The English Department:

Now, let's begin with some of the most common mistakes that can be found even in the best of stories:


Its and It's.

This is probably the most common mistake writers make.

Its is a possessive pronoun. No apostrophe. "The dog buried its bone." "The starship lost its starboard nacelle."

It's is a contraction for "It is" or "It has." "It's a nice day." "It's been a long journey."

Other possessive pronouns that follow the "s" form--ours, yours, hers, theirs--likewise do not take an apostrophe.

Addendum: Contractions (including ones like let's--short for "let us") always take an apostrophe.


Whose and Who's.

Again, one is a possessive, and the other is a contraction.

Whose. Possessive, no apostrophe. "Whose weapon is this?"

Who's. Short for "Who is" or "Who has." "I want to know who's been messing with the replicators, and who's going to fix them."


Your and You're.

Oh, those pesky pronouns! With the same rules as those above.

Your. Possessive, no apostrophe. "Have you lost your mind?"

You're. Short for "You are." "You're going to get into trouble."


Well, color me embarrassed! I committed a major usage faux pas here...and am I glad I was the first one to catch it! The words described above and just below are not synonyms (words with similiar meanings), they're homonyms, words that sound alike but have different meanings and spellings! (Although, technically, some homonyms do have the same spelling.Homophone is the more correct term, but is not as widely used. Then there are homographs, where the pronunciation differs, such as record (the disk), and record (to make a recording). Properly confused now? Just give me a slap upside the head for getting the terms mixed up. Corrections follow:


There, They're, and Their.

Homonyms can be such a bother!

There is an adverb, meaning at or in that place, often used as an intensifier. "We're going over there." "Tom there is our best pilot."

There's is the contraction for "There is" or "There has." "There's the ship." "There's been an incident in the mess hall."

They're is a contraction for "they are." "They're going to lose that battle."

Their is a possessive pronoun. ""The aliens have lost their weapons." (See above for the plural rule on theirs.)


Lose and Loose.

Ah, but these two are not homonyms!

Lose (pronounced Lew's) is the opposite of find or win. "You're going to lose that bet." "We're losing the link." "They thought the lieutenant was a loser."

Loose (rhymes with noose) is the opposite of tight. "This uniform feels loose." "Loosen up, Tuvok."


Lead and Led.

The past tense of the verb "to lead" (rhymes with bead) is "led" (rhymes with bed). "I will lead my people to victory." "He led his people to victory."

Lead pronounced "led" is the metal. "The protective case had a lead lining."

The past tense of "to read" is pronounced, but not spelled "red."


Phase and Faze.

Phase means a stage of development; a recurring form; a part of a cycle. "We're in phase one of our plan." "The moon is in its waxing phase."

Faze means to bother or disturb. "The potential for danger did not faze him."


It's not alright.

"Alright" is not a word. It's the incorrect spelling of all right. Unfortunately, it's come into more common usage lately. Try to avoid it.


A lot to remember?

There is no such word as "alot." That's a misspelling of a lot: "The ship was in a lot of trouble. Allot, however, means to give, assign or apportion.


The Dis Words.

Disappoint, disapprove and disappear have one "s" and two "p's," not the other way around! The prefix "dis" means negation, lack or invalidation.

Yes, there are some words spelled with "diss"--if you're not sure, look it up!!


Character names.

There is nothing more annoying than reading a fan story wherein the author got the name of a major character wrong. You can find the correct spelling in the credits, or TV Guide, or a reference book!! I can't even count the number of ways I've seen "B'Elanna" and "Kathryn" misspelled on the 'net! And they've been right up there in the opening credits of Voyager for four seasons.

It's harder to know how to deal with alien names and technobabble, however. This will usually turn out to be a judgement call, unless it can be referenced somewhere.


Punctuating Quotations.

Oh, this is a tricky one. Bear with me as I try to explain.

Don't capitalize pronouns (or verbs!) that follow quoted dialogue, unless the quote ends a sentence. It's the punctuation at the end of the quote that tends to confuse people. (Of course, the only pronoun that's always capitalized is "I.")

Examples:

"There's a problem with the warp core," she said. (Comma, no trouble.)

"Are you sure?" asked Captain Janeway. (The question mark doesn't mean the sentence ended! It ends with the period after Janeway. Don't capitalize the verb!)

"There's a problem with the warp core?" she asked. (Same as above--the sentence ends with the period, not the question mark. Don't capitalize the pronoun!)

"There's a problem with the warp core!" she exclaimed. (Same as above--the exclamation point does not end the sentence.)

However....

(Ha--knew there was a catch, didn't you?)

If you let a quote stand alone, with a sentence after it that begins with a pronoun, that's a different story.

B'Elanna led the captain to the control panel. "There's a problem with the warp core." She indicated the suspect readings. "They've been fluctuating for hours," she continued.

See how that works?

And watch out for proper nouns, especially ranks and titles!

"What caused this problem?" Commander Chakotay asked.

Articles follow the pronoun rule:

"Can you help?" the lieutenant inquired.


Speaking of ranks...

I can't blame anyone for getting this mixed up, since they have a hard time getting it right in any Trek series!

If someone holds the rank of Lieutenant Commander (Data, Worf, Dax, Tuvok), they are directly addressed as "Commander." (Not "Lieutenant," as they let Seven of Nine do in what--two episodes??) The person can be introduced or referred to as Lieutenant Commander, however: "Ambassador, this is Lieutenant Commander Tuvok." "A pleasure to meet you, Commander."

But...

(Oops! Another catch.)

If Captain Sisko wanted someone to find Dax, for instance, he could say, "Locate the commander, would you?"

See?

******

More problems writers face: (Added 2/16/98)


Lay and Lie.

Two very easily confused words. Lay, laid, laid: principal parts of the verb which means "to put (place) down, or in position." "I shall lay the rug." "I laid the rug." "I have laid the rug." Lay is a transitive verb; that is, it takes an object.

Lie, lay, lain: principal parts of the verb which means "to recline or repose." "She will lie in the hammock." "She is lying in the hammock." "She lay in the hammock yesterday." "She has lain there all afternoon." Lie is an intransitive verb; it never takes an object.

Oh, yes...and how was she lying in the hammock??

Supine means lying on the back, or with the face upward.

Prone means lying with the front or face downward.

Oh, and a person can also be lying prostrate (face down or full-length) but not prostate (which is a problem only men have to worry about...)

More exceptions.

These two words are often confused:

Accept means "to receive." "Will they accept the terms of our offer?"

Except means "to leave out." "They agreed to everything except the final provision."


Dash it all.

Punctuation can be especially tricky when publishing on the 'net, where special typographic characters play hell with text files. Smart quotes (ones that turn in and out) are verboten, and certain servers won't accept italics for emphasis (most people then rely on asteriks).

Here's a problem I've encountered in several stories lately: the confusing of a dash with a hyphen. To indicate a sharp or sudden break in the normal or expected flow of narrative or dialogue, a dash is required. Ordinarily, this would appear as a single, long unbroken line. But it usually can't be reproduced outside a word-processing program. Therefore, you substitute a double hyphen:

There was nothing to indicate--at least as far as she sould see--that there was a problem with the controls.

(A dash can also separate parenthetical ideas, or ones used as afterthoughts:)

His first view of Voyager--tethered to the docking pylon--was breathtaking.

The ship was flying smoothly--or so it seemed.

(In dialogue, a dash indicates halting or hesitant speech:)

"There's nothing wrong; I just--want to get out of here," she explained anxiously.

A hyphen ( - ), a single short line, divides words that wrap around lines, or joins compound words:

twenty-something

high-pressure

And that's all for today's lesson. Link below for more!

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