Today's topic: The Oxford (or "serial") comma
Quick quiz. Which is correct?
A. I bought apples, oranges and bananas.
OR
B. I bought apples, oranges, and bananas.
Note that in both examples, we have a list of three items. The
difference is whether the author used the Oxford (a.k.a. "serial,"
a.k.a. "Harvard") comma, a comma that in a series of three or more items
comes between the second-to-last item and the "and."
In the example above, the Oxford comma is highlighted in yellow. So
let's have the results of our quiz...
If you said A, you're right.
If you said, B, you're right.
Everybody wins, huh? Not so much. The irritating fact is that there is
no true consensus on whether to use the Oxford comma. Some style
manuals say to always use it, some say to never use it, and some say to
use it only in certain circumstances. Ugh, ambiguity.
Both the Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab) and the 6th edition APA
handbook say to use the Oxford comma. However, the AP manual (used by
journalists) says not to use it. Also, amusingly, Oxford University no
longer recommends using the comma that bears its
name.
So how should we determine whether to use the Oxford comma? Since there
isn't a consensus, I think the rule of thumb should be to use it when
it is
necessary to avoid confusion. For example, take this sentence:
I'd like to thank my parents, former Secretary of State Madeline Albright and Colin Powell.
The way that's punctuated, it looks like the author's parents are
Madeline Albright and Colin Powell. On the other hand, if you use the
Oxford comma...
I'd like to thank my parents, former Secretary of State Madeline Albright, and Colin Powell.
In that example, it's clear that the author is thanking four people.
She's thanking her parents, and she's also thanking Madeline Albright
and Colin Powell.
So. In sentences where omitting the Oxford comma might cause confusion,
I say put it in. However, you should definitely make sure to check
the author guidelines of the journals to which you submit, as well as
any style manual required by a professor or journal
editor.
For information on which style guides and organizations say to use the
Oxford comma and which say to omit it, check out this entertaining
chart:
http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/oxford-comma-pictures?page=all
I hope you found this week's post helpful. Happy scribbling!
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Subject Verb (Dis)Agreement
Today's topic: Subject-verb (dis)agreement
Problems with subject-verb agreement definitely make the "grammar greatest hits" list. As my granddad used to say, "if I had a nickel" for every subject-verb clash I see, I'd be able to retire pretty soon. If you don't do anything else to improve your writing this week, take the time to read this post. It may save you from an editor's wrath some day.
What does "subject-verb agreement" mean? As you know, a complete sentence must have a subject (which tells us who or what is performing the action) and a verb (which tells us what that action is). If the subject is plural, the verb must also be plural. If the subject is singular, the verb must also be singular. Here are some simple examples to show proper S-V agreement:
The cat loves her new bowl. "Cat" is singular, and "loves" is singular.
S V
The cats love their new bowl. "Cats" is plural, and "love" is plural.
S V
Each patient in the ICU has a private room.
S V
Everyone in our culture has his or her own beliefs about this difficult issue.
S V
Most people wouldn't make mistakes with those simple, straightforward sentences, because it is very clear where the subjects and verbs are. Some people might raise an eyebrow at the last example, because many people erroneously believe that the words "everybody" and "everyone" are plural (in fact they are singular, referring to every individual body and every individual one). But most of us would have gotten those four right. However, it isn't always this easy. The more words there are between a subject and its verb, the harder it can be to ensure subject-verb agreement.
Let's get more complicated. Which of the following is correct?
A. Evaluation of the new innovation, with a special focus on patient safety and quality improvement, is essential.
B. Evaluation of the new innovation, with a special focus on patient safety and quality improvement, are essential.
If you guessed A, pat yourself on the back (or have a cupcake). You're correct!
This is a tough one, because there are so many words between the subject ("evaluation") and the verb phrase that connects to it ("is essential").
It could also be confusing because at first glance you might think this sentence has more than one subject--that more than one thing is being identified as essential in this sentence. You might think the author is saying that both evaluation of the new innovation AND a special focus on patient safety and quality improvement are essential. But look closer, and you'll see that the focus on patient safety and quality improvement is presented as PART OF evaluation of the new innovation. The word "with" is what clues us in to that. You wouldn't say "Pizza with pepperoni and green peppers are my favorite dish," right? You'd say "Pizza with pepperoni and green peppers is my favorite dish." Same situation.
Let's do another one. Which of these is correct?
A. A need for improvements in patient education and follow-up care were the main topics of discussion at last week's meeting.
B. A need for improvements in patient education and follow-up care was the main topic of discussion at last week's meeting.
If you guessed B, you are correct! This example is tricky in a similar way to the previous example. At first glance, it could look as though the author is simply listing two topics that have come up at recent meetings--improving patient education, and follow-up care. However, look closer and you will see that the subject of the sentence is actually the NEED for these two things, and it is the NEED for both improved patient education and better follow-up care that was discussed at these meetings.
Note that based on the order of the two list items we can tell that they are closely connected--they talked about a need to improve both patient education and follow-up care. If we flipped the order of the two list items, it might be a different story. This would actually be okay, but the meaning would be different: The need for follow-up care and improvements in patient education were the main topics of discussion at last week's meeting. This wording presents two separate topics, so the subject and verb are both plural However, the original wording breaks down like this:
The need for improvements in patient education and follow-up care has been
S-singular V-singular
a topic of discussion at several recent meetings.
