In my town, flags are flying at half-staff to honor a fallen firefighter, including the one at my office. Yesterday, I had to verify that flags do indeed fly at half-staff and not half-mast as some media outlet in town were reporting. Luckily, my favorite argument settler, the trusty AP Stylebook settled this question. Per the … Continue reading Half-mast vs. half-staff
That vs. who: A Grammar Lesson
Maybe its the anonymous nature of comments, bad grammar school or never learning to diagram a sentence, but the number of people who can't figure out when to use who or when to use that in a sentence appears to increase every day. To review from the AP Stylebook Who is for human beings and … Continue reading That vs. who: A Grammar Lesson
Who’s vs. Whose
After explaining who vs. that, I realized I'm still getting hung up on who's versus whose. I like apostrophes to show ownership. Unfortunately, with these two the one with the apostrophe does not equal ownership. Who's is who is. Or who has. It does not show ownership. Examples: Who's at the door? (Who is at … Continue reading Who’s vs. Whose
Farther vs. Further
It wasn't until I had a conversation with my friend the copy editor that I finally understood the difference between farther and further. That's because I knew both were about distance, I just thought the right one was whichever sounded better in the sentence. Turns out there is a difference. Farther is for physical distance. … Continue reading Farther vs. Further
All Together vs. Altogether: A Grammar Lesson
Before we can discuss the specifics, it is important to realize that this confusion is part of a bigger issue. In English, there are several words that combine all and a root word to create alroot. Follow so far? All Together is an adverb that means at the same time or as a group. For … Continue reading All Together vs. Altogether: A Grammar Lesson