These "golden rules" present a few of the most common problems in grammar and style. The problems covered in golden rules 3, 5, 6, and 7 are "major errors," errors serious enough for a letter-grade penalty at some colleges each time they occur. Golden rule infractions are indicated on your graded assignments as GR1, GR2, GR3, GR3ip, etc.
GR1 GR2 GR3 GR3s GR3ip GR3o GR3/ GR4 GR5 GR6 GR7 GR7fc GR7q GR8 GR9 GR10
Golden rule 1
Avoid contractions in formal writing: use apostrophes only to indicate possession.
James Joyce's "Araby" is about a boy who has a crush on his friend's sister. This sentence is finethe apostrophes in "Joyce's" and "friend's" indicate possession. It would be improper in a formal essay to write, "The narrator of 'Araby' doesn't realize that he isn't truly in love with Mangan's sister until his romantic illusions about the bazaar are shattered." "Doesn't" and "isn't" should be expanded to "does not" and "is not."
Golden rule 2
Avoid the second person in formal academic writingnever use the words "you," "your," or "yours" except in quotations of someone else's words.
In casual speech it is okay to say, "The first time you jump out of an airplane is bound to scare you, no matter how brave you are." In formal writing, though, the ambiguity of this generalized "you" is unacceptable. Literally, "you" refers to the readerthe reader could be someone who would never consider jumping out of an airplane, so the "you" would not apply to that reader at all. Say instead, "The first time someone jumps out of an airplane is scary, no matter how brave a person is," or "The first time is scary for all skydivers, no matter how brave they are."
Golden rule 3 (a "major error")
Pronouns (including possessives their, her, his, etc.) must agree in number and gender with their antecedents. In particular, "they," "their," and "them" must always refer to plural subjects.
In conversation we might say, "If someone likes reading Aristotle for fun, they need their head examined." But formal writing requires that "they" and "their" always refer to plural antecedents"someone" is singular. Write instead, "People who read Aristotle for fun should have their heads examined," or, "The person who reads Aristotle for fun should have his or her head examined."
GR3s ("s" short for "sexist language"): In the past it was correct to say "he," "him," or "his" when referring to a person whose gender was not specified, as in "Even the grumpiest reader is sure to smile when he reads Huck Finn." Today, though, we recognize that the unspecified reader might be named Janelle or Melissa, so we write, "Even the grumpiest reader is sure to smile when he or she reads Huck Finn." Or better yet, "Even grumpy readers are sure to smile when they read Huck Finn." The awkwardness of repeating "he or she," "his or her," and "him or her" can often be avoided by making the antecedent plural and keeping the "they," "their," "them," etc. plural.
GR3o ("o" short for "one"): Be wary of avoiding the gender issue with the neutral pronoun "one," as in "When one watches Game of Thrones, one is always entertained." Although grammatically correctand used sparingly, "one" may be preferable to "he or she"frequent use of "one" gives writing an undesirable stilted tone.
GR3/: Avoid using slashes between third-person pronouns to indicate either/or in formal writing: instead of "he/she" or "s/he," "his/her," and "him/her," write "he or she," "his or her," and "him or her."
GR3ip ("ip" short for "indefinite pronoun"): Many collective or indefinite pronouns that might seem plural are grammatically singular and should not be used with "they," "their," and "them." "Everyone" and "everybody," for instance, refer collectively to more than one person, but "everyone" and "everybody" are grammatically singular and thus cannot be paired with "they," "their," or "them."
Collective or indefinite pronouns frequently problematic with "they," "their," and "them":
anyone everyone nobody anybody everybody someone each neither somebody either no one
Golden rule 4
Avoid using "this," "that," "these," and "those" as freestanding pronouns. Use these words only as demonstrative adjectives: say "this [blank]," "that [blank]," etc.
The problem with using "this," "that," "these," and "those" as freestanding pronouns is that sometimes the antecedents of these pronouns are not perfectly clear, making the reader pause to figure out what "this," "that," "these" or "those" means.
