I struggle with the verbs "awake", "waken", "woke". Sometimes I just take a wild stab.
Grammar Nazi
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To and too get me. Too means also, but it also indicates excess.Too many two's will add up to an even number.
They're all shopping with their spouses at the mall, and it is from there that they want to flee.
This one always sounds wrong to me, even though it's correct. I would want to say hung.
While "til" isn't a word, 'til is an acceptable abbreviation of until. Till apparently predates until, but always makes me think of a British cash register.
And awoken. Just look at whether it's a verb or a descriptive.
I love when you talk dirty.
The Queen makes me think of that!While "til" isn't a word, 'til is an acceptable abbreviation of until. Till apparently predates until, but always makes me think of a British cash register.
I always get confused on there and their lol.
If it's Galli you're speaking of, I think she's smarter than us when it comes to correct English!
M
mjs9153
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I just rely on reading a lot,mostly SK,which helped keep me on the straight and narrow as far as grammar goes..wasn't he an English teacher? 
and she spins circles around us!
Bev - I remind myself that Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton were incorrect. The gal should lie across the big brass bed, and Sally should lie down.
I've learned an awful lot reading sK as well as other authors. I used to use way too many commas (I'm still learning). That's a punctuation issue, though.I just rely on reading a lot,mostly SK,which helped keep me on the straight and narrow as far as grammar goes..wasn't he an English teacher?
I always had problems with "cemetery" - would reflexively type cemetary - until I forced myself to remember that "all of the "e"s are dead." Whatever works!
Separate is tricky, too. The only reason I get that one right is because it was a pet peeve of a grade school teacher who drove into our little heads to remember "A RAT!". Afterward, how she prevented us from writing "desparate" I dunno.
Speaking of which, I get confused when to necessarily use quotation marks vs italics. Reading sK, I've noticed him use italics when I thought it was supposed to be quotation marks in the case.
Quotation marks vs italics is stylistic, not grammatical, in many cases.
Oh, ok cool! Thanx, Bev!
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Is it true all grammar and spelling rules have exceptions, with a few exceptions?
Capitalize Dad and Mom when you are using the words as proper nouns, i.e., "I took Dad to the game," vs. "I gave my dad a hat." One is a name (Capitalized), one is a familial position (not).
"Til" is not a proper word. It's a contraction of 'until', and as such should be prefaced with an apostrophe (quarter 'til eight); however, language is always in flux. Some editors might tell you that it's all right to write it without the hyphen, as most readers know what it means. Another editor might stick straight to the style guides and insist upon the hyphen. I have had that issue with 'all right'. It is strictly proper to write out the whole phrase as I marked in quotes earlier, but the slightly shorter 'alright' is becoming acceptable--my second editor preferred it that way, while the first wanted it written correctly.
Overuse of hyphens and ellipses (...) happens often. As a general rule of thumb, remember that non standard punctuation makes the reader pause, and so can be useful for emphasis or to catch their attention; however, if you OVERUSE that device, the reader stops marking it as a point where they should slow down and think/look again and often begins to find it annoying.
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