Sunday, January 31, 2010

With Apologies to Seth Zweifler, Editor-in-Chief

There is something fitting about me writing this column, even if I don't know it should be "my writing this column." "Writing", after all, is being used as an object (a gerund, for all you trivia buffs), and nouns don't take other nouns as modifiers. Proofreading forward and backward, I'll admit I never thought this time would come. But, just six words into this article, that elusive concept called "grammar" seems to be less and less of an important reality every day.

In the coming weeks, I challenge you - not just high school newspaper columnists, but all Stoga students - to look at your writing so far. Ask yourself this question: when I use a verb as a noun, what sort of pronoun did I include to precede it?

Maybe your answer is the personal "me." Maybe your answer is the possessive "my." But whatever it is, it needs to be "my." If it's not, don't worry - you're just worthy of the scorn and contempt your peers undoubtedly feel for you.

It may not mean anything to you now, but when you ever get around to learning how to write in your native language, it will.

Trust me - I'm a reporter.

8 comments:

Carissa said...

yes =]

~ said...

*likes*

Molly said...

YAY!

Skaray said...

hmmmmmmm grammar-y. just how i like it :D

an extremely close friend of your mom's said...

Ok -- I was so distracted by that awful photo of your mom(it gave me nightmares) that I did not realize that this was a parody and now that I see what you're doing, I think it's hilarious.

Anonymous said...

you know your STUFF buddy.

Anonymous said...

and you know your grammer!

Anonymous said...

...I think you meant grammar.