Thursday, March 4, 2010

National Grammar Day



TODAY IS NATIONAL GRAMMAR DAY!

Language is something to be celebrated, and March 4 is the perfect day to do it. It's not only a date, it's an imperative: March forth on March 4 to speak well, write well, and help others do the same! - Grammar Girl


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Most of us know clumsy sentences when we hear or read them, but we don’t always know exactly why they are clumsy or possess the skills to fix them. Here's a sentence that needs a little work:

The network that this computer is able to connect to contains information that is privileged and confidential.

The clumsiness is caused by several common writing errors:

Unnecessary dependent clauses
Get rid of that is/which is, that are/which are clauses whenever possible.

Extraneous verb phrases
Delete verb phrases that don’t add meaning: is able to.

Subjects too far away from their verbs

Place subjects closer to their verbs: computer connects, network contains.

Redundancy
Weed out repetitious words: Confidential and privileged mean the same thing in this context.

Finally, tweak the wording so that the sentence flows:

This computer connects to a network containing confidential information.


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Check out The Grammar Song! Find it here: The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar.

Sources: Grammarbook.com, Grammar Girl, The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar



19 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Whoops! I hit the wrong button before. Thank you for the post. I always need to brush up on my grammar issues.
    Thanks!

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  3. Happy Grammar Day!! Thanks for more awesome advice!! Love the cat pic!!

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  4. Thanks for these tips; they're very useful! Readers get drawn into stories in part because of good, clean writing, and these are valuable ideas for creating that kind of writing.

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  5. Christine: Thanks for stopping by! CCP's goal is to help you with those grammar issues. Hope to see you again!

    Elizabeth: Thanks for the tweet!

    CC: Thanks! Today is a holiday in Grammar World! LOL! Yeah, I'm debating about adding that cute pic to my sidebar!

    Margot:Thank you! There is quite a difference between the first sentence and the "polished" one! You're so right; "little" things make a big difference to readers!

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  6. Happy Grammar Day. I have learned much from your blog. The photo of the cat is priceless.

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  7. I always loved my Grammar and my Grandpa as well. Oh, wait-- I'm sorry. You said grammar.

    Okay, that was bad. But your information was excellent. It brought to light a mistake that I commonly make. I will try to be more observant in the future.
    Lee

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  8. Love ALL of these advices. And Happy Grammar day, Crystal!

    Marvin D Wilson

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  9. In other words, KISS - keep it simple stupid? I can do that!

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  10. Karen: Thank you so much for the kind words. I'm just as happy for you with your singing! We "happy dance" very well together!

    Mason: I'm so happy to hear you've gained something from my posts! As for the picture: yes, I decided that had to accompany the other kitty editors on my sidebar! LOL!

    Lee: Always a pleasure to see you stop by. Glad you found the information helpful.

    Marvin: Thank you Old Silly!

    Alex: There you go! You have a better understanding of a lot of this stuff than you think! :)

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  11. Yeah! A whole day to celebrate the fact I am not a grammar queen. Woo-hoo!!!!

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  12. Just excellent. I need to remember all these things. All the time. Thanks.

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  13. I just saw this event and posted it. I knew it was something you'd enjoy!

    Michele
    SouthernCityMysteries

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  14. Wonderful post. I checked out the song and LOVED it! I'm going to tweet this!
    Thanks.

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  15. Thank you everyone! What a great Grammar Day it's been! Thanks for sharing the fun of the day with me.

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  16. There's something for you at my blog :o)

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  17. I came over here after reading Niki's post - congrats on your award! And happy (belated) Grammar Day!

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