Kwittken Thoughts
Apr 17, 2009
Editorial Tip of the Week: Essential Clause/Nonessential Clauses and That/Which/Who/Whom (0 comments)
Essential Clauses: cannot be eliminated without changing the meaning of the sentence (should not be set off from the sentence with commas). Nonessential clauses: can be eliminated without altering the basic meaning of the sentence (should be set off from the sentence with commas). That is the preferred pronoun to introduce essential clauses that refer to an inanimate object: Books that have poor punctuation are worthy of criticism. Which is the only acceptable pronoun to introduce a nonessential clause that refers to an inanimate object: Books, which may have grammatical… more
Apr 10, 2009
Editorial Tip of the Week: Who’s/Whose and Who/Whom (0 comments)
Who’s—a contraction for who is. Example: “Who’s on first?” said the man pointing at me with the karaoke microphone in his hand. Whose—the possessive case of who Example: “Okay that’s enough screaming. Whose kids are these??” Who—the subject form of the pronoun* Example: “Who ordered the animal-style fries and a double-double without onions?” Whom—the object form of the pronoun (when in doubt use whom after a preposition)* Example: The boss was so annoyed that he forgot to whom he was supposed to hand the pink slip. * Use both who… more
Apr 3, 2009
Editorial Tip of the Week: Among/Amongst, Toward/Towards, Than/Then (0 comments)
Among: surrounded by, in the company of, in the group, etc.—never use amongst Example: “Among all your friends, how could you think I would have wanted to go out with Dave? Unemployment aside, don’t you know he owes thousands in child support? Toward: in the direction of, turned to, with respect to, etc.—never use towards Example: When the host talking to the police officer turned and pointed toward me, I knew I was going to have a problem. Then: an adverb that refers to time Example: “I understand what you’re… more
