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Fri, 17 May 2013 20:43:00 -0700

What's up with the semicolon?

Fri, 17 May 2013 19:10:43 -0700

That basically answers what a semicolon does. If you are studying for the SAT exam, you definitely need to master the semicolon; it appears frequently. (See what we did there?)

The comma, on the other hand, is much more complicated. Luckily, an excellent piece from the New York Times delves into the misunderstood punctuation that is the comma.

If you have additional questions, feel free to tweet us @The_YUNiversity. Cheers.

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Fri, 17 May 2013 17:20:11 -0700

Hey, Y'all: What's up with "y'all's" grammar?

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:30:18 -0700

Before we get started, it might be helpful to non-Americans in our group that the results of a straw poll established that “y’all” beats “ya’all” as the contraction of “you-all.” (See the Notes section of that linked post.)

We are now about to venture into the realm of informal and colloquial English. The following should not be used in any formal essay you write for school.

But having said all that, we are dealing with an informal word. It can be argued that it doesn’t really matter how you express the possessive form of “y’all.” After all, you could have just as easily used “your.”

Here’s our recommendation: Go with “y’alls.” It looks strange, and many people will be quick to correct you. That gives you the perfect opportunity to recite what we wrote above with the help of Ryan Gosling’s awesomeness. You will gain some cred as a grammar boss, and if that doesn’t happen, you’ll actually have a discussion about personal pronouns and possessive pronouns. (+2 Grammar karma.)

Ouch.

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:40:22 -0700

Ouch.

Yo, Grammar: What's the plural of "series"?

Fri, 17 May 2013 11:50:46 -0700

“Series” can be either singular or plural.

Therefore, both of these sentences are correct:

Although some dictionaries also list “serieses” as a plural form, we have never seen it “in the wild.”

In conclusion, use “series” as both the singular and plural form, and make sure you use the correct verb (singular or plural) accordingly.

“So my friend ‘accidentally’ included a wrong...

Thu, 16 May 2013 19:00:31 -0700

“So my friend ‘accidentally’ included a wrong link in his final research paper reference page … ” - via Reddit

What's up with "until," "till," and "'til"?

Thu, 16 May 2013 17:00:34 -0700

Not surprisingly, this is a very popular question.

After reading the following post, nod your head (if you get it and agree with it). Afterward, convince yourself to always write “until” (5 letters), instead of “till” (4 letters), “‘till” (5 characters), “‘til” (4 characters), “til” (3 letters), or “‘til” (4 characters). “Until” is barely longer than all of the other options, and more importantly, no one will be tempted to go all Grammar Nazi on your usage.

TL;DR

Here is the answer to your question:

You will undoubtedly find “‘til” in published works, but those are likely to be novels and other fictional works, i.e., in less formal settings. You are unlikely to find it in a newspaper article or a Ph.D. dissertation.

Until next time …

If you get this question wrong, you’ve got some soul...

Thu, 16 May 2013 15:00:33 -0700

If you get this question wrong, you’ve got some soul searching to do.

(Also, the teacher who put this on the test is a boss. This one’s for you.)

Yo, Grammar: What's up with "a friend of John" and "a friend of John's"?

Thu, 16 May 2013 13:00:21 -0700

It’s no secret that Microsoft Word sucks at grammar.

You can find evidence of Microsoft’s ineptitude in an ad and in Word itself. (You can find hundreds more by doing a simple search on Google.)

Having gotten that out of the way, Anon brings up an interesting grammar question, one that several other people have asked in the past:

In the above example, “He is a friend of John’s” is correct. There is no ambiguity in the meaning of the sentence; clearly, we are saying that the guy is John’s friend.

This sentence is comparable to “Mike is a friend of his.” We wouldn’t write “Mike is a friend of he.” ”His” is a possessive, just as “John’s” is, so we can tell we’re on the right track. We can also verify if “John’s” is right in the above example because “John’s friend” (not “John friend”) is correct.

But what happens with sentences like these?

Things get trickier here. Both sentences can be correct. They mean different things:

1. “I found a photo of John” suggests that I found a photo that has John in it. It’s similar to writing “I found a photo of a tiger.”

2. “I found a photo of John’s” suggests that I found a photo that belongs to John (or one that John took with his camera).

There is no requirement to write sentences this way, so if you want to be clear, rephrase the above sentences, e.g., “I found a photo of John that really highlights his eyes,” which goes with the meaning of sentence 1, or ”I found a photo John had sold to a car magazine,” which goes with the meaning of sentence 2.

TL;DR

If you’re still confused, read this SparkNotes version.

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Thu, 16 May 2013 12:12:31 -0700

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Wed, 15 May 2013 18:48:29 -0700

Yo, Grammar: What's up with "everyone"?

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:36:27 -0700

Technically, since “everyone” is considered a singular pronoun, “Everyone brought his or her homework” is correct. (“Everybody brought his or her homework” would also be correct, since “everyone” and “everybody” are interchangeable.)

But in Britain, it’s standard to use “everyone” and “everybody” with a singular verb and a plural pronoun. So in Britain, either sentence would be acceptable.

Irrespective of where you live or whether your teacher or editor advocates the singular they, no one will argue that the following sentences are correct:

If you are studying for the SAT or ACT exams, know this: “everyone,” “everybody,” “somebody,” “someone,” “anyone,” “anybody,” “no one,” and “nobody” must always be used with a singular verb and a singular pronoun, i.e., with “his or her” or “he or she” (not “their” or “they”).

Batman and Robin GIF source: topherchris

Wed, 15 May 2013 14:24:10 -0700

Batman and Robin GIF source: topherchris

Yo, Grammar: What's up with "breath" and "breathe"?

Wed, 15 May 2013 12:12:21 -0700

Ok!

I was being sarcastic.

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Tue, 14 May 2013 18:00:16 -0700

What's up with "alumnus," "alumni," "alumna," and "alumnae"?

Tue, 14 May 2013 16:00:15 -0700

Let’s suppose that you’re about to graduate from college. Naturally, you’re excited about buying a license plate frame for your car to express your pride in your alma mater.

But don’t rush into buying any license plate frame; make sure that you don’t embarrass your school by purchasing the wrong one!

Before you grab the coolest looking “Alumni - (Name of School)” license plate frame, ask yourself the all-important question: Am I an “alumnus,” “alumni,” “alumna,” or “alumnae”? (Many people have never even heard of the last two; therefore, very few companies even make such license plate frames. We happened to find one such plate in the wild.)

You might have read all this and asked, “Who the [grawlix] cares?”

YOU should, my friend. It all begins with YOU.

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Tue, 14 May 2013 13:41:16 -0700

Yo, Grammar: What's up with "graduated"?

Tue, 14 May 2013 12:20:05 -0700

On a similar note, do not write or say, “I am graduated.“ The correct expressions are “I graduated,” “I have graduated,” “I am graduating,” or “I will be graduating.”

If you want to avoid using any form of the word “graduate,” you can say, “(Name of school) is my alma mater,” “I got my diploma from (name of school),” or “I am an alum of (name of school).”

By the way, congratulations on your righteous accomplishment!

It’s good to have realistic dreams.

Mon, 13 May 2013 18:40:26 -0700

It’s good to have realistic dreams.