I’ll confess that “lay” and “lie” often get the better of me. I’ve always struggled to keep the two words straight. When confronted with a sentence that could use either “lay” or “lie,” I try to find a substitute so that I don’t have to waver between the two words.
grammar
Write Right: Effect versus Affect
“Effect” and “affect.” They can be a troublesome pair. When is one the right word and when is one the wrong one?
Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers: Who Cares?
A few weeks ago, I wrote about misplaced modifiers. I used “misplaced modifiers” and “dangling modifiers” as synonyms; however, they are not synonyms. My friend Estella Ramirez explains.
There’s an old Groucho Marx joke that goes:
“I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don’t know.”
If you can get the joke, you can understand misplaced modifiers. The modifier here is “in my pajamas,” and well, the sensible thing to do would be to put that modifier next to “I” as in “In my pajamas, I shot an elephant.” It’s clear that Groucho’s wearing the pajamas. It’s clear, but not funny at all.
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Write Right: Who, Which, and That
I’m used to being questioned about when to use “who” or “that,” but a question about “which” and “that” sent me scurrying to my grammar handbook. The two words have a couple of rules associated with them. The question this time, though, centered upon when to use one or the other.
Write Right: Who’s Eating Whose Porridge?
My latest peeve is in regard to “who’s” versus “whose.” People sometimes confuse the two. I’m not sure why; perhaps people simply aren’t proofreading their posts and tweets before sharing them. It’s a possibility. It also could be that people truly have forgotten the difference between the two words.
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Write Right: Misplaced Modifiers
Misplaced modifiers, better known as dangling modifiers, have caught many a writer unaware. I’ve found the things in my own writing. Although my mistake did not turn one of my brothers into a zombie (Just click on the link and look at the last rule listed. It’s funny, I promise.), it was noted by a dutiful professor and his or her red pen. I still am prone to misplacing modifiers; it happens when I’m in the middle of writing and not paying attention to what I’m doing. I’m trying to get the words on the page. It is my role as an editor that pays attention to such things and notes when I have inadvertently disconnected a modifier from its true subject.