Preposition Golden Rule

The one golden rule of a preposition is that it is always used to refer to a noun. Usually it precedes the noun in the sentence, but there are exceptions to this. The preposition tells us something about how another word or phrase interacts with the noun.

For example: The boy sat on the table.

Gerunds

People are sometimes confused that a preposition is in fact being used to govern a verb, when they see it attached to a gerund. A gerund is a verb that is being used, in the ‘ing’ form, as a noun.

For example: The waiting is killing me

So when a preposition is used to refer to a gerund it can seem confusing but remember, in this usage the ‘verb’ is actually a noun.

For example: The best part of running is reaching the finish line!

To

The preposition ‘to’ is usually used in English to indicate movement towards a place.

For example: I am going to Mexico.

Remember, it can also be used in telling the time.

For example: It is five minutes to twelve.

TOP GRAMMAR TIP: The word ‘to’ is also used to make the infinitive form of a verb – in this instance, the ‘to’ is not a preposition.

For example: He loved to sing.

When we use the word ‘welcome’, it is combined with the preposition ‘to’, not ‘in’ as this tourism sign mistakenly supposes. However, we do use the preposition ‘in’ to describe being somewhere or arriving somewhere:

For example: I have just arrived in America, or, I am having a great time in Switzerland.

At

The preposition ‘at’ has several different uses and it is important to be aware of them all. It may mean next to, or in close proximity to an object.

For example: He is at the door

More frequently, it is used to describe being somewhere where you usually do something typical.

For example: At work, at school, at the shops

‘At’ is also used to describe event attendance.

For example: I am at the party, I was at a great play last night, or, he is at the funeral.

Time descriptions often use ‘at’ to describe when something occurs.

For example: I will go out at half past nine, or, owls come out at night.

A more unusual use of the preposition ‘at’ is in the phrase ‘at your own risk’. This is an important one to learn, as it often causes grammar problems (as shown by the mistake in this sign!)

As and For

The prepositions ‘as’ and ‘for’ are frequently confused in English grammar, as this cartoon demonstrates. Remember, ‘as’ is often used to mean replicating or taking the place of something.

For example: he works as an engineer, he dressed up as an astronaut

‘For’, on the other hand, has a wide range of uses, from specific phrases like ‘for example’ and ‘for goodness sake’ to more general functions like describing a period of time.

For example: For two years.

‘For’ is one of the prepositions where confusion most commonly arises because of gerunds, as it is commonly used to describe the function of a thing; a grammatical construct that usually involves a gerund.

For example: The armbands are used for swimming, the oven is great for cooking.

Where, we’re and were are three words that cause an awful lot of angst in English grammar. Time and time again people fail to learn the simple difference between these three little words, resulting in some very funny real life grammar mistakes. We’ve collected some examples here to help remind you of these simple grammar rules…

Where

Though the maker of this sign doesn’t seem to know it, the word ‘where’ is very simply always used in English grammar to indicate a place or location.

For example: “Where are my shoes?” or “Where are you going?”

The owner of the sign is trying to indicate that ‘we are closed’, so he actually needed to use the next word on our list instead…

We’re

‘We’re’ is just an abbreviation of the phrase ‘we are’. The apostrophe shortens the words into one, with the punctuation mark taking the place of the missing letter ‘a’.

This form always means we are.

For example: “We’re going to the zoo,” or “We’re very sorry to hear you failed your test.”

This hapless tattoo fan has unfortunately tried to use this form in her tattoo, to declare that ‘we are free to do anything’.

Sadly she has forgotten the first major rule of deciding to get something permanently tattooed on your body – for goodness sake check the spelling and grammar first!!

If she had done this, she would have realised that she has missed out the apostrophe and so has accidentally used our next and final word instead of the ‘we’re’ she actually needed.

Were

In English grammar, the word ‘were’ is the past tense of the verb to be. So it is used to describe a state of being in the past tense. (It is also only used to describe plural subjects – we, you or they).

For example: “We were very excited when it snowed,” or “They were abroad in August”

‘Were’ can also be used for conditional sentences describing an intention or plan that was not carried out.

For example: “We were going to go to the beach, but then it rained.”

