Though vs Although

Occasionally we hear that we should never, never, ever start a sentence with "though." "Although" is the only correct word to use.

Ridiculous! There is nothing grammatically wrong with using "though" at the beginning of a sentence. Both "though" and "although" are both subordinating conjunctions (with their cousins like "if," "when," "after," "unless," "until" and a couple of other ones. ("And" and "but" are "coordinating conjunctions," not "SUBordinating conjunctions which connect clauses of equal importance. SUBordinating conjunctions relegate a clause to a position of less importance in a sentence.)

Or is it ridiculous?

Obviously the words are often interchangeable. And sometimes we may want to use them to begin a sentence. But grammar guru June Casagrande, author of Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies says that if you follow this rule-that-isn't-really-a-rule you can keep yourself from making other editing and grammar booboos.

What we writers need to be careful of is not SUBordinating clauses that really are the most important part of the sentence and should be the main part of the sentence. June gives this example:

"Though he had killed everone in the house with a rusty ladle and served their organ meat to the dogs, he wasn't tired." She says, "All the interesting stuff is crammed in the SUBordinating clause (that stuff that comes before the comma).

So this kind of misuse is what we need to watch. Maybe we should avoid using both "though" and "although" to begin a sentence.

Just to be on the safe side.

Just because it's so darn hard to spot our own writing idiocyncrasies.

It's better not to set ourselves up for looking ridiculous. At least to an editor who should be able to spot that error right off the bat.

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson edits, consults and speaks on issues of publishing. Find her The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0978515870. Learn more about her other authors' aids at www.howtodoitfrugally.com, where writers will find lists and other helps on the Resources for Writers page. She blogs on all things publishing (not just editing!) at her Sharing with Writers blog.

Funny, Funny English and Where To Go To Tickle Your Funny Bone

What can I tell you. I love grammar columns. I'm not so crazy about straight old grammar books but most columns contain a little (or a lot) of humor. Even my Frugal Editor has a little. But June Casagrande of Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies and Moral Syntax is my favorite for funny. Even above William Safire.

So here are her top online dictionaries, www.dictionary.com, www.barteleby.com and www.m-w.com. And the biggest secret straight from her "A Word Please" column (syndicated in the Glendale News-Press, an LA Times newspaper) is:

www.grammaruntied.com

She says for basic grammar this Web site is user-friendly, beginner-friendly and well-organized. I say it is good, but not funny. At least not any funnier than I find English in general. Still, it's a good place to go with your questions.

My advice for information and funny, read June's books first!

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson edits, consults and speaks on issues of publishing. Find her The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0978515870. Learn more about her other authors' aids at www.howtodoitfrugally.com, where writes will find lists and other helps on the Resources for Writers page. She blogs on all things publishing (not just editing!) at her Sharing with Writers blog.

"A Way" vs. "Away": Enough to Make an Editor Dizzy

Recently a friend of mine (who was once my teacher!) corrected my grammar/typo/boo-boo on one of my blogs.

When someone in authority does that, one (meaning me!) may lose confidence in one's own expertise/talent/brilliance. (-: So I double-checked with my grammar guru, June Casagrande, author of Mortal Syntax and Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies (www.junecasagrande.com). You know. Because I was sure I was right but when a teacher tells you something...well...

And situations like this were the inspirations for June's books--that so much opinion that goes around is downright wrong, or at least not a full-out, never-to-be broken rule!

The "error" in question was "a way." I had used it as a noun with its article. My former teacher wanted me to push the words together into "away" which would have made it into an adverb. Just in case a similar thing happens to you, here's the straight dope:


a way: noun
away: adverb

Both are correct, but only if you slot them into the right place in your sentence. But you knew that. Maybe she did, too. She was only trying to help, after all.


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Carolyn Howard-Johnson edits, consults and speaks on issues of publishing. Find her The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0978515870. Learn more about her other authors' aids at www.howtodoitfrugally.com. She blogs on all things publishing (not just editing!) at www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com.

When to Avoid the Dreaded Split Infinitive

Oh, those dreaded split infinitives! It turns out that they aren't so bad, regardless of what Miss Wilson said in the fourth grade, Miss White in the eighth, and Miss Jones when I was a junior in high school. My Grammar Pal, June Casagrande (author of Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies) reminds me that Fowler of Elements of Style fame says, "Some infinitives seem to improve on being split, just as a stick of round stovewood does." He gives the example "I cannot bring myself to really like the fellow." The infinitive "to like" does not much suffer from having "really" interfere with the tight-knit infinitive club. So, advice from here? Watch split infinitives. Make your choices. But when it comes to splitting one before the eyes of a publisher or agent, take the safer path. Choose another way of saying what you want to say. No point in letting something like a split infinitive get in the way of getting published.

