Thoroughness Challenge

The Thoroughness Challenge is a post consisting of paragraphs that contain spelling and/or grammatical errors. The paragraphs with the errors corrected and highlighted in red can be found at the end of the post.

Note: The purpose of the Challenge is thoroughness. You're only looking for errors in spelling and/or grammar. Names and places will NOT be misspelled, nor will there by any changes to punctuation or sentence structure.


Your Challenge today is about the early days of search engine optimization and contains 37 errors.

Good Luck!
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Webmasters and content providers began optimzing sites for search engines in the mid 1990s. Initially, all webmasters needed to do was submit the address of a page, or URL, to the varous engines which would send a "spider" to "crawl" that page, extract links to other pages from it, and return infomation found on the page to be indexed. The prosess involves a search engine spider downloading a page and storing it on the search engine's own server, where a second progam, known as an indexer, extracts varous information about the page, such as the words it contains and where these are located, as well as any weight for specfic words, and all links the page contains, which are then placed into a schedular for crawling at a latter date.

Site owners started to recogize the value of having there sites highly ranked and visable in search engine results, and the phrase "search engine optimazation" probably came into use in 1997.

Early versions of search algorithyms relied on webmaster-provided infomation such as the keyword meta tag, or index files in engines. Meta tags provide a guide to each page's content. Using meta data to index pages was found to be less than reliable, however, because the webmaster's choice of keywords in the meta tag could potentally be an innacurate representaton of the site's actual content. Inacurate, inconplete, and inconsistant data in meta tags could and did cause pages to rank for irrelavant searches. Web content providers also maniplated a number of atributes within the HTML source of a page in an attempt to rank well in search engines.

By relying so much on factors such as keyword density, which were exclusivley within a webmaster's control, early search engines suffered from abuse and ranking maniplation. To provide better results to their users, search engines had to adept to ensure their results pages showed the most relavant search results, rather than unrelated pages stuffed with numrous keywords by unscrupulus webmasters. Since the sucess and popularity of a search engine is determned by its ability to produce the most relavant results to any given search, allowing those results to be false would turn users to find other search sources. Search engines responded by develping more complex ranking algorythms, taking into account addtional factors that were more diffcult for webmasters to munipulate.

Now, let's see how thorough you are!

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Webmasters and content providers began optimizing sites for search engines in the mid 1990s. Initially, all webmasters needed to do was submit the address of a page, or URL, to the various engines which would send a "spider" to "crawl" that page, extract links to other pages from it, and return information found on the page to be indexed. The process involves a search engine spider downloading a page and storing it on the search engine's own server, where a second program, known as an indexer, extracts various information about the page, such as the words it contains and where these are located, as well as any weight for specific words, and all links the page contains, which are then placed into a scheduler for crawling at a later date.

Site owners started to recognize the value of having their sites highly ranked and visible in search engine results, and the phrase "search engine optimization" probably came into use in 1997.

Early versions of search algorithms relied on webmaster-provided information such as the keyword meta tag, or index files in engines. Meta tags provide a guide to each page's content. Using meta data to index pages was found to be less than reliable, however, because the webmaster's choice of keywords in the meta tag could potentially be an inaccurate representation of the site's actual content. Inaccurate, incomplete, and inconsistent data in meta tags could and did cause pages to rank for irrelevant searches. Web content providers also manipulated a number of attributes within the HTML source of a page in an attempt to rank well in search engines.

By relying so much on factors such as keyword density, which were exclusively within a webmaster's control, early search engines suffered from abuse and ranking manipulation. To provide better results to their users, search engines had to adapt to ensure their results pages showed the most relevant search results, rather than unrelated pages stuffed with numerous keywords by unscrupulous webmasters. Since the success and popularity of a search engine is determined by its ability to produce the most relevant results to any given search, allowing those results to be false would turn users to find other search sources. Search engines responded by developing more complex ranking algorithms, taking into account additional factors that were more difficult for webmasters to manipulate.





Wishing all you Cool Cats a totally Cool and HAPPY day!

Thoroughness Challenge

The Thoroughness Challenge is a post consisting of paragraphs that contain spelling and/or grammatical errors. The paragraphs with the errors corrected and highlighted in red can be found at the end of the post.

Note: The purpose of the Challenge is thoroughness. You're only looking for errors in spelling and/or grammar. Names and places will NOT be misspelled, nor will there by any changes to punctuation or sentence structure. In addition, if there is a word that may have more than one accepted spelling, those also will not be changed.


Today's Challenge is on the history of naming hurricanes, and contains 13 errors. Good Luck!

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For several hundred years, hurricanes in the West Indies were often named after the particular saint’s day on which the hurricane ocurred. For example "Hurricane San Felipe" struck Puerto Rico on September 13, 1876. Another storm struck Puerto Rico on the same day in 1928, and this storm was named "Hurricane San Felipe the second." Later, lattitude-longitude positions were used. However, experience has shown that using distinctive names in communications is quicker and less subject to error than the cumbersom lattitude- longitude identification methods.