Example: As Bob Uecker once pointed out, late in a close World Series game the fans are more nervous than the players on the field. This includes the players in the dugout. It is unclear what the "this" refers to: it could mean that the players in the dugout are as nervous as the fans, or it could mean that the players in the dugout are as calm as their teammates on the field.
We can hardly write without using the words "this," "that," "these," and "those." But we express ourselves most clearly by using these words as adjectives rather than freestanding pronouns, as in Late in a close World Series game, the fans are more nervous than the players on the field. This designation of "fans" includes the players in the dugout, who have no more control over events on the field when they are not in the game than the peanut vendors do. Instead of saying just "this is . . .," say specifically what "this" refers to"this what?"
Note: "This," "that," "these," and "those" are most problematic when used as pronouns at the beginning of a sentence. Be especially vigilant to avoid beginning sentences with these words used as freestanding pronouns.
Golden rule 5 (a "major error")
Avoid sentence fragments. Although sentence fragments are sometimes effective in journalism, fiction, and other types of writing, formal academic writing requires that all sentences have both subject and predicate and operate grammatically as independent clauses.
Sentence fragments are often missing either subject or predicate (verb, primarily).Example: Pro football teams have only one mission. To win at all costs. There is no subject in the phrase "to win at all costs." The fragment should be a) given a subject, as in "Their mission is to win at all costs," or b) combined with the preceding sentence, as in "Pro teams have only one missionto win at all costs."Many sentence fragments contain subject and predicate but are not complete sentences because they are dependent upon something in another sentence to make grammatical sense or be grammatically completethey are subordinate clauses, or dependent clauses.
Example: Carol likes only certain types of men. Guys with goatees, mainly. There is no predicate, or verb, in "guys with goatees, mainly." This fragment should be a) given subject and verb, as in "She likes guys with goatees, mainly," or b) combined with the preceding sentence, as in "Carol likes only certain types of men, mainly guys with goatees."Example: The Lady Vols might win their ninth national championship in basketball this year. Because they always have great talent. "Because they always have great talent" does not work as a freestanding sentencethe "because" depends upon the preceding sentence to make grammatical sense. Obviously, the fragment could be attached to the preceding sentence: "The Lady Vols might win their ninth national championship in basketball this year because they always have great talent." The dependent clause could also be made independent by dropping the subordinating conjunction "because," as in "The Lady Vols might win their ninth national championship in basketball this year. They always have great talent."
Golden rule 6 (a "major error")
Avoid fused sentences (one form of "run-on" sentence). A sentence is fused when two independent clauses are joined together with no punctuation.Example: The Atlanta Braves used to have strong pitching they were a dominant team every year.Definition: an independent clause contains both subject and predicate (verb) and could stand alone as a complete sentence. In the example, "The Atlanta Braves used to have strong pitching" and "they were a dominant team every year" are both independent clauses and could stand separately as complete sentences.
For ways to correct fused sentences, see the next golden rule. Note that if you simply place a comma between two independent clauses you create a comma splice, another "major error."
Golden rule 7 (a "major error")
Avoid comma splices (another form of "run-on" sentence). Comma splices incorrectly link or splice together two independent clauses with only a comma between them.Example: The Atlanta Braves used to have strong pitching, they were a dominant team every year.Four methods of fixing comma splices and fused sentences:
1) Splitting the two independent clauses into separate sentences: The Atlanta Braves used to have strong pitching. They were a dominant team year in and year out.
2) Linking the independent clauses with a comma and a coordinating conjunction: The Atlanta Braves used to have strong pitching, and they were always a dominant team. Or: The Atlanta Braves used to have strong pitching, so they were a dominant team.Note: The seven coordinating conjunctions are easy to remember by the acronym FANBOYS: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, and So.
