Grammar Geek

“A lot”

This one should be fairly simple to explain. “Alot” has never been a word. To be technical, “a” in “a lot” is an article (a, an, or the) and “lot” is an adverb because it modifies the verb by indicating “how much.” 

My school teacher awhile back told me this to remember: “Little” functions as the opposite of “lot,” and one would not write “alittle.” 

I read this blog post about this issue and found it very funny. When they author sees someone write “alot,” they immediately think of a large furry creature. Instead of loving someone a lot, you are telling your “alot” that you love someone. 

(Source: hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com)

“Then” and “Than”

“Than” is a conjunction, meaning a word that joins other words, phrases, or clauses together. It is used in comparisons. 

She is taller than I am. (This is a comparison between “she” and “I.”) 

I want that book more than my brother. (This is a comparison between “I” and “my brother.”) 

“Then” is an adverb, meaning a word that modifies a verb or adjective. More specifically, “then” is a conjunctive adverb because it also links other clauses together. It is usually used to show a sequence of events or to mark time. 

She went to the store, and then we met at the restaurant. 

Belle turned around, walked 100 meters, then ran the rest of the track. 

In short: “Than” is for comparisons. “Then” is for references to time. 

Quotation Marks

The proper (American) way to write periods and commas in those types of sentences is by placing them inside of the quotation marks. People in England use punctuation and quotation marks logically, placing the periods outside of the phrase being quoted. 

American: “Blah blah blah.” 

British: “Blah blah blah”. 

The exception is with question marks, unless the quoted material is a question. 

Why did he say, “I hate you”? 

or

He said, “Why do you hate me?” 

“It’s” or “Its”

Many people are unaware that there is a distinction between “it’s” and “its.” What’s the big deal? they are asking themselves, the apostrophe is the only difference. On the contrary, the meaning is a very important difference also. 

“It’s” is a contraction for “it is.” A contraction is the combination of two words using an apostrophe. When you want to say what something is, you write “it’s.” Imagine taking the “i” out of “is,” replacing it with an apostrophe, and combining “it” and “is.” 

It is creepy.

It + is 

It + s 

It’s creepy. 

“Its” is a possessive adjective because it is identifying a noun as belonging (or being possessed) by something. Other possessive adjectives include “their” and “your.” 

You lost the button of your shirt. 

You lost its button. 

In the first sentence, it is said that the button belongs to your shirt. Therefore, you can replace “your shirt” with the pronoun “it” and say the same thing. 

“Definitely”

“Definitely” is often confused with “definately” because the second word seems closer to how it sounds when spoken. Unfortunately for phonic spellers, “definately” is not an accepted word. The word you mean to say is “definitely.” 

Definitely is an adverb because it modifies, or describes, a verb (an action, state, or occurrence) or an adjective (a word that describes or modifies a noun). The dictionary defines “definite” as “clearly true” So, when one uses the word “definitely” in a sentence, one means to say that the verb or adjective in the sentence is clearly true. 

The blanket is definitely green. 

“Green” is the adjective describing the blanket (the noun). The blanket is clearly and unmistakably green. The fact that it is green is definite. Therefore, it is definitely green.  

“To” or “Too”

This difference seems easy enough to identify, but you’d be surprised how often these two words are mistaken for each other. 

“To” is a preposition because it links nouns or pronouns to other words in the sentence. 

Give that book to me. 

In the above sentence, “to” links the book to “me,” a pronoun. Since the word “to” is introducing, or preceding, “me,” “me” is the object of the preposition. 

“Too” is an adverb because it modifies a verb (word to describe an action, state, or occurrence). It is equal to “also.” 

I would like to go there also. 

I would like to go there too.

So, here are “to” and “too” used incorrectly.

I hate her to.

He gave the pencil too her.  

The first sentence is incorrect because “to” is not introducing anything (there is no object coming after it). The second sentence is incorrect because “too” is not modifying a verb. Plus, it sounds pretty funny when “too” is substituted with “also.” 

He gave the pencil also her.

Abbreviations

 Oh boy. 

Abbreviations are shortened forms of words or phrases. Popular abbreviations include USA or FBI. There are also abbreviations for names, such as Mrs. or Mr. Finally, there is a special type of abbreviation called an acronym, which is an abbreviation whose letters form a word that can be pronounced, such as NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) or AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome).

There are so many abbreviations, I couldn’t possibly introduce them all, but here are a few. 

COMMON ABBREVIATIONS FOR NAMES OR TITLES

• Mr. for Mister
• Mrs. for Missus 
• Ms. for Miss
• Sr. for Senior 
• Jr. for Junior 
• Ph.D. for Doctor of Philosophy (This one is sort of strange.) 
• M.D. for Medical Doctor 
• B.A. for Bachelor of Arts 
• M.A. for Master of Arts 
• M.B.A. for Master of Business Administration 

In the abbreviations for M.A. or B.A., the “A” can be replaced with an “S” when referring to Science. For the abbreviations of titles, there are no spaces between the letters. Additionally, some style guides do not recommend putting periods at all, but the ones that do put a period after every letter. Putting a comma after a name and then the title is also a stylistic preference of the individual: 

Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Martin Luther King Jr. 

For units of measurement, such as meters (m) or feet (ft), there are no periods after the abbreviation and no s when it is plural (more than one). The only exception is inches, which is abbreviated “in.” 

