Welcome to Doc’s Lab "Grammar Help." This information and advice is provided free of charge by the friendly staff at Doc’s Lab. It was created by Umgesstalten and Cujoe da man, with the help of many others to help you be a better writer and allay adverse comments from aforementioned staff and other members/visitors. Heeding said advice will negate the need to TF the writer into a piss ant to prevent further violations. If you are interested in posting a story, please read this carefully.
A note about posting your story.
Everyone is encouraged to post a story, but there are a few minor guidelines that need to be followed.
It is helpful to have proper spacing of all paragraphs. Each paragraph must have double spacing between it AND all quotes must have double spacing as well. This makes it easier for the reader to actually read the story since the forum is not a word processor and we cannot format a story as if it were.
GRAMMAR, it’s not just a word.
Use your grammar checker but beware. Unlike the spell checker, the grammar checker doesn’t always make the best of suggestions. Give it a chance and look at what it suggests or tells you and decide for yourself. I will admit that some of the grammar suggestions are just plain dumb but it does pick up some good stuff as well and should be used.
1: SPELLING, SPELLING, SPELLING.
There is no excuse for bad spelling. If you're in the forum and you make a mistake, oh well, it's just a forum and most of us can figure it out, but the wrong spelling in a story can change an entire paragraph into nonsense.
Use your spell checker, even if you have to go online, use a dictionary, or ask someone. This is a very big problem. Now, sometimes spellcheckers won't pick up certain things like 'us' when you meant 'use' or ‘fell’ when you meant ‘feel.’ If you do this and miss it, don't worry, usually we'll catch it because technically it isn't spelled wrong, but watch for such mistakes as much as possible.
2: “Quotes”
Any time someone is talking, the “quoted speech” gets a paragraph all its own. This makes it much easier to know who is talking.
(Note, there are two things wrong in this sentence, I will point out each. This is an actual sentence taken from a story.)
-"Ben... my, my name is Ben." replied Ben.
The first thing that is wrong is the period after the quote. A period never ends a quote unless it is the end of the entire sentence. You use a comma after the quoted speech, before the quotation mark. The only time a comma isn't used is when you use a ! or ?.
It should be:
"Ben... my, my name is Ben," replied Ben.
Second thing is the end of the sentence; we know his name is Ben, so it should be:
"Ben... my, my name is Ben," he replied.
If you have a conversation going on, each quote gets a line of its own and each quote ends with a period after you have established who is talking:
"I was like whatever," said Shelly.
"Oh my god, that is so cool," said Sabrina.
"I know, it was cool."
"So like, what now?"
"I don't know, what now?"
"How about a movie?" asked Debby.
"That would be awesome," said Sabrina.
"Yeah, let's go," said Shelly.
There are actually a few other ways you can quote a person in a single sentence.
They barely escaped the Lab and were still breathing hard when Jim said, “Boy, that was a close one,” as he leaned against a tree to catch his breath.
Now, the period would be at the end of the quote if it was like this;
They barely escaped the Lab and were still breathing hard when Jim said, “Boy, that was a close one.”
Or, if you already know who is speaking;
“Boy that was a close one.”
But it would still end with a comma if it was written like this;
“Boy, that was a close one,” Jim panted as he leaned against a tree to catch his breath.
3: Pauses
There are a lot of people who use … (also known as ellipses) in place of a comma. Ellipses are only to be used when the sentence ends abruptly, a character’s quote is cut off, or to denote an extended pause. A comma is a pause also, but only for a brief moment, whereas the ellipse tells you the person has actually stopped talking. Spaces should be placed in between each period for proper ellipses, but most up to date word processors, like Word, will do it automatically.
Example:
I was walking through the woods... but where was I?
Should be:
I was walking through the woods, but where was I?
Example:
"I stopped to look around, but I couldn’t see anything until, suddenly the ship came up from the ground and started firing."
could be:
"I stopped to look around, but I couldn’t see anything until... suddenly the ship came up from the ground and started firing."