Remember that the longer and more complex a sentence, the more likely it is that you will accidentally end up with a mismatched subject and verb pair. This is yet another excellent reason to read your work aloud when you proofread, and to read slowly and carefully. Make sure you are clear about which word or phrase is the subject of your sentence, and then make sure it matches the verb.
I hope this post has helped clarify the tricky topic of subject-verb agreement. Happy scribbling!
Problems with subject-verb agreement definitely make the "grammar greatest hits" list. As my granddad used to say, "if I had a nickel" for every subject-verb clash I see, I'd be able to retire pretty soon. If you don't do anything else to improve your writing this week, take the time to read this post. It may save you from an editor's wrath some day.
What does "subject-verb agreement" mean? As you know, a complete sentence must have a subject (which tells us who or what is performing the action) and a verb (which tells us what that action is). If the subject is plural, the verb must also be plural. If the subject is singular, the verb must also be singular. Here are some simple examples to show proper S-V agreement:
The cat loves her new bowl. "Cat" is singular, and "loves" is singular.
S V
The cats love their new bowl. "Cats" is plural, and "love" is plural.
S V
Each patient in the ICU has a private room.
S V
Everyone in our culture has his or her own beliefs about this difficult issue.
S V
Most people wouldn't make mistakes with those simple, straightforward sentences, because it is very clear where the subjects and verbs are. Some people might raise an eyebrow at the last example, because many people erroneously believe that the words "everybody" and "everyone" are plural (in fact they are singular, referring to every individual body and every individual one). But most of us would have gotten those four right. However, it isn't always this easy. The more words there are between a subject and its verb, the harder it can be to ensure subject-verb agreement.
Let's get more complicated. Which of the following is correct?
A. Evaluation of the new innovation, with a special focus on patient safety and quality improvement, is essential.
B. Evaluation of the new innovation, with a special focus on patient safety and quality improvement, are essential.
If you guessed A, pat yourself on the back (or have a cupcake). You're correct!
This is a tough one, because there are so many words between the subject ("evaluation") and the verb phrase that connects to it ("is essential").
It could also be confusing because at first glance you might think this sentence has more than one subject--that more than one thing is being identified as essential in this sentence. You might think the author is saying that both evaluation of the new innovation AND a special focus on patient safety and quality improvement are essential. But look closer, and you'll see that the focus on patient safety and quality improvement is presented as PART OF evaluation of the new innovation. The word "with" is what clues us in to that. You wouldn't say "Pizza with pepperoni and green peppers are my favorite dish," right? You'd say "Pizza with pepperoni and green peppers is my favorite dish." Same situation.
Let's do another one. Which of these is correct?
A. A need for improvements in patient education and follow-up care were the main topics of discussion at last week's meeting.
B. A need for improvements in patient education and follow-up care was the main topic of discussion at last week's meeting.
If you guessed B, you are correct! This example is tricky in a similar way to the previous example. At first glance, it could look as though the author is simply listing two topics that have come up at recent meetings--improving patient education, and follow-up care. However, look closer and you will see that the subject of the sentence is actually the NEED for these two things, and it is the NEED for both improved patient education and better follow-up care that was discussed at these meetings.
Note that based on the order of the two list items we can tell that they are closely connected--they talked about a need to improve both patient education and follow-up care. If we flipped the order of the two list items, it might be a different story. This would actually be okay, but the meaning would be different: The need for follow-up care and improvements in patient education were the main topics of discussion at last week's meeting. This wording presents two separate topics, so the subject and verb are both plural However, the original wording breaks down like this:
The need for improvements in patient education and follow-up care has been
S-singular V-singular
a topic of discussion at several recent meetings.
Remember that the longer and more complex a sentence, the more likely it is that you will accidentally end up with a mismatched subject and verb pair. This is yet another excellent reason to read your work aloud when you proofread, and to read slowly and carefully. Make sure you are clear about which word or phrase is the subject of your sentence, and then make sure it matches the verb.
I hope this post has helped clarify the tricky topic of subject-verb agreement. Happy scribbling!
Who vs. Whom
Believe it or not, this week's post was inspired by an owl. Or rather, a wonderfully quirky owl-shaped throw pillow my husband gave me. We were talking about what to call him (he's got a lot of personality--he needed a name), and my husband suggested "Whom." And lo, the topic for this week's tip was born.
So. Who vs. whom. Most of us struggle with this one from time to time. Fortunately, it's not terribly difficult once you learn the rules, and there is an easy trick to help you remember those.
What are "who" and "whom?" They are pronouns, just like him/her/his/hers/they/their/theirs/it/etc. To decide whether to use "who" or "whom," you have to determine whether your pronoun will be the subject or the object of the sentence. Bear with me for a second and all will become clear.
The subject of a sentence is the ACTOR--in other words, who or what is doing something. The object of a sentence is the RECIPIENT OF THAT ACTION--who or what is having something done to them. Let's look at some examples:
I fired Janet. In this sentence, "I" is the subject and "Janet" is the object (poor Janet).
I married Paul eleven years ago today. In this sentence, "I" is the subject and "Paul" is the object (lucky Paul).
I treated that patient last week. In this sentence, "I" is the subject and "that patient" is the object.
Internet "Grammar Girl" Mignon Fogerty has a neat trick for remembering which is the subject and which is the object in a sentence. She suggests thinking about the sentence "I love you," and remembering that "you" are the OBJECT of my affection (and the OBJECT of that sentence).
