“They’re” Driving Me Crazy Misusing “Their” and “There”

I have a friend whose website I’ve written many times. The format usually goes like this: He writes something and then asks me to clean it up and make it grammatically correct. He calls it “Lee-a-tizing” it.

Recently, he sent me a sentence: “I went by there house. Their home now.”

I couldn’t believe it. A guy in his 50s misusing their and there. It’s a mistake people make … when they’re children!

I’m hoping it’s because he was tired from a long day. Admittedly, he’s having personal family problems, too, so maybe that’s contributing.

But just in case, here it is again – years after we should have learned this the first time.

Their is a plural possessive pronoun. There is an adverb indicating direction or used with the force of a pronoun when the real subject follows the verb: There is no food on the table.

And for good measure, they’re is a contraction for “they are.”

So there.

Until next time! Use the right words!

leebarnathan.com 

Time For Another Subtle Magazine Error

I’m always amazed at the subtle errors that get by professional editors. I’m not immune, either. Once, I wrote about a fundraiser to fight illiteracy — only I left out the first two letters. And woe to the editor who doesn’t realize the l in public is missing.

So, I’m reading Time magazine’s article on the proliferation (how’s that for a big word?) of TV shows featuring serial killers, blood and guts, and murder. Here is the sentence: “Violence is your grandma’s entertainment and your nephew’s.” 

I know the writer means that violence is popular across older and younger demographics, and I’m sure the editor knew that, too. But the sentence doesn’t really state what violence means to your nephew.

Had the sentence been written this way: “Violence is your grandma’s and your nephew’s entertainment,” there wouldn’t be any problem. Even if the sentence read, “Violence is your grandma’s entertainment — and your nephew’s,” that would have been correct, too, because the dash makes it clear. Instead, we’re left with Violence is your nephew’s, which is a sentence fragment.

Some might say I’m nitpicking. They’d be right. It’s what a word snob does.

Until next time! Use the right words!

leebarnathan.com

 

She Alleges that He Allegedly Alleged the Allegation

Since in our society a suspect is presumed innocent until proven guilty, journalists in this country know that when reporting an arrest, the suspect always is alleged to have committed the act for which the suspect was arrested. Sometimes, in the name of protection against libel, journalists tend to overuse the word, which is why this post has the name it has.

But another thing to watch out for is the word’s placement in a sentence. Put it in the wrong place and you’ve written a factually incorrect sentence.

Example: This week’s issue of Sports Illustrated. In reporting that a sports blogger and aspiring sportscaster died in the Aurora, Colo., shooting, the magazine read, “Twelve people were killed and another 58 injured when a lone gunman — James Holmes, 24, who was arrested — allegedly opened fire in a crowded theater …” (italics added).

OK, a form of the word alleged appears in the sentence. But think about it: A lone gunman did open fire in a crowded theater. That’s not an allegation. That’s truth. What is alleged is that James Holmes did it. So, the sentence should read, “… when a lone gunman — allegedly James Holmes, 24, …”

Perhaps it’s too fine a line, but being the word snob I am, I can’t let sleeping alleges lie.

Until next time! Use the right words (in the right place)!

leebarnathan.com