3) Joining the two independent clauses with a semicolon: The Atlanta Braves used to have strong pitching; they were a dominant team every year.Tip: Stylistically, semicolons join independent clauses most smoothly when the semicolon is followed by a conjunctive adverb ("however," "nevertheless," or "therefore," e.g.) or transitional phrase ("all the same," "in fact," "on the other hand," e.g.).4) Subordinating one of the independent clauses, making it a dependent clause that can no longer stand on its own as a complete sentence: Since the Atlanta Braves always have strong pitching, they are always a dominant team. Or: The Atlanta Braves always have strong pitching, which makes them a dominant team year after year.
The Atlanta Braves used to have strong pitching; consequently, they were a dominant team.
Invariably, the old Atlanta Braves had strong pitching; as a result, they kicked National League butt every year.
(Common subordinating conjunctions or "subordinators" are such words as since, which, that, although, because, while, etc.).
The Atlanta Braves used to win their division every
year, however, they have won the World Series only once, in 1995.
When quotations are introduced with independent clauses, a colon, not a comma, should precede the quote, as in "Proverbs 21.9 counsels men to avoid contentious women: 'It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house.'"
Commas follow phrases or clauses introducing quotes when those phrases or clauses are not "independent" and cannot stand on their own as complete sentences.
As wise King Solomon advises, "It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house" (Proverbs 21.9).
In the sentence, "Two of my greatest passions are cooking and to eat," "cooking" and "to eat" are both "passions," and they serve the grammatical function of the subject complement, but cooking is a gerund and to eat is an infinitive. The sentence should read, "Two of my greatest passions are cooking and eating." "Grammatical form" often translates into "parts of speech," and nouns should usually be parallel with nouns, prepositional phrases with prepositional phrases, adjectives with adjectives, infinitives with infinitives, etc.
school athletics teach us
teamwork, and about
sportsmanship (noun, noun, prepositional
High school athletics teach us about discipline, teamwork, and sportsmanship (the three nouns are now objects of the preposition "about").
High school athletics teach us about discipline, about teamwork, and about sportsmanship (three prepositional phrases).
Faulty: Alfredo is undecided about a career. He is considering medicine, law, engineering, or being a politician. Medicine, law, and engineering denote broad fields of employment: "being a politician" is a verbal expression indicating a state of being.
Alfredo is considering being a doctor, lawyer, engineer, or politician (four nouns indicating job titles).
Faulty: The heavy metal bands of the '90s bear little resemblance to their hard rock predecessors in the late sixties and early seventies. All three decades could be abbreviated numbers ('90s, '60s, and '70s), but would be more appropriate in formal writing either as 1990s, 1960s, and 1970s, or nineties, sixties, and seventies.
Short, choppy sentences impede the smooth flow your writing should aim to present. Short sentences force your reader to go slowly, and when several occur together it can make your writing seem more "elementary" than it truly is. Used sparingly, short sentences can give powerful emphasis to important points, but avoid stringing several short sentences together when you do not consciously intend to add emphasis by "slowing down" the reader.
If you have a tendency to short and choppy sentences in your writing, try combining them into more complex sentences through subordination and coordination.
Choppy: It is Friday. The weather is gorgeous. I love it when Chip talks about grammar. I wish this class were over.
Smoother: Today is Friday and the weather is grand. Much as I love it when Chip talks about grammar, I must admit I wish this class were over.
Too complex: Because Bob refused to take a hint, even after Robby wrote "Bob, take a shower" on the office chalkboard, it was rough working with Bob since he never bathed, even on Saturdays, and sometimes, either in management meetings or during shift changes, or at other times when we would all have to be crowded together in the tiny office, the smell was so overpowering the rest of us almost gagged.
If you notice a tendency to rather long, complex sentences in your writing, try breaking them into smaller, more direct sentences. You should also question whether especially long sentences are needlessly wordy or include parenthetical information your reader doesn't truly need to understand your point.
Clearer: It was rough working with Bob because he never bathed. Sometimes the smell in the office was so overpowering we almost gagged. Even after Robby wrote "Bob, take a shower" on the office chalkboard, Bob refused to take a hint.
Or even just: It was rough working with Bob because he never bathed.