So...when do I use "who" and when do I use "whom?" Use "who" when you are referring to the subject of a sentence, and use "whom" when you are referring to the object. That's:
WHO = SUBJECT: The one who's doing something
WHOM = OBJECT: The one who's having something done to him/her
Examples:
Whom: Referring to the object of the sentence:
Whom did you fire? I fired Janet.
Whom did you marry? I married Paul.
Whom did you treat last week? I treated that patient.
With whom are you going snorkeling? I'm going snorkeling with Sarah.
In these examples, we're asking about the OBJECT, the recipient of action, the person having something done to him or her (Janet, Paul, that guy).
Who: Referring to the subject of the sentence:
Who fired Janet? I did.
Who married Paul? I did.
Who treated that guy last week? I did.
Who's going snorkeling with Sarah? I am.
In these examples, we're asking about the SUBJECT, the person who did something (fired Janet, married Paul, treated that guy, went snorkeling with Sarah).
A trick to help you remember: Since high school, I've used this to help me remember when to use "whom." As you probably noticed, "whom" ends in "m." So does the pronoun "him." If you can't decide whether to use "who" or "whom," just think--if I asked myself the question, would the answer be "he," or "him?" Example:
If you ask, "who/m did I marry?" you'd answer "I married him." You wouldn't say "I married he." So the correct pronoun here is "whom:" Whom did I marry? Him=whom.
If you ask, "with who/m am I going to the party?" you'd answer "I'm going to the party with him." You wouldn't say, "I'm going to the party with he." In this case, the correct pronoun is "whom." Him=whom.
If you ask "who/m fired Janet?" you'd answer "He fired Janet." You wouldn't say "Him fired Janet" (unless you suddenly started talking like Tarzan). So the correct pronoun here is "who:" Who fired Janet? He=who.
If you ask "who/m invited Joe to the party?" you'd answer "He invited Joe to the party." You wouldn't say "Him invited Joe to the party." In this case, the correct pronoun is "who." He=who.
Just remember the WHOM/HIM connection, and you should be fine.
Also: If you want a good laugh, check out this handy comic on how to use "whom," by hilarious genius "The Oatmeal" (warning--it's a little silly and irreverent): http://theoatmeal.com/comics/who_vs_whom
I hope you found this week's post helpful.
So. Who vs. whom. Most of us struggle with this one from time to time. Fortunately, it's not terribly difficult once you learn the rules, and there is an easy trick to help you remember those.
What are "who" and "whom?" They are pronouns, just like him/her/his/hers/they/their/theirs/it/etc. To decide whether to use "who" or "whom," you have to determine whether your pronoun will be the subject or the object of the sentence. Bear with me for a second and all will become clear.
The subject of a sentence is the ACTOR--in other words, who or what is doing something. The object of a sentence is the RECIPIENT OF THAT ACTION--who or what is having something done to them. Let's look at some examples:
I fired Janet. In this sentence, "I" is the subject and "Janet" is the object (poor Janet).
I married Paul eleven years ago today. In this sentence, "I" is the subject and "Paul" is the object (lucky Paul).
I treated that patient last week. In this sentence, "I" is the subject and "that patient" is the object.
Internet "Grammar Girl" Mignon Fogerty has a neat trick for remembering which is the subject and which is the object in a sentence. She suggests thinking about the sentence "I love you," and remembering that "you" are the OBJECT of my affection (and the OBJECT of that sentence).
So...when do I use "who" and when do I use "whom?" Use "who" when you are referring to the subject of a sentence, and use "whom" when you are referring to the object. That's:
WHO = SUBJECT: The one who's doing something
WHOM = OBJECT: The one who's having something done to him/her
Examples:
Whom: Referring to the object of the sentence:
Whom did you fire? I fired Janet.
Whom did you marry? I married Paul.
Whom did you treat last week? I treated that patient.
With whom are you going snorkeling? I'm going snorkeling with Sarah.
In these examples, we're asking about the OBJECT, the recipient of action, the person having something done to him or her (Janet, Paul, that guy).
Who: Referring to the subject of the sentence:
Who fired Janet? I did.
Who married Paul? I did.
Who treated that guy last week? I did.
Who's going snorkeling with Sarah? I am.
In these examples, we're asking about the SUBJECT, the person who did something (fired Janet, married Paul, treated that guy, went snorkeling with Sarah).
A trick to help you remember: Since high school, I've used this to help me remember when to use "whom." As you probably noticed, "whom" ends in "m." So does the pronoun "him." If you can't decide whether to use "who" or "whom," just think--if I asked myself the question, would the answer be "he," or "him?" Example:
If you ask, "who/m did I marry?" you'd answer "I married him." You wouldn't say "I married he." So the correct pronoun here is "whom:" Whom did I marry? Him=whom.
If you ask, "with who/m am I going to the party?" you'd answer "I'm going to the party with him." You wouldn't say, "I'm going to the party with he." In this case, the correct pronoun is "whom." Him=whom.
If you ask "who/m fired Janet?" you'd answer "He fired Janet." You wouldn't say "Him fired Janet" (unless you suddenly started talking like Tarzan). So the correct pronoun here is "who:" Who fired Janet? He=who.
If you ask "who/m invited Joe to the party?" you'd answer "He invited Joe to the party." You wouldn't say "Him invited Joe to the party." In this case, the correct pronoun is "who." He=who.
Just remember the WHOM/HIM connection, and you should be fine.