A.M. and P.M. 

• A.M. means “ante meridiem” which is Latin for “before midday” 
• P.M. means “post meridiem” which is Lation for “after midday” 
• A.M. and P.M. can be lowercased (a.m. and p.m.) 

B.C. and A.D. 

• B.C. means “before Christ” and is used after the year (4000 B.C.)
• A.D. means “anno domini” which is Latin for “in the year of the Lord” and is used before the year (A.D. 78) 

etc., i.e., e.g., and et al. 

• etc. means “et cetera” which is Latin for “and so forth.” It is used to suggest that there are other examples beyond those given (We need a lot of fruit: apples, bananas, etc.) 
• i.e. means “id est” which is Latin for “that is.” It equates to the phrase “that is to say” and is used to refer to something specific (The most beautiful woman in the world, i.e. Mary Smith, is here)
• i.e. can also be followed by a phrase to add clarity to the sentence. Example: “Many workers expect to put in a forty-hour week — i.e., to work eight hours a day.”*
• e.g. means “exempli gratia” which is Latin for “for example.” (Some sports require a ball, e.g. football and soccer.) 
• et al. means “et alii” which is Latin for “and others.” It is used to represent unnamed people or things in a list (This book was written by Brian, Josh, Diane, et al.) 
• The abbreviations “i.e.” and “e.g.” are lowercase and followed by a comma

STREET NAMES 

• For a definitive list of street names, click here. 
• In general, the first letter can either be capitalized with a period at the end, or all letters capitalized with no period at the end (St. or ST) 

*Thank you for the addition, Elliot. 

They’re, Their, and There

Similar to the difference between “you’re” and “your,” there is a big difference between “they’re” and “their.” “They’re” is a contraction (combination between two words in which the vowel is replaced with an apostrophe) for “they are.” “Their” is a possessive adjective (word identifying an object as belonging to someone).  

To tell someone that he or she is awesome, one would say, “You are awesome” or “You’re awesome.” The same method applies to “they,” only that word is plural, meaning “more than one.” 

So, let’s say you like the Beatles. Someone asks you, “Why?” You want to say that they are awesome. Imagine taking the “a” out of “are,” replacing it with an apostrophe, and combining “they” and “are.” 

They are awesome. 

They + are 

They + re 

They’re awesome. 

“Their” is a possessive adjective. When used in front of an object, “their” identifies the object as something THEY OWN. Because the word “they” is plural, “they’re” is often referred to as a plural possessive adjective.

They’re stupid. 

I don’t like their stupid clothes. 

If you were to substitute “they’re” in the first sentence with “their,” and “their” in the second sentence with “they’re,” the sentences no longer make sense. 

Their stupid. (This leaves us wondering, “Their stupid what? They can’t own “stupid.”) 

I don’t like they’re stupid clothes. (This is equal to “I don’t like they are stupid clothes,” which is not correct.) 

“There” is commonly used as a pronoun, which takes the place of a noun. A noun is a person, place, or thing, such as “mother,” “school,” or “tree.” Pronouns include words such as “he,” “she,” “I,” or “us.” 

“There” is, more specifically, a demonstrative pronoun because it refers to a noun whose identity is understood from the context of the sentence. Other demonstrative pronouns include “this,” “that,” “these,” “those,” and “here.”  

In other words, a demonstrative pronoun refers to the number of the noun in the sentence or how far the speaker is from the noun. 

There is my house. 

I want to go over there. 

I know that this last one is hard to swallow, but to oversimplify: “There” is a pronoun referring to a place (the noun) that is far away from the speaker. 

Don’t let others convince you to use “they’re,” “their,” or “there” incorrectly. They’re wrong, so don’t follow in their footsteps. Just don’t go there. 

You’re and Your

Awhile ago, someone that I volunteered with at a museum was texting me. The subject of “you’re” and “your” was brought up, and I mentioned how much it bothered me. I mentioned this knowing that this person always texts “your” in place of “you’re.” To my surprise, she texted back talking about how she hated how no one understood the difference and how it was “so easy.” She was serious, and continued misusing “your.” 

In all seriousness, “you’re” is a contraction of “you are.” A contraction is the combination of two words using an apostrophe. Other contractions include words like “can’t” for “can not” and “don’t” for “do not.” When you want to tell someone what they are, you want to say “you are.”

Therefore, when you want to tell someone that they are awesome, imagine taking the “a” out of “are,” replacing it with an apostrophe, and combining “you” and “are.” 

You are awesome. 

You + are 

You + re 

You’re awesome. 

“Your” is an adjective because it describes or identifies something. It is also possessive, meaning that it shows ownership (think of “possessing” an object). So, “your” is a possessive adjective because it identifies an object as belonging to YOU.

“You’re” is different from “your” because while “you’re” identifies what YOU ARE, “your” identifies what YOU OWN. 

You’re amazing. 

I love your amazing eyes. 

If you substitute “you’re” in the first sentence for “your,” and “your” in the second sentence for “you’re,” you can see how it doesn’t make much sense. 

Your amazing. (This leaves us wondering, “Your what is amazing? You don’t own “amazing.”) 

I love you’re amazing eyes. (This translates to “I love you are amazing eyes,” which clearly makes no sense.) 

I hope you’re more confident with your usage of “you’re” and “your” after reading. HAHA