whymzycal: sequin stars (stars)
[personal profile] whymzycal
Hello, fellow grammar fans! Today we’re going to explore the question posed by [personal profile] wanted_a_pony: “When do you use ‘you and I’ versus ‘you and me’? Are there differences in American and British English?”

Let’s find out the answer with a little help from the characters of Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. )
[identity profile] mab-browne.livejournal.com
[livejournal.com profile] alexisjane asked when do you use "other" versus "else"?

Since this comm is Fandom Grammar and no other, what else can I do but use fannish examples to illustrate my answer? This post’s examples come from the characters of The Professionals.

More under the cut )
[identity profile] bluewolf458.livejournal.com
When I was at school, we were given a simple rule - use 'who' (or whom) for people, 'that' for animals, and 'which' or 'that' for places or things. Simple. Straightforward. A rule I still use. But do our Sentinel friends use it?Read more... )
[identity profile] melayneseahawk.livejournal.com
At long last, Dinosaur Comics has solved the dilemma of the gender-neutral pronoun. Click the preview for the full comic:

[identity profile] achacunsagloire.livejournal.com
"Doctor Who?"  Doctor Who did what?
Mr. Watson of HijiNKS ENSUE gives a good lesson here about the difference between less and fewer, but the Grammar Dalek's last exclamation about "Doctor Whom" unfortunately misses the mark.

But before we explain why, let's quickly review the difference between who and whom (using examples from the Very Potter musicals):

Who and whom are both words that replace nouns (that refer to people).  However, there is a distinct difference between them:

  • Who is used when replacing a human subject.  For example: It was Draco who let Voldemort and the Death Eaters into Hogwarts. Who only reads books but cannot draw, even if she were reading a "how-to-draw" book?  Hermione.

  • Whom is used when replacing a human object.  For example: Cedric found whom in the graveyard?  Quirrell and Voldemort.  To whom did Dumbledore leave Hogwarts and his chocolate factory?  To Harry and Charlie, respectively.

An easy way to remember the difference between these particular words that I myself have used is looking at the word that comes after the who or whom in question.  Is there an action verb there that who or whom performs?  If so, then choose who; if not, then choose whom. In the case of being verbs (which take two subjects instead of one subject and one object), use who.  For example: Who the devil was it? It was Snape.

As far as the comic goes, the first instance of "who versus whom" in the comic is correct; the problem with the Grammar Dalek's last exclamation is that this particular usage of "Doctor Who" is neither a subject nor an object, and therefore it does not need to be changed to "Doctor Whom" as the Grammar Dalek says it does.
[identity profile] pinkeuphoria1.livejournal.com

Have you ever wondered why we capitalize “I” I’ll be honest and say I haven’t. At least not during the last … 10 years. It’s become such a habit to write "I" without giving it a second thought. Yes, it does seem wrong when I don’t see "I" capitalized, but I never stop to think about the reason why not capitalizing it is actually considered wrong.

So here's an explanation on why we capitalize "I" in English!

Examples from Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales nd J.K. Rowling's  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

Why "I" and not "i"? )

[identity profile] melayneseahawk.livejournal.com
Wesley: Her abuse of the English language is such that I understand only every other sentence.

Believe it or not, the same kind of issues we talk about in [livejournal.com profile] fandom_grammar appears in the source text of some of our favorite fandoms. For this Feature, we've gathered some of these examples and are going to break down the grammar and syntax topics they discuss.

Examples from the source texts of Bones, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Castle, Friends, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and Stargate SG-1.

Off we go! )

We'd love to do this again sometime. So, if you can think of any quotes about grammar, syntax, or any other topic we have or could cover, you can comment and leave them for us right here.
[identity profile] mendax.livejournal.com
This week we get two related questions for the price of one. [livejournal.com profile] rykaine wants to know, "What are the appropriate conjugations for verbs following either, neither, none, each, etc.?" And [livejournal.com profile] earth2skye asks, "Should it be a singular or plural verb after 'neither he nor'?"

With examples from QI, The Sentinel, and Jeeves and Wooster.

No, verbs cannot just agree to disagree )
ext_289215: (TAI William hips)
[identity profile] momebie.livejournal.com
Grammar 101: Nouns, Pronouns, and Conjunctions with examples from Harry Potter, bandom, and Cowboy Bebop.


Nouns

The word noun comes from ‘nomen’, which is a Latin word meaning name. The noun, as we know it, is a word used to signify a person, place, animal, thing, event, substance, quality, or abstract idea. The following sentences display some of the more basic examples of nouns.The following sentences display some of the more basic examples of nouns. )
[identity profile] katiefoolery.livejournal.com
[livejournal.com profile] t_verano poses an interesting question: When is it appropriate to use "which" vs. "that"? What is the appropriate comma use in each situation?

Is there, in fact, a distinct rule that applies to this situation? Or does it depend entirely on mood, which can change from one moment to the next?

Let's find out, with examples from Discworld... )
[identity profile] mendax.livejournal.com
[livejournal.com profile] rkaine asks, “When is it appropriate to use ‘I’ vs. ‘me’?”

(with examples from The Sentinel, Firefly, and Saiyuki and general guidance from The Gregg Reference Manual and Garner’s Modern American Usage)

Because  )
skroberts: (SG-1 Grammar)
[personal profile] skroberts
...with examples from Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1, Bones, NCIS, Psych, Burn Notice, Due South, Supernatural, and Shakespeare...

[livejournal.com profile] t_verano and [livejournal.com profile] tejas ask: When is it appropriate to use "that" vs. "who"? Does this change when referring to animals rather than people?

THAT vs. WHO )
[identity profile] superhero-specs.livejournal.com
...with examples from Stargate SG-1 and House


In the Stargate SG-1 Season 4 episode “2010,” Jack O’Neill has the following exchange with Sam’s husband, Joe:

Jack: Did you get it?
Joe: Yes.
Sam: Thank you.
Joe: What are you gonna do with it?
Jack: Send a message.
Joe: To who?
Jack: To whom.

Is Jack right? Should Joe have used 'whom'? If so, why? )

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