Also: If you want a good laugh, check out this handy comic on how to use "whom," by hilarious genius "The Oatmeal" (warning--it's a little silly and irreverent): http://theoatmeal.com/comics/who_vs_whom
I hope you found this week's post helpful.
Monday, October 28, 2013
"His or her" or "Their?" Which is correct?
"Generic" or "Gender-Neutral" Pronouns: A Huge Mess
Have you ever wondered which of these is correct?
A. Each student must bring his or her own laptop to the seminar.
B. Each student must bring their own laptop to the seminar.
Technically, A is correct and B is incorrect. This is because "each student" is singular--it refers to each individual student--while "their" is a plural pronoun. A noun must match its pronoun.
However, although "their" is technically grammatically incorrect in that sentence, not every editor would flag it. Here's why: In the days before politically correct speech became the norm, everyone just used "he/his/him" as "gender neutral" pronouns. When we started paying more attention to using unbiased language, we realized that "he" isn't actually neutral at all--it's masculine. This poses a problem, though. Do we use "he or she" instead? Some people say yes, but others argue that plugging in "he or she" every time is cumbersome.
So--many people use "they/their" to deal with this issue. The reason this is technically ungrammatical is that "they" is a plural pronoun. In a sentence like the example above, where you've established a singular subject ("an individual"), you technically need a singular pronoun.
Let's look at another example:
*According to the Health Belief Model (Rosenstock, Strecher, & Becker, 1988; Rosenstock, 2004), an individual's behavior is the result of their health beliefs or the subjective value that he or she places on a given outcome (e.g., the desire to avoid illness or to get well) and their belief or expectation that a particular action will lead to that outcome.
His/her and he/she:
*According to the Health Belief Model (Rosenstock, Strecher, & Becker, 1988; Rosenstock, 2004), an individual’s behavior is the result of his or her health beliefs or the subjective value that he or she places on a given outcome (e.g., the desire to avoid illness or to get well) and the belief or expectation that a particular action will lead to that outcome.
S/he:
*According to the Health Belief Model (Rosenstock, Strecher, & Becker, 1988; Rosenstock, 2004), an individual’s behavior is the result of his or her health beliefs or the subjective value that s/he places on a given outcome (e.g., the desire to avoid illness or to get well) and the belief or expectation that a particular action will lead to that outcome.
Some experts (myself included) recommend wording sentences to avoid the whole problem, like this:
*According to the Health Belief Model (Rosenstock, Strecher, & Becker, 1988; Rosenstock, 2004), an individual’s behavior is the result of the health beliefs or the subjective value that individual places on a given outcome (e.g., the desire to avoid illness or to get well), and the belief or expectation that a particular action will lead to that outcome.
Or like this (change the singular noun to a plural noun):
*According to the Health Belief Model (Rosenstock, Strecher, & Becker, 1988; Rosenstock, 2004), individuals behave according to their health beliefs or the subjective value they place on a given outcome (e.g., the desire to avoid illness or to get well), and the belief or expectation that a particular action will lead to that outcome.
that example, I changed "an individual" (singular) to "individuals" (plural). This made it appropriate to use the plural pronouns "they" and "their," thus eliminating the problem. This won't always be a good option; it depends on the sentence.
Earlier I said that not every editor would have flagged this. This is because it's been a lot of years since the advent of politically correct speech, and people are getting tired of having to wrestle with their pronouns. Using "they/their" instead of "he or she" is an easy solution that doesn't usually cause reader confusion (most of the time, readers will realize that you are simply trying to avoid cumbersome wording). Many experts believe that eventually using "they/their" as gender neutral pronouns will become the new rule, but at the moment it's still technically grammatically incorrect. For some people, in fact, it's a pet peeve. Until the rule changes, then, the best thing to do is word the sentence to avoid the whole sticky mess.
For more on this, check out this great post by "Grammar Girl" Mignon Fogerty: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/generic-singular-pronouns?page=all
I hope you've found this week's post helpful. Happy scribbling!
Have you ever wondered which of these is correct?
A. Each student must bring his or her own laptop to the seminar.
B. Each student must bring their own laptop to the seminar.
Technically, A is correct and B is incorrect. This is because "each student" is singular--it refers to each individual student--while "their" is a plural pronoun. A noun must match its pronoun.
However, although "their" is technically grammatically incorrect in that sentence, not every editor would flag it. Here's why: In the days before politically correct speech became the norm, everyone just used "he/his/him" as "gender neutral" pronouns. When we started paying more attention to using unbiased language, we realized that "he" isn't actually neutral at all--it's masculine. This poses a problem, though. Do we use "he or she" instead? Some people say yes, but others argue that plugging in "he or she" every time is cumbersome.
So--many people use "they/their" to deal with this issue. The reason this is technically ungrammatical is that "they" is a plural pronoun. In a sentence like the example above, where you've established a singular subject ("an individual"), you technically need a singular pronoun.
Let's look at another example:
*According to the Health Belief Model (Rosenstock, Strecher, & Becker, 1988; Rosenstock, 2004), an individual's behavior is the result of their health beliefs or the subjective value that he or she places on a given outcome (e.g., the desire to avoid illness or to get well) and their belief or expectation that a particular action will lead to that outcome.
