Grammar refresher #1

Grammar mistakes can be easy to make and I hate making them. Here are some common grammar mistakes and how to avoid them:

The prefixes "un-," "non-," "in-,"and "ir-" all negate the root word, but you can't just add them to any root word you want. There is only one correct prefix option for each word. And yes, you do need to memorize them… here are a few you can start with:

Unpleasant. Not "inpleasant," "nonpleasant," or "irpleasant." Unreliable. Not "inreliable," "irreliable," or "nonreliable."

Irreversible. Not "unreversible," "nonreversible," or "inreversible." Irrational. Not "unrational," "inrational," or "nonrational."

Noncommittal. Not "uncommittal," "incommittal," and certainly not "ircommittal."

Indecent. Not "undecent," "irdecent," or even "nondecent."

If you don't know which prefix goes with which root word, then you're just outta luck. It might help to sound out the word in your head and figure out which letters probably represent that sound best.

"A lot" is correct. "Alot" is not. Period. Plain and simple. I don't care if you disagree with this, a thousand linguists are not wrong.

"Good" is an adjective and "well" is an adverb. He is a good player. He plays well. It is incorrect to say "He plays good." Adjectives describe nouns. Adverbs describe verbs. In this sentence, the word "player" is used as a noun in the first sentence, warranting an adjective… and a verb in the second sentence, calling for an adverb.

Put modifiers such as "only" in the right place. For example: "Only Alison thinks she can ride a bike." This means Alison believes she is the only person who can ride a bike. "Alison thinks she can drive the only bike." This means Alison believes she can drive the car and that there exists only one bike. See the difference?

Be agreeable. When it comes to language, we can't just agree to disagree, at least not when it comes to subjects and verbs. If your subject is singular, your verb must be, too. Usually, this is easy: "The boy eats the pie." "The people eat the pie."

Avoid apostrophe catastrophes. On the bright side, the "pie's" made by Beth were delicious, but the sign she made advertising them was terrible. Apostrophes are used for possessives. Pies don't possess much beyond crust and filling. So unless you're talking about that, keep the apostrophe out of the recipe.