What the heck is an action verb?
Here’s an interesting post on transitive verbs by the website Grammar Bytes. The author, Prof. Robin L Simmons, says that: A transitive verb has two characteristics. First, it is an action verb,...
View ArticleDirect object or prepositional object?
This sentence is in the exercises for one of my grammar classes: My wife always has a good cry over a wedding. For the assignment, students need to analyze the syntactic elements of the sentence...
View ArticlePronoun nonsense on Grammar Bytes
Hi! Greetings from Crazy Grammar Town! We’re still here… We’re still… here. This time we’re going to (again) look at a website called Grammar Bytes (the website is chompchomp.com). This “grammar” site...
View ArticleWord Fails Me #9: Neither do me
Ok, we don’t need to get into subject and object prepositions, but it’s bananas that Word is suggesting I write “Neither do me” over “Neither do I”. Come on, Word! Not even the laissez-fairest of...
View ArticleWhy is there no article before “king” in the clause “Oh I just can’t wait to...
This post is inspired by a question my student asked me. The quote in the title comes from a song in the movie The Lion King (sing along here). We might expect a definite article to be used in front of...
View ArticleBook Review: The Great Typo-Hunt by Jeff Deck and Benjamin D. Herson
Short review: tl;dr Jeff Deck, an Ivy-league-educated middle-class white man, goes around the country to correct typos in everything from store signs to t-shirts to whatever else he comes across. He...
View ArticleWhat’s up with “try to” and “try and”?
The other day my wife asked me about the constructions try to and try and. She said it came up at work and no one seemed to know why either one was used and which one was right. I had a vague...
View ArticleWhat is the grammar of thankyouverymuch?
tl;dr – From a functional perspective, thankyouverymuch is an evaluative adjunct (a type of stance adjunct) according to Downing & Locke because it is “attitudinal, reflecting the subjective or...
View ArticleBook review: 25 Rules of Grammar by Joseph Piercy
I sort of remember enjoying this book, but now that I write my review, it seems that I didn’t like it so much. I guess it’s good for the most part, but it looks like there are many problematic claims....
View ArticleThe grammar of “With great power must also come great responsibility”
What is the subject of this sentence: With great power must also come great responsibility! It’s either with great power or great responsibility. Think about it again. Are you sure of your choice? Did...
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