Using womens' names became the practice during World War II, following the use of a women’s name for a storm in the 1941 novel "Storm," by George R. Stewart. In 1951 the United States adopted a confusing plan to name storms by a phonectic alphebet (Able, Baker, Charlie), and in 1953 the nation’s weather services returned to using female names. The practice of using female names exclusively ended in 1978 when names from both genders were used to designate storms in the eastern Pacific. A year later, male and female names were included in lists for the Atlantic and Golf of Mexico. The name lists, which have been agreed upon at international meetings of the World Meteorlogical Organzation, have a French, Spanish, Dutch, and English flavor because hurricanes effect other nations and are tracked by the public and weather services of many countries.

The Tropical Prediction Centre in Miami, FL keeps a constent watch on oceanic storm-breading grounds. Once a system with counterclockwise circulation and wind speeds of 39 mph or greater is identfied, the Center gives the storm a name from the list for the current year. The letters Q, U, X, Y, and Z are not included because of the scarsity of names beginning with those letters. Names associated with storms that have caused signifcant death and/or damage are usually retired from the list.




Now, let's see how thorough you are!
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For several hundred years, hurricanes in the West Indies were often named after the particular saint’s day on which the hurricane occurred. For example "Hurricane San Felipe" struck Puerto Rico on 13 September 1876. Another storm struck Puerto Rico on the same day in 1928, and this storm was named "Hurricane San Felipe the second." Later, latitude-longitude positions were used. However, experience has shown that using distinctive names in communications is quicker and less subject to error than the cumbersome latitude-longitude identification methods.

Using women’s names became the practice during World War II, following the use of a woman’s name for a storm in the 1941 novel "Storm," by George R. Stewart. In 1951 the United States adopted a confusing plan to name storms by a phonetic alphabet (Able, Baker, Charlie), and in 1953 the nation’s weather services returned to using female names. The practice of using female names exclusively ended in 1978 when names from both genders were used to designate storms in the eastern Pacific. A year later, male and female names were included in lists for the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. The name lists, which have been agreed upon at international meetings of the World Meteorological Organization, have a French, Spanish, Dutch, and English flavor because hurricanes affect other nations and are tracked by the public and weather services of many countries.

The Tropical Prediction Center in Miami, FL keeps a constant watch on oceanic storm-breeding grounds. Once a system with counterclockwise circulation and wind speeds of 39 mph or greater is identified, the Center gives the storm a name from the list for the current year. The letters Q, U, X, Y, and Z are not included because of the scarcity of names beginning with those letters. Names associated with storms that have caused significant death and/or damage are usually retired from the list.





Source: National Hurricane Center

Objective Pronouns

Objective pronouns are used as the objects in sentences. You would say, for instance:

Jennifer came to see her last night.
For the twins' birthday, Amy gave them several new toys.

As with compound subjects, problems arise when there are compound objects. People sometimes write or say sentences like this:

The argument arose last night between Carla and she.
Please buy a raffle ticket from Nancy or I.

Each pronoun is used incorrectly in these sentences. The pronouns used as subjects here should all be in the objective case: me, you, him, her, it, us and them. So, the sentences should read:

The argument arose last night between Carla and her.
Please buy a raffle ticket from Nancy or me.

You can use the same trick that you used for the subjective pronoun problem, but substitute the objective form; that is, write or say the sentence with only one object. You'd never say:

The argument arose last night between she.
Please buy a raffle ticket from I.

Since those pronouns sound wrong when they're by themselves, you know that they're the wrong case. Change the pronouns to the ones you'd normally say when there is only one object.

So why were you and it on the lists of both subjective and objective pronouns? Because, unlike other pronouns on the lists (I and me, for example), English uses the same form for those two words.

It was nice to get a surprise in the mail. (It used as a subject.)
I got it in the mail. (It is used as an object.)
You called me a four o'clock? (You is used as a subject.)
I called you back at five o'clock. (You is used as an object.)



Source: The Only Grammar Book You'll Ever Need

Subjective Pronouns

Subjective pronouns are used as the subjects of sentences (whom or what you're talking about).

Examples:

I am going to leave for my appointment.
She is late already.
They will never make it on time.

A problem occasionally arises when subjects are compound. You might read, for instance:

His brothers and him are going to the ball game.
Margaret, Elizabeth, and me were at the mall for four hours yesterday.
Me and her see eye-to-eye on lots of things.

These pronouns are used incorrectly. Because the pronouns are used as subjects of the sentence, they should all be in the subjective case: I, you, he, she, it, we, or they. So, the sentences should read:

His brothers and he are going to the ball game.
Margaret, Elizabeth, and I were at the mall for four hours yesterday.
I and she see eye-to-eye on lots of things.
(It's considered polite to put the other person first, so it's better to word this sentence like this: She and I see eye-to-eye on lots of things.)

If you're not sure if you've used the right pronoun, try writing or saying the sentence with only one subject. You'd never say:

Him is going to the ball game.
or
Me was at the mall for four hours yesterday.

Change the pronouns to the ones you'd normally use when there's just one subject (he and I).


Smile and Spread Some HAPPY!



Source: The Only Grammar Book You'll Ever Need

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




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.





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

Thoroughness Challenge

A Brief History of Presidents Day

The Thoroughness Challenge is a post consisting of paragraphs that contain spelling and/or grammatical errors. The paragraphs with the errors corrected and highlighted in red can be found at the end of the post.

Note: The purpose of the Challenge is thoroughness. You're only looking for errors in spelling and/or grammar. Names and places will NOT be misspelled, nor will there by any changes to punctuation or sentence structure. In addition, if there is a word that may have more than one accepted spelling, those also will not be changed.


