The Sh*t Detector

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36804738394256780562012-02-02T22:55:20.946-08:00The Sh*t DetectorGrammar advice, writing tips, English language improvement. Learn from the mistakes of professional writers.TSDnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1341100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-77917750885117103632011-09-07T02:10:00.000-07:002011-09-07T02:10:13.209-07:00Making a pronoun agree with its antecedent

I'm going to say right away that not all pronouns should have antecedents (nouns that pronouns refer to). There are certain pronouns that don't have antecedents, or that refer to nouns that are implied in the meaning of the sentence. For example: WHEN I STEPPED OUT OF THE RESTAURANT, IT WAS RAINING.In the example above, the pronoun IT does not refer to anything mentioned in the sentence. It

TSDnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-73162702668166085722011-09-06T23:59:00.000-07:002011-09-06T23:59:28.746-07:00Verb Tense Errors In Photo Captions

CAPTION: Vehicles negotiate España yesterday as a night of continuous rainfall spawned heavy flooding in many parts of Metro Manila. I have written about verb tense errors in photo captions a number of times. The photo on the left shows another such error in the caption. Writers, especially journalists, write sentences on a daily basis and verb tense errors do not often occur in articles--

TSDnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-42852635866120914342011-08-13T04:57:00.000-07:002011-08-12T10:08:08.172-07:00Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun in a sentence. The noun to which the pronoun refers is called the antecedent. In some cases, the antecedent is also a pronoun.The relationship between a pronoun and its antecedent is called pronoun reference or pronoun-antecedent agreement. Let's take a look at some rules concerning pronouns and antecedents: 1. A pronoun must always

Jonnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-85856655353006284232011-06-16T19:12:00.000-07:002011-09-07T03:13:48.827-07:00Congratulations. You earned a full-post reply.

This is a full-post reply to the first anonymous comment on another post. Yawn! Okay so you are blogging on grammatical errors contained in various articles published in the Philippines. I can see what it is you are trying to accomplish, but after going through a few of your posts, I feel the need to suddenly turn off my PC. Consider adopting a more constructive, rather than, a condescending tone

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-84819190782150956472011-06-16T11:24:00.000-07:002011-09-06T20:15:03.948-07:00Start-of-School Grammar Lessons

Thank you for visiting The Sh*t Detector! You may subscribe to my feeds via RSS reader or via e-mail. Choose a sharing service below each post to share my posts with your friends. Enjoy reading! The month of June means the start of school here in the Philippines. Among the first assignments given to grade school and high school students are the different branches of science, definition of basic

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-68555811692767465802011-06-10T17:07:00.000-07:002011-09-07T03:14:11.720-07:00Amy Tan on the Creative Writing Process

Award-winning author Amy Tan talks about the creative writing process by reaching deep into the well of her experience, and shares how her own creativity was fueled when she was writing her books. I love the wit and the allusion to scientific theories in her presentation. Truly priceless ideas from a great author! When I experience something like this--listening to a great author I never

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-41362425779880668122011-05-25T06:09:00.000-07:002011-09-07T03:14:44.846-07:00Seussical Debuts at Onstage Greenbelt 1

Seussical, a musical based on the works of Dr. Seuss, will debut at Onstage Theater at Greenbelt 1, Makati City, on August 13, 2011. For ticket inquiries, reservation and discounts, click here. "The story revolves around Horton the Elephant, who finds himself faced with a double challenge - not only must he protect his tiny friend Jojo (and all the invisible Whos) from a world of naysayers

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-32218164833052258982011-05-23T19:47:00.000-07:002011-09-07T03:13:10.763-07:00The Facebook "Dislike Button" Scam?

Have you seen the Activate Dislike Button link below some Facebook posts lately? Before you let the grammar police in you click that link and end your annoyance with Facebook's Unlike link, you may want to place your cursor over the link and check your status bar (lower left, above Start). It points to LiveJournal and some other link disguised as a short URL. Anything fishy? Some reports are

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-55131600585293467332011-04-14T00:06:00.000-07:002011-09-07T03:11:48.340-07:00To Is or Not To Is

This one from Yahoo! Movies is for Laura, who is blogs at Terribly Write. The writer appears to have tried selecting from the two verbs and ended up using both.

Jonnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-40555364583590308512011-03-07T16:50:00.000-08:002011-09-07T03:15:39.304-07:00Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement Resources

I notice that many readers stumble upon this blog by searching "pronoun-antecedent agreement". Below are some links that can help you: http://www.towson.edu/ows/pro_antagree.htm http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/pronouns.htm http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/grammar/pronante.html After reading these lessons, you may want to test yourself by taking this short test. Enjoy learning!

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-49400421862272523372011-03-07T16:33:00.000-08:002011-09-07T03:16:09.014-07:00Failed Front Page Caption

Here's another caption, displayed on the front page of The Philippine Star, that suffers from a verb tense error. The main verb is in the present tense despite the adverb yesterday, which indicates a time in the past. Definitely wrong.

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-90167141706215805152011-01-25T18:04:00.000-08:002011-09-07T03:17:26.847-07:00A Comparison-Contrast Mix-up

Here's what I think is wrong with the sentences above: 1. The word unlike contrasts "bigger festival" with the subject of the sentence, "a lot of Biguenos". What the writer wanted to say was that a lot of Biguenos feel a deeper attachment to one festival than to another festival. What her sentence actually says is that the Vigan City Fiesta feels an attachment to the Viva Vigan Festival,

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-30089895922310955652010-12-03T00:24:00.000-08:002011-09-07T03:18:08.434-07:00"Give me 5 examples of two-word adjectives."

