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~Article Index (Arranged by Topic)~

 
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      The regular article index for this site is difficult for some readers to negotiate, because there are so many articles and they are listed in the index according to when they were written and posted, not according to topic.

       This topical index is intended to make it easier to locate articles on the subjects you want to read about.  I won't pretend that the ordering is optimal, even on this page, but I hope it will be at least somewhat easier to use than the regular article index for those who feel dismayed at the prospect of all the scrolling required to find a particular article on the other article index.

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General Articles About Grammar and Usage
          "Why Does She Keep Saying Grammar and Usage?"
      "Who Am I to Tell You How to Write Correctly?"
      "Why Bother with Spelling and Grammar Rules"
      "Grammarians Are Such a Hoot!"


Differences Between American and British Usage
   "British vs. American Usage"
    "Single vs. Double Quotation Marks: Once Again British and American Usage Differ"
   "Quotation Marks: Where Do the Commas and Periods Go--And Why?"
          


Common Errors

          Correcting Mechanical Errors
                    Proofreading
                              "Correcting Mechanical Errors in Your Writing"

                    Systematic improvement
                              "Is There an Easy Way to Correct My Own Mechanical Errors?"

              Misused idiom
                      "It Is Not 'All of the Sudden'"
                              "You've Got Another THINK Coming"

          Problematic Word Pairs
                    "Problematic Word Pairs I"
                    "Problematic Word Pairs II"
                    "Problematic Word Pairs III"
                    "Another Pair of Problematic Word Pairs"
                    " 'Imply' vs. 'Infer' "
                    "Learn the Difference Between 'Affect' and 'Effect' "
                    "If You Can't Decide Whether to Use 'Whether' or 'If'--Read This Article
              "Learn the Difference Between 'Than' and 'Then' "
              "Suffrage Good; Suffering Bad"
              "Learn the Difference Between 'Populace' and 'Populous' "
                    "Get the Lead Out!"
                    " 'Empirical' vs. 'Imperial': A Word Pair That Really Should NOT Be Confused"
              "Don't Confuse 'Utmost' with 'Upmost' "
              "Learn the Difference between 'Ascribe' and 'Subscribe' "
              "Another Confusing Word Pair: You DEFUSE a Situation--You Don't DIFFUSE It"

      "Ten Common but Easily Corrected Errors"

      "Son of Ten Common Errors"

      "It Is Never 'Could Of'!"

      "Mrs. Malaprop Lives"

      "Hardly Anything You Need to Speak or Write About Actually Comes in Tons"
      
      "TOE the Line," NOT "TOW the Line"
 
      "What Does 'Begging the Question' Really Mean?"

      "You'veGot Another Think Coming!"


     "All right" vs. "Alright"
                 "All Right! All Right!  I'll Write About Why It's 'Alwrong'!"

          "Anyways" vs. "Anyway"
              " 'Anyways" vs. 'Anyway' "

      "Disdain'"vs. "Distain"
             "Please, DON'T Spell 'Disdain' as 'Distain' "!

        Faulty Parallelism
              "Faulty Parallelism with Coordinate Elements"


Punctuation

      Commas
               With introductory adverbial elements
                     "(I) What is an Introductory Adverbial Element?"
                     "Commas with Introductory Adverbial Elements (II. a.): Words"
                     "Commas with Introductory Adverbial Elements (II.b. ): Phrases"
                "Commas with Introductory Adverbial Elements (II.c.): Clauses"
                "Commas with Direct Address"
                "Using Commas with Dates"
                "Using Commas with Geographical (Place) Names

               With interjections
                    "What Is an Interjection, and How Do I Punctuate It?"

               With appositives
                     "The Loyal Apposition"

           With coordinate modifiers
                  "Commas with Coordinate Modifiers"

              With other coordinate elements
                    "Commas with Contrasted Coordinate Elements"
                    "No Commas with Compound (Coordinate)Sentence Elements"
          
              Correcting comma splices
                   "What Is a Comma Splice, and How Do I Fix It?"
                "When Is a Comma Splice Not an Error?

           With compound sentences          
                   "Commas with Compound Sentences"

           With interrupters (Parenthetical Elements)
               "Parenthetical elements: Use a COMPLETE SET of Commas or Dashes to                                                                          Enclose an Interrupter"

           With nonrestrictive relative clauses
              "Comma Usage: Restrictive vs. Nonrestrictive Relative Clauses"

    Colons
              "Colons, and Semicolons, and Bears!"


      Semicolons
                  "Colons, and Semicolons, and Bears!"


      Quotation Marks
              General explanation
                     "Quotation Marks: A General Explanation of How They Are Used"

              With direct quotations
                  "Quotation Marks: A General Explanation of How They Are Used"

           Single vs. double
                  "Single vs. Double Quotation Marks: Again British and American Usage Differ"

               With periods and commas
                    "Quotation Marks: Where Do the Commas and Periods Go--And Why?"

