Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Who or Whom



I missed the good grammar genes when they were being handed out. Sometimes I get excited when I'm writing and switch from past to present tense. Sometimes I even write sentence fragments. And I never ever can remember when to use lie or lay.

When I'm really corn-fused (as we like to say at the Larson house), I turn to this trusty tome by Martha Brockenbrough, the founder of the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar (SPOGG). 
Not only does she make me laugh, she steers me right every time.

I have also recently discovered Grammarly, an equally awesome resource because you can paste in chunks of text and, voila!, get a report highlighting your shameful mixing of metaphors or failure to use different from (I don't know why, but different than sounds better to my ear) or dangling participles. There's a free 7-day trial, so give it a whirl!

Those of you who are not Martha Brockenbrough: what grammar tools do you use to keep those copy-editors from breathing down your neck?

2 comments:

  1. Now that book looks terrific.

    I did get grammar genes, but sometimes they fail me. ( I think some of it is from hearing "conversationally" in my head, instead of always the precise, correct grammar.) Luckily I have a friend who's a fanatic so I just email Leslie...

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  2. Augusta, can I please have Leslie's email address?

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