5.3 Revising for Grammar
Learning to use good, correct standard English grammar is more of a practice than an event or even a process. Grammar involves the written construction of meaning from words and involves customs that evolve and adapt to usage over time. Because grammar is always evolving, none of us can sit back and rest assured that we “know” how to write with proper grammar. Instead, it is important to write and revise with close attention to grammar, keeping in mind that grammatical errors can undermine your credibility, reflect poorly on your employer, and cause misunderstandings.
Jean Wyrick has provided a list of common errors in grammar to watch out for, which we have adapted here for easy reference (Wyrick, 2008). In each case, the error is in italics and the [correct form] is italicized within square brackets.
1. Subject-verb Agreement
The subject and verb should agree on the number under consideration. In faulty writing, a singular subject is sometimes mismatched with a plural verb form or vice versa.
| Examples |
|---|
| Sales have not been consistent and they doesn’t [do not] reflect your hard work and effort. |
| The president appreciates your hard work and wish [wishes] to thank you. |
2. Verb Tense
Verb tense refers to the point in time where action occurs. The most common tenses are past, present, and future. There is nothing wrong with mixing tenses in a sentence if the action is intended to take place at different times. In faulty or careless writing, however, they are often mismatched illogically.
| Examples |
|---|
| Sharon was under pressure to finish the report, so she uses [used] a shortcut to paste in the sales figures. |
| The sales department holds a status meeting every week, and last week’s meeting will be [was] at the Garden Inn. |
3. Split Infinitive
The infinitive form of the verb is one without a reference to time, and in its standard form it includes the auxiliary word “to,” as in “to write is to revise.” It has been customary to keep the “to” next to the verb; to place an adverb between them is known as splitting the infinitive. Some modern writers do this all the time (for example, “to boldly go…”), and since all grammar is essentially a set of customs that govern the written word, you will need to understand what the custom is where you work. If you are working with colleagues trained across the last fifty years, they may find split infinitives annoying. For this reason, it’s often best to avoid splitting an infinitive wherever you can do so without distorting the meaning of the sentence.
| Examples |
|---|
| The Marketing Department needs assistance to accurately understand our readers [to understand our readers accurately]. |
| David pondered how to best revise [how best to revise] the sentence. |
4. Double Negative
A double negative uses two negatives to communicate a single idea, duplicating the negation. In some languages, such as Spanish, when the main action in the sentence is negative, it is correct to express the other elements in the sentence negatively as well. However, in English, this is incorrect. In addition to sounding wrong (you can often hear the error if you read the sentence out loud), a double negative in English causes an error in logic, because two negatives cancel each other out and yield a positive. In fact, the wording of ballot measures is often criticized for confusing voters with double negatives.
| Examples |
|---|
| John doesn’t need no [any] assistance with his sales presentation. [Or John needs no assistance with his sales presentation.] |
| Jeri could not find no [any] reason to approve the request. [Or Jeri could find no reason to approve the request.] |
5. Irregular Verbs
Most verbs represent the past with the addition of the suffix “ed,” as in “ask” becomes “asked.” Irregular verbs change a vowel or convert to another word when representing the past tense. Consider the irregular verb “to go”; the past tense is “went,” not “goed.”
| Examples |
|---|
| The need arised [arose] to seek additional funding. |
| Katy leaped [leapt] onto the stage to introduce the presentation. |
6. Commas in a Series
A comma is used to separate the items in a series, but in some writing styles, the comma is omitted between the final two items of the series, where the conjunction joins the last and next-to-last items. The comma in this position is known as the “serial comma.” The serial comma is typically required in academic writing and typically omitted in journalism. Other writers omit the serial comma if the final two items in the series have a closer logical connection than the other items. In business writing, you may use it or omit it according to the prevailing style in your organization or industry. Know your audience and be aware of the rule.
| Examples |
|---|
| Lisa is an amazing wife, mother, teacher, gardener, and editor. |
| Lisa is an amazing wife, mother teacher, gardener and editor. |
| Lisa is an amazing teacher, editor, gardener, wife and mother. |
7. Faulty Comparisons
When comparing two objects by degree, there should be no mention of “est,” as in “biggest” as all you can really say is that one is bigger than the other. If you are comparing three or more objects, then “est” will accurately communicate which is the “biggest” of them all.
| Examples |
|---|
| Between the twins, Mackenzie is the fastest [faster] of the two. |
| Among our three children, Mackenzie is the tallest. |
8. Dangling Modifiers
Modifiers describe a subject in a sentence or indicate how or when the subject carried out the action. If the subject is omitted, the modifier intended for the subject is left dangling or hanging out on its own without a clear relationship to the sentence. Who is doing the seeing in the first sentence?
| Examples |
|---|
| Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, celebrations were in order. |
| Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, we decided that celebrations were in order. |
9. Misplaced Modifiers
Modifiers that are misplaced are not lost, they are simply in the wrong place. Their unfortunate location is often far from the word or words they describe, making it easy for readers to misinterpret the sentence.
| Examples |
|---|
| Trying to avoid the deer, the tree hit my car. |
| My car hit the tree when I tried to avoid a deer in the road. |