grammarphobe | grammarphobe

Aug.15.2008 How to Forget the Plural of 'Pizza' – A Cautionary Tale About Using Your Brain in Hollywood A friend wrote recently with a question. She had just applied for a job with a powerhouse entertainment company that made her take a grammar quiz. One of the questions: What’s the plural of pizza?My friend, having been raised in society and not in a hole in the ground, is fully aware of the word “...	Jul.28.2008 The Grammarphobe Lessons: Clause is not just Santa's last name! Today I am thinking about clauses. I think it's because I like the word. Clause. It's such a simple word with a lot of meanings. However, what are our friends the clauses? Let's take a look. According to the grammar ccc website, clauses are a group of associated words containing a...
Jul.16.2008 Ramblings on the Origin of Grammar "Rules" A lot of people think grammar rules are handed down from somewhere on high - that at some time, someone somewhere was dubbed the boss of how we should speak and write. Not so. Grammar is really just a description of how people use the language. Yes, there are rights and wrongs. But these aren't...	Jul.14.2008 The Grammarphobe Lessons: There's No There, there. Or is it their? It’s Monday, so it’s time for another Grammarphobe lesson! Yes, it’s me, the Grammarphobe girl (thanks, Dennis Shay, for the new title) First off, I want to give a shout out to other RedRoomers who are writing about grammar. And boy, do they know more than I do-Francoise Renoir and June Cassagrade...
Jul.07.2008 The Grammarphobe Lessons: Audacious Admiring Adjectives! For those of you joining me from the Tips page, I welcome you to the Grammarphobe Lessons! I'm Jennifer Gibbons, and I am a recovering grammarphobe. I started this series of grammar lessons to teach myself grammar again because I hate grammar with a passion. Considering I'm a writer, I know this...	Jun.23.2008 Grammarphobe Lessons: Vivid Verbs! Avoiding Adverbs! Welcome back to the Grammar Phobe lessons! Boy, I know you all are excited about this week's lesson. I hope that you are. Well, humor me, okay? This week we are talking about verbs. Verbs. I just love the word. Verb, verby, verbs! According to Stunk and White, here's the definition of verbs: a word...
Jun.16.2008 The Grammarphobe Lessons: Nifty Neat Nouns! It's Monday, so it is time for the first Grammarphobe lesson! I know you all are excited about this. I know you have workbooks, I know you have sharpened your pencils and put ink in your pens. Let us begin. Back when I was in grade school, we usually started with nouns. What are nouns...