Your Challenge today is: A Brief History of Presidents Day, and contains 8 errors. Good Luck!

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If you live in the United States than you will know that yesterday was Presidents Day; also known as Washington’s Birthday. Presidents Day is a federal holiday in the US and is celebrated on the third Monday in Febuary.

The federal holiday titled as Washington’s Birthday, was originally implimented by the United States Congress in 1880 for the goverment offices in the District of Columbia, but then expanded in 1885 to include all federal offices.

As it was the first federal holiday to honor an American citizen, the holiday was originally celebrated on George Washington’s actual birthday – February 22nd. It was on January 1, 1971 that the day got shifted to the third Monday in Febuary.

That date than fell between February 15th and the 21st, which would never actualy fall on Washington’s Birthday. A draft of the Uniform Holiday Bill of 1968 would have had the holiday renamed as Presidents Day, to honor both Washington and Lincoln.

That proposal unfortunately failed in commitee at that time, so the name Washington’s Birthday was kept. The first attempt to create the day as a Presidents Day came in 1951; however, it wasn't until the mid-1980’s that the term Presidents Day began being used.


Now, let's see how thorough you are!



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If you live in the United States then you will know that yesterday was Presidents Day; also known as Washington’s Birthday. Presidents Day is a federal holiday in the US and is celebrated on the third Monday in February.

The federal holiday titled as Washington’s Birthday, was originally implemented by the United States Congress in 1880 for the goverment offices in the District of Columbia, but then expanded in 1885 to include all federal offices.

As it was the first federal holiday to honor an American citizen, the holiday was originally celebrated on George Washington’s actual birthday – February 22nd. It was on January 1, 1971 that the day got shifted to the third Monday in February.

That date then fell between February 15th and the 21st, which would never actually fall on Washington’s Birthday. A draft of the Uniform Holiday Bill of 1968 would have had the holiday renamed as Presidents Day, to honor both Washington and Lincoln.

That proposal unfortunately failed in committee at that time, so the name Washington’s Birthday was kept. The first attempt to create the day as a Presidents Day came in 1951; however, it wasn't until the mid-1980’s that the term Presidents Day began being used.

Thoroughness Challenge

Thorough Thursday is a post consisting of paragraphs that contain spelling and/or grammatical errors. The paragraphs with the errors corrected and highlighted in red can be found at the end of the post.

Note: The purpose of the Challenge is thoroughness. You're only looking for errors in spelling and/or grammar. Names and places will NOT be misspelled, nor will there by any changes to punctuation or sentence structure. In addition, if there is a word that may have more than one accepted spelling, those also will not be changed.


Your Challenge today takes a look at how to pronounce "2010," and contains 6 errors. Good Luck!


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How do you say the current year? Now that we've reached double digits at the end of "2000," I'm sure you have heard people refer to the year differently. The to main contenders are "twenty-ten" and "two thousand ten." So which is correct?

Before the turn of the century, most people pronounced the years by combining the first too numbers and the last too numbers. So we had "nineteen fifty," nineteen eighty-five," and so on. After the turn of the century, we started commonly pronouncing the years the long way; "two thousand one," "two thousand two," and so on.

Now it seems that some people feel more comfortable continuing the trend--going from "two thousand nine" to "two thousand ten" --while the majority of people are eager to return to the old convention, happily moving on from "two thousand nine" to the snappyer sounding "twenty-ten."

The Associated Press has concluded that "twenty-ten" is the preferred choice. However, with all the decisions made when writing (or speaking), the pronounciation question is a style choice; making either pronounciation correct.


Now, let's see how thorough you are!


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How do you say the current year? Now that we've reached double digits at the end of "2000," I'm sure you have heard people refer to the year differently. The two main contenders are "twenty-ten" and "two thousand ten." So which is correct?

Before the turn of the century, most people pronounced the years by combining the first two numbers and the last two numbers. So we had "nineteen fifty," nineteen eighty-five," and so on. After the turn of the century, we started commonly pronouncing the years the long way; "two thousand one," "two thousand two," and so on.

Now it seems that some people feel more comfortable continuing the trend--going from "two thousand nine" to "two thousand ten" --while the majority of people are eager to return to the old convention, happily moving on from "two thousand nine" to the snappier sounding "twenty-ten."

The Associated Press has concluded that "twenty-ten" is the preferred choice. However, with all the decisions made when writing (or speaking), the pronunciation question is a style choice; making either pronunciation correct.

Sources: AP Stylebook, Grammar Girl

Prepositions

Prepositions are those little words that show us the relationship between nouns or noun substitutes. They come in two varieties, simple and complex, and they are always followed by a noun. The result is what's called a prepositional phrase.

- The ogre hid out under the bridge.
- Beneath the lily pad, the frog waited for a princess to kiss him.
- For richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health...


The most common simple prepositions are:

about, above, across, after, against, along, among, around, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond, by, during, except, for, from, in, inside, into, near, of, off, on, since, through, to, toward, under, until, up, upon, with, within, without.

Complex prepositions combine two or three words to act as one preposition: according to, insofar as, instead of, along with. All you have to remember is that they, too, require a subject.

- Many card games are played according to Holye.
- Instead of the typical response, Jeremy chose to answer in Spanish.
- Tonight's performance is cancelled due to illness.