This week, many readers found this blog on Google by searching for the keywords "two-word adjectives." Some searched for the meaning of two-word adjectives, while others searched for sentences that use compound adjectives. One user was particularly specific: he/she typed "Give me 5 examples of two-word adjectives." In the spirit of providing useful information, I am listing more than five

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-21912377807987350372010-12-01T01:08:00.000-08:002010-12-01T01:37:24.385-08:00A School's Erroneous NCAE Review Material

Thank you for visiting The Sh*t Detector! You may subscribe to my feeds via RSS reader or via e-mail. Choose a sharing service below each post to share my posts with your friends, or add me as a friend on Facebook. Enjoy reading! This time of the year means, for many fourth year high school students, preparing for college entrance examinations. So I wasn't surprised when a group of high school

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-24927591713866843392010-11-14T19:09:00.000-08:002011-09-07T03:17:48.063-07:00A Flawed Article on Glee

Rummaging through my pile of old magazines and books in search for anything to donate to Kaeskwela's Rummage Sale on November 19--which will benefit public school kids--I see this page of an old newspaper with underlined words. You see, when I read magazines and newspapers, I underline errors that I encounter, so I can have material for this blog. Sometimes, I write about them right away, but

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-75140380047243829742010-11-12T00:05:00.000-08:002010-11-12T00:05:31.104-08:00Out of Season

Thank you for visiting The Sh*t Detector! You may subscribe to my feeds via RSS reader or via e-mail. Choose a sharing service below each post to share my posts with your friends, or add me as a friend on Facebook. Enjoy reading! When one is writing about a TV series as popular as Glee, how could one not get the facts right? The photo below is of an article that appeared in the Manila Bulletin

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-88471650540916720112010-10-27T21:45:00.000-07:002011-09-06T19:45:38.895-07:00More Caption Reactions

Thank you for visiting The Sh*t Detector! You may subscribe to my feeds via RSS reader or via e-mail. Choose a sharing service below each post to share my posts with your friends, or add me as a friend on Facebook. Enjoy reading! I'm both surprised and disappointed to see that even captions--yes, those short texts describing what photos show--are grammatically flawed. The examples below suffer

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-54241165405270671632010-10-08T15:02:00.000-07:002011-09-07T03:12:45.250-07:00Me, Myself, and I

I am going to post--soon--something about the the first-person pronouns me, myself, and I. For now, here is something I came across in a major broadsheet. The writer incorrectly used the reflexive pronoun myself. You may want to enlighten my readers. Feel free to leave your comments explaining why the pronoun is wrong. Thanks!

Jonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-12503552174760318422010-10-01T02:06:00.000-07:002011-09-08T01:23:30.698-07:00"Together with" and "Take after"

Hi there! The paragraph below is from the Entertainment Section of a broadsheet. The writer made two errors, which are underlined in red. Article source: Manila Bulletin Together with As you can see from the paragraph, the writer tried to join two subjects using the conjunction together with. The first subject, together with its modifiers, is Singer-actor and celebrity endorser Sam Milby.

Jonnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-60637265628270735002010-09-23T03:51:00.000-07:002010-09-23T04:00:29.505-07:00Using AT LEAST and AT MOST

Thank you for visiting The Sh*t Detector! You may subscribe to my feeds via RSS reader or via e-mail. Choose a sharing service below each post to share my posts with your friends, or add me as a friend on Facebook. Enjoy reading! Hello there! Today's topic is how to properly use the expressions AT LEAST and AT MOST. Browse through today's Classified Ads and you are likely to find ads that

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-22746800754304663472010-09-12T06:52:00.001-07:002010-09-23T03:54:25.412-07:00The Name Heherson Comes From "He, her son"

Thank you for visiting The Sh*t Detector! You may subscribe to my feeds via RSS reader or via e-mail. Choose a sharing service below each post to share my posts with your friends, or add me as a friend on Facebook. Enjoy reading! I think that one important part of interviewing a person is getting the person's name right. It would be particularly embarrassing to have your subject see your piece

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-67007081913487025612010-08-27T23:03:00.000-07:002011-09-06T19:52:32.591-07:00Caption Reaction (Part 1)

Thank you for visiting The Sh*t Detector! You may subscribe to my feeds via RSS reader or via e-mail. Choose a sharing service below each post to share my posts with your friends, or add me as a friend on Facebook. Enjoy reading! The death of my grandmother and the floods caused by the recent strong rains kept me busy for a while. There's been so much fuss about Maria Venus Raj's controversial

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-32877167339266419422010-08-25T05:59:00.000-07:002010-08-27T22:53:34.804-07:00Pres. Noynoy Aquino: "...taken cared of."

Thank you for visiting The Sh*t Detector! You may subscribe to my feeds via RSS reader or via e-mail. Choose a sharing service below each post to share my posts with your friends, or add me as a friend on Facebook. Enjoy reading! I was just having dinner while watching 24 Oras when Pres. Aquino's slip caught my ear. He said "taken cared of", which is incorrect. The word care, when used this way,

Jonnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-3976950653618775062010-08-04T07:16:00.000-07:002010-08-04T07:21:43.988-07:00Using Commas to Set Off Parenthetic Phrases

Thank you for visiting The Sh*t Detector! You may subscribe to my feeds via RSS reader or via e-mail. Choose a sharing service below each post to share my posts with your friends, or add me as a friend on Facebook. Enjoy reading! Hi there! In a previous post I wrote about using a pair of dashes to set off appositives. I also mentioned that commas may also be used. Today we'll look at a similar

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-44011095555298868622010-07-29T19:51:00.000-07:002010-07-29T19:57:16.350-07:00Wordplay

THIS IS PUN!

