21st Century Grammar Handbook (20 page)

Ltd.
This British
abbreviation
of the word “limited” refers to a kind of company and is like the U.S. abbreviations
“Co.”
or “Inc.”

-ly.
The
suffix
“ly” is added to words to make them
adverbs,
which modify
verbs:
“Merrily we roll along!” Some words that end in “ly” are not adverbs: “family.” It is important to note this distinction when words that end in “ly” are joined to
participles
to form adjectival
phrases
that modify
nouns.
Adverbs and participles so linked are not hyphenated: “The merrily rolling wagon sped ahead.” Words that are not adverbs in such constructions are linked to participles by
hyphens:
“Our family-gathering places include the kitchen table and the newly landscaped backyard.” Since “family” is a noun, it is linked by hyphen to its participle in this adjectival construction; but “newly” is an adverb that should not be hyphenated to a related participle. See
modifier
and
adjective.

Made.
See
make.
Main clause. See
clause.

Main form.
Groups of words are built on a core of letters that represents the simplest element of meaning, known as the main form (also called a root). The main form “vid” carries the sense of seeing or sight into such forms as “video” and “evident.” A variant of “vid” is “vis,” which has the same main, or basic, core of meaning related to sight: “vision,” “visible,” “visually.”

Recognizing a main form in words can often help us understand how
prefixes, suffixes,
or other modifications of the root word have changed or created meaning: “vis” can add the prefix “in-” (meaning not) and the suffix “-ible” (meaning capable or possible) to form “invisible” (meaning not possible to see). “Ject” (which means move or propel) can add the prefix “in-” (in the sense of direction) and the suffix “-ion” to produce “injection” (which means the process of moving or propelling something into something else).

With
verbs,
the main form, or root, of the verb plus the word “to” makes up the
infinitive:
“to sleep,” “to wake,” “to rise.”

Make, made, made.
An
irregular verb
in its main, past tense, and past
participle
forms.

Man, mankind.
Do not use these words to refer to people in general, since there are women as well as men in humankind. Say either “woman and man,” “women and men,” “man and woman,” “men and women,” “people,” or “human beings.” “Humanity” or “humankind” is an adequate substitute for “mankind,” as is “human population,” or “human community.” In anthropological writing, use “ancient peoples” or
“homo sapiens.”
See
sexist language
for further guidelines.

Mankind.
See
man.

Many.
The comparative forms of the
adjective
“many” are irregular: “many, more, most.” See
comparison.

May.
See
can.

May be, maybe.
These two words have different functions and meanings. “May be” is a compound
verb
that means “could exist or happen”: “Our neighbors may be coming to dinner.” “Maybe” is an
adverb
that means perhaps: “Maybe our neighbors will come to dinner.”

Maybe.
See
may be.

Me, myself.
Don’t use “myself” when “me” (the
objective case
of “I”) is meant. WRONG: “The memo will
come from Jones and myself.” RIGHT: “The memo will come from Jones and me.” See
“self”

Mean, meant, meant.
An
irregular verb
in its main,
past tense,
and past
participle
forms.

Meant.
See
mean.

Media.
“Media” is the
plural
of “medium” (it retains a
Latin
plural form) in the sense of devices or modes: “The news media are out in force.” Singular uses of ‘media’ are becoming more common, but they are wrong in formal writing. “Medium” in the sense of one who mediates between realms, especially psychic worlds, has the plural “mediums”: “The mediums all agreed that a great flood would come in five years.”

Meet, met, met.
An
irregular verb
in its main,
past tense,
and past
participle
forms.

Met.
See
meet.

Metaphor.
A metaphor is a word or phrase that implies or indirectly expresses a comparison or identity. It often enlivens writing by adding an unexpected dimension to words: “The car, an arrow in flight, sped down the road.” This stylistic device should be used with caution—many of the obvious comparisons have already appeared so often in writing that they have become trite, or clichéd: “The golden
orb shed its warming rays on the sunbathers.” See also
simile, style, cliché.

Min.
The common
abbreviation
for “minute” is “min.” It is not used in formal,
standard English
writing, but it often appears in such special
styles
as scientific, sports, or cooking writing. In more technical writing, “min.” can stand for “minimum” or various measurements (“minim”). Consult a
dictionary
for these more specialized usages of “min.”

Misplaced modifier.
One of the commonest ways of confusing your
audience
is to misplace
adjectives
or
adverbs
—single words or whole
phrases
or
clauses
used as
modifiers
—leaving readers or listeners in doubt about what you mean to say or write.

The answer to this sort of problem is to write and revise with care, noting all adjectives and adverbs of whatever length and complexity and making sure that they are close to the words they modify or are otherwise unambiguously linked to them. Particular care should be taken with inverted sentences, in which phrases or clauses are purposely put where they are less expected and often not very close to the words they modify. The examples that follow are marked “right” and “wrong,” although in many cases it would be more accurate to say that meaning in one is clearer than in another or that meaning differs from one sentence to another.

WRONG: “Aiming carefully, the gazelles were shot by the hunter one after the other.” RIGHT: “Aiming carefully, the hunter shot the gazelles one after the other.” Here the
first sentence is incorrect because gazelles don’t use guns and don’t aim them.

