Saturday, September 30, 2017

Cami Sabin, Week 5

My favorite grammar website is the Purdue OWL. I used it constantly during the MPC program to check both grammar and APA style. It is a great tool, and very comprehensive. One thing I particularly like is that the website provides information for specific types of writing, such as job-search writing and academic/research writing. These are obviously different styles, and so it is nice to find great resources for both in one location. The website also contains a page titled "Media File Index," which contains PowerPoints, podcasts, and other resources for those who want to learn more.

I don't think I've ever even used any other grammar website, although I have heard good things about Grammarly.com.

The mistakes I found this week were included in a Facebook post by KUTV 2News. The sentence says, "The Peterson's say they did the best they could trying to raise Michael, but by 15-years-old he was already involved in drugs and that led to a life of crime."

First, the writer misused the apostrophe. It should say "The Petersons" instead of "The Peterson's." Using the apostrophe makes it possessive rather than plural, as is clearly the intent. Second, the writer hyphenated "15-years-old," when this should have been written "15 years old." The phrase is not used as a compound modifier in this sentence, so it should not be hyphenated.

2 comments:

  1. Great error catch! I can't believe how often news sites put messed up headlines on Facebook. It's like they don't think that's a place they should worry about copy or something. It's kind of infuriating.

    Purdue Owl is so cool. I love the citation help.

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  2. Well I need to start using Purdue Owl since it comes highly recommended by our class. Good to know about the Media File Index section I'm sure it will a lot of useful information. Thanks for the help.

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