As you can see, this sentence employs a mix of singular and plural
pronouns--the author uses both "he or she" and "their." You could fix
this sentence in a number of ways (I have highlighted my changes):
His/her and he/she:
*According to the Health Belief Model (Rosenstock, Strecher, & Becker, 1988; Rosenstock, 2004), an individual’s behavior is the result of his or her health beliefs or the subjective value that he or she places on a given outcome (e.g., the desire to avoid illness or to get well) and the belief or expectation that a particular action will lead to that outcome.
Notice that I changed "their" to "the" in the latter part of the
sentence to avoid using "his or her" again. You could also do this (to
further avoid the "his or her...he or she" repetition):
S/he:
*According to the Health Belief Model (Rosenstock, Strecher, & Becker, 1988; Rosenstock, 2004), an individual’s behavior is the result of his or her health beliefs or the subjective value that s/he places on a given outcome (e.g., the desire to avoid illness or to get well) and the belief or expectation that a particular action will lead to that outcome.
In this example, I changed "he or she" to "s/he." Some writers like
this solution, while others claim that it looks too informal.
Some experts (myself included) recommend wording sentences to avoid the whole problem, like this:
*According to the Health Belief Model (Rosenstock, Strecher, & Becker, 1988; Rosenstock, 2004), an individual’s behavior is the result of the health beliefs or the subjective value that individual places on a given outcome (e.g., the desire to avoid illness or to get well), and the belief or expectation that a particular action will lead to that outcome.
Or like this (change the singular noun to a plural noun):
*According to the Health Belief Model (Rosenstock, Strecher, & Becker, 1988; Rosenstock, 2004), individuals behave according to their health beliefs or the subjective value they place on a given outcome (e.g., the desire to avoid illness or to get well), and the belief or expectation that a particular action will lead to that outcome.
that example, I changed "an individual" (singular) to "individuals" (plural). This made it appropriate to use the plural pronouns "they" and "their," thus eliminating the problem. This won't always be a good option; it depends on the sentence.
Earlier I said that not every editor would have flagged this. This is because it's been a lot of years since the advent of politically correct speech, and people are getting tired of having to wrestle with their pronouns. Using "they/their" instead of "he or she" is an easy solution that doesn't usually cause reader confusion (most of the time, readers will realize that you are simply trying to avoid cumbersome wording). Many experts believe that eventually using "they/their" as gender neutral pronouns will become the new rule, but at the moment it's still technically grammatically incorrect. For some people, in fact, it's a pet peeve. Until the rule changes, then, the best thing to do is word the sentence to avoid the whole sticky mess.
For more on this, check out this great post by "Grammar Girl" Mignon Fogerty: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/generic-singular-pronouns?page=all
I hope you've found this week's post helpful. Happy scribbling!
Friday, October 4, 2013
I.e. vs. E.g
Today's topic: I.e. or e.g.?
Deciding whether to use i.e. or e.g. tends to give people fits. Some writers just decide which abbreviation they think sounds better, and use that one for everything. There are rules for when to use each one, however, and the two are not interchangeable. So let's get this sorted out once and for all.
What i.e. and e.g. stand for:
I.e. stands for the Latin phrase "id est," which essentially means "that is." E.g. stands for the Latin phrase "exempli gratia," which means "for instance" or "for example." This alone should go some way toward helping you distinguish between them, but let's go a little further.
When to use which:
There are a few tricks that experts advise using to help you remember when to use which abbreviation. For example, internet "Grammar Girl" Mignon Fogerty says to remember that i.e., which starts with i, means "in other words," and that e.g., which starts with e, means "for example." E: for example. I: in other words. I find this trick to be the most helpful.
If you don't like that tip, try remembering it this way: "e.g." looks a bit like the word "egg," which rhymes with "example." E.g. = for example. "I.e." could stand for "in essence," which is quite similar to its actual meaning, "in other words."
Examples:
E.g.: "for example." Use e.g. to tell readers that you are about to give them an example of something.
"I love desserts, e.g. cheesecake and gelato."
Note that I love plenty of other desserts other than cheesecake and gelato; my use of "e.g." doesn't indicate that I'm going to give you a comprehensive list of ALL the desserts I like. It just indicates that I'm giving you a couple of examples to illustrate my point.
"He likes watching sports, e.g. baseball and basketball."
Similarly, the use of "e.g." in this sentence implies that the guy likes watching lots of different sports, not just baseball and basketball. Those are just given as two examples from a list that probably includes quite a few others as well.
I.e.: "in other words." Use i.e. to introduce a detailed, specific clarification. If I only loved two desserts--cheesecake and gelato--then I'd want to use i.e., as in:
"I love desserts, i.e. cheesecake and gelato."
In this example, because I used "i.e.," you can deduce that cheesecake and gelato are the only two desserts I love.
"He likes watching sports, i.e. baseball and basketball."
In this example, the use of "i.e." tells us that this guy only likes watching two sports, baseball and basketball.
Still confused?
There's no reason why you absolutely HAVE to use the abbreviations, so if you're still a little fuzzy on which is which, just spell out what you mean, either "for example" or "in other words."
To read Mignon Fogerty's excellent post on the particulars of e.g. and i.e. (including how to punctuate them), click here: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/ie-versus-eg
I hope this has helped clarify when to use these two often-troublesome abbreviations. Happy scribbling!
Deciding whether to use i.e. or e.g. tends to give people fits. Some writers just decide which abbreviation they think sounds better, and use that one for everything. There are rules for when to use each one, however, and the two are not interchangeable. So let's get this sorted out once and for all.
