For Writers
Comma Down—Commas with Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Adjective Clauses / with Which, That, Who, Whose and Where
Let’s start by defining our terms. A CLAUSE is a group of words with a subject and a verb. The house is around the corner. that I want to buy The house that I want to buy is around the corner. (“That I want to buy” is information that is essential to the meaning of
Comma Down—Commas in a Series / Compound Subjects #1
When two or more subjects in a sentence share the same verb, we call it a compound subject. Chickadees and cardinals frequent my winter feeders. In this sentence, chickadees and cardinals both share the verb frequent. We call this a compound subject but, as you can see, no comma is needed because there are only
Comma Down—Commas in a Series / Compound Subjects (#2) Wherever You Find Them
The subject of a sentence performs the verb. It usually falls at the beginning of a simple sentence, but it can follow introductory phrases with prepositions and participles and other introductory elements. (See previous post titled “Commas After Introductory Prepositional and Participial Phrases.”) In some cases, it can even follow the verb. Most of the
Comma Down–Commas in a Series / Commas with Adverbs
Commas with adverbs function much the same as commas in any other series of words. We have no choice but to separate a series of words of any category from each other with commas. But we have to ask ourselves two questions. Question #1 is covered in the previous post that I mentioned. If you’re
Artfully Said–In or Out?
Winslow Homer, Northeaster, 1901, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (Public Domain) Homer was not only a painter. He was also an editor of his paintings. According to the Met’s description, this version of Northeaster is different from when it first appeared in 1896. Its seems that the original painting included two human
Artfully Said–Best Foot Forward?
Franz von Lenbach, Marion Lenbach, The Artist’s Daughter, 1900, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (Public Domain) Imagine that you are a painter and the parent of Marion Lenbach. Is this the painting you would create of her for all the world to see? If so, what do you like about it? If
Artfully Said–Cold Enough For You?
Emanuel Leutze, Washington Crossing the Delaware, 1851, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (Public Domain) This is a wildly famous painting, one that I’ve see a lot in photographs over the years but, I must admit, have never looked very closely at before. The best way to see a painting like this (or
Artfully Said–Keep It Real
William Michael Harnett, Still Life with Violin, 1888, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (Public Domain) This painting is a fine example of trompe l’oeil, a style of painting where meticulous detail creates a work that that fools the eye into thinking it’s the real thing. Its hyper-realism creates a three-dimensional scene in
Artfully Said–Let’s Chat
Johannes Vermeer, Study of a Young Woman, 1665-1667, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (Public Domain) This painting, so typical of Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer, is titled a Study. So do that. Study this young woman’s image, her expression, her attitude. Make some judgments about the person you see. Then imagine her getting
Passed / Past–“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” Mark Twain
Check this category every week for a new set of ceaselessly confused, misused or misspelled words to master. Break the cycle of language abuse! The simple solution to this problem pair is a little bit of grammar. I saw that eye roll, but, I promise—this is easy. Passed is a verb. It’s the past tense