Thursday, February 7, 2008
grammar
I don't really have too many grammar questions but some that I do have problems with are when to use affect versus effect and also when to use who versus whom. When to use who/whom is something that no one has ever been able to adequately explain to me, come to think of it, I'm not sure I've ever asked anyone. It only occurs to me that I understand when to use what word when I am writing formal papers, otherwise I'm really not concerned. I also sometimes have issues with passive voice and sometimes I am not sure whether or not I need a comma.
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3 comments:
I completely sympathize with your comma confusion. I wrote a blog along those lines, in fact...
As for the rest of your grammar woes, I can see where you're coming from in those instances, as well. When you mentioned the "who vs. whom" issue, I chuckled to myself because I realized that I don't really know what the rules are concerning the topic, either. I had always just used the one that sounded better. You can usually "tell" which to use, but explaining how you "tell" is difficult. If I really had to try - I would say that you use "who" only in questions and "whom" when you are using a direct object. They can almost be used interchangeably in a sentence, depending on how you phrase it. "Who does this belong to?" vs. "To whom does this belong?"
I agree with the first comment about things sounding right. Most of the time when I read my papers aloud after I write them, it is easy to tell where the mistakes are, because they just sound wrong. Also, as for affect and effect, I definitely had a lot of trouble with distinguishing between what meant what in high school. Our teacher continually reprimanded us until there was no confusion, so that has really helped me a lot. I guess the more practice you have and the more you notice it when you write, the easier it will be to distinguish between the two without realizing it.
I also always have trouble with the effect and affect. Im always unsure which to use in my writting that most of the time i probably use the wrong one. All I know now is that one of them is a noun and the other a verb. I honestly always get them mixed up even after someone has told me several times what the difference between the two is.
As far as when to use who/ whom in a sentence, I usually just see which sounds better in the sentence. I had this dilema the other day on which of the two i should use in my paper. I just read the sentence aloud and used the one that fit best that way. Im not really sure if there is a right or wrong way to use either of them.
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