What i.e. and e.g. stand for:
I.e. stands for the Latin phrase "id est," which essentially means "that is." E.g. stands for the Latin phrase "exempli gratia," which means "for instance" or "for example." This alone should go some way toward helping you distinguish between them, but let's go a little further.
When to use which:
There are a few tricks that experts advise using to help you remember when to use which abbreviation. For example, internet "Grammar Girl" Mignon Fogerty says to remember that i.e., which starts with i, means "in other words," and that e.g., which starts with e, means "for example." E: for example. I: in other words. I find this trick to be the most helpful.
If you don't like that tip, try remembering it this way: "e.g." looks a bit like the word "egg," which rhymes with "example." E.g. = for example. "I.e." could stand for "in essence," which is quite similar to its actual meaning, "in other words."
Examples:
E.g.: "for example." Use e.g. to tell readers that you are about to give them an example of something.
"I love desserts, e.g. cheesecake and gelato."
Note that I love plenty of other desserts other than cheesecake and gelato; my use of "e.g." doesn't indicate that I'm going to give you a comprehensive list of ALL the desserts I like. It just indicates that I'm giving you a couple of examples to illustrate my point.
"He likes watching sports, e.g. baseball and basketball."
Similarly, the use of "e.g." in this sentence implies that the guy likes watching lots of different sports, not just baseball and basketball. Those are just given as two examples from a list that probably includes quite a few others as well.
I.e.: "in other words." Use i.e. to introduce a detailed, specific clarification. If I only loved two desserts--cheesecake and gelato--then I'd want to use i.e., as in:
"I love desserts, i.e. cheesecake and gelato."
In this example, because I used "i.e.," you can deduce that cheesecake and gelato are the only two desserts I love.
"He likes watching sports, i.e. baseball and basketball."
In this example, the use of "i.e." tells us that this guy only likes watching two sports, baseball and basketball.
Still confused?
There's no reason why you absolutely HAVE to use the abbreviations, so if you're still a little fuzzy on which is which, just spell out what you mean, either "for example" or "in other words."
To read Mignon Fogerty's excellent post on the particulars of e.g. and i.e. (including how to punctuate them), click here: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/ie-versus-eg
I hope this has helped clarify when to use these two often-troublesome abbreviations. Happy scribbling!
That vs. Which
Today's topic: That vs. Which
"Should I use 'that' or 'which' in this sentence?" It's a frequently asked question, and a frequent blunder. Fortunately, the rules governing "that" and "which" are fairly simple. Let's clear up this troublesome topic, shall we?
THAT:
"That" should precede a restrictive clause. What's a restrictive clause? It's a phrase that is essential to the meaning of a sentence. If you eliminate a restrictive clause, the meaning changes. Let's look at some examples.
Cupcakes that have caramel in them are addictive to me.
If we remove the underlined clause, we totally change the meaning. I'm not addicted to regular cupcakes, just the ones with caramel in them.
Flowers that have a strong scent fascinate my dog.
Not all flowers have a strong scent, so if we remove the underlined clause we totally change the meaning of the sentence. My dog isn't fascinated by odorless flowers.
The enchiladas that were made with hot peppers made him sick.
By now, you get the idea. The regular enchiladas didn't make him sick, only the ones with hot peppers.
WHICH:
Use "which" before a nonrestrictive clause. What is a nonrestrictive clause? It's a phrase that can be omitted from a sentence without substantially changing its meaning. Nonrestrictive clauses are non-essential; they just provide extra details. Let's look at some examples.
The Ferrari Enzo, which costs a fortune, is my brother's dream car.
If we eliminated the underlined phrase, it wouldn't substantially change the meaning of the sentence (everyone knows Ferraris are expensive).
The couch, which has a wine stain on the left armrest, needs to be cleaned.
Again, the message is the same with or without the underlined portion. The couch needs cleaning. The underlined clause simply gives us more information about why.
Notice that the nonrestricted clauses in the two examples above are bookended by commas. In fact, nonrestricted clauses are almost always either surrounded by commas or preceded by them (as in "We saw a double rainbow, which was gorgeous").
If you have trouble remembering phrases like "restricted clause" and "nonrestricted clause," just remember this: If you could take out the phrase without substantially changing the meaning of the sentence, use "which." If you need the phrase to make your meaning clear, use "that."
One more tip: Never use "which" or "that" when referring to people; use "who" or "whom." Example: The participants, who were chosen through random sampling, ranged in age from 18 to 35.
Pretty simple, no? I hope you've found this week's post helpful. As always, happy scribbling!
"Should I use 'that' or 'which' in this sentence?" It's a frequently asked question, and a frequent blunder. Fortunately, the rules governing "that" and "which" are fairly simple. Let's clear up this troublesome topic, shall we?
THAT:
"That" should precede a restrictive clause. What's a restrictive clause? It's a phrase that is essential to the meaning of a sentence. If you eliminate a restrictive clause, the meaning changes. Let's look at some examples.
Cupcakes that have caramel in them are addictive to me.
If we remove the underlined clause, we totally change the meaning. I'm not addicted to regular cupcakes, just the ones with caramel in them.
Flowers that have a strong scent fascinate my dog.
Not all flowers have a strong scent, so if we remove the underlined clause we totally change the meaning of the sentence. My dog isn't fascinated by odorless flowers.
The enchiladas that were made with hot peppers made him sick.
By now, you get the idea. The regular enchiladas didn't make him sick, only the ones with hot peppers.
