For better or worse, I wasn’t very good at grammar lessons in school. I could never remember the right word for different parts of complex sentences (which one is the participial phrase?) or the exact name of an error (what is a comma splice anyway?). But I read and wrote a lot, so I could always tell when a sentence was wrong and how to fix it, even if I didn’t know what to call it.
I learned all the tips and tricks I could to keep the rules straight. Many of them still stick with me today, and I use them often as Dittoe Public Relations’ senior content specialist. I recently started sharing these tips in a (semi) weekly post in Dittoe PR’s Slack, and I thought I’d round up some of the errors I see most often – and how to fix them.
General Grammar
1. Subject-Verb Agreement
Simple in simple sentences, subject-verb agreement can get confusing in more complex sentences. Consider this sentence for example’s sake:
- The top technologies organizations plan to increase spend on in the future include / includes AI and machine learning.
To know which is the right verb, we can strip out some of the modifiers and get it down to just the subject and verb: technologies includes is incorrect because technologies is plural. Therefore, you know technologies include is correct.
2. Who vs. Whom
The grammar rule is “‘Who’ refers to the subject of a sentence. ‘Whom’ refers to the object of a verb or preposition.” If that is as unhelpful for you as it is for me, try this:
Swap in a more specific pronoun (he or they for who; him or them for whom). If the pronoun with an M sounds right, then it’s whom!
- Who are you getting coffee with?* Which works better when you swap in he or him? Are you getting coffee with him? The M on him means whom is grammatically correct: With whom are you getting coffee?
- Who took my coffee? Which works better when you swap in they or them? They took my coffee: No M means who is correct.
3. Its vs. It’s
Is it a contraction of two words (it is)? Or is it possessive (belonging to it)? Break apart the contraction – if it works as two words, it’s correct:
- It’s / It is a beautiful day in the neighborhood. Since it is works, we know it’s is correct.
- My computer has to update its / it is drive. Since it is does not work, we know its is correct.
This trick also works for other possessive/contractions (whose/who’s, theirs/there’s) and general homophones (there/they’re, your/you’re).
4. Dangling Modifiers
This is a big one and occurs when the subject of a modifier is missing from the sentence. It makes sense at first, but if you stop and ask “wait, what?” you may have a dangling modifier on your hands. They often take the form of an introductory phrase followed by a clause that doesn’t state the intended subject.
- After working in HR for 10 years, the award recognized her leadership skills. Whose skills were recognized? The award’s?
A dangling modifier can be fixed either by rewriting the main clause to add in the correct subject or by rearranging the sentence.
- After working in HR for 10 years, she received an award recognizing her leadership skills.
- She received an award recognizing her leadership skills after working in HR for 10 years.
AP Style
We work closely with journalists in PR, so we adhere to a journalistic writing style, also known as AP Style. AP Style has its own unique rules that could take a whole blog post to dissect, but there’s one rule that trips up even the most seasoned writers: the Oxford Comma.
1. The Oxford (Serial) Comma
This is the comma that appears before and or or in a list. In AP Style, you generally do not use it for simple lists:
- I need to buy eggs, milk and bread.
Do use the comma if the list contains compound items or is unclear without it:
- I like peanut butter and jelly, ham and eggs, and macaroni and cheese.
- We invited our boss, mom and dad. Unless your boss is your mom and dad, a comma will make it clearer: We invited our boss, mom, and dad.
2. Titles
In AP Style, a person’s title is only capitalized if it is in front of that person’s name. Otherwise, it should be lowercase:
- Senior Content Specialist Madisen Petrosky.
- I am Dittoe PR’s senior content specialist.
- Madisen Petrosky, senior content specialist, is the author of this blog.
If you’re like most people, you want to capitalize the title at all times. It just feels right, doesn’t it? And that leads us to the most important grammar rule of all:
Language changes.
Spoken language changes more quickly than its written, grammatical counterpart, but it does usually catch up. That means rules you may have learned as a kid might not be applicable anymore. I learned “their” was only plural, but it is perfectly acceptable to use it as a singular pronoun today – even AP Style agrees! Some rules remain consistent for clarity, but as the way we speak evolves, grammar will, too.
The second most important rule:
Be consistent.
Whether you’re writing for clients, co-workers, publications or anyone else, consistency is key. If your client likes using the Oxford comma, definitely use it, but make sure you always use it. If you insist titles must be capitalized, go for it, but make sure all titles are capitalized.
There’s a reason grammar takes up so much time in school – there are a lot of rules! Once you get some of the tips and tricks down, though, you’ll have more confidence in your writing. And from there? You can start breaking the rules. But that’s another blog post.
*If you read “Who are you getting coffee with?” and thought that sounded fine, that is a perfect example of spoken language changing while the more formal written word hasn’t yet caught up. Depending on the context, your brand and your preferences, “who are you getting coffee with?” could be perfectly fine!
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