In the last sentence, the character doesn’t just pause because it’s the continuation of the sentence, using … signifies to the reader that the character has actually stopped talking and is thinking or in a speachless state. It is also useful if you need to have one character interrupt another.
4: There, Their, They’re… it’s ok.
Some people actually mix these up. Here are your references:
There: Meaning a place.
Their: Referring to a person or possession
They're: The contraction of 'They are'.
5: Affect, Effect
Quite possibly one of the more commonly made mistakes comes from these two words.
Effect - noun
Something that inevitably follows an antecedent (as a cause or agent)
-The result of an action. He showed the effects of the transformation serum.
-Being in force or operation. The new laws prohibiting human experimentation doesn’t come into effect until next month.
-The power to influence. He told her repeatedly but it had no effect on her.
-To cause or produce an impression. He brandished the hypodermic needle in Jill’s face to see the effect it had on her.
-Special sound, lighting, etc. in a play or movie. He thought it was just special effects but later found out that the transformation was real.
-Meaning or intent. He said that he had enough of this or words to that effect.
-Belongings. After Judy’s transformation, she no longer had need of her personal effects.
-To do or to make something. They effected their escape through the rear window just before the doctor arrived.
-Affect - Transitive Verb (third of three meanings)
: to produce an effect upon: as a : to produce a material influence upon or alteration in <paralysis affected his limbs> b : to act upon (as a person or a person's mind or feelings) so as to effect a response.
-To influence, act upon or have an effect on somebody or something. His actions affected the results of the experiment.
-To move emotionally. The audience was affected by his speech.
-To cause disease. The epidemic eventually affected everyone in the lab.
-To adopt a manner. He affected the manner and style of a mad scientist.
-To assume a particular form or state. As her feet transformed they started to affect a solid state.
In other words, you can 'affect' something, and you can cause an 'effect', but not the other way around.
6: itsa, itsa, itsa... what is 'it'?
The difference between 'its' and 'it's' is a big one I notice a lot. 'Its' refers to possessiveness. Never, under any circumstance use ‘It’s’ when referring to possession.
It's = IT IS.
‘It’s’ is a contraction of “it is” or “it has.” 'Its' becomes a contraction when you use an apostrophe. 'It is going to rain' is the proper way to speak. “It's going to rain” won't get the crap beat out of you. Neither will, “It’s begun to rain.”
Its = A Possession and is not plural.
It's legs are long.
Should be:
Its legs are long.
If you are confused as to what ‘its’ you should use, try this. When using ‘it’s’ in a sentence, speak out the sentence and say ‘it is’ or ‘it has’ instead. If the sentence makes no sense, use ‘its’.
7: Ain’t it a word?
All too often does the word ‘ain’t’ gets used. Technically, it is not a true word. It is originally a contraction for the term ‘aim not’ but has also come to be accepted as a contraction or replacement for ‘are not,’ ‘am not,’ ‘is not,’ and a few others. However, regardless of how common its usage is, it is not grammatically correct. The use of the word “aim” as a verb, meaning an intention or a plan to do something is a somewhat archaic form of English but still occasionally used, mostly colloquial.
Examples:
“I aim to get that later today.”
The opposite of that would be,
“I aim not to get that today.”
Which is somewhat of a clumsy phrase, so we wound up with this:
I ain’t getting that today.
“I am not, he is not and you are not going to the store.” Is the proper way to write or speak but it has been corrupted to, “I ain’t, he ain’t and you ain’t goin’ to the store,”
Type it in your word processor and run a spell check on it.
8: Then and Than
The word “then” is an adverb that is used to indicate a particular time in the past or the future. It can mean “after that” or replace the word “therefore” or mean “in addition to.”
Example:
Back then, it was different than it is now.
Then why don’t you just give up?
We went to the movie, and then we went to the store.