               With titles
                    "Which Titles Are Italicized and Which Are Enclosed in Quotation Marks?"

           To set off words used as words
                  "Quotation Marks: A General Explanation of How They Are Used"
               "Punctuating Words Used as Words, or Words used in a Special Way"


      Italics
              With titles
                    "Which Titles Are Italicized and Which Are Enclosed in Quotation Marks?"

              To set off words used as words
                  "Quotation Marks: A General Explanation of How They Are Used"
          

      Hyphens
               With compound words
                    "Hyphenation I"

           With prefixes
                  "Hyphenation II"

            With numbers
                  "Hyphenation I"

               The suspensive hyphen
                    "Hyphenation III: The Suspensive Hyphen"
                    "More on the Suspensive Hyphen" (guest article by Thomas J. Scott)

               Improperly used as dash
                    "A Hyphen Is Not a Dash"


      Dashes
              "A Hyphen Is Not a Dash"
              "Parenthetical Elements: Use a Complete Set of Commas or Dashes to Enclose                            an Interrupter"

     Ellipsis points
                  "Are Those Dots Just for Decoration?"



      Sentence Boundaries

              Comma splices
                      "What Is a Comma Splice, and How Do I Fix It?"
                      "When Is a Comma Splice Not an Error?"

              Fused sentences
                      "How to Correct a Fused Sentence"

              Appositive fragments
                      "The Loyal Apposition"

              Semicolon fragments
                      "Colons, and Semicolons, and Bears!"


      Capitalization
                  Titles
                        "What Words Do I Capitalize in a Title?"

                    Personal and official titles and family relationships
                        "On Capitalizing 'Mom' and 'Dad' and 'Great-Aunt Betty'"


      Prepositions
             At the ends of sentences
                       "It Is Usually Not Wrong to End a Sentence with a Preposition"
                       "Prepositions at the Ends of Sentences: Why the 'Rule' Is Wrong"
                  "A Response to Readers Who Still Insist That Prepositions
                           Must Never Be Used at the Ends of Sentences"

              Into/in to; onto/on to
                       "Into/In To; Onto/On To"
                    
              "Like" used only as a preposition
                    "Shibboleth Alert: Use 'Like' Only as a Preposition, Not as a Conjunction"


      Pronouns
          Case
                 "The Case for Pronouns"
              "More on When to Use 'Who' and 'Whom' "
                    "Dont Use 'Him' or 'Her' as the Subject of a Clause"
                    " 'They Spoke English Better than He': Pronoun Case with
                    Elliptical Clauses of Comparison"

           Reflexive and intensive pronouns ("self")
              "Control Your 'Self': The Proper Use of the Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns"

           Who, which, that
              "Who, Which, That"
                              
   
    Interjections
                    "What Is an Interjection, and How Do I Punctuate It?"


    Verbs and Verbals
               "There's" vs. "there are"
                         "There's a Problem with 'There's'Actually, There ARE Two"

               "Lie" vs. "lay"
                         "The Proper Use of 'Lie' and 'Lay"

               "Affect" vs. "effect"
                         "Learn the Difference Between  'Affect and Effect '"

               "Imply" vs. "infer"
                         " 'Imply' vs. 'Infer' "

              "Could of" vs. "could've"
                         "It Is Never 'Could Of'!"

                    "Misled" vs. "mislead"
                         "Get the Lead Out!"                    

               "Feel bad" vs. "feel badly"
                         "You Feel BAD--You Don't Feel BADLY, Unless Your Hands Are Damaged"
                    
                    Finite verbs vs. nonfinite verb forms (verbals)
                         "Nonfinite Verb Forms (Verbals)"
                         "Don't Use the Past Participle as the Predicate in a Clause"

                    Choosing the appropriate voice
                         "Active vs. Passive Voice"
                          (This link will take you to my "Essay, I Say" website.)

                     Verb Agreement with "the number and "a number"
                         "THE Number IS; A Number ARE"

                      Possessives with gerunds
                         "Possessives Precede Gerunds"

                      Participles with verb phrases
                        "The Last Word in a Verb Phrase Must Be a Participle"


      Verb Tenses
               "Prefer Simple over Progressive Tenses"


      Mood
           "Subjunctive Mood"


      Dangling participles
           "It's My Participle and I'll Dangle It if I Want To!"


      Split infinitives
           "Is It Wrong to Split an Infinitive?"


      Parallelism
           "Faulty Parallelism with Coordinate Elelements"


          Articles
               "Using 'A' or 'An' with Acronyms

               "It Is NOT 'All of THE Sudden'"


          Modifiers
               "Don't Use 'So' as a Vague Intensifier"
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