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson edits, consults and speaks on issues of publishing. Find her The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0978515870. Learn more about her other authors' aids at www.howtodoitfrugally.com. She blogs on all things publishing (not just editing!) at www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com.

Grammar Meanies, Grammar Pals, Modals and Understanding What Comes Naturally

I am a June Casagrande's fan. She is the author of Grammar Snobs are Great Big Meanies and Mortal Syntax: 101 Language Choices That Will Get You Clobbered by the Grammar Snobs--Even If You're Right. (Both are published by Penguin.)

I , ahem...found her -- yes I did. Sitting at the back of my UCLA class a couple of years ago, her long blonde hair a dead giveaway 'cause she looked just like the picture of her in the column she writes that is printed in my hometown newspaper, the Glendale News-Press.

Hey, what a resource! Couldn't let that one get away. Since then she has been a guest lecturer for my class and, of course, the source of grammar ideas galore. This week she talks about modals.

Now that's a subject rarely addressed. And, although I don't like to use grammar words that elicit yawns from the masses any more the June or Boyd do, there are times when they help understanding. That, after all, is what words are for. In this case, I think it helps to have something to call these little guys. Modals, that is.

Modals are words like "may," "might," "could," "should," "can," "shall," "will," and, June's favorite (it seems) "must." There is a sub category of marginal modals and they are "ought to," "used to," and "need."

Most of us think of these guys as simply helping verbs that help express tense but these modal guys are a little different. Here's a quote from June's column (which, by the way, is always humorous to help keep her audience from nodding off) that will help you know what they do:

"A modal's job is either 'to refer to some kind of human control over the situations such as permission or obligations,' or to 'refer to some kind of judgement of the truth value of propositions, such as its possibility or necessity.'" She takes issue with the human part which came from the Oxford English Grammar, pointing out that a horse "can" run fast and "may" win the race and, that, she supposes "may" be without any real "control" from a human but rather have more to do with the will of the horse.

Ahhh, English. Isn't it wonderful?

So, why does anyone care? Darned if I know but you might impress an editor you want to argue a case with at some point. And that isn't all bad.

Oh, and if English isn't your first language, the use of these modals may not all as self-evident as native speakers take them to be. In which case, a native speaker may be very, very grateful to understand that there do seem to be differences between them and auxiliary verbs after all, that she is not completely out of her gourd for having noticed (or for having trouble with them!) after all.

BTW, you "can" reach June a JuneTCN@aol.com.

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson edits and consults and speaks on issues of publishing. Find her The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0978515870. Learn more about her other authors' aids at www.howtodoitfrugally.com.

Q&A: Proofreader Wonders About Words That Switch Parts of Speech

QUESTION:

Hello,

I have a question regarding the distinction, if there is one, between “grammatical error” and “grammar error.” I notice that both seem to be in common use, but it seems to me that the first one could be construed as an error that is grammatical, is in a mistaken assertion that is syntactically correct. The second instance, however, gives us the awkward problem of a noun used as an adjective.

Your thoughts?

I own www.theProofreader.org and have a vested interest in finding the best choice in the matter.

Thanks

ANSWER: I couldn't find a single reference that would say one is right and/or wrong in any given instance. As you noted (and many might argue) "grammar" is the noun, "grammatical" the adjective. But in doing a search I saw that grammar sites were about evenly split on whether they use the term "grammatical terms" or "grammar terms." That's one of the difficulties (and blessings) of English. Words can and do float from one part of speech to another and there is no help for it. There is a grammar (or grammatical) term for that floating process but I try to keep this column in layman terms as much as I can. (-:

Those interested in elegant and precise English are sure to see the difference.Still, it wouldn't exactly be a "grammar error" if you chose the wrong form of "grammar" for either meaning. That's because, however much those of us who are "Grammar Snobs," as my grammar-guru friend June Casagrande (author of "Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies"), would like to see our meanings drawn clearly and concisely, usage dictates (eventually) what is right and what is wrong. And I'm pretty sure that's the side of the fence June would come down on, too. That is, neither side. Ha!

So, I'm afraid, the distinction has evaded the general reader. But good for you for fighting the good fight. (-: Go ahead and proof for the more exact meaning but don't be surprised if your client doesn't quite see what you are trying to do. Or care.



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Carolyn Howard-Johnson edits and consults on issues of publishing. Find her The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success on Amazon. Learn more about her other authors' aids at www.howtodoitfrugally.com.