It is this form that this camera shop needed to use in their advertisement, when they wanted to inform customers that they ‘were’ the first to stock a digital camera! Unfortunately this wasn’t the only grammar mistake they made – time to fire whoever was in charge of their proofreading!

This restaurant has made the mistake of using ‘there’ when they really mean ‘their’.

‘There’ is used in English grammar for two simple purposes. The first is when you say ‘there is’ or ‘there are’.

For example: There are 30 children in my class. Is there a spare chair?

The second is when you use it to indicate a place.

For example: The house is over there. When will we get there?

So their grammar mistake makes it sound as if this restaurant is being very demanding about exactly where the employees must wash!

This council sign ought to use the form of the word which means ‘belonging to’ as it is talking about dog owners and therefore refers to the dogs belonging to them. We use ‘their’ to mean ‘belonging to them’.

For example: That is their house. They have done their homework.

However whilst complaining about dog litter it seems this council has made a little grammar ‘foul up’ of their own by using the incorrect form ‘there’ instead!

The third form, ‘they’re’, is simply an abbreviation of the words ‘they are’, with the apostrophe taking the place of the missing letter ‘a’. So the rule to remember for this one is simple – always just check whether ‘they are’ could be substituted and the sentence would still make sense; if so, ‘they’re’ is the correct spelling.

For example: They’re going on holiday. They’re all very friendly.

This Facebook nut meanwhile has clearly spent a lot more time checking out other users’ profiles than he has checking up on his own grammar rules. Again he means to use the form ‘their’ meaning ‘of them’ or ‘belonging to them’ but mistakes it for ‘there’!

Finally, avoid making such funny grammar mistakes yourself by remembering these 3 very simply grammar rules.

‘There’ means ‘over there’ or ‘there is/are’.

‘Their’ means ‘belonging to them’.

‘They’re’ means ‘they are’.

Simple. As passionate as we are about good grammar however, we probably wouldn’t advocate that you take it quite as far as this lady, who seems to be so obsessed with the issue that she feels the need to wear it on her T-shirt! Jeez, chill out!

What commas certainly do, whether by their presence or their absence, is to powerfully change the meaning of a sentence. So the accidental omission or inclusion of commas in the wrong place can lead to some hilarious grammar mistakes, as this child’s writing mistake shows. In this case of course, the comma is intended to separate the intention of the sentence from the addressee, or person being spoken to. Always remember to include a comma before the name of the person being spoken to in dialogue.

In lists, commas often separate different items from one another – a simple enough concept. However, accidentally missing out a comma will automatically having the effect of making the two consecutive terms it should separate seem like one item in the list, as this hapless CV writer discovered the hard way. Let’s hope she wasn’t going for a job interview at a Battersea dog’s home!

Perhaps the most common example of English grammar rules being broken by comma misuse is the famous quote on which this ubiquitous grammar book was based; ‘eats, shoots and leaves’. Here, the comma should not have been inserted, because there should not be a gap between eats and shoots: the sense of the sentence should be allowed to run straight on.

We also think these genuine examples are pretty funny reminders of just how important commas are and how disastrously you can change the meaning of your sentence by using them incorrectly!

“Goats cheese salad ingredients: lettuce, tomato, goats, cheese”

This example is a hilarious comma mistake from a genuine restaurant menu! The accidental inclusion of an extra comma has suddenly made the menu a lot less vegetarian-friendly!

“Slow children crossing”

This brilliant funny grammar mistake comes from a real road sign, which instead of warning motorists to kill their speed because of children crossing the road, instead warns of unusually snail-paced children in the area!

And finally one last example, which genuinely appeared in the Times, intended as a brief description of a Peter Ustinov documentary:

“Highlights of his global tour include encounters with Nelson Mandela, an 800-year-old demigod and a dildo collector”.

So remember: the simplest way to check your comma use and make sure you aren’t breaking any grammar rules is simply to read through your sentence, making sure that there should be a genuine pause or gap everywhere you have inserted a comma.

It’s means it is

The reason why people seem to get most confused about this rule is because usually in English grammar rules we use an apostrophe when something belongs to someone. So for example, Sophie’s cat is the cat belonging to Sophie.