The word “than” is a conjunction that is used after a comparative adjective or adverb in order to introduce the second element of a comparison.
Example:
His feet are bigger than yours are.
It was more like his than hers.
I seem to be happier than you are.
9: The Terrible 2’s
Now most everyone in the English speaking world (and some not in it) know that ‘two’ is the worded representation of 2. However, the other two are a bit odd.
The most common use of the word ‘too’ is to indicate that a person, thing or aspect of a situation applies in addition to one just mentioned and is a replacement for ‘as well’ or 'also.'
Example:
"The second subject was affected by it too."
Technically it should be, "The second subject was affected by it as well."
However, it depends on the usage. If you're just talking to your friends, too isn't all that bad, but if you're in a meeting, ‘also’ sounds more professional. In fact, if you really want to impress people, try saying 'as well' instead of either.
‘Too’ is also used to indicate more of an amount or degree of something than is desirable, necessary or fitting. It can also be used as a replacement for ‘extremely,’ ‘very, or ‘indeed.’
Example:
Amount or Degree. - The elephant was too large to fit in the transporter.
Extremely – The doctor was only too aware of what the results would be.
Very – After his transformation he didn’t look too good.
‘To’ is a preposition that is used to indicate direction, position, purpose, attachment, until, range, equality, recipient, comparison and many others things.
Example:
Direction – He is on his way to the store.
Position – The window is to the right of the door.
Purpose – The ducts were used to bring cool air into the lab.
Attachment – He found the claws were fixed to the tips of his fingers.
Until – They are open from Monday to Friday.
Equality – There are 30.48 cm to the foot.
Comparison – The odds were five to one against him.
10: Laid, lay, lie, lain… yes, more meanings than being tired.
Lay, laid - has many uses but bottom line it is an act, something that is done.
Example:
The act of setting something down. - Lay the books on my desk.
To put something into a resting position. – It was time to lay the baby down for a nap.
The act of burying someone. – It was time to lay Uncle Charlie to rest.
To place something on a flat surface. – When do you plan to lay the carpet?
To press something down flat. – He saw the cat lay its ears down.
To arrange place settings on a table. – She told me to lay out the table.
To set wood in place to make a fire. – Dan gathered wood to lay a campfire.
The act of producing eggs. – Those ducks don’t lay very many eggs.
To place a bet. – He wanted to lay a bet on number thirteen.
To impose something. – The government decided to lay a tariff on imported goods.
To bring to bear. – You really need to lay more emphasis on studying.
The act of devising something. – We need to lay out all the parts first.
To prepare something, make preparations. – We need to lay out our plans carefully.
To bring something into a certain state. – The whole dastardly scheme was laid bare.
Lie, lay, lain - is not the same as lay (above). It is a state of being.
Example:
To recline. – He was lying on the bed.
To be located somewhere. – Oregon lies to the south of Washington.
To be buried. – Here lies Mary – Not so Merry.
To be in a direction. – The valley lies below us.
To be positioned on a horizontal surface. – The book lay open on the table.
To be in a particular state. – The treasure lay hidden for fifty years.
Still to come. – More work lies ahead of us.
To stay undisturbed. – Let sleeping dogs lie.
11: (Parenthesis) and [Brackets]
If you (place something in parenthesis [you use brackets for a second time]) However, the brackets are most often used to enclose interpolations that are not specifically a part of the original quotation or for corrections, omissions, editorial comments, or as a caution that an error is reproduced literally.
Example:
Correction - He arrived on the 3rd [2nd] of July.
Caution - He said, "[T]he bus arrived on time."
Omission - Our conference [lasted] two hours.
Editorial comment- They fooled only themselves. [laughter]
They are also used to enclose ‘sic,’ which denotes the unedited content of a quote.
(Sic is Latin for "thus," FYI)
Kyle said we should go swimming [sic].
I think we shouldn't [sic] do it, let's do it tomorrow.