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-51800908076765005202010-07-29T19:47:00.000-07:002011-05-30T09:02:56.899-07:00Using Dashes To Set Off Appositives

Thank you for visiting The Sh*t Detector! You may subscribe to my feeds via RSS reader or via e-mail. Choose a sharing service below each post to share my posts with your friends, or add me as a friend on Facebook. Enjoy reading! The image above shows an error that many writers in the print media often make. The error is the improper use of dashes (or commas) when setting off appositives or

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-56237424458007664452010-07-29T16:33:00.000-07:002010-07-29T19:13:13.941-07:00Verb Phrase: BORDER ON

Thank you for visiting The Sh*t Detector! You may subscribe to my feeds via RSS reader or via e-mail. You can also choose from the sharing services below each post to share my posts with your friends, or add me as a friend on Facebook. Enjoy reading! Read the sentences below and see if you can spot the error. Did you see it? The writer incorrectly used the preposition TO with the verb BORDER.

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-4548475470684070992010-07-27T12:42:00.000-07:002010-07-27T12:42:00.368-07:00A Dangling -- Well, It's Just Dangling

Thank you for visiting The Sh*t Detector! You may subscribe to my feeds via RSS reader or via e-mail if you want more updates. You can also choose from the sharing services below each post to share my posts with your friends, or add me as a friend on Facebook. Enjoy reading! I have written about dangling modifiers too many times that I think some writers are being too conscious about placing a

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-23795940903769448642010-07-24T12:35:00.000-07:002010-07-24T17:44:55.187-07:00The Word "Commune"

The word commune is a favorite of travel writers, and it often occurs in articles about beaches, mountains, and places where you can commune with nature. This is understandable because the verb commune means "to communicate intimately". Merriam-Webster lists two entries for commune, one as a verb and the other as a noun. The noun form of commune, however, does not mean an intimate communication.

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-73068052156129231402010-07-18T07:31:00.000-07:002010-07-24T12:41:23.561-07:00Till Errors Do Us Part

Thank you for visiting The Sh*t Detector! You may subscribe to my feeds via RSS reader or via e-mail if you want more updates. You can also choose from the sharing services below each post to share my posts with your friends, or add me as a friend on Facebook. Enjoy reading! I haven't posted anything in a while. Although Jose Carillo has noticed that media English has been admirably getting

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-70152222498450846052010-06-23T04:09:00.000-07:002010-07-15T01:01:52.478-07:00How To Avoid Dangling Modifiers

Thank you for visiting The Sh*t Detector! You may subscribe to my feeds via RSS reader or via e-mail if you want more updates. You can also choose from the sharing services below each post to share my posts with your friends, or add me as a friend on Facebook. Enjoy reading! This is from an article that appeared in last Sunday's issue of a major newspaper. The underlined part of the paragraph

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-67437070086370463802010-06-22T20:29:00.000-07:002010-06-22T20:29:00.259-07:00A Manager's Pet Peeve

Thank you for visiting The Sh*t Detector! You may subscribe to my feeds via RSS reader or via e-mail if you want more updates. You can also choose from the sharing services below each post to share my posts with your friends, or add me as a friend on Facebook. Enjoy reading! Dear everyone, I've been reading a lot of emails that use incorrectly punctuated salutations, such as Hi Boss, Hello

Jonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-85247185761266987222010-06-20T02:55:00.000-07:002010-07-15T01:11:47.714-07:00Changing The Person of Pronouns

Thank you for visiting The Sh*t Detector! You may subscribe to my feeds via RSS reader or via e-mail if you want more updates. You can also choose from the sharing services below each post to share my posts with your friends, or add me as a friend on Facebook. Enjoy reading! Do not make others eat chesa, or you will have yellow teeth. At least that's what this sentence from an article in the

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-21570628722790850242010-06-16T12:35:00.000-07:002010-07-15T01:13:38.545-07:00It's Time You Read This

Thank you for visiting The Sh*t Detector! You may subscribe to my feeds via RSS reader or via e-mail if you want more updates. You can also choose from the sharing services below each post to share my posts with your friends, or add me as a friend on Facebook. Enjoy reading! Towards the end of American Idol Season 8, Kris Allen performed a song called "Falling Slowly", which many fans had not

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-8721943587501336042010-06-14T19:04:00.000-07:002010-06-14T19:04:22.834-07:00You will be mocked

Thank you for visiting The Sh*t Detector! You may subscribe to my feeds via RSS reader or via e-mail if you want more updates. You can also choose from the sharing services below each post to share my posts with your friends, or add me as a friend on Facebook. Enjoy reading! This is from a warning message on the website of symbianize.com. I really don't mind being BAN (whatever that means),

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-58866998100976865742010-05-29T02:42:00.000-07:002010-05-29T02:42:34.476-07:00Facebook Does Not Make Me Smile

Thank you for visiting The Sh*t Detector! You may subscribe to my feeds via RSS reader or via e-mail if you want more updates. You can also choose from the sharing services below each post to share my posts with your friends, or add me as a friend on Facebook. Enjoy reading! This is another grammatical error on Facebook. Questions that begin with Do, Does, or Did take the base form of the

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-66342381897781081502010-05-27T13:16:00.000-07:002010-05-27T13:16:05.421-07:00I Will Cut Your Dangling...Modifier

Thank you for visiting The Sh*t Detector! You may subscribe to my feeds via RSS reader or via e-mail if you want more updates. You can also choose from the sharing services below each post to share my posts with your friends, or add me as a friend on Facebook. Enjoy reading! Here is another case of a dangling modifier: A dangling modifier is a word or a phrase that does not refer to any other

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-85304341336570055112010-05-24T19:16:00.000-07:002010-05-24T19:16:03.642-07:00Batter His Verb, Three-Personed God

