{"id":6058,"date":"2017-10-05T13:04:35","date_gmt":"2017-10-05T00:04:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesislink.aut.ac.nz\/?p=6058"},"modified":"2017-10-05T13:06:41","modified_gmt":"2017-10-05T00:06:41","slug":"throwback-thursday-a-grammar-cheat-sheet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesislink.aut.ac.nz\/?p=6058","title":{"rendered":"Throwback Thursday: A Grammar Cheat Sheet"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post first appeared on Thesislink in March 2015.<\/em><\/p>\n

Whether you\u2019re an anthropologist, a biologist, a criminologist, a toxicologist, or an otorhinolaryngologist, you need to know the principles of good grammar.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Otorhinolaryngology: either a) the study of interrelations between otters and rhinos, or b) the study of ear, nose and throat disorders. I know which option I want to be true.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here\u2019s a quick round-up of some grammatical principles we can all hold in our minds as we write.<\/p>\n

If it\u2019s him, use whom<\/strong><\/p>\n

The who\/whom distinction is one of those things that just doesn\u2019t stick in my brain, so I need a clever trick to remember it. Here\u2019s the deal: imagine you\u2019re writing about a man, then flip your sentence around into a question. \u201cFor whom the bell tolls\u201d becomes \u201cFor whom does the bell toll?\u201d Answer: him. Because the answer is \u201chim,\u201d \u201cwhom\u201d is correct. If the answer is \u201che,\u201d use \u201cwho.\u201d<\/p>\n

To boldly split<\/strong><\/p>\n

An infinitive is a verb in two words (to swim, to cook, to write, etc). A split infinitive is an infinitive that has been cleaved apart by an adverb (to quickly swim, to skillfully cook, to knowingly write, etc). You may have been taught not to split infinitives, but these days they are not considered wrong<\/em>; just a little clumsy. This must please the writers of\u00a0Star Trek<\/em>, who have long been mocked for their famous phrase \u201cto boldly go.\u201d However, in academic writing, split infinitives are not a great choice.<\/p>\n

Can\u2019t subjects and verbs just get along?
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

A subject can be singular (e.g. pie) or plural (e.g. pies). A verb can be singular (e.g. is) or plural (e.g. are). Subject-verb agreement happens when a singular subject is paired with a singular verb (e.g. the pie is delicious) or a plural subject is paired with a plural verb (e.g. the pies are delicious).<\/p>\n

\"\"
I am in agreement with pie.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This all seems straight forward, but most sentences aren\u2019t so simple. What happens if I need to write \u201cthis selection of pies [verb] delicious\u201d? The subject of the sentence is no longer plural (pies) but singular (selection). The correct verb is the singular verb (is) even though there are multiple pies under discussion. So the correct sentence is: \u201cthis selection of pies is delicious.\u201d In the complex sentences of academic writing, it can be difficult to figure out whether subjects and verbs are in agreement. This website<\/a> gives 10 rules to guide subject-verb agreement in almost any sentence.<\/p>\n

Werewolves aren\u2019t real<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to confuse \u201cwere\u201d and \u201cwas.\u201d The correct use depends on whether you are writing about something real or not real. If you\u2019re writing about something that could<\/em> be, that is hypothetical, that you wish for, or that isn\u2019t true, you need the subjunctive mood. \u201cWere\u201d is for hypotheticals; \u201cwas\u201d is for boring old reality. The easiest way to remember this? \u201cWere\u201d-wolves aren\u2019t real. Thank goodness for that.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Example of correct use of \u201cwere\u201d: If all supernatural creatures were as cute as this wolf, then I\u2019d be into Twilight.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Academia is [sic]<\/strong><\/p>\n

You\u2019ve worked so hard on your writing \u2013 it would be a shame for a reader to think you\u2019ve made a mistake when you haven\u2019t. So when you have to quote something that contains (or seems to contain) a mistake, use [sic] to show that it\u2019s not your fault. \u201cSic\u201d is short for the Latin phrase \u201csic erat scriptum,\u201d meaning \u201cthus it was written.\u201d It\u2019s used to indicate that a mistake is present in your source material \u2013 for instance: \u201cOnline commenter holden462 wrote \u2018it\u2019s better then [sic] it looks.’\u201d [Sic] is a nifty way to say: hey, this mistake isn\u2019t me being careless, it\u2019s in the original<\/em>. You can also use \u201csic\u201d to show that something is quoted accurately despite appearing wrong. In my thesis, I quote a lot from novels. I use one book in which characters travel \u201cfrom the out\u201d (meaning outside their planet\u2019s atmosphere). When I quote funny-looking language like that, I can use [sic] to show that it\u2019s quoted accurately and the use of imperfect English is the author\u2019s choice, not my typo.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve got some favourite grammar tips, share them in the comments below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post first appeared on Thesislink in March 2015. Whether you’re an anthropologist, a biologist, a criminologist, a toxicologist, or an otorhinolaryngologist, you need to know the principles of good […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6725,"featured_media":6064,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[116,78],"class_list":["post-6058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-category-5","tag-tips-and-tricks","tag-writing"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thesislink.aut.ac.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/slice-of-cake-on-a-plate.jpg?fit=4272%2C2848&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p83npQ-1zI","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesislink.aut.ac.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesislink.aut.ac.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesislink.aut.ac.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesislink.aut.ac.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6725"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesislink.aut.ac.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6058"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thesislink.aut.ac.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6071,"href":"https:\/\/thesislink.aut.ac.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6058\/revisions\/6071"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesislink.aut.ac.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesislink.aut.ac.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesislink.aut.ac.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesislink.aut.ac.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}