Common Language Mistakes

 January 1, 2009
Interview with Joannie Feierman author of Action Grammar: Fast, No-Hassle Answers on Everyday Usage and Punctuation

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Mike Carruthers:
Whether we're writing to someone or speaking to them, there are some common grammar mistakes people often make.

Joannie Feierman:
Most of the problems stem from one issue and that is whether the word to use is me, myself or I.

Joannie Feierman, author of the book Action Grammar

You often hear people saying, "You know Frank and myself are going to discuss a problem with a client." When they should say, "Frank and I are going to discuss..." Because it's Frank is going to discuss and I am going to discuss - so whatever you would say if you were just speaking about yourself alone is the word you use when you use adding another person's name.

Now is it proper to say, "Between you and me or between you and I?"

And the answer is "me." So it's always between you and me, never between you and I. Another issue is that darn "its" "it's" - and I tell people that make sure if you've put "it's" what you mean to say is "it is" -that's a contraction for it is. And for the other use like "the dog wagged its tail" it's the other one without the apostrophe.

And do you have any idea when you're supposed to use a semicolon?

At the end of what would be a complete sentence except if you wanted to add another sentence to it. For example, "I am enjoying this conversation; it's fun." I didn't want to make them two short sentences so I've put a semicolon in the middle which says, "I'm really stopping, it's really the end of the thought but hey I have another short thought that I want to hook onto that.

Complete interview is not available.