How to choose: Which or That

When should you use 'that' or 'which' in a sentence?  I find it difficult figuring out if I used it appropriately.  According to Shundalyn Allen, Grammarly blog writer it's simple, see below for details.

• In a defining clause, use that.
• In non-defining clauses, use which.
• Remember, which is as disposable as a sandwich bag. If you can remove the clause without destroying the meaning of the sentence, the clause is nonessential, and you can use which.
• After reading the blog, it's now easier for me to remember when to use either of them.  I should use 'which' if the information is a non-defining clause.  This means if you took 'which' away, it wouldn't affect the meaning of the sentence.  See the two examples from the blog below to get a better understanding:
• My bike that has a broken seat is in the garage.   'That' is essential to the meaning of the sentence, without it, you wouldn't know if this person meant this particular bike or another bike.

My bike, which has a broken seat, is in the garage. 'Which'  is non-essential to the meaning of the sentence. Without 'which' you would still know that the bike with the broken seat is in the garage. 

Check out the Grammarly blog for more details at the following link:  Grammarly Blog on Which vs. That

Whose vs Who's

Whose vs Who's

     I see these two on the internet missed used by people.  Who's is a contraction of who is or who has. Whose is a possessive form of who, as in who did it? Whom is where the word comes from meaning to need more information.

• Both who’s and whose come from the pronoun who.
• 
  

Who's-

• 
  
• Who’s is a contraction, meaning it’s two words stuck together. The formula: who + is, or who + has.
• 
  
• For example: who’s hungry?

Whose-

• 
  
• Whose is a possessive pronoun. Use it when you’re asking (or telling) whom something belongs to.
• 
  
• For example: whose sandwich is this?

• 
  

• 
  

Which vs. Witch

Which vs. Witch

 A grammar mistake I have seen made is using which and witch. I don’t have an issue with this, but it seems to be a problem for others. I found an article the shows the difference between the two.

Which  - pronoun

1.       Which of these do you want?

2.       Choose which appeals to you.

3.       The book, which I read last night, was exciting.

Witch  - noun
A person that practices magic.

1.     The witches were in black robes and pointed hats.
2.       The witch practices magic.

difference between content and context

We will start with the meaning of context. The meaning of “context” according to the Oxford Dictionary is-
“The parts of something written or spoken that immediately precede and follow a word or passage and clarify its meaning:” 

Then next you have content. The meaning of content is The meaning of “content” according to the Oxford Dictionary is-

“willing to accept something; satisfied” and “subject matter or topic in a written document”.

The difference between the two words is that context means we are making a reference to a specific event or occasion. The main difference is that “content” and “context” is that you “refer to a context” and you “write the content”. From reading the article that is the best difference from it. https://www.differvs.com/difference-content-context/

Farther vs Further

One common grammar mistake I've seen is the use of farther vs. further. It seems to be tricky to figure out which word to use in certain situations. The AP style guide clears up the differences in the two.

Farther is referring to physical distance.
     Examples:
                         I can run farther now that I have lost weight.
                         I want to move farther away from the city.

Further is referring to an extension of time or degree.
     Examples:
                          If we are still having issues with connectivity, I will look further into
                          network settings.
                          Nothing could be further from the truth.

Active and passive voice

Active and passive voice

Voice shows whether the subject acts (active voice) or is acted on (passive voice)—that is, whether the subject performs or receives the action of the verb. Only transitive verbs are said to have voice. The clause the judge levied a $50 fine is in the active voice because the subject judge is acting. But the tree’s branch was broken by the storm is in the passive voice because the subject branch does not break itself—it is acted on by the object storm. 

The passive voice is always formed by joining an inflected form of be (or, in colloquial usage, get) with the verb’s past participle. Compare the ox pulls the cart (active voice) with the cart is pulled by the ox (passive voice). A passive-voice verb in a modifying phrase often has an implied be-verb: in the advice given by the novelist, the implied (or understood) words that was come before given; so the passive construction is was given. Although the be-verb is sometimes implied, the past participle must always be expressed. Sometimes the agent isn’t named {his tires were slashed}. As a matter of style, passive voice {the matter will be given careful consideration} is typically, though not always, inferior to active voice {we will consider the matter carefully}. The choice between active and passive voice may depend on which point of view is desired. For instance, the mouse was caught by the cat describes the mouse’s experience, whereas the cat caught the mouse describes the cat’s.

There, Their, and They're

One of the mistakes that I pick up on commonly is the misuse of There, Their, They're. This deadly trio has tripped up writers of all aptitudes and positions. I've made this mistake more than once in my career, usually in haste. The problem with these words is they're homophonous, and of similar sound and pronunciation with differentiation in meaning.

What is the difference?

There - adverb

1. In or at that place. (opposed to here)
2. At that point in an action, speech, etc. 
3. In that matter, particular, or respect.

examples:

• There is an inherent danger in flying; nevertheless most of the time it is safer than driving.
•  He must stand there in the corner until he apologizes for his rude behavior. 

Their - pronoun

1. A form of the possessive case of they used as an attributive adjective, before a noun.
2. Used with a singular indefinite pronoun or singular noun antecedent in place of the definite masculine his or the definite feminine her.

examples: 

• They left their car lights on, should we let them know?
• It's good for teachers to have high expectations for their students.

