Here is another batch of bloopers from dailies and periodicals.<\/p>\n
\u2022 \u201cCanada is sending between 50 to 100 military advisers.\u201d Can anyone explain the presence of \u201cbetween\u201d in that sentence?<\/p>\n
\u2022 \u201cHe showed a much improved grasp of the English language than a year ago.\u201d Someone who writes \u201cmuch improved than a year ago\u201d should concentrate on his own grasp.<\/p>\n
\u2022 \u201cIt was as bad, if not worse, than expected.\u201d Without the nonessential phrase \u201cif not worse\u201d we are left with \u201cIt was as bad than expected.\u201d Here is the grammatical version of the sentence: \u201cIt was as bad\u00a0as<\/em>, if not worse\u00a0than<\/em>, expected.\u201d That may be correct, but it\u2019s no prize package. How about \u201cIt was as bad as expected, if not worse.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 \u201cRoast lamb and venison comprise the meat course.\u201d Writers love to use\u00a0comprise<\/em>, but they keep getting it wrong. The word means \u201cto consist of.\u201d Do roast lamb and venison consist of the meat course? No, the meat course comprises roast lamb and venison. (Note:\u00a0comprised of<\/em>\u00a0is always incorrect.)<\/p>\n \u2022 \u201cThe goal is to showcase the oddly gentle enormity of this 46-foot-high room.\u201d This strange sentence becomes bizarre when one realizes that\u00a0enormity\u00a0<\/em>means \u201cgreat wickedness.\u201d Better make it \u201cimmensity\u201d or \u201cvastness.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 \u201cSouth Koreans eat more instant noodles per capita than anyone in the world.\u201d The sentence, taken literally, means that South Koreans and \u201canyone in the world\u201d are two separate groups. One key word solves the problem: \u201cSouth Koreans eat more instant noodles per capita than anyone\u00a0else\u00a0<\/em>in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 Let\u2019s close with two examples of the havoc caused by losing track of your subject \u2026<\/p>\n \u201cThe first thing Ryan saw were her knees.\u201d How\u2019s that again? The first thing\u00a0were<\/em>? If the subject is singular, the verb must be singular: The first thing he saw\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>her knees. If the writer doesn\u2019t like how that looks and sounds, how about \u201cThe first\u00a0things<\/em>\u00a0Ryan saw were her knees.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cReading \u2018thought pieces\u2019 on our mobile devices are making us shallow.\u201d Reading\u00a0are<\/em>\u00a0making us shallow? The writer got distracted by \u201cdevices\u201d and forgot that the subject, \u201cReading,\u201d is singular.<\/p>\n That\u2019s all for now. We\u2019d love to retire Media Watch, but we can\u2019t until the happy day that all writers proof their articles and avoid fancy words that they may have forgotten to look up.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Pop Quiz<\/strong><\/p>\n The following are sentences recently heard over the airwaves. See if you can spot the errors. Our solutions are below.<\/p>\n 1. \u201cWe\u2019re in unchartered waters here.\u201d <\/p>\n Pop Quiz Answers<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. \u201cWe\u2019re in\u00a0uncharted<\/em>\u00a0waters here.\u201d Here is another batch of bloopers from dailies and periodicals. \u2022 \u201cCanada is sending between 50 to 100 military advisers.\u201d Can anyone explain the presence of \u201cbetween\u201d in that sentence? \u2022 \u201cHe showed a much improved grasp of the English language than a year ago.\u201d Someone who writes \u201cmuch improved than a year ago\u201d should […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,12,43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-definitions","category-effective-writing","category-subject-and-verb-agreement"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1706"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1706\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n2. \u201cIt\u2019s\u00a03 a.m.\u00a0on a\u00a0Sunday\u00a0morning.\u201d
\n3. \u201cMany Americans despise we in the media.\u201d
\n4. \u201cThe likelihood of outbreaks are very low.\u201d
\n5. \u201cThere was twelve men and one women in the room.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n2. \u201cIt\u2019s 3\u00a0o\u2019clock<\/em>\u00a0on a\u00a0Sunday\u00a0morning.\u201d (Writing \u201ca.m.\u201d would be redundant)
\n3. \u201cMany Americans despise\u00a0us<\/em>\u00a0in the media.\u201d
\n4. \u201cThe likelihood of outbreaks\u00a0is<\/em>\u00a0very low.\u201d
\n5. \u201cThere\u00a0were<\/em>\u00a0twelve men and one\u00a0woma<\/strong>n<\/em>\u00a0in the room.\u201d (Did you spot both mistakes?)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"