Transcript Chapter 2: “Grammar and Spelling”

“Grammar and Spelling”
Chapter 2
(aka English 101)
“Words to write by…”
“Never use a metaphor,
simile or other figure
of speech which you
are not used to
seeing in print; never
use a long word
where a short one will
do; if it is possible to
cut a word out,
always cut it out;
“Words to write by…”
never use the passive voice
when you can use the
active; never use a
foreign phrase, a
scientific word or jargon if
you can think of an
everyday English
equivalent; and break any
of these rules sooner
than say anything
outright barbarous.”
--George Orwell, author
Good reporters:
Have good news judgment
 Write well

“To become effective writers, journalists
must understand more than the basics of
grammar and word usage. They have to
become experts.” (from your textbook)
The basics:
Nouns
 Verbs
 Adjectives
 Articles (“a,” “an,” “the”)
 Adverbs
 Pronouns
 Conjunctions (“and,” “but,” “or”– words that

connect other words, phrases, etc.)
Problem Areas

Agreement errors
– Example: “A team of researchers have
gathered the information.” Can you fix?
– Example: “General Motors is expanding their
car line.” Is this sentence correct?
– Example: “The team won their third victory in
a row.” OK…or not?
Misplaced Modifiers
Example: “A suspect in a burglary case
was arrested after a high-speed chase
involving two lawn mowers stolen from a
hardware store.” Is this OK?
 Example: “The board voted to fire the
president for his sexual misconduct during
an emergency meeting Saturday morning.”
Huh?

Personification Problems
Example: “The fire department treated
the child for smoke inhalation.” Correct?
 Example: “The company, which denied
any responsibility for the deaths, will
appear in court next month.” Who will
appear in court?

(Un)Parallel Form
Example: “She enjoys swimming,
running, biking and to read a good book.”
Anything wrong?
 Example: “The Smiths have three children:
Jim, 4; three-year-old Jane; and little Joe
who just turned two.”
 Better: “The Smiths have three children:
Jim, 4; Jane, 3; and Joe, 2.”

Finly…be sur to spelt crectly…
Misspellings reflect laziness on the part of
the writer, and they sometimes cause
readers to doubt the facts in the story
 Spell-check programs may catch
misspelled words but they don’t always
catch improper word usage.