Thank you for visiting The Sh*t Detector! You may subscribe to my feeds via RSS reader or via e-mail if you want more updates. You can also choose from the sharing services below each post to share my posts with your friends, or add me as a friend on Facebook. Enjoy reading! Below is the the title of an article that appeared on a major newspaper last Sunday (May 23). I know that Catholics

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-2536775751293521692010-05-22T21:24:00.000-07:002010-05-22T22:41:42.216-07:00In The Spotlight: Chat Alejandro

Thank you for visiting The Sh*t Detector! You may subscribe to my feeds via RSS reader or via e-mail if you want more updates. You can also choose from the sharing services below each post to share my posts with your friends, or add me as a friend on Facebook. Enjoy reading! Hi there! In the spotlight today is a writer by the name of Chat Alejandro. He wrote about flowers that are popular during

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-26502326570826439082010-05-05T16:39:00.000-07:002010-05-05T16:39:00.598-07:00Don't Throw It All Away

Thank you for visiting The Sh*t Detector! You may subscribe to my feeds via RSS reader or via e-mail if you want more updates. You can also choose from the sharing services below each post to share my posts with your friends, or add me as a friend on Facebook. Enjoy reading! OK. I will not throw the sign away. But I'd probably throw in a period there.

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-55212682816695720162010-05-05T08:58:00.000-07:002010-05-05T08:58:09.858-07:00Sorry, The Post Is No Longer Open

Thank you for visiting The Sh*t Detector! You may subscribe to my feeds via RSS reader or via e-mail if you want more updates. You can also choose from the sharing services below each post to share my posts with your friends, or add me as a friend on Facebook. Enjoy reading! This is from the Classified Ads section of the Manila Bulletin. The word WERE is missing an apostrophe. So, if

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-86997529700374014062010-05-04T09:46:00.001-07:002010-05-04T09:49:02.745-07:00An Excess of Apostrophe S

Thank you for visiting The Sh*t Detector! You may subscribe to my feeds via RSS reader or via e-mail if you want more updates. You can also choose from the sharing services below each post to share my posts with your friends, or add me as a friend on Facebook. Enjoy reading! Adding an 's at the end of a word can mean one of three things. First, an 's is used to denote the possessive case of a

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-72508112475362915682010-05-01T16:31:00.000-07:002010-05-01T16:38:55.098-07:00You Can Blog About Blogging But...

Thank you for visiting The Sh*t Detector! You may subscribe to my feeds via RSS reader or via e-mail if you want more updates. You can also choose from the sharing services below each post to share my posts with your friends, or add me as a friend on Facebook. Enjoy reading! How do you acquire acquiring? What I think happened is that the writer thought of using "started acquiring", changed his

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-89797597394990808822010-04-25T21:09:00.000-07:002010-05-01T08:25:58.277-07:00Can you spot the error here?

Thank you for visiting The Sh*t Detector! You may subscribe to my feeds via RSS reader or via e-mail if you want more updates. You can also choose from the sharing services below each post to share my posts with your friends , or add me as a friend on Facebook. Enjoy reading! MRT Taft Station

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-68548333687522707452010-04-23T22:30:00.000-07:002010-04-23T22:30:00.148-07:00Used To Finance

Thank you for visiting The Sh*t Detector! You may subscribe to my feeds via RSS reader or via e-mail if you want more updates. You can also choose from the sharing services below each post to share my posts with your friends. Lastly, add me as a friend on Facebook. Enjoy reading! This is from an interview with the presidents of two top universities in the Philippines--Ateneo and La Salle. I

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-534059366594492562010-04-21T20:57:00.000-07:002010-04-22T02:07:09.386-07:00Does The Writer Know Its Correct Pronouns?

Thank you for visiting The Sh*t Detector! You may subscribe to my feeds via RSS reader or via e-mail if you want more updates. You can also choose from the sharing services below each post to share my posts with your friends, or add me as a friend on Facebook. Enjoy reading! Yeah, I'm calling the one who made this banner an IT. For the nth time, it's is different from its. It's is the

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-67544352430173172942010-04-19T20:39:00.000-07:002010-04-19T22:18:16.023-07:00Dandruff-Free or Anti-Dandruff?

Thank you for visiting The Sh*t Detector! You may subscribe to my feeds via RSS reader or via e-mail if you want more updates. You can also choose from the sharing services below each post to share my posts with your friends, or add me as a friend on Facebook. Enjoy reading! My friend and I enter a convenience store and we each get a sachet of 3-in-1 coffee mix. We get the sugar-free variety.

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-22945953337037848392010-04-08T21:03:00.000-07:002010-04-19T19:44:39.197-07:00"Monthsary"

If you're in the Philippines, you probably have heard the word monthsary, which some couples use to refer to a month's turn in their relationship, or a "month anniversary". Monthsary is a relatively new word, a neologism. A few years ago, while rummaging through some family documents, I found an old anniversary card given by my brother to her girlfriend. It said "Happy 43rd month anniversary".

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-70991201268021530402010-03-31T22:30:00.000-07:002011-09-08T01:05:23.337-07:00It Is Not Wise To Always Use -wise

Many adverbs and adverbial phrases are formed by adding certain suffixes to nouns. These adverbs are called derivational adverbs.[1] Some common examples are words with the suffix -wards (southwards, backwards), -style (country-style, cowboy-style), and -wise (clockwise, lengthwise). Of these groups, -wise is widely used because its intended meaning is "in terms of" or "in regard to", and these

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-65574084424626969672010-03-28T15:54:00.000-07:002010-04-01T00:53:09.536-07:00Why would anyone want to be a SEWER?