While prepositions aren't one of the major migraines in English, they do present a few issues. For little words, they can be misused in a big way. A few of the most obvious victims are in/at, from/then, among/between, and in/into.


*In or at? Use in with spaces (in the universe, in the bath, in a row, in a field of study). Use at with places (at the resort, at the top of the page, at the back of the room). Therefore,

- Although I sat at the front of the classroom in college, I was still bad in math.


*From or than? This one is easy. It should always be different from. The commonly heard different than is incorrect, (than isn't a preposition, it's a conjunction). Therefore,

- Even more than I thought, rugby is different from baseball.


*Among or between? Usually, among is used when more than two parties or things are involved. Between is preferred when there are only two.

- Smaller prizes were divided among the participants, while the big money was split between the two winners.

However, from its earliest usage, between has been extended to more than two, for instance,

- There were varying positions on the treaty between Timbuktu, Tasmania and Turkey.

In common usage, either among or between is correct. Just listen for the sense of the sentence.


*In or into? In many instances, either one is correct, or the correct choice is obvious. Into implies an action, while in most often describes a condition. For instance,

- Lassie jumped in/into the lake to save Timmy from the alligator.
- While skiing in Switzerland, I fell into/in a snow bank.



Source: The Gremlins of Grammar

Spelling Challenge

It's Fun Friday's Spelling Challenge! Also, at the very end of this post is yesterdays Thorough Thursday Challenge, with the misspelled words highlighted in red.

Okay! Write down the correct spelling for today's words, and as usual the answers are listed below.

NO PEEKING!

(I just love this little peeking furry!)

1. temprament
2. boundry
3. seargant
4. acheivement
5. promissary
6. disasterous
7. surreptitous
8. absense
9. superintendant
10. exorbitant

BONUS WORD
sacriligeous

Time to see which if you get to add to that collection of virtual stars!
Spelling all 10 words correctly
gets you get a sparkling GOLD star!



Spell the bonus word correctly,
and you get the prized, very special, much coveted and very beautiful
Crystal Clear Proofing PURPLE star! It's a great star, isn't it?


Spell all 10 AND the bonus word correctly
will get a GOLD AND a PURPLE star!
(I know, the excitement is overwhelming!)



ANSWERS:

1. temperament
2. boundary
3. sergeant
4. achievement
5. promissory
6. disastrous
7. surreptitious
8. absence
9. superintendent
10. exorbitant

BONUS WORD:
sacrilegious


Yup, I did slip one in on you this week. "Exorbitant" was spelled correctly. Did I stump you? At least cause you to wonder about it?

So how many more stars did you get to add to your ever-growing collection this week? In place of having your name in lights, I had to keep with the whole star theme, and offer everyone a fun fireworks star! Tah-Dah!

Now, here is yesterday's Thorough Thursday post in its entirety, with the errors corrected and highlighted in red.

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Original weblogs had to be manually updated through multiple sections of a common website. The creation of the majority of tools that allow authoring and maintenance of articles posted in a reverse chronological order, initiated a much easier publishing process, for a less technical, expansive population. The result was the forming of a direct class for what is known as online publishing, which has given us the blogs we see today. Obtaining blog software like WordPress, Blogger and LiveJournal are available through a number of web hosting services. This provides blinding speed and instant reaction to any concern or topic on the "global podium."

Since 2002 blogs have gained notoriety and credibility for their part in breaking, shaping and spinning news stories. It has become a way of throwing important information into the public limelight. It now, for all intent and purposes, drives mainstream media by forcing them to follow their lead. Blogging has become a priceless tool for quality communication and a way for intelligent people to provide intelligent and valuable insight, opinions and information.

In 1999 new software services like Blogger and LiveJournal were launched, making blogs much simpler to create.

Today, more than one blog is created every second and there are currently over 100,000 million blogs worldwide.

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Every one of you deserves recognition, and that's why we must continue the tradition of spreading the now famous Crystal Clear Proofing HAPPY! This week you all get to put a smile on your face with this happy DANCING STAR!





Remember to live each moment, count your lucky stars, feel some HAPPY, and then spread it around!

Thoroughness Challenge

Thoroughly Thursday is a weekly post consisting of paragraphs that contain spelling and/or grammatical errors, and your job is to find them. Please do not list the errors you find within the post. The same post is repeated at the end of Fun Friday's Spelling Challenge, with the errors corrected and highlighted in red.

Note: Names and places will NOT be misspelled, nor will there by any changes to punctuation. In addition, if there is a word that may have more than one accepted form or there is more than one accepted spelling, those also will not be changed. That would not be fair...the purpose of the Challenge is thoroughness, not technicalities.


This week your Challenge paragraphs continue with the history of blogs and blogging as they evolve and begin to immerge as the blogs we're familiar with today. This week you're looking for 11 errors. Good Luck!




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Original weblogs had to be manually updated threw multiple sections of a common website. The creation of the majority of tools that allow authoring and maintainance of articals posted in a reverse chronilogical order, initiated a much easier publishing process, for a less technical, expansive population. The result was the forming of a direct class for what is known as online publishing, which has given us the blogs we see today. Obtaining blog software like WordPress, Blogger and LiveJournal are availible through a number of web hosting services. This provides blinding speed and instant reaction to any concern or topic on the "global podium."