WHICH:
Use "which" before a nonrestrictive clause. What is a nonrestrictive clause? It's a phrase that can be omitted from a sentence without substantially changing its meaning. Nonrestrictive clauses are non-essential; they just provide extra details. Let's look at some examples.
The Ferrari Enzo, which costs a fortune, is my brother's dream car.
If we eliminated the underlined phrase, it wouldn't substantially change the meaning of the sentence (everyone knows Ferraris are expensive).
The couch, which has a wine stain on the left armrest, needs to be cleaned.
Again, the message is the same with or without the underlined portion. The couch needs cleaning. The underlined clause simply gives us more information about why.
Notice that the nonrestricted clauses in the two examples above are bookended by commas. In fact, nonrestricted clauses are almost always either surrounded by commas or preceded by them (as in "We saw a double rainbow, which was gorgeous").
If you have trouble remembering phrases like "restricted clause" and "nonrestricted clause," just remember this: If you could take out the phrase without substantially changing the meaning of the sentence, use "which." If you need the phrase to make your meaning clear, use "that."
One more tip: Never use "which" or "that" when referring to people; use "who" or "whom." Example: The participants, who were chosen through random sampling, ranged in age from 18 to 35.
Pretty simple, no? I hope you've found this week's post helpful. As always, happy scribbling!
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Introductions
Today's topic:
Introductions
Your introduction is the first
impression you make on your readers, and as the saying goes, "you never get a
second chance to make a first impression." Unfortunately, many writers neglect
to give the introduction the careful attention it deserves. The result can be a
reader who trudges reluctantly into the body of the paper, disinterested in or
confused about the author's message--or worse, a reader who decides not to read
the paper at all.
An introduction has two jobs.
It should engage the reader's attention and interest, and it should
clearly and specifically preview the content of the paper.
#1. Engage the reader's
interest:
You can accomplish this in a
number of different ways. How you choose to do so will depend on the type of
paper you're writing--its purpose and audience--and what your paper is about.
You may remember from your undergraduate English 101 class that the instructor
sometimes encouraged you to open with an anecdote or an appeal to the reader's
emotions. This is okay for certain types of papers--personal narratives, for
example, or persuasive essays on controversial topics. In scientific writing,
however, it's best to stay away from those techniques.
In scientific writing, you can
engage your readers' attention by convincing them of the importance and
relevance of your topic--essentially, by showing them why they should care. If
you are writing about diabetes, you can provide statistics about how widespread
the disease is, how many Americans it affects, its consequences and
complications, how many people die from it each year, and how much money it
costs the healthcare system. You might show how much more prevalent the disease
has become in recent years.
Let's look at an example. This
is an excerpt from the introduction to a paper titled “Psychometrics of the PHQ-9 as a measure of depressive
symptoms in patients with heart failure” by Hammash, Lennie, Seongkum, Chung,
Lee, & Moser, 2012.
The purpose of
this study was to assess the reliability and validity of the Patient Health
Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) as a measure of depressive symptoms in patients with
heart failure (HF). HF affects more than 5.7 million Americans.¹ About 14% to
63% of patients with HF have depressive symptoms.2-4
Depression in patients with HF is associated with poor
functional status, poor adherence to medication and exercise, poor perceived
control, increased morbidity and mortality, and increased readmission rates.
5-15 Therefore, identifying depressive symptoms in patients
with HF is important to improve patients’ physical and mental well-being.
However, depressive symptoms commonly go undiagnosed and
untreated.16-19
Several factors may contribute to
under-treatment, but a major issue is lack of clinician familiarity and comfort
with assessing depression.20 The
potential overlap of depressive symptoms and symptoms of HF or associated
co-morbidities also creates a challenge for clinicians in the diagnosis of
depressive symptoms in patients with HF.21,22
The Beck Depression
Inventory-II (BDI-II) is a valid, self-report measure of depressive symptoms;
however, it is relatively long and complex. It consists of 21 items with up to
six response options for each. On average, it takes about five minutes to
complete. The BDI-II also has a pre-administration fee, which makes it expensive
to use in the primary care settings. Thus, non-psychiatric health care providers
need a brief instrument to diagnose depressive symptoms, particularly in the
population of patients with HF.
Notice how the
authors immediately establish the prevalence of heart failure, and how many
heart failure patients suffer from depression. Not only that, but they also
describe some serious consequences of depression in this population--poor
functional status, increased morbidity and mortality, etc. This establishes the
importance of the problem. They go on to point out a further problem; despite
the importance of identifying and treating depression in heart failure patients,
depressive symptoms often go unnoticed and unmanaged. They explain that the
current gold standard measurement tool for depressive symptoms (the Beck
Depression Inventory) is long, complicated, and expensive to use in the primary
care setting. They assert, then, that providers need a better, easier tool for
diagnosing depressive symptoms in patients with heart failure.
The authors have done
a beautiful job of concisely explaining the problem at hand, and convincing us
of its importance. Each piece builds on the pieces before in a smooth, logical
flow of ideas. In a moment I'll show you how they go on to describe their
paper's purpose...
#2. Clearly
and specifically preview the paper's content:
Think of an introduction as a
road map for your paper. A reader should be able to read your introduction and
know precisely, specifically, what your paper will be about. An important part
of this equation is the inclusion of a clear and complete purpose
statement. You may have also heard this referred to as a thesis
statement or statement of specific aims. Whatever you call it, it's a crucial
part of your paper's introduction (and contrary to the name, a purpose statement
does not have to fit into a single sentence--they are often several sentences
long).