Thank you for visiting The Sh*t Detector! You may subscribe to my feeds via RSS reader or via e-mail if you want more updates. You can also choose from the sharing services below each post to share my posts with your friends. Lastly, add me as a friend on Facebook. Enjoy reading! In the Philippines, it is common to see WANTED: SEWER in the job ads section of a newspaper. A member of a

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-905355610893288122010-03-20T12:28:00.000-07:002010-04-01T00:55:45.520-07:00In The Spotlight: Ma. Glaiza Lee

Thank you for visiting The Sh*t Detector! You may subscribe to my feeds via RSS reader or via e-mail if you want more updates. You can also choose from the sharing services below each post to share my posts with your friends. Lastly, add me as a friend on Facebook. Enjoy reading! Hi! Today we are going to learn English grammar from the mistakes of a pro. We will talk about verb tense, the

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-2299581832940112422010-03-18T00:33:00.000-07:002010-04-01T00:58:48.625-07:00Proper Adjectives and the Possessive Form of Nouns

Thank you for visiting The Sh*t Detector! You may subscribe to my feeds via RSS reader or via e-mail if you want more updates. You can also choose from the sharing services below each post to share my posts with your friends. Lastly, add me as a friend on Facebook. Enjoy reading! Hi! Today we are going to talk about proper adjectives. Let's consider, for purposes of discussion, the

Jonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-18567141129201417682010-03-16T14:43:00.000-07:002010-03-26T21:54:28.511-07:00Proper Punctuation Can Help You Avoid Grammatical Errors

Errors in subject-verb agreement commonly arise from the failure to enclose parenthetic expressions in commas. First of all, what is a parenthetic expression? A parenthetic expression or simply, parenthesis, is a word or group of words inserted into a sentence as a comment, usually marked off by brackets or dashes. (Each of the round brackets enclosing this very sentence is also called a

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-25464089784829430812010-03-16T10:51:00.000-07:002011-08-12T10:05:13.442-07:00What Is A Run-On Sentence?

A run-on sentence occurs when two independent clauses or simple sentences are joined incorrectly. One way to join independent clauses incorrectly is to write them as one single sentence with one full stop (period). For example, Time flies like an arrow fruit flies like a banana. Another incorrect way to write this is to separate the clauses with a comma. In this case, it is

Jonnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-72216213586257632652010-03-16T05:07:00.000-07:002010-03-17T12:15:08.498-07:00Arnel Pineda is a Disgrace

This time, it is "Learn how to sing The Philippine National Anthem from the mistakes of the pros". Whenever Manny Pacquiao is set to fight in the boxing ring, the one burning question in the Philippines, aside from who Manny's opponent is, is: Who is going to sing the National Anthem? Several days before the Pacquiao-Clottey fight, I learned that Arnel Pineda was going to sing the Philippine

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-1991210714683889122010-03-15T20:38:00.000-07:002010-03-15T21:21:53.356-07:00Pain In The As

Hi there! Today we'll look at excerpts from two different articles that use the word AS superfluously. Ugh! I hate long words. Superfluous means "more than is needed or wanted"; a synonym for it is redundant. The first screenshot is from an article about GMA7's new show, Diva.[1] The word as is redundant because a.k.a. means "also known as". It is enough--and correct--to write Sampaguita

Jonnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-87077030987690241792010-03-15T20:25:00.000-07:002010-03-15T20:25:15.769-07:00Capital Punishment

I was particularly interested in this article because I happen to know the interviewees. When I read the first sentence, however, I gave an audible "Huh?" because the first word--the first letter, to be precise--is, quite literally, a big mistake. The article opens with Where was just something about Margaret....[1] That big, bold W is one big typo. The intended word, obviously, is There. I

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-74624518854293280062010-03-12T03:03:00.000-08:002010-03-12T03:03:00.816-08:00The Case of the Unwanted Apostrophe, the Extra S, and the Missing T

These extracts are from an article written by Walden Sadiri about the Panday Kids series. An apostrophe catastrophe The apostrophe should be omitted. We add 's to a noun to create the possessive form; we can also add 's to acronyms with periods to make the nouns plural (e.g. V.I.P.'s, O.R.'s). The proper word for that reading material with illustrations is comics. The apostrophe has no

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-29238835651912563322010-03-09T03:41:00.000-08:002010-03-09T03:41:00.220-08:00In the Spotlight: Jose Abeto Zaide

Hi! In the spotlight today is an article, written by Jose Abeto Zaide, about the Hot-Air Balloon Festival that was recently held in the Philippines. Spotlight, please. Half-word and Taglish I can deduce from the context of the article that the "photog" means photographer. Still, it is not a word. Why not write the entire word? What does it cost to add six letters and complete a word? Space

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-2577059716076473812010-03-05T02:59:00.000-08:002011-06-09T04:59:20.022-07:00Possessives, two-word adjectives, and dangling modifiers

These extracts are from two articles written by the same writer. One is about Caramoan Island in the province of Camarines Sur, and the other is about medical tourism in the Philippines. Let's see what we can learn from the errors. Know your noun, and then form the possessive First, it is important to know your noun, especially if it's the name of your country. If you are a Filipino, your

Jonnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-27355239389309682872010-03-02T22:39:00.000-08:002010-03-02T22:39:14.099-08:00Inflammable Versus Flammable

March is National Fire Prevention Month in the Philippines. This morning I heard a radio DJ talk about fire safety tips, firefighters and their jackets that are made of inflammable fabric. Poor firefighters! The radio DJ was mistaken to think that inflammable means "does not easily burn". The words inflammable and flammable mean the same thing. They both mean “combustible.” According to

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-64805546243034310882010-03-01T03:20:00.000-08:002010-03-02T22:39:44.404-08:00In the Spotlight: Bryan Angelo Garcia

