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Even though I know this grammar rule, I still always double-check in my trusty, well-worn, AP Stylebook.
Simplified: lay is for objects, lie is to recline. You lay an object on a table. You lie down.
“The action word is lay,” according to the AP Stylebook. “It takes a direct object. Laid is the form for its past tense and its past participle. Its present participle is laying. Lie indicates a state of reclining along a horizontal plane. It does not take a direct object. Its past tense is lay. Its past participle is lying.”
The Stylebook entry goes on to make a few examples.
Present or future tenses:
I will lay the book on the table. The prosecutor tried to lay the blame on him.
He lies on the beach all day. I will lie down.
Past tense:
I laid the book on the table. The prosecutor has laid the blame on him.
He has lain on the beach all day. I lay down. I have lain down.
Present participle:
I am laying the book on the table. The prosecutor is laying the blame on him. He is lying on the beach. I am laying down.
Clear as mud?
There is no such thing as first (or 1st) annual.
The event can be inaugural in the first year, but never annual.
“An event cannot be described as annual until it has been held in at least two successive years,” according to the AP Stylebook. “Do not use the term first annual. Instead, note that the sponsors plan to hold an event annually.”
As a plea to all public relations professionals, marketers and those organizing a local charity 5k, please stop using first annual. Be proud of the first event!
From: BusyTeacher.org
The No, It’s Not Arbitrary and Does Make Sense: Teaching the English Punctuation System article from busyteacher.org is a great place to review what you know and think you know about punctuation.
A true/false quiz is the best place to start.
1. You write a comma when you take a breath. True False
2. You write a colon before a list. True False
3. You write a period after a thought. True False
4. A letter S should always have an apostrophe before it. True False
5. A period should be written after an independent clause. True False
6. “Mother” and other important words should always be capitalized. True False
How many did you get right?
The rest of the article gives good examples of the right kinds of sentences and punctuation and is worth a review even if you think you’ve got punctuation down.
As my trusty AP Stylebook states, “There is no alternative to correct punctuation.” Sometimes it is just better to recast the sentence than to try to fix it.
You know that moment when you’re writing away and all of a sudden you can’t remember simple things? Like than or then? I once wrote an entire high school AP English paper without using than. To which my very patient teacher asked me, just how late were you up writing this paper? Of course, my answer was much too late.I didn’t get to rewrite the paper, but I have yet to forget than and then again.
I had a similar experience this morning. Out of nowhere, I couldn’t remember the difference between all together and altogether. Luckily, the AP Stylebook and this wonderful website fixed my confusion.
All together is an adverb and means a group.
Altogether is also an adverb and means completely and totally. It also means considering everything.
Looking this up reminded me of an elementary school lesson on this topic, all together means we (from the together) and we means a group. Only a group of things, people, etc. can get all together.
This is rather simple. According to Grammar Girl, each other is always two words in English. The AP Stylebook further explains each other and one another, where more confusion occurs.
As quoted from the 2007 AP Stylebook “Two people look at each other. More than two look at one another. Either phrase may be used when the number is indefinite: We help each other. We help one another.”
To sum it up, eachother is not a word in English. Each other and one another depend on the number of people involved.
Clear as mud?
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