One common problem with purpose
statements is that they are too vague. For example:
The purpose of this
paper is to explore the effects of instant messaging on youth
literacy.
Why isn't this a strong purpose
statement? Because it's too general. It doesn't express a point of view, or
provide any details about what aspects of the topic the paper will cover. Does
the author think that instant messaging is having positive effects on
youth literacy? If so, what are those positive effects? Does he think instant
messaging is having negative effects on youth literacy? What negative
effects?
I could imagine a dozen
different papers on the topic of instant messaging and youth literacy. From
reading the sentence above, I can't tell much about what the author's paper will
be about. So let's look at another version of this same sentence:
...Instant messaging seems
to be a beneficial force in the development of youth literacy because it
promotes regular contact with language, the use of a written medium for
communication, and the development of an alternative form of
literacy.*
*From a sample student essay by
David Craig, in The St. Martin's Handbook, 6th ed., by Andrea Lunsford.
This is a much stronger purpose
statement. It tells us the author's point of view--that instant messaging has
positive effects on the development of youth literacy. It also previews the
three main reasons why the author believes this is true. I assume the rest of
the essay will follow the road map set out in this purpose statement, and that
the author will fully develop each of those three arguments in order to convince
us of his overall point.
Let's get back to the Hammash,
et al. introduction we looked at in the previous section. Note how these
authors preview the content of their paper. I'll reproduce the entire
introduction here, so that you can see it in one piece. I will highlight what I
view as the purpose statement in blue.
The purpose of
this study was to assess the reliability and validity of the Patient Health
Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) as a measure of depressive symptoms in patients with
heart failure (HF). HF affects more than 5.7 million Americans.¹ About 14% to
63% of patients with HF have depressive symptoms.2-4
Depression in patients with HF is associated with poor
functional status, poor adherence to medication and exercise, poor perceived
control, increased morbidity and mortality, and increased readmission rates.
5-15 Therefore, identifying depressive symptoms in patients
with HF is important to improve patients’ physical and mental well-being.
However, depressive symptoms commonly go undiagnosed and
untreated.16-19
Several factors may contribute to
under-treatment, but a major issue is lack of clinician familiarity and comfort
with assessing depression.20 The
potential overlap of depressive symptoms and symptoms of HF or associated
co-morbidities also creates a challenge for clinicians in the diagnosis of
depressive symptoms in patients with HF.21,22
The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) is a valid,
self-report measure of depressive symptoms; however, it is relatively long and
complex. It consists of 21 items with up to six response options for each. On
average, it takes about five minutes to complete. The BDI-II also has a
pre-administration fee, which makes it expensive to use in the primary care
settings. Thus, non-psychiatric health care providers need a brief instrument to
diagnose depressive symptoms, particularly in the population of patients with
HF.
The PHQ-9 is a simple instrument derived
from the Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders (PRIME-MD) version to help
clinicians easily screen for depression disorder in primary care
settings.23
It is a self-report questionnaire
based on the nine diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder in the
Diagnostic and statistical manual of
mental disorders, fourth edition
(DSM-IV).24
The PHQ-9 has evidence of
reliability and validity in a variety of populations, mainly in primary care and
general hospital settings as well as in general population;23, 25-32 however, it has not been validated in patients with
HF. The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability
and validity of the PHQ-9 as a measure of depressive symptoms in patients with
HF. The specific aims were to: 1.) assess the internal consistency, reliability,
and homogeneity of the PHQ-9; 2.) evaluate the concurrent validity of the PHQ-9
using the BDI-II as the gold standard; and 3.) evaluate the construct validity
of the PHQ-9 by testing the following hypotheses:
• Hypothesis 1: The PHQ-9 will have acceptable sensitivity
and specificity using the BDI-II as the criterion for
comparison.
• Hypothesis 2: Patients with higher levels of perceived
control will have lower PHQ-9 scores
In the next paragraph
(beginning "The PHQ-9..."), the authors get into the specific details of their
paper. Having convinced us in the first half of their introduction that
depression in heart failure patients is a serious problem, and that it is going
underdiagnosed and undertreated, AND that the current gold standard tool is
inadequate, they now proceed to describe the tool they believe will work better,
the PHQ-9. They briefly describe the PHQ-9, and explain that it has delivered
good results in the hospital, general population, and primary care settings.
However, they tell us, it has not been validated in heart failure
patients. This leads us to the central purpose of the paper, which is a report
of a research study which aimed to assess the PHQ-9's usefulness as a measure of
depressive symptoms in heart failure patients. The authors go on to list the
specific aims of their study, and the hypotheses they sought to test.
You may notice that the first
sentence of this introduction might be viewed as a purpose statement. I would
argue that this introduction actually has two purpose statements--the first
sentence of the introduction, which briefly tells us the general purpose of the
paper, and a much more detailed one (highlighted in blue) at the end of the
introduction. Not all writers include a general purpose statement at the
beginning, but I think in this case it was a good approach.
So that's it. An introduction
should engage our interest by establishing the topic and convincing us of its
importance and relevance, and provide us with a clear and specific road map of
the paper's content and purpose. Remember how important a first impression is,
and spend some extra time and effort on your next introduction. Also, pay
attention to the introductions of the articles you read for class. Reading
well-written introductions will help you train yourself to write them.
I hope you've found this week's
post helpful. Happy scribbling!
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