My posts are not as categorized as I'd like them to be. Sometimes I write about errors of the same type that are made by different writers. At other times, I write about different errors from different articles written by the same writer. Occasionally, however, I encounter a long article that contains several errors, and it is better to devote the entire post to that article/writer. One such

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-1435592843768368552010-02-28T03:10:00.000-08:002010-02-28T03:10:00.442-08:00The Case of the Misplaced Hyphen, the Missing Suffix, and the Missing Verb

The following are excerpts from an article written by Crispina Martinez Belen. The word nonsense should not be hyphenated, but the adjective no-nonsense should be. No-nonsense means, roughly, "serious or direct; not tolerating irrelevancies; efficient, and practical". In the example above, the adjective consistent should have been the adverb consistently. An adverb modifies a

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-78999005479791044992010-02-27T03:39:00.000-08:002011-09-08T00:55:24.426-07:00Not A Thrilling Article

These are from an article on John Ford Coley written by Yugel Losorata: 1. The first sentence sounds awkward, because there is no pronoun (which) to introduce the clause. There are two ways to fix this. We can use the -ing verb leading and have : Visiting a country twice or thrice can make the experience all too familiar, thus leading to loss of excitement. Another way is to use the pronoun

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-16558440828758149612010-02-26T02:16:00.000-08:002010-02-26T02:16:00.649-08:00Learn from the Mistakes of the Pros: Agreement

Agreement is an important part of grammar. Sometimes called concord, agreement refers to the "correspondence of a verb with its subject in person and number (Karen goes to Cal Tech; her sisters go to UCLA), and of a pronoun with its antecedent in person, number, and gender (As soon as Karen finished the exam, she picked up her books and left the room)". [1] It also expresses the relation of fact

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-75664901607975897732010-02-24T03:52:00.000-08:002010-02-24T03:53:26.162-08:00Phase vs. Pace; Set-up vs. Set up

This is from a job advertisement of a famous restaurant chain: Fast-phased is incorrect. Phase refers to a stage of stage of development or a pattern of behavior. Pace refers to a single movement from one foot to the other when walking; a speed of progress or change (he lives in a fast pace). This last definition is the one that should have been used to form the two-word adjective:

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-20150193052380957522010-02-24T02:11:00.000-08:002010-08-22T04:07:01.224-07:00Not Unless

This is from an article written by Czarina Nicole Ong. Read the underlined sentence and then compare it with this sentence: Unless one is a psychic, predicting the advent of love is something short of impossible. What do you think? I've written about the use of not unless as one of the common errors many Filipino speakers and writers of English make. Not unless is incorrect simply because

Jonnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-78850937898992776192010-02-18T01:34:00.000-08:002010-02-18T01:34:00.259-08:00Chord vs. Cord

Since these two words sound alike, you shouldn't be worried about confusing them in speech. The problem arises when you are writing them and you are not sure which one to use. The word chord has two meanings. One comes from the word accord and refers to a harmonious combination of three or more musical notes. If you know how to play the guitar, you should know this. Those notations written on

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-77882562710582112762010-02-17T01:31:00.000-08:002010-02-17T01:31:00.384-08:00i.e., e.g., et al., and etc.

We often encounter these four Latin abbreviations in print, and two of them, et al. and et cetera (full form of etc.), occur fairly often in speech. i.e. (id est) i.e. means "that is to say", and introduces another way of saying what has already been said. It is explanatory or illustrative, but it does not provide examples. Depending on how it is used in a sentence, it may or may not be

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-57041409979861821482010-02-17T00:32:00.000-08:002010-02-17T00:35:06.245-08:00A while vs. Awhile

People often confuse a while with awhile because these two expressions have closely related meanings. A while is a noun phrase which means "a period of time," and is similar to an hour, a minute, or a moment. Because while here is a noun, it can be further described by an adjective, which is placed before the noun, as in a long while or a short while. I'll stay for a while. I'll

Jonnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-5299581745513398972010-02-13T01:27:00.000-08:002011-06-16T22:29:04.148-07:00Words Commonly Misused by Filipinos

Here are some words incorrectly used by Filipinos: 1. Matured I often hear this word from showbiz personalities when they talk about accepting "matured roles" or having a relationship with a "matured guy". The term "matured guy" gives me the image of a man that has been left inside a bottle to ferment; but then that's just me. The word mature is both a verb and an adjective. As a verb, mature

Jonnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-11317128220708670842010-02-11T01:10:00.000-08:002010-02-11T01:10:00.584-08:00Subject-Verb Agreement and Fractions

Did you know that three out of ten English-speaking Filipinos are fewer than the remaining seven? Really, it's simple math. Here's an error in subject-verb agreement from an article by Randy Urlanda: Three out of ten, of course, is plural; the verb should have been play. Here's an interesting thing about fractions. A fractions that denotes an amount that is less than one whole is NOT

Jonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-59768950018998280922010-02-05T01:31:00.000-08:002010-02-05T01:31:00.348-08:00Not So Pretty

My sister bought a vintage shirt with a sh*tty design. I submitted it to FAIL blog. Haha.

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-72196030944412103582010-02-03T01:43:00.000-08:002010-02-03T01:43:00.758-08:00Forming Possessives

"Imagine no possessions. It isn't hard to do..." Are you easily confused when forming the possessive form of nouns that end in -s? When do you add only an apostrophe and when do you add an 's? Forming possessives is simple, yet many writers either make mistakes doing it or are not quite sure how to do it. The simplest advice I can give you is Rule #1 of the Elementary Rules of Usage given by

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-88489224791516173992010-02-02T01:12:00.000-08:002010-02-02T01:12:00.242-08:00Beowulf

I seem to remember Beowulf's Fight With Grendel, an excerpt from the famous epic, which we read in high school under the late Mrs. Tidor. I wasn't aware that Robert Zemeckis was making a film called Beauwolf. Is it about a beautiful werewolf? A gay wolf, perhaps? Really, why would anyone talk about a film and not know its correct title? For beowulf's sake!

