Category Archives: proofreading

Are Entities Singular or Plural?

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As we’ve learned before, a verb must always agree in number and person with the subject. See Singular Verb, Plural Subject, Both . . . and, It’s All About the Agreement. But what if the “person” is an entity? Do you then use a singular or plural verb?

Typically, if you are talking about the entity as a unit, you use singular verb:

  • The committee meets on the third Thursday of each month.
  • The firm has earned many accolades.

If the entity is a company, it is usually treated as a unit. Just be sure that you carry the treatment as singular or plural every time you are talking about that entity. For instance:

  • ABC Corporation has ended its lease term. It is now looking for new office space.
  • NOT: ABC Corporation has ended its lease term. They are now looking for new office space. This example is inconsistent in treatment. If you are going to treat ABC Corporation as a single entity, then it is looking for space.

If you are want to emphasize that the members of the entity are acting independently, then a plural verb is correct:

  • The committee left the meeting together.
  • The staff have successfully staggered their vacations.
  • The jury left their notes in the jury box.

To help figure it out, replace the entity with “it” and replace members of the entity with “they” to make sure you are using the right verb. Using the examples above, replace the entity with the word in parenthesis to see how it works:

  • The committee (it) meets on the third Thursday of each month.
  • The firm (it) has earned many accolades.
  • The committee (they) left the meeting together.
  • The staff (they) have successfully staggered their vacations.
  • The jury (they) left their notes in the jury box.

Hopefully that was useful to you. If it was, please share this post so others can be as smart as you are!

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Grammar Giggle – There/Their/They’re

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It is disappointing enough when students don’t know which version of “there/their/they’re” to use on their Facebook posts, but when school instructors don’t know the difference, it does not bode well for improvement in Facebook statuses in the future.

Fitness There

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Generational Designations and Commas

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JrWhen a father and son have the exact same name (first, middle, and last) the son would use Jr. and the father would use Sr. If a son/grandson continues with the same exact name, the grandson would use III and father and grandfather could continue using Jr. and Sr. or could change to II and I, respectively. The Roman numeral designation II can also be used where a child is named after another relative like an uncle or grandfather. Royalty would always use the Roman numeral designations. The issue comes with whether or not to use a comma. According to the Gregg Reference Manual, the trend is not to use a comma to set off those elements, but the person’s preference should always be respected. If you know that the person prefers the comma in their name, follow these rules:

  • When the name is on a line all by itself, use only one comma between the name and the designation.

John Jones, Jr.

  • When there is language following the name, use a comma before and after the designation.

John Jones, Jr., is my son’s best friend.

  • When the name is possessive, drop the second comma after the designation.

John Jones, Sr.’s car is being repossessed.

  • When the name is followed by a stronger punctuation mark–such as an opening parenthesis, a semicolon, or a dash.

John Jones, Jr. (he is the president of the business club)

  • When the name is inverted, for example in a list in alphabetical order by last name, set off the designation with commas.

Jones, John K., Jr.

When preparing a letter from someone using the Jr., Sr., I, II, or III designation, you do not need to use the designation in the reference initials unless you need it to distinguish this person from another person in the same organization. For instance, a letter I type for Henry R. Miller, Jr. at Miller and Miller Law, P.C., a firm where his father also works, would show the reference initials hrmjr/kas.

Remember that these rules are in instances where the person prefers a comma before their generational designation. In cases where they do not prefer a comma, all of this information is unnecessary, but hopefully at least interesting.

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Em Dashes, En Dashes, and Non-Hyphens!

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A dash isn’t just “a dash”—there are different dash lengths—one em, two em, three em, and one en. An em is the width of a capital M and an en is one-half the width of an em.

THE EM DASH

The em dash can be used:

 

In place of commas

  • For emphasis to set off nonessential phrases.
    • She had four sports cars, but my favorite—the red Corvette.
  • Where a nonessential phrase already contains commas. If a dash would create too emphatic of a break, use parentheses
    • My “death row” meal—consisting of fried chicken, greens, and mashed potatoes—is also my comfort food.
  • When you want to give special emphasis to the second part of a compound sentence, use a dash instead of a comma
    • The movie should have won an Academy Award—and the directors all knew it.

In place of a semicolon

  • Use a dash for a stronger but less formal break where independent clauses are closely related.
    • She should not have taken the job—for one, she does not have basic Word skills.

In place of a colon

  • Use a dash to introduce explanatory words, phrases, or clauses when you want a stronger but less formal break.
    • Our marriage secret is simple—what’s mine is mine and what’s his is mine.

In place of parentheses

  • When you want to give a nonessential element a strong emphasis, use dashes instead of parentheses.
    • Susie—she’s been with the firm for 15 years—should be a great source of information for you.

THE EN DASH

The en dash is half the length of an em dash. You should use the en dash to connect numbers in a range and to mean “up to and including” when used in situations such as:

  • The office is open from 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
  • Her vacation is planned for May 2–10.
  • His homework was to read pages 386–435.
  • Our offices are on Floors 13–16.

An en dash is also used as a minus sign.

TYPING DASHES

One would think typing dashes is easy. Not so! Here are some guidelines

  • Do not just type a hyphen for a dash.
  • In word processing programs, you should have access to an em dash. In Word 2010, it is under Insert, Symbol, More Symbols, Special Characters.
  • The en dash is in the same place.
  • If you don’t have access to the characters, you can construct an em dash by typing the hyphen twice with no space between the hyphens and no space between the hyphens and the words on both sides of the hyphens.
  • A two-em dash indicates missing letters in a word. If you don’t have a two-em dash, type four consecutive hyphens (again with no spaces between or around), i.e., Mrs. S—-h.
  • A three-em dash indicates where an entire word has been left out or needs to be provided. If you don’t have access to a three-em dash, type six hyphens (with no spaces between or around), i.e., She said her annual salary was $——.
  • If your word processor doesn’t have an en dash, use one hyphen.
  • Always type the dash at the end of the line and do not start a new line with a dash.

That was a lot about the simple dash, but dashes are different from hyphens and should be treated differently. So dash a quick note—using correct dashes—to let me know if you learned something. Then share this post with others who need to know about dashes.

 

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