In the space of about 600 words here, I would like to try to explain the basics of the four relative pronouns who, which, that, and what. We use these words constantly in conversation, changing the intonation of our voice easily and naturally to express quite subtle distinctions of meaning. These same distinctions have to …
Author Archives: rultimo
Slicing and Dicing
It always seems to be about the comma. What does this sentence mean, do you think: Be sure you peel the oranges before juicing; the rinds contain oils, which can cause an upset stomach. The first purpose of a comma is to separate. The word comma itself comes from a classical Greek word meaning to …
That That
Some words in English will bedevil the best of us, and one such is that. Grammarians use a device called the parts of speech to organize how words are used in a sentence: as a noun or verb, for example—traditionally eight different ways in all. The scheme allows us to quickly analyze a sentence (and …
Upcoming Seminar
Questions and Answers Tuesday, November 24 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. CT Writing Smartly’s next seminar, Questions and Answers, will address your questions about grammar, punctuation, and sentence construction—any question about writing that has been perplexing you and about which you can’t easily find an answer. Who or whom? Semicolons? Tenses? Which or that? Passive voice? …
Is It Between You and I or You and Me?
Grammar is the bony structure of language. It is the frame or skeleton that holds words together so that they can take on a meaningful shape to communicate a thought or feeling. Without grammar, or more properly without what is called syntax, grammatical arrangement, we would be left with randomly throwing at the reader one …