Since 2002 blogs have gained notoriaty and credability for there part in braking, shaping and spinning news stories. It has become a way of throwing important infomation into the public limelight. It now, for all intents and purposes, drives mainstream media by forcing them to follow there lead. Blogging has become a priceless tool for quality communication and a way for intelligent people to provide intelligent and valuable insight, opinions and information.

In 1999 new software services like Blogger and LiveJournal were launched, making blogs much simpler to create.

Today, more than one blog is created every second and there are currently over 100,000 million blogs worldwide.

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Be sure to check back tomorrow to see how thorough you are!

One Word vs. Two Words

Several words in our language can be spelled as one word or as two, depending on its meaning. Below is a list of a few such words, with sample sentences on how they are used.

Almost - all most
The plane was almost (nearly) three hours late.
We are all most pleased (all very much pleased) with the new schedule.

Already - all ready
The order had already (previously) been shipped.
The order is all ready (all prepared) to be shipped.

Altogether - all together
He is altogether (entirely) too lazy to be a success.
The papers are all together (all in a group) on your desk.

Always - all ways
She has always (at all times) done good work.
We have tried in all ways (by all methods) to keep our employees satisfied.

Anytime - any time
Come see us anytime you are in town, (one word meaning "whenever").
Did you have dealings with him at any time in the past? (Two words after a preposition such as at.)

Anyway - any way
Anyway (in any case), we can't spare him now.
If we can help in any way (by any method), please let us know.

Awhile - a while
One word as an adverb; two words as a noun.

You may have to wait awhile. (Adverb.)
You may have to wait for a while. (Noun; object of for.)

Everyday - every day
You'll soon master the everyday (ordinary or daily) routine of the job.
He has called every day (each day) this week.

Into - in to
He walked into the outer office. (Into implies entry.)
He came in to see me. (In is part of the verb phrase came in; to is part of the infinitive to see.)

Indifferent - in different
She was indifferent (not caring one way or the other) to the offer.
He like our idea, but he wanted it expressed in different (in other) words.

Maybe - may be
Maybe is an adverb; may be is a verb.

If we don't receive a letter from them today, maybe (an adverb meaning perhaps) we should call.
He may be (a verb) out of town next week.

Onto - on to
He lost control of the car and drove onto the sidewalk. (Onto implies movement toward and then over.)
Let's go on to the next problem. (On is an adverb in the verb phrase go on; to is a preposition.)

Someday - some day
Please set up a meeting with them someday next week.
Please set up a meeting with them for some day next week. (Two words when used as the object of a preposition such as for.)

Sometime - some time
The order will be shipped sometime (at some unspecified time) next week.
It took me some time (a period of time) to complete the job.

Whoever - who ever
Whoever (anyone who) is elected secretary should write that letter at once.
Who ever made such a statement? (Ever is an adverb.)


At times you'll find two words spelled as one, and the resulting one word is not a word at all, (a good example is alot). Our language has many such situations, rules, and exceptions to rules. This is why many people feel intimidated and frustrated by grammar.



Source: The Gregg Reference Manual

Apostrophe Use With Possessive Nouns

How to use apostrophes with possessive nouns can, at times, be a little tricky. Here are a few tips on how and when to use the apostrophe when forming the possessive of certain nouns:


SINGULAR NOUNS

To form the possessive of a singular noun not ending in an s sound, add an apostrophe plus s to the noun.

Crystal's blog
California's coastline

To form the possessive of a singular noun that ends in an s sound, be guided by the way you pronounce the word.

a. If a new syllable is formed in the pronunciation of the possessive, add an apostrophe plus s.

The boss's approval
St. Louis's airport

b. If the addition of an extra syllable would make a word ending in an s sound awkward or hard to pronounce, add the apostrophe only.

Los Angeles' freeways
For goodness' sake
New Orleans' restaurants
For convenience' sake


PLURAL NOUNS

For a regular plural noun (one that ends in s), add only an apostrophe to form the plural possessive.

Investors' objectives
The witnesses' contradictions
The United States' policy
Attorneys' fees
The agencies' rules


REMEMBER...
Plural nouns that end in s take only an apostrophe, while singular nouns that end in s take an apostrophe plus s, (unless the apostrophe plus s sounds awkward).

The bosses' office - plural
The boss's office - singular
Los Angeles' freeways - singular, but Los Angeles's freeways sounds awkward.


For an irregular plural noun (one that does not end in s), add an apostrophe plus s to form the plural possessive.

Women's coats
Children's toys


A good way to avoid mistakes in forming the possessive of plural nouns, is to form the plural of the noun first, then apply whichever grammar rule above fits:


Singular Noun------------Plural Noun------------------------Plural Possessive
boy----------------------------boys (regular)----------------------boys'
boss--------------------------bosses (regular)------------------bosses'
child--------------------------children (irregular)----------------children's
mother-in-law--------------mothers-in-law (irregular)-------mothers-in-law's



An additional note...
Now to completely confuse you, some constructions can be tricky. For example, the use of back-to-back possessives. Say, for example, you want to refer to the children belonging to two brothers of your father, (i.e., your cousins). The double possessive would be: My father's brothers' children. You could even have a triple possessive with: My father's brothers' children's books. Ouch. Obviously best to stick with your cousins!

