So possessive!

Forming possessives and plurals can be confusing. This may be because both involve the letter “s.”

The most common possessive form is apostrophe + s: Bill’s nonsense. This rule applies even if the possessor’s name ends in “s”: Bowers’s issues.

Then there’s the plural possessive, s + apostrophe: the editors’ rules.

For forming plurals, drop any thought of apostrophes. You don’t need them. In most cases, just add an “s,” or in some cases, “es”: cats, homes, lenses, ranches. What about decades and numbers, you ask? Add an “s”: 1970s, 1990s. People in their 60s (or sixties).

And of course some words have unusual plural forms: people, men, women. And some plurals are the same as the singular: deer, elk, moose, trout.

Here are the answers to the bloopers in the last post:

5. Most fly line companies have their own propriety combinations of these ingredients to produce the line qualities they are looking for.

Propriety is a noun meaning proper demeanor or decorum. What’s needed here is the adjective proprietary, meaning an exclusive or unique technology belonging to a company.

4. How scandalous and utterly unprecedented in the anals of American politics.

Add an n: in the annals of politics. We’ve spent too much time in the other place of politics already.

3. Finally we were able to stalk close enough to take that beautiful buck with my .300 magnum rifle, shooting a 180-grain Nosler petition.

A petition is an appeal, often widely circulated, to redress grievances. This should be Nosler Partition, the brand name for a famous, specially designed hunting bullet from Nosler Bullet Company.

2. And you too may begin picking rocks off the stream bottom and identifying the insects there—maybe even taking some samples home in viles.

Wrong word. Vile is an adjective meaning horrid or disgusting. Should be vials, small containers for holding scientific or medical samples.

1. The Caney Fork tailwater was borne in the late 1950s from the deep waters of Center Hill Lake.

Borne means carried or supported. Should be born the late 1950s . . .

Here are some new editorial funnies with which to test yourself:

5. The ability to obtain healthcare is an important goal for middle class wager earners and their families.

4. Unsafe working conditions include a work area covered in a “thick film of drilling mud,” supposedly watertight equipment that actually leaked and safety equipment that was passed its inspection date.

3. With their gargantuan appetites and predisposition to feed on baitfish, the Great Lakes provide the ideal habitat for these beastly predators.

2. Although often misunderstood, Tom Gresham demonstrates that shooting from a bench is actually quite simple.

1. My old-time Republican friends say they have pretty much had it and their disdain for John McCain is palatable.

That’s foreign to me

Like many writers, you might be tempted to use foreign words to lend your prose a certain air of worldly sophistication. This can have the desired effect—if the foreign words are spelled and used correctly.

If not, the effect is exactly the opposite: You can end up looking like a poser or a wannabe. To avoid this, use foreign words sparingly and with care. Make sure the word is appropriate to the context and the audience.

Most important: Look it up, in a printed or online dictionary, to make sure you’re spelling it correctly. In my editing work, I’ve seen all the following words, all misspelled: gourmét, coup de gras, chow, je ne say quoi, schadenfreud, sunomi.

The correct versions are gourmet, coup de grace (French for killing shot administered to put a wounded animal out of its misery), ciao (Italian for either hello or good-bye, depending on the context), je ne sais quoi (French for I-don’t-know-what, meaning a certain indescribable something), schadenfreude (German for pleasure at the misfortune of others) and tsunami (the English version of the Japanese word for tidal wave).

Used properly, foreign words can be powerful, giving your writing a real flair, a certain elegance or je ne sais quoi. But foreign words are also like firearms—if you’re not careful, you might shoot yourself in the foot.

Here are the answers to the bloopers in the last post:

5. I must admit my thoughts did go to Ruark’s “Death in the Tall Grass” due to the present bush conditions.

Wrong author, wrong book. Robert Ruark (1915-1965) wrote two classic, famous books about big game hunting in Africa: Horn of the Hunter (1953) and Use Enough Gun (1966). Peter Hathaway Capstick (1940-1996) wrote several hunting books, of which Death in the Long Grass (1977) is the most famous. Rewritten thus: . . . did go to Hathaway Capstick’s Death in the Long Grass due to the . . .

4. After having some cool beverages, our luggage and rifle cases were loaded into the hunt vehicles and we departed for camp.

Dangling modifier. This states that the luggage and rifle cases had some cool beverages. Rewritten thus: After we enjoyed some cool beverages, our luggage . . .

3. Thousands of curiosity seekers diverged on the small town to see what possessions of Eddie’s would be auctioned.

Wrong word. To diverge means to move apart. Should be converged.

2. Using a router with a 3/8” rabbit bit, cut a grove along the outer edge of the plaque.

Wrong words. A rabbit is, well, you know. S/b rabbet, meaning a channel, groove or recess. A grove is a group of trees. S/b groove.

1. Nonpsychotic major depression during pregnancy and the postpartum are a widespread health threat to mother, infants, and families.

Lack of agreement between subject and verb. Depression is singular; therefore the verb must be singular as well. Nonpsychotic major depression is a widespread health threat.