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-74633921195586553922010-01-30T20:41:00.000-08:002010-01-30T20:41:00.319-08:00We're On Earth Is The Philippine?

I know. I should have used where. That's exactly the point. These, taken from the same article, are candidates for Apostrophe Catastrophes. We're, of course, is a contraction of we are. The apostrophe should be omitted.

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-16084812911296555112010-01-30T00:58:00.000-08:002010-01-30T00:58:00.393-08:00Are You Smarter Than A 5th-Grade Writer?

This is from another film review (I forgot the title) written by Mario Bautista. He is later keeps on touching her food? I can only speculate on what happened. The writer began with He is later, then changed his mind but forgot to press the Backspace key. Phobia on germs? I would use phobia of. But then that's just me.

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-16866180053294690342010-01-29T00:39:00.000-08:002010-01-29T00:39:00.669-08:00Fixing Flawed Sentences

This is from an article on Angel Locsin, written by Kaye Villagomez. Read the first sentence, and you'll know immediately that it sounds flawed. Why? There are two main verbs--the action verb weighed and the linking verb was--but there is no conjunction. How do we fix this? We can break it into two sentences and have, The actress's beige and white gown, made by Michael Cinco,

Jonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-21827534291821404492010-01-28T00:35:00.000-08:002010-01-28T00:37:06.305-08:00A couple Vs. The couple

This is from a review of the film Old Dogs, which appeared in the Manila Bulletin. The expression a couple, when used to describe nouns, is just another way of saying two--which means that it is plural. A couple of guys, although they are single, are still two individuals. The verb should have been have to face. A couple can also refer to an indefinite small amount (U.S.): Can I have

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-36467705921005425492010-01-27T00:06:00.000-08:002010-01-27T22:55:04.975-08:00A Close Encounter of the Wrong Kind

Last New Year's Day, this was posted on the door of People Are Peopl boutique at SM City Marikina: Close can be a noun, a verb, or an adjective. As a noun, it has the same meaning as end, as in at the close of business day, or at the close of the century. As a verb, it means to shut or to cause to be unopened, as in shut the door. As an adjective, the word close means near, as in Hold me

Jonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-75522976255231489862010-01-22T01:03:00.000-08:002010-01-22T01:12:16.069-08:00Don't hang your head in sorrow, there's a lesson for tomorrow.

Hi there! Today's topic is the word hang. First let's look at the error below, from an article by Nestor Cuartero. Some of you would probably say that this is just a typo, because the word should have been hung. Still, I hear many Filipinos make mistake when using the verb hang. Daily Writing Tips gives different uses of the word, but the two core meanings are: "to be attached from

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-90757709318801154332010-01-15T01:31:00.000-08:002010-01-15T01:31:00.512-08:00Ignorance is nauseous. I'd rather be nauseated.

Nauseous is a word I often hear people use to describe themselves when they feel dizzy--when they are experiencing nausea. Permit me to use an archaic word here: Unbeknownst to them, the word nauseous means loathesome, sickening, abhorrent, disgusting. Now why would vehicle fumes make a person disgusting? The word they intend to use is actually nauseated, which means having the feeling of

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-7734779476568653832010-01-09T00:02:00.000-08:002011-05-16T13:11:41.716-07:00Exploring Amanda's Article

These have been in my stock of screenshots for some time now. All of these errors are from a single article, written by Amanda Jaucian Balneg, about her trip to New York. A self-confessed movie addict, she tried to write the article while alluding to her favorite films. Let's take a look. Aren't most of us are? Isn't she is? Does this even make sense? If we change the verbs and pronouns

Jonnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-26946861022538149142010-01-07T03:11:00.000-08:002011-05-24T14:38:21.916-07:00If the victims in Maguindanao were salvaged, why the hell are they dead?

First of all, I am not about to make fun of a serious and sensitive issue in our country today. That being said, let's move on. I've been suspecting this for some time now, and I may be right. Many of us Filipinos are "salvage" victims. Everyday, we hear or read about salvaged victims in the news. Well, did you know that salvage actually means "to save or rescue"? Pun intended, I'm dead

Jonnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-67032971436092437202009-12-29T11:38:00.000-08:002010-03-28T23:34:30.037-07:00Grammar In Focus

These two errors are from an article about food blogging written by Joseph Tanchee: The possessive pronoun its is singular and does not agree with the antecedent Food blogs. The correct pronoun is their. However, it is better to omit the pronoun altogether: "Food blogs have become quite lucrative as well, and bloggers are already celebrities...." Notice that I supplied the missing verb are.

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-88858121785397577882009-12-29T11:22:00.000-08:002010-01-07T03:34:28.806-08:00Grammar is not the wife of Grampar

For lack of a better title, I copied one from a grammar book. Here is a grammatical error committed by Randy Urlanda in an article published in the "nation's leading weekly magazine", Philippine Panorama. The error, of course, is in subject-verb agreement. The noun resorts is plural; the verb has--which does not refer to the example introduced by such as--is singular. The noun and the verb

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-2514441825548539202009-12-24T22:09:00.000-08:002010-01-07T03:48:25.044-08:00Merry Christmas! Happy Reading!