Also, a more common problem is the use of a possessive form when ownership is involved. Take the example above of: mothers-in-law's. Obviously we're referring to a possession of two or more mothers-in-law. Rather than, The mothers-in-law's purses, you could opt for: The purses of the mothers-in-law.


ADDENDUM...
I'm including this excerpt, as you will note is also in the reply to Diane's comment. Whether to add just the apostrophe or the apostrophe plus s to possessive nouns, including names, is very controversial; there seems to be no absolute and clear-cut rule:

According to the Chicago Manual of Style, for nouns ending in s: "the possessive of most singular nouns is formed by adding an apostrophe and an s, and the possessive of plural nouns by adding an apostrophe only...this practice is used in conjuction with the way possessive forms are generally pronounced." It goes on to add that, "...feelings on these matters sometimes run high..." thus ending in numerous exceptions and modifications to the general "rule."




Sources: Gregg Reference Manual, CMS, Grammarmudge

Thoroughness Challenge

Thoroughly Thursday is a weekly post where I type a couple of paragraphs that contain spelling and/or grammatical errors, and your job is to find them. The same post is repeated at the end of Fun Friday's Spelling Challenge, with the errors corrected and highlighted in red.

This is on the honor system! No spending all day, printing it out, looking up words...you have to complete the challenge here.
Also, please keep the errors you find to yourself, rather than list them here within the post...we don't want to "help" anyone else inadvertently!

Last week your your Thoroughly Thursday paragraphs were about the origins of Halloween and its coming the America. The following is part two, again an exerpt from History.com on some of the traditions of Halloween and why we have them. This week's Challenge contains 7 errors. Good Luck!


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The American tradition of "trick-or-treating" probably dates back to the early All Souls' Day parades in England. During the festivties, poor citizens would beg for food and families would give them pasteries called "soul cakes" in return for their promise to pray for the family's dead relatives.

The distrbution of soul cakes was encouraged by the church as a way to replace the ancient practice of leaving food and wine for roaming spirits. The practice, witch was referred to as "going a-souling" was eventually taken up by children who would visit the houses in their neighborhood and be given ale, food, and money.

The tradition of dressing in costume for Halloween has both European and Celtic roots. Hundreds of years ago, winter was an uncertain and frightning time. Food supplies often ran low and, for the many people afraid of the dark, the short days of winter were full of constent worry. On Halloween, when it was believed that ghosts came back to the earthly world, people thought that they would encounter ghosts if they left their homes. To avoid being recognized by these ghosts, people would wear masks when they left their homes after dark so that the ghosts would mistake them for fellow spirits. On Halloween, to keep ghosts away from their houses, people would place bowls of food outside their homes to apease the ghosts and prevent them from attempting to enter.


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Be sure to check back tomorrow to see how you did!

Thoroughness Challenge

Thoroughly Thursday is a weekly post where I type a couple of paragraphs that contain spelling and/or grammatical errors, and your job is to find them. The same post is repeated at the end of Fun Friday's Spelling Challenge, with the errors corrected and highlighted in red.

This is on the honor system! No spending all day, printing it out, looking up words...you have to complete the challenge here.
Also, please keep the errors you find to yourself, rather than list them here within the post...we don't want to "help" anyone else inadvertently!

Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be using exerpts from History.com on the origins of Halloween for the Thoroughly Thursday challenge. Today we'll look at its original origins and Halloween coming to America, and next week we'll look at traditions and why we have them. Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). This week's feature contains 13 errors. Good Luck!


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The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and nothern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts beleived that on the night before the new year, the boundry between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the prescence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic preists, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependant on the volitile natural world, these prophesies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.

Over the years traditions changed, and in America, people began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, a practice that eventually became today's "trick-or-treat" tradition. In the late 1800s, there was a move in America to mold Halloween into a holiday more about community and neighborly get-togethers, than about ghosts, pranks, and witchcraft. Because of their efforts, Halloween lost most of its superstitous and religous overtones by the beginning of the twentieth century.

Between 1920 and 1950, the centuries-old practice of trick-or-treating was revived. Trick-or-treating was a relatavily inexpensive way for an entire communty to share the Halloween celebration. In theory, families could also prevent tricks being played on them by providing the neighborhood children with small treats. A new American tradition was born, and it has continued to grow. Today, Americans spend an estimated $6.9 billion anually on Halloween, making it the country's second largest commercial holiday.


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Be sure to check back tommorrow to see how you did!

Awhile and A While

A while is a noun phrase in which "a" is an article, and "while" functions as a noun meaning "a short period of time."

Awhile is an adverb meaning "for a while."
The word awhile has "for" built into its meaning.

Basically, the meaning is the same, it's the structure that differs.

A mnemonic to assist in determining which to use, is whether "for a while" could be used in the sentence, without changing its meaning, where you were intending to use awhile.

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Examples:


- "I'll speak with you awhile" is correct because you could also say, "I'll speak with you for a while."

- "I'll speak with you for awhile" is not correct because you're actually using the word "for" twice.
(awhile = for a while: "I'll speak with you for for a while.")

- "I'll prepare my blog in awhile" is not correct as you would not say "I'll prepare my blog in for a while."

- "Writing the blog may take awhile" is not correct because, "Writing the blog may take for a while" is not idiomatic English.
(awhile = for a while: "Writing the blog may take for for a while.")

- "I have relatives staying with me awhile" is correct, as you could also say "I have relatives staying with me for a while."

