Five Common Grammar Misconceptions

Today's topic: Five Common Grammar Misconceptions

Today I'm going to take a break from heavy-duty topics and do something light and fluffy.  Here is a list of some common grammar and style myths and misconceptions.  Thanks to Mignon Fogerty, the Internet's "Grammar Girl," for pointing out #s 2 and 5 (all the words in this post are my own, and all the examples except "Where are you at" in #5--I just got the idea for misconceptions 2 and 5 from Ms. Fogerty).

*Misconception #1:  "You and I"/"Johnny and I" is always correct--never say "You and me"/"Johnny and me." 

Nope!  Whether to use "I" or "me" depends entirely on the sentence.  Here's a quick, easy trick to ensure that you will never use the wrong personal pronoun again:  Eliminate the other person from the sentence.  Which pronoun is correct now, I or me?  Example:

There's a great portrait of my husband and I/me on the living room wall. 

Let's employ our sneaky new trick, and take the husband out of the sentence (sorry, dear!):  

There's a great portrait of ___ on the living room wall.  

Would it make sense to say "There's a great portrait of I on the living room wall"?  Of course not!  So the correct pronoun in this sentence is "me."  "There's a great portrait of my husband and me on the living room wall."

*Misconception #2:  Run-on sentences are sentences that are too long (or a sentence has to be long in order to be a run-on sentence). 
Nope!  This is one reason (I suspect) why many grammarians now refer to these as "fused" sentences; the term "run-on" creates the erroneous impression that a run-on sentence must "run on."  In truth, run-on sentences can be quite short. 

A run-on, or fused, sentence is one in which two or more independent clauses are linked without appropriate punctuation.  An independent clause (IC), by the way, is a phrase which includes a subject and a verb and could stand alone as a complete sentence.  Since ICs (complete sentences) can be quite short, run-on sentences can be short as well.  Examples:

I love cats, they are so cute. 
It was my turn to cook I made spaghetti. 

Note: The first of these is an example of a comma splice.  A comma splice is a run-on sentence in which the two ICs are linked with a comma.  Commas are weak punctuation; they are not strong enough to separate ICs.  You can fix run-on sentences in a number of different ways.  You can: 1.) Separate the ICs with a semicolon (see my earlier Writing Tip of the Week on semicolons for specifics), 2.) separate the ICs with a period (thereby making them into two sentences), or 3.) separate the ICs with a comma + a conjunction (and, but, or) or other appropriate word.  Which you choose depends on the sentence, of course.  In the first example above I would probably choose a semicolon, because the two ICs are closely related.  In the second example you could add a comma after the word "cook," then the word "and" or "so."  You could also separate the two ICs with a semicolon or period.  It's a style choice.

*Misconception #3: It's always correct to capitalize job titles.Nope!  In fact, there are only a handful of situations in which you should capitalize job titles. 

Rule #1: Capitalize job titles when they directly precede a person's name.  Examples:  We invited Dean Jones to speak at the dinner.  I emailed President Simpson yesterday.

Rule #2: Capitalize job titles immediately following the name when the word "the" does not appear in front of the job title.  Examples:  Ms. Janney, Director of Marketing, will send out the memo.  Mr. Zhu, Chief Resident in the emergency department, is a little intimidating.

Rule #3: When the word "the" appears in front of a job title, do not capitalize.  Examples:  Mr. Zhu, the chief resident in the emergency department, is a little intimidating.  Ms. Janney, the director of marketing, will send out the memo.

Rule #4: Capitalize titles in signature lines.  Examples:  Whitney Kurtz-Ogilvie, Academic Writing Specialist.  Linda Devine, Editor.

Rule #5: Do not capitalize titles when used descriptively.  Examples: Ms. Janney, who is the director of marketing at our firm, will send out the memo.  Whitney Kurtz-Ogilvie, who is the academic writing specialist for the College of Nursing, maintains a "Writing Resources" website for graduate nursing students and staff nurses.

The "Ego" Rule: This rule sometimes requires us to ignore the other rules.  If your supervisor or employer wants you to capitalize his or her job title, go ahead and do it.  Many people do not know the rules governing job title capitalization, and you will frequently see titles incorrectly capitalized.

*Misconception #4: It is incorrect to split infinitives.Nope!  This is an archaic rule, and unfortunately writers sometimes sacrifice clarity, smoothness, and readability in order to comply. 

An infinitive is the "to ______" form of the verb (examples: to read, to eat, to sleep, to write).  To split an infinitive is to insert a word (often an adverb) between the word "to" and the verb, as in the famous line from Star Trek: "to boldly go where no man has gone before." 

Many grammar purists will tell you that it is incorrect to split an infinitive, but this isn't necessarily true.  The rule of thumb here (as in pretty much any other grammar issue) should be to make sure that your sentence is clear and readable.  Grammar rules should serve your writing; your writing shouldn't serve them.  If the sentence is smoother and/or clearer with a split infinitive, then split away.  In my opinion, "to boldly go where no man has gone before" sounds a lot better than "to go boldly..."  :)

*Misconception #5: You should never end a sentence with a preposition.

Nope!  It's true that it is sometimes wrong to end a sentence with a preposition, but this is not a hard and fast rule. Quick review: Prepositions are words that indicate when or where something occurs.  Examples: of, in, above, under, off, on, about, before, after, etc. 
Here is the kicker: If the sentence would mean the same thing without the preposition, then leave it out.  However, if the sentence needs the preposition to communicate the intended meaning, then it's fine to end the sentence with a preposition.  Examples:

WRONG: Where are you at?  This is wrong because "Where are you" means the same thing.

FINE: I'm going to throw these leftovers out.
 
FINE: I know I should get up early today, but I'm exhausted so I think I'll sleep in.
 
FINE: Do you have anything to snack on?  (Granted, you could rearrange this sentence to say "Do you have anything on which to snack?"  This would technically be fine, but very few people speak this way in real life.  It might be appropriate to use this type of language in a formal academic paper, however.  As I mentioned above, always try to err on the side of clarity, conciseness, and smoothness/readability.)

There are many more grammar myths and misconceptions.  Maybe I'll tackle some more in a future post.  In the meantime, I hope today's tips were helpful.  Happy scribbling!

Whitney Kurtz-Ogilvie, MFAW