50+ Lifestyles

Publisher’s Corner

By Eloise Graham

Grammar That Gramma Needs to Share

Our youth and young adults today are so busy texting and abbreviating everything, no punctuation… well, it seems as if all of the rules we lived and learned are no longer in existence. Let’s start with a simple text conversation and see if you can figure it out.

Person 1: “r u going?”
Person 2: “idk”
Person 1: “Y”
Person 2: “jk – i m”

If you got 1: “Are you going?” 2: “I don’t know.” 1: “Why” 2: “Just kidding – I am.” You passed this test. But can they pass the test with our rules?
Let’s take the comma and its importance. First sentence with commas: “Some people enjoy eating, their families, and their dogs.” These people enjoy eating. They also enjoy their families, and they enjoy their dogs. Now, without the commas: “Some people enjoy eating their families and their dogs.” These people must be cannibals – they like to eat their families and dogs. Or ask the rhetorical question. “What is this thing called love?” Many have pondered that question. But let’s add a comma. A husband looks at the casserole placed before him and asks, “What is this thing called, love?” Now there is a good chance he might end up wearing that casserole. Or someone named Love asking her husband, “ ‘What is this thing?’ called Love.”  We need to instill in our youth the importance of punctuation!
Word placement is also very important. We will use the word “ONLY.”

A basic sentence: “She told him that she loved him.”  Enter the word “only.”  “She only told him that she loved him.” This implies he overreacted to something. When asked what happened, “She only told him that she loved him.” was the reply. Let’s move the word. “She told only him that she loved him.” Looks like she told him that she loved him, but she told only him. She did not tell others of her feelings for him. Now, “She told him only that she loved him.” She could have told him other things, but she didn’t. “She told him that only she loved him.” So is she the only one that loves him? There is no one else that loves him. That could be bad for the ego. “She told him that she only loved him.” Does that mean she doesn’t trust or respect him? She only loves him, nothing else. “She told him that she loved only him.” This implies that she loves him and no one else. This is probably the intent she had in mind in the first place!

Share this with your children and grandchildren. Show them how important punctuation and word placement can be when communicating.