- "I have relatives staying with me for awhile" is not correct, as in actuality that would be saying, "I have relatives staying with me for for a while."

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The two-word noun phrase a while is more often the correct choice that is the one-word adverb awhile.

Most grammatical errors involve using awhile where a while would be the appropriate choice.

Again, remember the mnemonic of placing the word "for" before either choice. It's a nearly foolproof way of determining which is appropriate to use.




Sources: Gregg Reference Manual, Grammarmudge, AP Stylebook, CMS

Spelling Challenge

What happens to these weeks that I see out of the corner of my eye, literally flying by? Where do they go? Well, I managed to grab the last day as it was preparing to whiz by me, smoothed it out and placed a piece of it on this page. Because hard as it is to believe, it's once again time to test your skills with "Fun Friday's Spelling Challenge!"

And...here are today's words, with the answers below.

Also, same as that last week that flew on by, at the very end of this post are the words that were misspelled in yesterday's Thorough Thursday challenge.


Now remember...


NO PEEKING!

1. abundence, abundense, abundance

2. amateur, amatuer, ameteur

3. boundries, boundaries, bounderies

4. changeable, changable, changeble

5. commission, comission, commision

6. disasterous, disasterus, disastrous

7. embarass, embarrass, embarress

8. hemmorrage, hemorrage, hemorrhage

9. governor, govenor, govenor

10. millenium, milennium, millennium


BONUS WORD

mischevous, mischievous, mischieveous

As usual, for spelling all the words correctly
you get a GOLD star!



And, if you spelled the bonus word correctly
you get the prized, very special, and much coveted
Crystal Clear Proofing PURPLE star!


For spelling all the words, including the bonus word correctly
you get a GOLD and a PURPLE star!
(Hooray!)

ANSWERS:

1. abundance
2. amateur
3. boundaries
4. changeable
5. commission
6. disastrous
7. embarrass
8. hemorrhage
9. governor
10. millennium


BONUS WORD:

mischievous




CONGRATULATIONS
to those of you who earned stars!

Now, here's yesterday's Thorough Thursday post in its entirety, with the errors highlighted in red. (Oh my goodness, the dreaded red marks!) However in this post, and in the future, rather than just highlighting the incorrect word, I'll be highlighting it and replacing it with the correct word and/or spelling (as should have been done last week)!
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It's hard to believe that summer is behind us. The absence of warm weather affects many people who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis and other joint ailments, yet can be a relief to those who suffer from allergies. There are fewer pollutants in the air, but the fluctuating barometric pressure results in aches and pains definitely being more prevalent. Suffering from osteoarthritis myself, I notice a tremendous change in the severity of joint stiffness.

It seems as though it's comparatively much easier to ease into summer than it is getting used to the colder weather. Our bodies acclimate to the change in climate much better; however, if you happen to suffer from them, nasal allergies do not. The pollination of so much flora, even the growing of the grass in the spring can wreck havoc on our bodies, causing post-nasal drip and itchy, watery eyes. Many find relief from allergies with over-the-counter medications, while some require prescription medication.

And then there's the whole process of changing the contents of your closet. The colder temperatures mean bringing out the heavier, warmer clothing. It's one of the things I miss about having lived in California where "closet rotation" isn't really necessary.

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So, how'd you do? All the errors were spelling, with the exception of effects being used rather that affects, and wrack rather then wreck. This proves a good reminder to everyone that while spell check is a wonderful tool, it isn't going to help you when you use an incorrect word!


As usual, I hope that you all have a very...

HAPPY WEEKEND!

Thoroughness Challenge

Thoroughly Thursday is a weekly post where I type a couple of paragraphs that contain spelling and/or grammatical errors, and your job is to find them. The same post is repeated at the end of Fun Friday's Spelling Challenge, with the errors corrected and highlighted in red.

This is on the honor system! No spending all day, printing it out, looking up words...you have to complete the challenge here.
Also, please keep the errors you find to yourself, rather than list them here...we don't want to "help" anyone inadvertently!


Here is this week's Thoroughly Thursday challenge,
which contains 24 errors. Good Luck!

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It's hard to beleive that summer is behind us. The absense of warm weather effects many people who suffer from rhuematoid arthritis and other joint ailments, yet can be a releif to those who suffer from allergies. There are fewer pollutents in the air, but the fluctuating barometeric pressure results in aches and pains definately being more prevelant. Suffering from osteoartheritis myself, I notice a tremendus change in the severety of joint stiffness.

It seems as though it's comparitively much easier to ease into summer than it is getting used to the colder weather. Our bodies acclamate to the change in climate much better; however, if you happen to suffer from them, nasel allergies do not. The pollenation of so much flora, even the growing of the grass in the spring can wrack havock on our bodies, causing post-nasel drip and itchy, watery eyes. Many find releif from allergies with over-the-counter medications, while some require perscription medication.

And then there's the whole prosess of changing the contents of your closet. The colder tempratures mean bringing out the heavier, warmer clothing. It's one of the things I miss about having lived in California where "closet rotation" isn't really neccesary.

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Now remember, keep the errors you find, and
Be sure to check back tomorrow to see how you did!

Wednesday's Word

Welcome to this week's edition of Wednesday's Word, where you'll learn an obsure, not-very-common and/or not-frequently used word.