Merry Christmas to you, whoever you are. Let's look at the lucky ones who have been chosen for this Christmas Day post. These are from an article about caring for cats, written by Nestor Cuartero: This is just a spelling error. The correct spelling is LITTERBOX. It is a box (or basin or any container) with sand or litter where a cat can, well, shit. So there, it's a box of litter, not

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-4066810802001369242009-12-22T11:09:00.000-08:002010-03-28T23:34:55.702-07:00I lost my grammar in San Francisco

This is from an article by Fil Sionil. Let's examine the errors. 1. There should be a hyphen between the prefix mid- and 16th. mid-16th century, mid-August, mid-30sThe hyphen is usually ommitted if it does not create a confusion in spelling and pronunciation, such as in words like midday, midnight, or midsummer. 2. The singular pronoun it refers to the plural noun developments--described as

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-37485056670094590942009-12-20T06:51:00.000-08:002010-01-07T03:54:34.731-08:00Writing In A Tangent

Writing in a tangent simply means writing sentences containing ideas that are not relevant to the main topic of your article. Every paragraph in your composition should contribute to your main idea--whether you are using comparison and contrast, using description, or writing an anecdote. Every sentence should help make your paragraph coherent and clear, and help your reader understand the

Jonnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-10488620849599596912009-12-17T10:59:00.000-08:002010-03-28T23:35:18.644-07:00A pronoun is not a former amateur noun.

The noun "deaf participants" is plural, so we cannot use the singular indefinite pronoun one. It is also not clear whether the writer was referring to the group of deaf participants as one of the "walks of life and situation." A better construction could be: There would be participants from different walks of life, including the deaf. Here is another error from the same article: The

Jonnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-16106769770404291282009-12-13T11:05:00.000-08:002009-12-13T11:08:33.028-08:00"Explain Before You Complain"

Willie Revillame may be able to explain the mechanical glitch that occurred in one episode of his abhorrent game show, but writer Randy Urlanda has no excuse for twisting the fabric of time. The adverb phrase "more than a week ago" denotes a time in the past, so the correct verb is explained. The explaining was done in the past, okay? No, tell it to the marines!

Jonnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-60209875282024299922009-12-13T10:49:00.000-08:002009-12-13T10:49:09.360-08:00A boner of a sentence

This is from an article written by Crispina Martinez-Belen. I'm filing this under the category subject-verb agreement, although, technically, the plural noun "body's protective fatty pads" is not the subject of the sentence. The verb maximizes, however, does not agree with it in number. It should have been maximize. Boners? I thought that was a British slang for a full erection? I'm goner be

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-13956960095379575822009-12-13T10:12:00.000-08:002009-12-13T10:38:46.247-08:00Now I Lay Lie Lay Me Down To Sleep

The words lie and lay are among the verbs that cause a geat deal of confusion for many writers. Though these two verbs have closely related meanings, they are entirely different. Lay is a transitive verb that means "to put or place or prepare something." As a transitive verb, it takes a receiver of the action (direct object). The "something" in the definition is the verb's direct object, which

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-82664494751220074902009-12-08T06:03:00.000-08:002009-12-13T11:36:21.826-08:00A cat has claws at the end of its paws. A sentence has a pause at the end of its clause.

For lack of an appropriate title for this post, I gave the difference between a cat and a sentence. :) Here are some errors detected from a two-page article by Dominicano Fajarito, published in Manila Bulletin (11/29/09). Great of the greatest? I don't think so. A comma should come after goings-on to separate the appositive. The writer can learn about appositives here. The noun argument is

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-26108389469544707112009-12-01T01:58:00.000-08:002009-12-13T10:09:42.512-08:00One of the three errors he made

Here, the writer used an incorrect preposition for the nouns bus and day. The preposition on should be used for large public transports, such as bus or train, and words like day. The English Club provides a list of commonly used prepositions and when to use them. On an early cold day on a bus with Sharon Cuneta... It is correct to use in a day when we are referring to a range of

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-53454250615910135812009-11-29T03:18:00.000-08:002009-11-29T03:18:00.283-08:00A Comma Began To Disappear

This is from an article written by Gypsy Baldovino (Manila Bulletin 11/22/09). The word however can function as an adverb or as a conjunction. As a conjunction, however is used to express contrast, and is separated by commas. Self-expression, however, is akin to a fluid... The word begun is the past participle of begin. It is used together with the auxiliary verb have/had/has. The

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-44233844236623664672009-11-24T06:58:00.000-08:002009-11-24T08:26:08.369-08:00Let's face it. It takes IQ to spot this.

Who's editing Facebook's pages? I decided to take their IQ test and saw this even before I read the first question. Questions isn't easy as it seems? Hmm, that doesn't sound intelligent. The incorrect pronoun--you instead of your--may be a typo. What kind of punctuation is a set of two dots? Oh, I did finish their IQ test and got a Very Good! score.

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-67065694694411806482009-11-23T22:28:00.000-08:002009-11-23T22:32:17.828-08:00The Error Is Human's

I spotted this in front of the Human store outlet at the Robinsons Metro East mall. It may be the season to inspire, but a missing apostrophe is not very inspiring. Do people actually buy a slipper? I normally buy them in pairs. SLIPPERS.

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-32882330331360068632009-11-23T05:40:00.000-08:002009-11-23T05:40:10.839-08:00Can't Get Away With That

This is from the website of GQ Magazine. GQ may be able to tell you how to pull off suede pants, but MW tells us they can't get away with this.

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680473839425678056.post-16011258276785117722009-11-23T05:28:00.000-08:002009-11-23T05:28:54.449-08:00A Very Expensive Mistake

This was from an article written by Walden Sadiri. Hundreds of thousand pesos is incorrect and it sounds somewhat funny. The counting units are: ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands, millions, etc. It is also better to use costs rather than amounts to. A better construction is: "...a vial of collagen costs hundred thousands of pesos."

Jonnoreply@blogger.com0