GrammarPhile Blog

The Hottest Topics from the PRN Archives

You’re a busy person. Like most people, you want value and convenience, and you want it 3.74 seconds before you thought about it. To that aim, we’ve gathered the Top 5 ProofreadNOW.com blog posts by view count over the past year. These are the topics our readers found the most helpful compiled into a single extremely convenient and bursting-with-grammatical-value list:

Quick explanations with simple examples

First, what’s the benefit of knowing the parts of speech? Isn’t this just nerd language about language, irrelevant to daily life? Nope. Learning what words do and how to categorize them will result in:

• Clarity. When you learn the building blocks of language, just like place value and the decimal number system in math, you’ll be less confused. Language becomes more of a friend instead of a stumbling block.
• Confidence. Once you have the basics down, you’ll be sure of your ability to wield language and stand behind your words.
• Communication. Armed with this knowledge, you’ll write and speak more effectively.
• Connections. Understanding the foundations of your own language will enable you to identify correlations in other languages.
• Conquest. Nothing will stand in your way. You’ll slice your way through every obstacle using only words. All your dreams will come true.*

So, let’s get down to grammatical tacks.

Which is Correct?

Is it all right to use “alright”? We’d say so, with a few qualifications:

• Both “alright” and “all right” are words.
• “All right” is considered more correct in that it is the preferred form, especially if you’re writing.
• If you are writing for business or a professor, stick with “all right.” If you aren’t, it’s all right to use “alright.”

Some people believe these words have slightly different meanings. For example:

Q: Were the directions all right?

 A: Yes, all of them were correct. Not a single one was wrong.

Q: Were the directions alright?

 A: They weren’t specific enough to my taste, but it’s okay.

We’d argue that the implied meaning of “all right” in the first example includes the meaning of “alright” in the second example, so the split use isn’t necessary.

Then there’s the similar but jauntier version “all righty.” Besides the fact that this is only used as an adverb, while the other two can be used as adverbs or adjectives, there’s no real difference in meaning.

To sum up:

• Use “all right” when you’re impressing people.
• Use “alright” when you’re wearing sweatpants.
• Reserve “all righty” for when you’re being sarcastic or cute or you’re extremely excited.

Alright?

And other words that don’t (or sometimes do) need an “s”

Who knew a single letter could cause so much confusion? Here are five pairs of words that cause eyebrow furrowing for English speakers and writers. Learn when to keep the “s” and when to toss it with these brief explanations and helpful examples.

Beside vs. Besides

Both are valid and both are correct, in certain cases.

Use “beside”:

• As a preposition.* If you sit beside me at lunch, I might steal your pudding.

Use “besides”:

• As a preposition (with a different meaning).** There’s nothing to eat besides pudding.
• As an adverb. I don’t want pudding, and besides, it expired in 2005.
• As an adjective. Besides eating expired pudding, what other things can we do?

Supposably…

First things first. As soon as I typed “irregardless” into a Microsoft Word file, a red squiggle of death appeared. You know the type. That alone should give you pause, though the Editor/Spell Check tool is admittedly problematic.

Let’s break this conundrum into bite-size pieces:

Irregardless has a prefix (ir), a main root (regard),* and a suffix (less).

“Ir” is a variant of “il,” “im,” and “in,” all meaning “not.” Why so many options for the same thing? That’s simply based on the etymology of the root word and its spelling — “im” is used before words beginning with “b,” “m,” and “p,” for example, and “ir” is used before words beginning with “r.”**

“Regard” in this form is an adverb, which is a word that modifies or clarifies the meaning of a verb, adjective, or another adverb.

“Less” is a suffix meaning “without” or “not having.”

So the prefix and suffix mean the same thing. This is essentially a double negative, which is why I didn’t even bother to define “regard” above. Because if you know the meaning of “regardless,” you know the intended meaning of “irregardless,” despite its nonsensical construction. If you right-click on the red squiggle of death, it will prompt you with the replacement “regardless.” If you text “irregardless,” autocorrect will more than likely change it to “regardless.” In fact, if you search “irregardless” in Merriam Webster, the listed definition is — you guessed it — “regardless.”

So why is “irregardless” in the dictionary, if not as a testament to its veracity as a legitimate word? Because Merriam Webster is as much responsible for reporting information based on usage as it is for the judicious treatment of those words. People persist in using “irregardless,” and Merriam Webster has magnanimously declared the word “nonstandard.”

Our take is a little less generous.

The Grocer’s Apostrophe

If the use of apostrophes has you scratching your head, you’ve come to the right place.

First, let’s start this subtraction problem with some simple addition. There are three situations when you do need an apostrophe:

1. Omission. To indicate that one or more letters are missing. For example: “Doesn’t” instead of “does not,” “hasn’t” instead of “has not.”
2. Possession. To indicate that something belongs to somebody (loosely, since it could be a somebody that belongs to something). For example: ProofreadNOW.com’s amazing proofreaders, the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt’s crew, the dog’s enormous nose.
3. Plurality. To indicate the plural of letters or figures. For example: Mind your p’s and q’s. Plot those x’s and y’s. On the contrary: There were no ifs or buts. Beware the dos and don’ts. In letter puzzles, s’s are used more than other consonants and e’s are featured more than other vowels. As noted elsewhere on our site, some people do not consider the third use as correct.*)

People often think Christmas and grammar have nothing to do with each other. But the joy of the season and the giddiness of grammar are inextricably intertwined. To prove this, and to get everyone in the mood for a swashbuckling holiday, I’ve gathered a list of the greatest Christmas grammar hits, some so obscure they’ve never been heard of before (and likely will never be heard of again). In fact, many of the more modern Christmas carols are plagiarized renditions of these oft-forgotten classics.*

These crowd pleasers are remnants of a bygone era of Christmas-loving grammarians and skilled musicians, with something to tickle everyone’s musical fancy.

1. If you’re over 10 years old, give up.
2. If you’re under 10 years old, cry.
3. Regardless of your age, write “Aym sadd,” then cry because you don’t know how to spell “I’m” or “sad” correctly.
4. Realize there are only four tips instead of five and cry some more.

Dry your tears, dear reader.

If you are a self-proclaimed “terrible speller,” here are some easy tips to reduce the cringe. We triple counted them, so we know there are definitely five.

But first, let’s attack the myth that English is a horrible hodgepodge of spelling and pronunciation inconsistencies. If you believe this, it is almost certain that you were taught English spelling and pronunciation in a hodgepodge manner. That means there’s a lot of hope for you.

These tips will not only help you spell better, but they’ll also provide more sense and logic to the phonetic dependability of the English language.*

Grammar mistakes are evidence we’re human. And so is the rising fury or amusement when we observe them. For example, I love a good malapropism¹ any day of the week. On the other hand, misspellings, unless they’re of the elementary-age variety,² make me groan, especially in customer-facing text (like web copy, advertisements, and mass emails).

In the spirit of the season, we’re laying aside our outrage and celebrating mistakes. Enjoy the following list of grammar faux pas we love to hate, as reported by our fabulous team of proofreaders, a few relatives, and a random man I struck up a conversation with in a frustratingly long queue.

Good web copy is written with the aim of calling visitors to action (buying, engaging, inquiring, etc.) and keeping them on-site as long as possible (to read, be informed, drive better search ranking, etc.). It creates brand awareness, solidifies credibility, and provides communication venues. The best web copy stimulates an avalanche of good press, saves work hours, increases leads, creates more traffic, and builds an active, core audience with loyal buy-in.