A Lot or Allot?
A Lot (two words) is an informal phrase meaning “many.” It can take an adjective, for example, “a sizeable lot.”à Carly needed a lot of time on the example
Allot (one word) means, “to distribute between or among.”
à He allotted three breaks a day to everyone in the department.
Alot does not exist as a word.Lay or Lie?
Lay means “to place something down.” It is something you do to something else.
à Lay the book on the table
The past tense of Lay is Laid.
à I laid the book on the table
Lie means, “to recline” or “be placed.” It does not act on anything or anyone else.
à Lie down on the couch
The past tense of Lie is Lay
à Last night I lay awake in bed.
Comma Splice is when any two sentences are joined with only a comma.
There are 4 ways to fix this problem:
1. Use a period to create two sentences:
à Chris went to the movie today. He said it was a poor show.
2. Use a semicolon
à Chris went to the movie today; he said it was a poor show.
3. Use a comma and a coordinating conjunction*
à Chris went to the movie today, and he said it was a poor show.
4. Make one of the clauses dependent and use a subordinating conjunction**
à After Chris went to the movie today, he said it was a poor show.
Two More Comma Cautions:
1. Do not separate compound verbs with commas
No: Aiko sang, and danced.
Yes: Aiko sang and danced.
2. Do separate independent clauses when joined by a coordinating conjunction
*F.A.N.B.O.Y.S.: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so
** after, although, because, before, if, since, through, unless, until, when, while, where
Use a semicolon to link two closely related independent clauses.
à Everyone loves ice cream; most people like cake, too.
Use a semicolon to link independent clauses joined by conjunctive adverbs or transitional phrases.à I love ice cream; however, I hate cake.
Use semicolons to separate items in a list that contains other punctuation.à I like cherry pie; ice cream, particularly chocolate; and all kinds of fresh, delicious cake.
Semicolons can add a new dimension of fluency and readability to your writing; furthermore, you will be able to combine related ideas into one comprehensive sentence.
Colons:
Use a colon to introduce an explanation, example, or appositive.
à John is colorblind: he only sees in black, white, and shades of gray.
Use a colon to introduce a series, list, or quotation.
à John often confuses and misuses colored writing utensils: crayons, markers, and pastels.
You can also use colons in salutations, for recording time, ratios, biblical citations, title/subtitles, and bibliographical entries.The colon is one of the most advanced (and underused) punctuation marks. Learn to use it correctly and you will add several new sentence structures to your existing style.
I versus Me
I is a pronoun that must be the subject, never the object, of a verb.
Incorrect: Kevin and me are going to Madrid.
Correct: Kevin and I are going to Madrid.
Incorrect: This car belongs to Kevin and I.
Correct: This car belongs to Kevin and me.
As a simple test, try removing Kevin from the sentences. You wouldn’t say “me is going to Madrid,” you’d say “I am going,” therefore “Kevin and I . . .” is correct. You also wouldn’t say, “this car belongs to I,” you’d say, “this car belongs to me,” therefore, “this car belongs to Kevin and me” is correct.
Down With Dash
A Dash is a horizontal mark indicated by two hyphens: --
Use a dash to indicate a sudden break or change in the sentence to emphasize a word, phrase, or clause, and to set off an introductory series from the clause that explains the series.
Examples:
à Kate planned – even if she had to stay up all night – to get the paper in on time.
à Kate planned to get the paper in on time – even if she had to stay up all night.
à Top Gun, Good Will Hunting, The Recruit, -- these are my three favorite movies.
*Remember: To be effective, dashes, like exclamation points, should not be overused.
Underlining and Italicizing
Titles of Longer written works are underlined or italicized.
Longer written works include books, full-length plays, films, long musical compositions, magazines, and newspapers. Titles of record albums and CD’s are also underlined or italicized.à I like the play Macbeth, but not the character called Macbeth.
Titles of radio and television series and works of art are underlined or italicized.à We used to watch reruns of Saved by the Bell.
Titles of Shorter works, and individual parts of longer works are placed in quotations marks.
Names of magazine articles, names of poems, chapters in a book, and songs in an album are all placed in quotation marks.à I love the song “Criminal” on Fiona Apple’s album called Tidal.
Do not underline, italicize, or place in quotation marks the name of the Bible, its books, divisions or version, or other religious scriptures and their divisions or versions.à The Talmud discusses the laws and history of the Jewish faith.
Do not underline, italicize, or place in quotation marks the title of any government document including charters, treaties, acts, statutes or reports.à Thomas Jefferson was instrumental in writing The Declaration of Independence.