroundings – whereas an unconscious person will not.

Halloween's origin

10/29/2018

The origin of Halloween begins in Ireland’s Celtic past. I take pride in knowing that the Whelan’s (my surname) were among the first to celebrate one of my favorite holidays.

The celebration dates back to Samhain (pronounced Sow-in). Samhain was celebrated on the 1st of November, and was much like our current New Year. And like New Year’s, the real celebration takes place the night before – to bring in the new year. The Celts ended their year with Fall – a time when all the crops would be harvested and placed in storage for a long winter.

Samhain was also spiritual in that it was believed that at this time, the boundaries between the living and dead got blurred. To ward off the evil let loose at Samhain, huge bonfires were lit and people wore ugly masks and disguises to confuse the spirits and stop the dead from identifying individuals they had disliked during their own lifetimes. Some people would leave food outside their homes in hope that their generosity could appease the dead.

As with many pagan holidays, Christianity pushed its way in to create a more “acceptable” Christian event. Sure enough, November 1st was declared to be All Saints Day, also known as All Hallows Day. The evening before became known as Hallows' Eve, and from there the origin of Halloween, as a word, is clear.

Many Americans (and thereafter Canadians) don’t realize that Halloween was never celebrated until the arrival of the Irish in the 1840s. It’s believed that when Irish immigrants moved to the US, the native pumpkin was adopted for Halloween purposes. Traditionally, it had been the Irish turnip – YIKES!

This year, as you celebrate Halloween, you can remember your Celtic forbears and wish one another a happy and prosperous New Year.

References:
https://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/origin-of-Halloween.html
https://www.ireland-fun-facts.com/celtic-halloween.html

Geek - Nerd - Dork - Dweeb

9/24/2018

Every so often, a conversation arises where someone is accused of being either a geek or a nerd, and about 95% of the time, the designation is incorrect. It’s at this point where I make a decision – correct the info and “risk” being called a nerd, or grin and bear it and hope the conversation segues into another topic.

And that brings us here – the reason for this particular blog post.

The diagram above clarifies things visually, but let’s gets down to business.

Nerd – A nerd is a person who is very knowledgeable in an academic subject – they are practitioners. Typically, a nerd is portrayed as being intelligent, obsessed with a subject, and displays a bit of social ineptitude, which means they are socially awkward.

Geek – A geek is a person who is an enthusiast of a particular subject. They are fans, and fans collect stuff. Typically, a geek is portrayed as being intelligent and obsessed.

Dork – A dork is not too good of a term unless the dork is aware that they are a dork – then it’s funny. Today, dorks are described as people who do silly, ridiculous things. Based on the diagram above, they are typically portrayed as being obsessed (with what?) and are socially inept.

Dweeb – Out of the four, this one is the least favourable to be called. According to the Oxford Dictionary, a dweeb is someone who is boring, studious, or socially inept. The diagram indicates that dweebs are also considered intelligent – though I beg to differ.

I’m sure people will have strong opinions on these distinctions. In my opinion, nerds and geeks are the new
“cool kids”, but that’s my bias surfacing as I fall a little bit into both categories.

Cat nap

8/31/2018

Cats feature very often in English idioms, and since I love cats, I thought I’d relate to you the origin of one.

Cat Nap

A cat nap is a short, light sleep. It is also known as a power nap. A short cat nap is about 20 minutes long.

Did you know the origin of napping all started in Ancient Egypt? Cats were considered sacred, so the Pharaohs began to emulate this animal’s behaviour. When I nap, I tend to copy my cats’ behaviour a little more literally – by taking a two-hour nap.

I wonder if this is also the origin of copycat?

Source:
https://blog.abaenglish.com/english-expression-cat-nap/

The dog days of summer

7/30/2018

Thinking about what I would post for the end of a hot summer day in July, I thought it might be “cool” to write about a well-known idiom, the dog days of summer.

So I looked it up.

The ‘dog days of summer’ is an expression used to describe the uncomfortably hot, sultry days of summer. There’s a lot to do about Greek and Roman astrology, but the short of it is that it is connected to the star Sirius, in the constellation Canis Major (Greater Dog). It is known more commonly as the “dog star”.

Because it’s the brightest star in the sky, it received a lot of attention from ancient astronomers. It became known as the precursor to the unbearably hot phase of summer. People believed that this star was responsible for bringing the hottest and driest periods of the summer.

Ready for some science?

While it is true that Sirius is the brightest star in the sky from Earth, it has no effect on the planet’s weather or temperature. Also true is that the star continues to return to the night sky in the Northern hemisphere in late summer. However, its position will continue to shift gradually and in about 10,000 years, it will actually appear in the middle of winter.

References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_days

Eh?

6/28/2018

Let’s talk about it, eh?

Internationally, Canadians are mocked for their use of “eh”. It’s recognized as a uniquely Canadian form of speech, often to the point of exaggeration and stereotype. And we’re so aware of this stereotype that we play along and create awesome shows of the likes of “Bob and Doug MacKenzie”, which started as a famous skit on SCTV.

But did you know that not only does it exist in other languages, but it also does not originate in Canada?

“Eh” has its roots in Middle English and has been recorded in writings as far back as Chaucer. That’s the 1300s!

Similar interjections exist in other languages, such as Dutch, Armenian, Hokkien Chinese, Japanese, French, Finnish, Italian, Greek, Hebrew, Malay, Spanish, Persian, Portuguese, Arabic, Turkish, Korean, Catalan, and Filipino.

In Canada, “eh” is an interjection, meaning, "Excuse me?" "Please repeat that", or as many of our American neighbours might know it by, "Huh?”. It is also commonly used as an alternative to the question tag “right?” like asking for confirmation in “It’s hot out, eh?”

To understand all of the nuances of the Canadian “eh”, a student from the University of Toronto, Elaine Gold, compiled a list by conducting a survey in 2004. This is the most extensive list of the different variations.

Fun, eh?

Sources:
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/eh/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eh