WRONG: “The tourist saw a painting in the museum of birds.” RIGHT: “The tourist saw a painting of birds in the museum.” The first sentence could be correct (there could be a museum devoted to birds); but if it is right, it is likely that the museum is called “The Museum of Birds,” or it would be a better sentence if the correct name of the museum were given and capitalized so that readers would not have to wonder if the statement is about a painting of birds or a museum of birds.

WRONG: “I almost completed all my work.” RIGHT: “I completed almost all my work.” The first sentence could be correct, suggesting that you were near to finishing your work or intended to do so; but it leaves some doubt about what precisely you mean. The second sentence leaves no doubt that you did the larger part of your work.

WRONG: “We want to visit the library after our friends.” RIGHT: “We want to visit the library after we visit our friends (or after our friends visit the library or to find our friends).” The incomplete first sentence does not make it clear whether he is visiting his friend first or if he is visiting the library after his friend does, or in order to look for his friend. Depending on what is intended, any of the second variants might be more accurate.

There are dozens of other ways to put modifiers where they don’t belong or in places where your audience can’t tell which word or idea they refer to. Check where you put modifiers so that you don’t confuse more than you
clarify.
See
revision, inversion,
and
capitalization.

Miss.
See
Ms.

Modifier.
Words that qualify or explicate the condition or status or other words (or
phrase
or
clauses)
are called “modifiers.” Modifiers of
nouns
(things or people) are called
adjectives,
while words that refer to
verbs
are called
adverbs.
Because they add so much to the nouns and verbs we use, modifiers are important
parts of speech
that do a great deal to enliven, enrich, and
clarify
our statements.

“Put the bleached flour in a deep pan warming on the stove. Stirring constantly, blend in the toasted almonds, then the vanilla taken from the beans that have soaked in brandy boiled down until its alcohol has completely evaporated.” In this long passage, the following are modifiers of one sort or another:

The simplest relationship between a word and its modifier is for them to be next to each other: “the red house” or “walking quickly.” But groups of words can function as nouns or verbs and also as their modifiers in
sentences,
and long combinations of words can put modifiers fairly far away from the thing they qualify. Sometimes modifiers get in each other’s way and are said to be misplaced or to
dangle
(see
misplaced modifier).
When this happens, your
audience
will not know what you mean or will have to pause and figure out what the most likely sense of your words is. They will then probably lose concentration, fail to pay attention to what follows the confusing passage, or simply give up on you as a clear or cogent speaker or writer.

To avoid such consequences, make sure your thoughts are in order and that the words you choose to express them match and convey that order (see
order of words).
Put modifiers as close to the words they refer to as possible, or find a way to make the link between word and modifier unambiguous. Read and reread your writing to listen for adjectives, adverbs, phrases, and clauses that might be heard differently by your audience than you intended. Put yourself in your audience’s place whenever you intend to put a modifier into a sentence or whenever you find an adjective or adverb when you are proofreading or revising.
Does it belong where it is? Could it possibly be taken to modify more than one thing in the sentence? Is it in the right place to qualify just the word, phrase, or clause I want modified? Is there something in the sentence to which it refers? Is it the right thing?

Only by asking all these questions of every modifier will you be certain to avoid the ambiguities, stupidities, and irritations that misusing modifiers can cause. See
revision
and
editing.

Mood.
Besides
tense,
indicating time of action, and
voice,
indicating whether a
subject
is acting or being acted on,
verbs
have “mood,” indicating feelings or attitudes toward the action. There are three moods:
indicative,
the “normal” mood for describing action or condition directly;
imperative,
the mood of command or request; and
subjunctive,
the mood of unreal conditions, desires, or needs.

The
indicative mood
is used for all statements, questions, and so on that aren’t in the
imperative
or
subjunctive.
It is the “normal” or neutral mood in which a writer or speaker expresses what is believed to be fact or evident, inquires into aspects of reality, or reports what others have assumed to be ordinary or correct: “The bear hibernates in winter. Is the bear in its den? Scientists believe bears hibernate to survive the cold winters.” Most sentences in most circumstances are
indicative,
a mood not marked in any way grammatically.

The
imperative mood
is used for commands or requests: “Go study bears in hibernation, but don’t disturb them.” Imperative statements are often marked by
inversion
or
unusual word order, and they commonly are followed by
exclamation points
to further distinguish them.

The
subjunctive mood
is sometimes called “conditional.” It is used to express things that are not real or not certainly matters of fact, to convey wishes, or to state requirements: “If I were to poke that bear, it might wake up, and it might attack me.” Subjunctive verb forms are sometimes different (“I
were”),
and subjunctive sentences often include words like “if” or
“that”
to introduce
clauses.
In the last example, all the verbs have a conditional sense to them.

Sentences should not mix moods. WRONG: “Study hibernation, and you should be careful when you do.” RIGHT: “Study hibernation, and be careful when you do.”

Moral, morale.
These two
nouns
are pronounced differently and have different meanings despite some similarity in their appearance and spelling. “Moral” means a story’s sense, ethical lesson, rule for behavior: “The moral of the story is….” The plural, “morals,” means a person’s ethical rules or behavior. “Moral” is also an
adjective
that means behaving ethically or in keeping with higher law: “The minister is a very moral person.” “Morale” means spirit or sense of well-being: “Morale was high in the firm because sales results were good.”