So you might expect that in this case it’s would mean something belonging to it.

However people forget that English grammar rules also require the use of an apostrophe when we abbreviate two words into one, with the apostrophe representing where the missing letters were. For example, do not becomes don’t. So in this case we have two different grammatical rules both demanding the apostrophe in the word it’s and the abbreviation rule wins out. So the apostrophe in the word it’s stands for the missing ‘i’ in the phrase it is. It’s means it is.

For example, it’s sunny today, or it’s a shame.

Its means belonging to it

So the remaining version, ‘its’, means belonging to it. This is where most people get confused, because English grammar rules would usually demand that when something belongs to something we show that using an apostrophe, but this is what we call an exception to the rule. In this case, its means belonging to it.

For example, the dog ate its bone, or the storm ran its course.

Follow these simple rules to tell the difference between it’s and its every single time and avoid grammar mistakes in the future!

We have compiled a list of some of the most common errors in grammar reported by proofreaders and editing services to help you perfect the accuracy and speed of your proofreading.

Sentence starters

One of the most common of all grammatical mistakes picked up by proofreading services is the incorrect use of words such as and, but and because to begin sentences.

A simple way to spot this is to remember that each of these words is a conjunction, or joining word, which should be used to join two related clauses, and therefore is not appropriate for use at the beginning of a new sentence.

Capital letters

Some of the trickiest mistakes for a proofreader to spot are those which transgress the most basic laws of grammar, as we take them so much for granted in our own writing that we do not expect to see them appear.

A major proofreading example is capital letters. When carrying out textual analysis, proofreaders often spot a failure to start new sentences with a capital letter, or capital letters missing from proper nouns. Editors should keep a close eye on proper nouns, such as names, places, days of the week and months, to catch this common mistake when proofreading.

Verb agreements

A very common slip often to be found when proofreading or copy editing work from somebody whose first language is not English, verb agreements are another grammar hotspot that should be at the top of a proofreading checklist.

Remember that the verb must always agree with the person who is doing it – writers often make this mistake in long or complex sentences, where the subject and verb are separated at different ends of the sentence allowing the writer to forget their association.

For a speedy check, simply remove all other parts of the sentence and check whether the simple verb phrase works on its own.

For example:

“The girl, whose long hair cascades down her back as she saunters delicately down the road in the sunshine, often take a meandering route to school.”

Simplify the sentence to the verb phrase, and the error becomes clear:

“The girl take a meandering route”

Should read:

“The girl takes”.

We hope the knowledge of these common grammatical problem areas to focus on for editors and proofreaders alike will prove useful in your toolkit for quick, accurate editing.

Frequently confused word pairs are one of the most common mistakes you will come across when correcting English grammar. From standard essays right up to undergraduate dissertations and even in a masters dissertation it is not uncommon to find a student mixing up pairs such as less and fewer, practice and practise, or irritate and aggravate. Read on for a quick and simple guide to correct grammar and choosing the right word every time.

Should I use less or fewer?

There is a very easy explanation to the English grammar behind this one: you use less when you are referring to something that isn’t measured in individual units, such as sunshine, happiness, music.

For example:

It was lovely and warm yesterday, but there seems to be less sunshine today.

You use fewer when you are talking about something in the plural, so lots of individual units, such as people, sweets, cars.

For example:

It rained yesterday, so there were fewer people out playing tennis.

Less or fewer grammar top tip:

Also use less for expressions of measurement, for example:

I live less than a mile from the town

His weight dropped to less than 7 stone

Should I use practice or practise?

Again it is quite a simple rule to remember here. Practice is used whenever the word is being used as a noun (or thing).

For example:

Have you done your piano practice today? or Has netball practicebeen cancelled?

Practise is used whenever the word is being used as a verb (or doing word).

For example:

I practise my violin every day.

American and English grammar top tip:

Don’t forget spelling rules differ and where a ‘c’ is used in English grammar, the American spelling often replaces it with an ‘s’, so you may find in American texts practise is actually used as a noun.

Should I use irritate or aggravate?

