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Three Grammar Gaffes and How to Avoid Them
by Marg Gilks

One more:
The two daughters or the son stays late at the library BUT The son or the two daughters stay late at the library. When you're looking at a compound subject joined by "or," look at the subject nearest the verb. If the subject is the singular son, the verb--stays--is singular, too. If the subject nearest the verb is plural, as in the two daughters, then the verb is plural too--stay.

"So where's the trick?" you're thinking. This one's not so easy. It takes some concentration. Look at the sentence and determine what it's talking about. Once you've determined what the subject of the sentence is, look at it. Is it one thing, or several? The number of the subject that the sentence is about will tell you whether it has to be talked about as one thing (singular) or several (plural).

ME, I, AND...MYSELF?
Many writers, when faced with "Louise and I, or Louise and me?" opt for "Louise and myself."
The "-self" pronouns have their place, but this is not one of them. Myself, himself, herself, ourselves, and themselves always need something more specific in the sentence to refer to. In the sentence "Louise and myself," "myself" has nothing to refer to. It's an orphan.

You can use a "-self" pronoun for emphasis:
I myself have no fears; he himself is full of fear; she herself has over one hundred pairs of shoes; we ourselves have no shoes; they themselves have no qualms, but notice that there's always I or he or she or we or they that this use of "-self" is bolstering.

Or you can use a "-self" pronoun as another way of referring to someone:
I cut myself; he itched himself; she made herself up; we congratulated ourselves; they laughed themselves silly, but again, there's always I or he or she or we or they that the use of "-self" refers to.

The solution? Give "myself" a relation to pair up with, and determine whether you should be using "I" or "me" with the separation trick: "Bob and I love sweets" (Bob loves sweets; me loves sweets? No; I love sweets? Yes. Therefore, Bob and I love sweets) or "Nothing could stop Nasser and me" (Nothing could stop Nasser; Nothing could stop I? No; Nothing could stop me? Yes. Therefore, Nothing could stop Nasser and me).

Phew! Another grammatical minefield crossed safely! And I myself am glad it's done.



Part 1 | Part 2


Marg Gilks' writing credits span twenty years and include poetry, articles and short stories in magazines, e-zines, newsletters, newspapers and on the Internet. She's a freelance editor who operates Scripta Word Services, a business that helps other writers polish their prose and hone their writing skills.

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