The parentheses are used to set off something that is not intended to be a part of the main statement or that is not a grammatical element of the sentence, yet is important enough to be included.
Example:
The results (see figure 2) are most surprising.
12: Drag and Drug
According to the dictionary, ‘drug’ is neither the past tense nor past participle of ‘drag’.
Jim will drag the pile tomorrow.
Jim dragged the pile yesterday.
Jim and I have dragged the pile already.
Jim took a drag on his drugs he smoked as he dragged the pile.
Extra Notes:
1: A lot of TG stories are trying to make sure we know who the character is after the resulting change.
He (now she)…
Mike –Tina…
(s)he…
He/she
His/her
We have already read that the character has gone through a change and we know that after they have changed their sex, they will probably change their name as well. If the story is written well enough, we'll know the person is no longer the same sex as when the story started.
2: “No one” is two words. It is not spelled “noone.”
3: “A lot” is two words. It is not spelled “alot.” The only way that you can have "a lot" as one word is if you spell it "allot." Allot is a transitive verb as in ‘to allot a portion of something’, to give as a share or to earmark.
Example:
-I allot fifty dollars of my pay each week for gas.
-It doesn't take a lot to allot some of your time for writing
4: A “Bear” is a large hairy animal with big nasty teeth. “Bare” means not covered, naked, hairless, empty, etc. i.e. You can have a bare bear but you can't have a bear bare.
5: Just Some Other Random Word Confusions
"Past" Something that has already happened. "That happened in the past."
"Passed" The act of passing something. "He passed the vegetables."
"Exercise" is the act of expending energy in the hopes of better physical fitness.
"Exorcise" is the act of dispelling spirits, usually evil. Think of 'The Exorcist."
"Moot" as in it's a "moot point" meaning a point that is up for debate but that is no longer relevant.
"Mute" There is no such thing as a "mute point". Mute is an inability to speak and saying mute point is just plain wrong.
6: Here's an interesting thing that some might not know, do you realize what you type isn't always what you speak? This example is only to reference a quote for a person speaking, not the dialogue of the book itself.
Example:
"You know what? I don't think we are going to get out of this alive."
Now say that aloud, reading each word exactly as it's supposed to be pronounced. Doesn't sound like you, does it? Try this:
"Ya know what? I don't think we're gonna get outta this one alive."
This particular way of writing should only be used for dialog of the person speaking and not the normal content of the story. Why does this seem important? Because not everyone in the world speaks every single word exactly as it’s supposed to be pronounced.
Now, you're probably thinking ‘but this is a post for correct grammar’. Yes, that is true, but when a person is speaking, I think the writer is allowed some leeway on proper grammar.
Think of the word you're hacking up. If you are making it slang (usually by eliminating the last letter), remember to place an apostrophe after it.
Try these:
Going = Gonna or Goin'
What do you = Whatcha' or Whataya' or Whatayou' or Whadaya.
Seeing = Seein'
Jumping = Jumpin'
The = da... ok, that was a bad one... only if you're a Yooper.
Oh, and don't listen to Snoop Dogg... 'izle' is NOT a proper modifier.
Just listen to the way you speak and you can really make some awesome speaking characters for your stories. Then you get into real slang, accents and colloquialisms... but that's for another time.
6: ALL languages are to be capitalized. They are the names of said languages, just like your own name. Same goes for planets and places. On a side note, “American” is NOT a language; it is the name of the people in the USA. Americans speak English, just like the people in the United Kingdom speak English, sort of, more or less.
7: This last piece of advice is free. Read your story out loud (permitting you are alone). If you stumble on a word or something doesn't sound right, then it isn't. If you continually get confused about something even though you wrote it, something needs to be changed. Also, write your story and proofread the hell out of it. Then let it sit for a day or two and come back, I guarantee you'll find something wrong. It's because you are accustomed to looking at the same thing over and over and have become comfortable with it. Resting for a day or two will give you mind something else to focus on until you come back and then you may see things you never saw before.