Here are some new editorial funnies with which to test yourself:

5. Most fly line companies have their own propriety combinations of these ingredients to produce the line qualities they are looking for.

4. How scandalous and utterly unprecedented in the anals of American politics.

3. Finally we were able to stalk close enough to take that beautiful buck with my .300 magnum rifle, shooting a 180-grain Nosler petition.

2. And you too may begin picking rocks off the stream bottom and identifying the insects there—maybe even taking some samples home in viles.

1. The Caney Fork tailwater was borne in the late 1950s from the deep waters of Center Hill Lake.

Comparatively superlative

Editors often see errors like this:

The Watson River is the smallest of the two, and is known for its rainbow trout fishing.

If you recognized that smallest is incorrect and should be smaller, you know about comparatives and superlatives, whether you realize it or not.

Comparatives and superlatives are special forms of adjectives that are used in comparing two or more things. In the example above, the writer incorrectly used the superlative form (smallest) when he should have used the comparative form (smaller).

How do you tell? Simple: Use the comparative when you’re comparing only two things, and the superlative for more than two.

Comparative: Choose the lesser of two evils.

Superlative: Murphy’s Law states that if anything can go wrong, it will, at the worst possible time.

Adjective      Comparative      Superlative

good                  better                        best

less                   lesser                        least

bad                     worse                       worst

Here are the answers to the bloopers in the last post:

5. David W. Johnson is described as Gov. David A. Paterson’s closest confidante, despite arrests in the aide’s past and disputes with women that drew the police.

Wrong noun form. A confidante (with an e) is a woman in whom one confides. For a man, it should be confidant.

4. And, no, Lloyd Blankfein getting a bonus of “only” $9 million this year won’t diffuse the populist outrage.

Wrong verb. Diffuse means to spread. Should be defuse, meaning to disarm or render harmless.

3. Anyone who thinks famous pro athletes are monogamous (even married ones) are delusional.

Lack of agreement between subject and verb. Anyone is singular, so its verb must be is: Anyone who thinks . . . is delusional.

2. After realizing he could build a better bullet, the Nosler Partition came into being.

Dangling modifier. This says that the Nosler Partition (a bullet brand) realized it could build a better bullet . . . or something. Rewritten thus: After John Nosler realized he could build a better bullet, the Nosler Partition came into being.

1. Being a small country of only 5.5 million people, I was surprised to learn that it is home to more than 40,000 red deer, as well as a host of other game animals.

Another dangling modifier. This says that the writer (I) is a small country of 5.5 million people. Rewritten thus: Because it’s a small country of only 5.5 million people, I was surprised to learn that it is home to . . .

Here are some new editorial funnies with which to test yourself:

5. I must admit my thoughts did go to Ruark’s “Death in the Tall Grass” due to the present bush conditions.

4. After having some cool beverages, our luggage and rifle cases were loaded into the hunt vehicles and we departed for camp.

3. Thousands of curiosity seekers diverged on the small town to see what possessions of Eddie’s would be auctioned.

2. Using a router with a 3/8” rabbit bit, cut a grove along the outer edge of the plaque.

1. Nonpsychotic major depression during pregnancy and the postpartum are a widespread health threat to mother, infants, and families.

The principal principle

If anything drives writers, editors and (according to my dad, who worked as one for decades) English teachers around the bend, it’s the homonyms principal and principle.

The correct choice depends on whether the word is a noun or an adjective, but unfortunately there are exceptions. Let’s impose some method on this madness.

1. Most of the time, when the word is a noun, you want principle, meaning a general or fundamental truth, or a governing code of conduct.

Noun examples:

Newton’s three laws of motion are the guiding principles of physics.

Unscrupulous people have few moral principles.

NRA instructors teach the principles of gun safety.

2. Most of the time, when the word is an adjective, you want principal, meaning main or chief. (Principal derives from the same word root as prince.)

Adjective examples:

Chicken is the principal ingredient of chicken stew.

Professional networking and friendship are the principal benefits of WOMA membership.

Now for the exceptions. As previously stated, principle is almost always a noun. Sometimes, principal can also be a noun (rather than an adjective), meaning a chief or leader, or the main actor in an organization or event.

Examples:

The principal is the school’s chief administrator.

Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer were the principals who founded Microsoft.

Vice President Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton were the principals in the famous duel of July 11, 1804, in which Hamilton was mortally wounded.

To sum up:  Most of the time, use principal when you need an adjective and principle when you need a noun. But principal can sometimes be a noun when it means a leader. (“The school principal is your pal.”)

Say what?

Here are some new editorial funnies to test yourself. See how many errors you can spot. Each example contains at least one.

5. It’s hard holding off on such a big buck, but for TV, everything has to be just right, or all the effort is for not.

4. We are a custom components manufacture for the shooting industry. We specialize in manufacturing custom parts for archery, black power, firearms, reloading equipment and more.

3. Bernanke, needlessly appointed by Obama to a second term, has become the lightening rod for popular frustration at the Wall Street bias of this administration.

2. Intended to be a straight acting role, four musical numbers were added to further take advantage of Elvis’s popularity as a singer.

