Off topic: A few grammar rules for editors and proofreaders ;-) Thread poster: Lydia Molea
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Lydia Molea 
Germany
Local time: 23:18
English to German
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1. Verbs HAS to agree with their subjects.
2. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
3. Be more or less specific.
4. Also too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies.
5. No sentence fragments.
6. Don't use no double negatives.
7. Use words correctly, irregardless of how others use them.
8. Use the apostrophe in it's proper place and omit it when its not needed.
9. Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.
10. Place pronouns as close... See more 1. Verbs HAS to agree with their subjects.
2. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
3. Be more or less specific.
4. Also too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies.
5. No sentence fragments.
6. Don't use no double negatives.
7. Use words correctly, irregardless of how others use them.
8. Use the apostrophe in it's proper place and omit it when its not needed.
9. Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.
10. Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to their antecedents. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Jan Willem van Dormolen (X)
Netherlands
Local time: 23:18
English to Dutch
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| There are many more... | Nov 6, 2009 |
Verbs HAS to agree with their subjects.
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Never use a preposition to end a sentence with.
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And don't start a sentence with a conjunction.
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It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
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Avoid cliches like the plague. (They're old hat.)
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Also, always avoid annoying alliteration.
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Be more or less specific.
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Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary.
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Also too, never, ever use ... See more Verbs HAS to agree with their subjects.
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Never use a preposition to end a sentence with.
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And don't start a sentence with a conjunction.
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It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
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Avoid cliches like the plague. (They're old hat.)
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Also, always avoid annoying alliteration.
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Be more or less specific.
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Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary.
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Also too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies endlessly over and over again
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No sentence fragments.
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Contractions aren't always necessary and shouldn't be used to excess so don’t.
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Foreign words and phrases are not always apropos.
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Do not be redundant; do not use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous and can be excessive
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All generalizations are bad.
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Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
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Don't use no double negatives.
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Avoid excessive use of ampersands & abbrevs., etc.
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One-word sentences? Eliminate.
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Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake (Unless they are as good as gold).
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The passive voice is to be avoided.
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Eliminate commas, that are, not necessary. Parenthetical words, however, should be enclosed in commas.
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Never use a big word when substituting a diminutive one would suffice.
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Don’t overuse exclamation points!!!
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Use words correctly, irregardless of how others use them.
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Understatement is always the absolute best way to put forth earth-shaking ideas
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Use the apostrophe in it's proper place and omit it when its not needed and use it correctly with words’ that show possession.
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Don’t use too many quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I hate quotations.. Tell me what you know."
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If you've heard it once, you've heard it a billion times: Resist hyperbole; not one writer in a million can use it correctly. Besides, hyperbole is always overdone, anyway.
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Puns are for children, not groan readers.
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Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
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Even IF a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
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Who needs rhetorical questions? However, what if there were no rhetorical questions?
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Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
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Avoid "buzz-words"; such integrated transitional scenarios complicate simplistic matters
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People don’t spell "a lot" correctly alot of the time.
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Each person should use their possessive pronouns correctly
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All grammar and spelling rules have exceptions (with a few exceptions).
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Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.
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The dash – a sometimes useful punctuation mark – can often be overused – even though it’s a helpful tool some of the time.
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Proofread carefully to make sure you don’t repeat repeat any words.
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In writing, it’s important to remember that dangling sentences.
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In good writing, for good reasons, under normal circumstances, whenever you can, use prepositional phrases in limited numbers and with great caution.
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Complete sentences.
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If you must use slang, avoid out-of-date slang. Right on!
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You'll look poorly if you misuse adverbs.
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Use brackets to indicate that you (not Shakespeare, for example) are giving people (in your audience) information so that they (the people in your audience) know about whom you are speaking. But do not use brackets when making these references (to other authors) excessively.
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Note: People just can't stomach too much use of the colon.
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In English, unlike German, the verb early in the sentence, not later, should be placed.
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When you write sentences, shifting verb tense is bad.
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In good writing, for good reasons, under normal circumstances, whenever you can, use prepositional phrases in limited numbers and with great caution.
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Unless you're a righteous expert, don't try to be too cool with slang to which you're not hip.
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Use the ellipsis [...] to indicate missing ...
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(Avoid overuse of parentheses [or brackets {or braces .}]).
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“Avoid ‘overuse of “quotation” marks.’”
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Use brackets to indicate that you [not Shakespeare, for example] are giving people [but not illiterate people] information so that they [the readers] know about whom you are speaking [writing]. Do not use brackets [excessively] when making these references [to other authors].
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Forsooth, avoid archaisms.
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Redundancy is the use of superfluous text, speech, or items, repetitive text, speech, or items, that is more than what is required or is superfluous, repetitive, or more than required
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Do NOT use all caps for EMPHASIS. ▲ Collapse
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I loved it!
I didn't know about these funny rules... haha... you made me laugh!
Life (and Proz!) is beautiful because of this: the possibility of learning new things every day!
kisses!
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Thanks a lot, Lydia and Jan Willem.
"All generalizations are bad" is actually one of my life mottos.
Cheers,
Michiel
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| My motto too... | Nov 6, 2009 |
Michiel Leeuwenburgh wrote:
Thanks a lot, Lydia and Jan Willem.
"All generalizations are bad" is actually one of my life mottos.
Cheers,
Michiel
I always use to say "Generalizations are always wrong, included generalizations about generalizations"
| | | | | I learned it as "All generalizations are false." | Jan 3, 2010 |
Giuseppina Gatta, MA wrote: Michiel Leeuwenburgh wrote:
Thanks a lot, Lydia and Jan Willem.
"All generalizations are bad" is actually one of my life mottos.
Cheers,
Michiel I always use to say "Generalizations are always wrong, included generalizations about generalizations"
I believe the quote is even attributed to Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens).
| | | | Cedomir Pusica
Serbia
Local time: 23:18
Member (2009)
English to Serbian
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| Read before you burn it! | Jan 3, 2010 |
Half way through the list I thought that you might be suggesting that we stop writing altogether, and was getting ready to open fire and discredit the source until I realized it was a mockery. Right?
There is a lot of truth in some of the points, though.
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