Today's Wednesday's Word is: OBDORMITION.


Obdormition is a noun and it's description is: numbness or 'going to sleep' of a limb, etc.


We've all been the victims of obdormition! So next time your leg goes numb after all those hours at the computer, try using today's new word and let someone know that obdormition is SUCH an inconvenience! (It can even be dangerous! I've actually landed on the floor as a result of not knowing I had obdormition in one of my legs, or feet...)

Okay, have fun with that, and see you back next Wednesday for another new, weird word! LOL!!




Note: The source for many of the words I'll be featuring can be found at Luciferous Logolepsy. They are so obscure, I was actually unable to find some of them at a couple of common online dictionary references, such as The Free Dictionary.com.

Quotation Marks

Today on Techie Tuesday we're going to take a quick look at quotation marks and some of the basic rules that apply when using them.

Quotation Marks are marks of punctuation that are used to set off a direct quotation or a piece of dialogue.


DIRECT QUOTATIONS

Use double quotation marks to enclose a direct quotation.
Direct quotations repeat a speaker's exact words.

- Her editor told her, "The final edits are done on the manuscript."

- "The final edits," her editor told her, "are done on the manuscript."


INDIRECT QUOTATIONS

You would not use quotation marks were the sentence structured using and indirect quotation.
Indirect quotations are summaries or paraphrases of someone else's words.

- Her editor told her that the final edits were done on the manuscript.


TITLES

Double quotation marks are also used to enclose titles of songs, short stories, essays, poems and articles.

- Hearing the song "Over the Rainbow" always invoked memories of home for her.

- Her essay, "Caring for our Elders," earned her very high accolades from her professor.


However, do not use quotation marks around titles of books, newspapers or magazines. Either italicize or underline them instead.

- After having read, The Fall of the Russian Empire, he realized there was much he hadn't known on the subject.

- The New York Times has outstanding movie reviews.


QUOTATIONS WITHIN QUOTATIONS

When you have a quotation within a quotation, use single quotation marks:

- Christine told her daughter, "I've always loved the song 'Over the Rainbow.'"

Notice that both a single and a double set of quotation marks appear at the end of the sentence - a single mark to close the title of the song and a double mark to close the direct quotation.


COMMAS, PERIODS AND QUOTATIONS

When a comma or period appears at the end of a quotation, put it inside the quotation mark:

- "The final edits," her editor told her, "are done on the manuscript."


OTHER PUNCTUATION MARKS AND QUOTATIONS

When a semicolon or colon appears at the end of a quotation, it it placed outside the quotation mark:

- Her editor said, "The final edits are done on the manuscript"; however, she wanted to go over it one more time.


Question marks or exclamation points appearing at the end of a quotation are put inside the quotation mark if it belongs to the quotation:

- Stephanie exclaimed, "Get in here and clean this room!"


However if it does not belong to the quotation, the question or exclamation mark is placed outside the quotation mark:

- Did The Beatles really record a song called "Yellow Submarine"?




(Partial) Sources: Gregg Reference Manual, CMS

Spelling Challenge

Happy End of the Week! It's time once again for "Fun Friday's Spelling Challenge!"

And...here are today's words, with the answers below.

Also at the very end of this post are the words that were misspelled in yesterday's Thorough Thursday challenge.


Now remember...


NO PEEKING!

1. acummulate, accumulate, acumulate

2. cartilage, cartiledge, cartiladge

3. diarama, dioroma, diorama

4. flaberghast, flabberghast, flabbergast

5. hankerchief, handerchief, handerchef

6. irascible, irrasible, irrascible

7. leutenent, lieutenant, lieutenent

8. misogany, misogyny, misogyni

9. rememberance, remembrence, remembrance

10. plentitude, plenitude, plenatude

BONUS WORD

sacrilegious, sacreligious, sacreligeous

As usual, for spelling all the words correctly
you get a GOLD star!



And, if you spelled the bonus word correctly
you get the prized, very special, and much coveted
Crystal Clear Proofing PURPLE star!


For spelling all the words, including the bonus word correctly
you get a GOLD and a PURPLE star!
(Hooray!)


ANSWERS:

1. accumulate
2. cartilage
3. diorama
4. flabbergast
5. handkerchief
6. irascible
7. lieutenant
8. misogyny
9. remembrance
10. plenitude


BONUS WORD:

sacrilegious


CONGRATULATIONS
to those of you who earned stars!



Now, here's yesterday's Thorough Thursday post in its entirety, with the errors highlighted in red. (Oh my goodness, the dreaded red marks!)
_______________________________________________________

Thorough Thursday is going to consist of a few short sentences that will include mispellings and possibly minor grammer issues to test your attentivness to detail, and to see how thorough you are.

In the first of this feature there are 14 words spelled incorrectley. It can be challanging to acomplish this task with readers posessing such exellent grammer skills. Each week, the mispelled words will be posted at the end of Fun Friday's Spelling Challange.

It will be fun to see whom recieves the best results and catches the most errors! Good luck, and check back tommorrow to see how you did!

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So, how'd you do? Several of you left comments of having found 13 errors. The 14th was the use of whom, when who is correct. That was the only grammar error. I belief Elspeth may have gotten that one!

You all did very well! Between yesterday's and today's exercises, you all have worked so hard, so go and enjoy the rest of your day, and...

Have a HAPPY weekend!