Once more the grammatical distinction here is much clearer than the myriad English grammar mistakes made by students might suggest! The verbs are not in fact interchangeable at all but have different meanings. As most students already know, to irritate has the meaning to annoy, provoke or inflame, but to aggravate actually means to worsen an already existing condition, not to create irritation initially at all.

For example:

My skin was irritated by the mosquito bite

The itchiness of my mosquito bite was aggravated by the woolen sweater

or

The arrival of the mob aggravated the already tense stand-off

Follow these simple rules to perfect English grammar and end the misuse of confusing word pairs in English writing assignments for good.

Split infinitives are one of those pesky grammatical ideas that many people have heard of and have a vague idea will cause a loss of marks in an essay or dissertation, yet aren’t really able to define or avoid. In fact, to define ‘split infinitive’ is much easier than you might think, and the idea that they are grammatically ‘wrong’ is a myth, though you may still want to edit them out to be on the safe side when essay editing or proofreading, particularly in coursework or marked essays.

What is a split infinitive?

The infinitive form of the verb is its ‘root’ form, beginning with ‘to’. For example, ‘to eat’, or ‘to sleep’. A split infinitive is quite simply a description of a sentence where instead of appearing next to one another, the ‘to’ and the other part of the verb are separated by another word, almost always an adverb.

eg. “You’re going to really love it”

What’s wrong with split infinitives

You may have heard that split infinitives are bad grammar, or think of them as errors when you are editing essays. In fact this is not technically true – it comes from the idea that our language derives from Latin, which has only a single word to express the infinitive forms of its verbs (eg. amare – to love). Therefore some traditionalists feel that the infinitive should be all together in English too.

Should I remove split infinitives when editing?

If you are editing a GCSE essay or an undergraduate dissertation, it may be best to avoid split infinitives just to be on the safe side, as many examiners and traditionalists frown upon them and there is a risk the piece could lose marks. They are usually fairly easy to circumvent with a little syntactical manipulation:

eg. Split infinitive sentence: “The man went to carefully pick up the baby.”

Non-split infinitive sentence: “The man carefully went to pick up the baby.”

Split infinitives – a final note

There may be occasions when the rhythm or impact of a sentence is actually disrupted by the removal of a split infinitive – consider for example the famous quote:

“To boldly go where no man has gone before”

So remember, a split infinite isn’t a sin and may even be the most effective syntactical choice, but steer clear just in case in examined and coursework essays.

H. W. Fowler’s “Dictionary of Modern English Usage” is a popular grammar book originally published in 1926.  It is often simply referred to as “Fowler’s” and is a popular guide for those offering editing services.

Oxford English grammar

Fowler was a graduate of Balliol College, Oxford. After university he taught at Sedbergh School in Cumbria for 17 years.  He resigned after being passed over for promotion and age 41 he began to scrape a living in his new role as an essayist in London.  The lack of funds may not have bothered Fowler too much.  He was a man of simple habits, liking austerity and routine.

A successful grammar book

Fowler’s “Modern English Usage” was a great success when it was first published. Fowler was passionate about grammar and writing English correctly, but instead of restricting his readers with fussy rules he gave them sensible advice.  He elevated communication above the rules of grammar.  For example, a split infinitive may be technically incorrect, but if correct usage meant that a sentence was harder to understand Fowler told his readers to go ahead and split the infinitive!  He pushed aside any grammatical rules that made meaning obscure.

Grammar rules and common sense

The reason for the book’s popularity at the time of publication was this common sense approach, coupled with the author’s own personality shining through in his writing.

A dictionary of grammar checks

Despite the word “Dictionary” in the full title, “Modern English Usage” is not what you expect from a standard dictionary.  Sometimes Fowler’s entries were just a few lines long, but other sections are made up of whole essays on particular points of English writing.  Curiously, the titles of the essays in the book don’t always help you understand what the topic is going to be.

Grammar and editing

Although there are segments of “Modern English Usage” that have needed revision after over 80 years in print, it is still a useful reference text.  Any present day writer compiling this sort of book would devote pages to the explosion in technological writing and online writing conventions that now cause us confusion, but despite it having been written so long ago, Fowler’s remains a popular book for proofreading tips or grammar advice.

Have you found some useful grammar reference texts?  Please share your favourites by posting a comment below.