They're - contraction

1. The result of contracting or combining the terms they and are.

examples:

• You think they're in there?
• Don't worry, they're tamer than they look.

Spell or Abbreviate an Address?

     It's been either way for quite some time now and before I get too professional in my career, I'd like some clarification!  Even the post office uses abbreviations in street addresses.  What is the professional approach?  AP style confirms that all addresses should be spelled out, and rightfully so.  It will absolutely clarify each part of an address, therefore avoiding misdirection.

See, saw, or seen? 

     One of the most common grammatical mistakes I notice is the misuse of "see", "seen", and "saw". Whether writing or speaking, many people have a hard time understanding which verb tense is appropriate for their situation.  Every style guide I found uses the same rules. Here's a quick primer:

"See" is the verb you use in the present (or future) tense: 

               I can see my dog on the other side of the park.

               My dad will see better with his new glasses.

               I cannot see your point of view.


"Saw" is the verb you use in the past tense:

              Yesterday I saw the new Spiderman movie.

               I just saw that boy run across the street.

               I finally saw her point of view.


"Seen" is the past participle of the verb and is used to form present perfect or past perfect tenses. This is the trickiest one for most people! However, there are two easy rules to remember that will help. First, "seen" always needs a helper verb, like "has", "had", or "have". Second, you cannot use it in conjunction with a specific point in time. Consider these:
               I have seen that painting somewhere before.

This sentence indicates that the subject is currently seeing something (a painting) that he or she has seen at some non-specific point in the past (before).


               She had seen the stray cat several times last week.

This sentence is incorrect. While the verb is conjugated correctly, specifying the time frame is what makes it wrong. It could say:

               She had seen the stray cat several times prior to today.      
               
               She had seen the stray cat before.
               

If the point in time needs to be specific, just use the past tense "saw":

               She saw the cat several times last week.        


Easy peasy! Just remember: "see" is happening now, "saw" happened in the past, and "seen" requires a helper verb and a non-specific time. If you see "seen" being used on its own, you know it's wrong.




               

Apostrophe (’)

Punctuation: Apostrophe (’)   / Oxford Dictionary

• The apostrophe is used to form possessives of nouns : Add just an apostrophe to The end of plural nouns that end in -s and add  ‘s to the singular form of the word, to the plural forms that do not end in –s, to the end of compound words and to the last noun to show joint possession of an object.

                   The owners’ car

                   Uncle Sam’s hat

                   Chris’s game

• Apostrophes can also be used in contractions, to show the omission of letters.

                    It is = it’s

• you can use an apostrophe to show the plurals of single letters and numbers:

         The letter i’s and the number 7’s

• Don't use apostrophes for personal pronouns, the relative pronoun who, or for noun plurals.

                      INCORRECT: His’ book 

Call it what you want: the Oxford/Harvard/Series/Serial Comma. Let's use it.

The MLA style guide (and other styles, including CMS [Chicago Manual of Style] and APA [American Psychological Association]) require the use of this comma because it reduces the ambiguity of our writing. Although several other style authorities (including the AP stylebook [Associated Press stylebook] and the CP [Canadian Press]) recommend writers avoid using this comma, we should use this comma consistently in our projects.

Many of the conflicting guidelines between writing styles are rooted in the differences between British and American styles. Most (but not all) of the authorities recommending against the use of this comma are non-American style guides (including British and Canadian guidelines). While we won't be writing for an exclusively American audience, we should follow our most widely accepted, American guidelines (some British style guides, including the Oxford Style Manual, also require the use of this comma).

While the introduction of the serial comma can introduce ambiguity, this is seldom the case. Since including this comma in my writing, I have felt more confident in my writing and have rarely encountered a situation where the omission of the serial comma would have added clarity or reduced ambiguity.

Gray or Grey?

Grammarly is a grammar checker and proofreader that also has a handbook that will help you understand grammar, punctuation , mechanics Etc.
 

The words are supposedly interchangeable, but in the US we spell the word gray with an a when everyone else spells gray with an e.

I believe that the word gray should be spelled with the letter a not the letter e. the only time that you should spell gray with the letter e is when it is someone's name.

Welcome!

Welcome to the class Style Guide for SCC's Writing for the Web class of Spring of 2017!

Each student in our class will post two entries. Each entry will state a position, supported by an acknowledged online style guide or dictionary, on a topic of grammar, word use, or style.

The purpose of our Style Guide is to agree on a set of rules for issues encountered by web writers. Not all style guides agree, and successful writers observe these rules consistently in their writing. Students in our class may comment to each post with agreement or disagreement as long as they support their positions with appropriate authorities.

Include a link to your authority. Be sure to notice the headline in this example:

E-mail or Email?

I propose that we spell this word without the hyphen in this class. I've listed two dictionaries with opposing positions on this topic below. Both include links to websites for these dictionaries.

• Merriam-Webster's online dictionary, a recognized conservative dictionary, tells us to spell this word with a hyphen. It explains the history of the term as it has evolved since 1982. This history illustrates the way that words change over time with usage by English speakers.
• Oxford's New American dictionary is a more modern, progressive dictionary that supports removing the hyphen in the spelling of this word. 

Since web writing is a more modern way of communicating, and since many site visitors use more modern ways of communicating, a more modern way of spelling this way seems appropriate. In addition, the word is much easier to key without the hyphen. Many web writers have been dropping this hyphen for quite some time.