Transcript The Right Words_

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After waking up,
please copy the
following info
about usage into
your English
Notebook.
1. Lie or Lay ?
6. Affect or Effect?
2. I or Me?
7. Among or Between?
3. Who or Whom?
8. Alot or A Lot?
4. Good or Well?
9. Bad or Badly?
5. Hung or Hang?
10. Alright or All Right?
MAKE YA GO, “HMMM!”
Lie means to rest or recline, and lay means
to place. If you want to get technical, lay
is a transitive verb, meaning it always
takes a direct object, which of course is a
noun. Lie never takes a direct object.
Example: The books are lying on the floor.
Explanation: Since a subject can’t be a
direct object, there isn’t a noun receiving
the action of lying or resting;
therefore, lying is correct because
it never takes a direct object.
If the whole direct/indirect object thing
confuses you try this: If you can
substitute the verb “put,” use “lay.” If
you can’t, use “lie.”
Example: Lay the books down.
Explanation: Makes sense because “Put the
books down” works as a sentence.
Example: I’m tired, so I think I’ll lie down.
Explanation: You would never say,
“I think I’ll put down,” so since “put”
doesn’t work, use “lie.”
A major problem with pronouns is the use of
the wrong case. In English certain pronouns
are meant to be the subject or predicate
nominative of a sentence. Other words are
meant to be the objects--whether direct,
indirect, objects of prepositions, or object
complements.
Pronouns used as subjects or predicate
nominatives (nominative case):
I, you, he, she, it, we, they,
who
Pronouns used as objects (objective case):
me, you, him, her, it, us, them, whom
Some things are really obvious. All English
speakers know we say "I like him," not "Me
like he."
If we know that "Me like him" is incorrect,
then that also means that "Katy and me like
him" is incorrect. The word I
belongs in the subject. The
sentence should read "Katy and I
like him."
Politeness says that the I, we, me or
us comes last.
If the sentence had some kind of
compound object, the sentence would
read: "Katy likes Joe and me," not "Katy
likes Joe and I."
After all, we would say "Katy
likes me," not "Katy likes I."
Similarly the object in "Katy
likes the Gonzales’s and us" is
correct.
All this confusion can easily be avoided if you
just remove the second party from the
sentences where you feel tempted to use
“me” as an object.
You wouldn’t say, “A.O.L. sent the refund
check to I,” so you shouldn’t say “A.O.L. sent
the refund check to my brother and I”
either.
And you shouldn’t say “to my brother and
myself.” The only correct way to
say this is, “A.O.L. sent the
refund check to my brother and
me.” Sounds too casual? Get over
it. It’s correct.
On a related point, those who continue to
announce “It is I” have traditional
grammatical correctness on their side, but
they are vastly outnumbered by those who
proudly boast “it’s me!”
There’s not much that can be done about
this now. Similarly, if a caller asks for Cassie
and Cassie answers “This is she,” her
somewhat old school correctness
is likely to freak out the
questioner into utter confusion.
The pronoun “who” is always the
subject of a sentence or clause.
“Who” is never the object, but
“whom” is always the object of a
transitive verb or preposition.
Example: Who created a profile on
MySpace without my permission?
Explanation: Who is the subject
of the sentence. It stands for
the person who created a profile.
Example: Chance called whom?
Explanation: “Whom” is
receiving the action of being
called, making it the direct
object, and we know the pronoun
“who” can only be the subject of
a verb, never the object.
Example: To whom shall I email the photos?
Explanation: Here, “whom” is
the object of the preposition
“to.” Since “whom” is always an
object of either a verb or
preposition, using “who”
would be incorrect.
Well, don’t know which one to use?
Good, but here’s how you figure it
out. Just remember “good” is an
adjective and “well” is an adverb.
Use “good” to describe nouns or
pronouns and “well” to describe verbs.
Example: Ken makes good sushi, and he
adjective
serves it well.
verb
adverb
noun
Explanation: “Sushi” is a noun, so “good”
can be used to describe it. “Serves” is a
verb, so “well” can be used to describe
how it’s served.
Tip: Use “good” when describing feelings
and “well” when describing health.
Example: After hearing your
apology, I feel good.
Example: Since eating lunch at
school, I don’t feel
well.
Just remember this. Things are
hung, people are hanged. It helps
avoid embarrassing sentences.
Example: Kari hung her sweater on
the chair.
Example: After being caught by an
angry mob, Mussolini was hanged in
the town square.
First, you have to know your parts of
speech. Don’t use affect as a noun
unless you mean it in reference to
your state of mind or mood. “Affect”
as a verb means “to influence”;
“effect” as a verb means “to bring
about” or “to cause.” So, “effect”
and “affect” have two different
meanings, which means you
must think what you’re trying
to say before choosing which
one to use. Yikes!
Example: She effected changes in
the government.
Example: His shoes affected his
ability to jump.
Example: The weather effected
tremendous damage in the mountains.
Example: Her teaching had a
poor effect on me.
Rarely in life is something this simple.
If you are comparing two things or
people, use “between.” If the
comparison involves more than two,
use among.
Example: While it’s easy for me to
choose between sushi and McDonald’s,
it’s more difficult if I have to choose
among Italian, Mexican, and
Indian food.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we all had a
spell check imbedded in our brain? If
we did, we’d realize that “alot” is a
spelling error. The correct spelling is
“a lot.” Two little words, that’s all.
DO NOT USE “A LOT” in x2 writing.
There is better, more precise
vocabulary available (see your notes).
Example: A lot of our spelling errors
are due to a lot of ignorance.
In general, bad is an adjective and
badly an adverb (after all, it ends in –
ly). However, when applied to the
five senses of sight, smell, sound,
touch, and taste, use bad.
Example: The chili at the local fast food
restaurant left a bad taste in my mouth.
adjective
noun
Example: Ever since Shaq left
the Lakers, they’ve played badly.
Verb
Adverb
Remember, when applied to the five
senses of sight, smell, sound, touch, and
taste, use bad.
Sight: Those mushrooms look bad.
Smell: Never eat sushi that smells bad.
Sound: Admit it, Brittany Spears sounds
bad.
Touch: Chewing of foil feels
bad.
Taste: Black licorice tastes bad
to many people.
One more thing about bad or badly. If
you’re describing someone’s feelings, use
bad. If you don’t, it sounds like you’re
talking about someone’s sense of touch,
such as “She feels badly.” Literally, it
means her sense of touch is bad or that
her fingers lack sensation.
Right: I feel bad about your
grade in English.
Wrong: I feel badly about your
grade in English.
Alright is all wrong. It’s
always “all right.” All
right?
Example: After falling
in class, Sara
yelled, “I’m all
right!”
All right. I’m awake now!