1. The guide’s calls drew a response, and when we moved a bit our binoculars saw a big stutter in the field, fanned out in the sun in all his glory.

Here are the answers to the bloopers in the last post:

5. Like many fly fishers, my first brook trout fell for an earthworm clawed from a muddy streambank.

The dreaded dangling modifier rears its ugly head. This says that the brook trout was like many fly fishers. Rewritten thus: Like many fly fishers, I caught my first brook trout with an earthworm clawed from a muddy streambank.

4. Remember how you feel after Christmas dinner? Well, the trout also have to loosen a belt before desert, and often take a day or two off before they actively start feeding again.

Should be dessert, a sweet treat enjoyed after dinner. A desert is a hot, arid landscape, such as the Sahara Desert. (Interestingly, Sahara is the English version of sahrā, Arabic for desert.)

3. The Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW) has several field locations where DOW personnel strips the eggs and artificially inseminates the row.

Wrong verb tense: Personnel is plural, so this verb should be strip. Wrong word: Should be roe, meaning fish eggs.

2. Both the fore-end and stock are crafted from a durable, weatherproof synthetic material to compliment the non-reflective matte metal finish.

(“You look really nice today,” the stock told the metal finish.) Wrong word: Should be complement, meaning to augment or enhance. Compliment means to praise or flatter. Bonus points if you spotted “fore-end” and “non-reflective.” Nowadays this part of a gunstock is often spelled forend; and words with the prefix “non” are often closed: nonreflective.

1. Sitting down to write about Montana fly-fishing guide Stacy Jennings, wracking my brain for a slightly edgy hook, I realized that the editor of the Missoula Independent had already written it for me, in giving Stacy the paper’s 2007 award for Best Fishing Guide.

(This was one of my own errors, and our astute WOMA President Barb Baird caught it, saving my red-faced editorial butt, not for the first time.) Wrong word: Should be racked, meaning tormented or tortured. Wracked is a synonym for wrecked or destroyed.

Fewer pitch

Writers are sometimes confused about when to use less and when to use fewer.  And editors commonly see (and correct) erroneous constructions such as less people.

I’m happy to report that this is one of the few situations in our endlessly quirky, riddled-with-exceptions English language with a simple, hard-and-fast rule to guide you.

Here’s the rule: When describing something you can count, use fewer; when describing something you can’t count, use less.

Things you can count include people, bass, deer, rocks, trees, hunting trips, mountains, rivers, continents and oceans. (Use fewer.)

Things you can’t count include time, water, trouble, happiness, air, love, space, soil and meat. (Use less.)

Here are some examples:

• Less venison; fewer roasts
• Less happiness; fewer moments of joy
• Less love; fewer affectionate gestures
• Less grass; fewer blades of grass
• Less water; fewer rivers
• Less time; fewer hours
• Less space; fewer parking spaces
• Less trouble; fewer problems

Here are some new editorial funnies to test yourself. See how many errors you can spot. Each example contains at least one.

5. Like many fly fishers, my first brook trout fell for an earthworm clawed from a muddy streambank.

4. Remember how you feel after Christmas dinner? Well, the trout also have to loosen a belt before desert, and often take a day or two off before they actively start feeding again.

3. The Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW) has several field locations where DOW personnel strips the eggs and artificially inseminates the row.

2. Both the fore-end and stock are crafted from a durable, weatherproof synthetic material to compliment the non-reflective matte metal finish.

1. Sitting down to write about Montana fly-fishing guide Stacy Jennings, wracking my brain for a slightly edgy hook, I realized that the editor of the Missoula Independent had already written it for me, in giving Stacy the paper’s 2007 award for Best Fishing Guide.

Here are the answers to the bloopers in the last post:

5. At the height of the Great Depression, the unemployment rate in the United States stood at 25%.

It makes more sense to substitute depth or nadir when writing about a depression. For the same reason, you wouldn’t write “depth of the mountain” either.

4. He grew up in Detroit and his love for the city and its people are palpable, as is his grief for the horrors the city has endured.

The plural verb doesn’t agree with its singular subject, which here is love. His love is palpable.

3. We have a serious problem in this country—our champagne financing. TV covers candidates directly commiserate with their ability to sell ads, so an attractive candidate gets more coverage that someone not so photogenic.

Wrong word; should be campaign financing. (Champagne is the famous sparkling wine from the Champagne region of France. It’s expensive, so lots of people have a problem financing it.) Wrong word; should be commensurate, meaning corresponding in amount. (Commiserate is a verb meaning to sympathize.) Wrong word; should be than.

2. The tragic news did not phase Jonathon as much as Melinda had expected.

Wrong word; a phase is a particular step or stage in a process. Should be faze, a verb meaning to disturb.

1. After rounding the corner near the entryway, Wilson’s paranoia began to ease a little.

Here, rounding is a dangling modifier. (Currently this says that Wilson’s paranoia rounded the corner. But emotions don’t walk around inside buildings.) Rewritten thus: After rounding the corner near the entryway, Wilson felt his paranoia begin to ease a little.