Handy Grammar Guide

POSTED BY: PhoenixRose
UPDATED: Friday, September 5, 2025 03:59
VIEWED: 11549
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PHOENIXROSE

Friday, August 17, 2007 6:28 PM

The last thread I made for this got really long, so I thought I'd do a new one for faster loading. I’m hoping I got most of the meat from the last thread copied here; we had a lot of great discussion! Just in case, here's a link to it: http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=12&t=22762

This is meant to be a resource for fanfic writers. Like the fruity oaty bar, it is not mandatory. However, proper grammar certainly increases my personal enjoyment of a fic. It's just easier to read and get into the flow of it. I also have to say that if someone is completely incomprehensible, they might not find the response to be positive. When it comes to communication, there's no good reason not to better yourself.

All the spellings and definitions can be checked and expanded upon at www.dictionary.com
If you have any questions, please ask. The Grammar Geeks here will be happy to help you
Here we go:

You’re = you are. As in "You’re a writer." or "You’re a Firefly fan!"
Your = possessive term. As in "This is your story." or "That is your boxset of Firefly."
Yore = past, history. As in "Days of yore."

There = description of location. As in "It is over there." or "There it is."
They’re = they are. As in "They’re not here." or "They’re not yours."
Their = possessive term. As in "That is their house." or "This is their problem…"

Too = also, as well. As in "Me too!" Also used as a descriptive term of something excessive or emphatic. As in "This is too much." or "I will too do this!"
To = descriptive of direction "Went to the store." Also if it’s regarding anything "An answer to a letter."
Two = 2

Advice = the noun. As in "Anyone have any advice?." or "I need your advice."
Advise = the verb. "To advise". As in "I want you to advise me." or "I must advise you..."

New = recent, not old. "He bought a new set of Firefly because his old disks were worn out."
Knew = past tense of "know". As in "She knew there was trouble when she heard shots fired."

Quit = to stop, to desist. As in "He wants to quit smoking."
Quite = really, actually. As in "I am quite sure about this." Can also mean to a high degree, as in "It's quite good." Usage note Eloisa has informed me that 'quite' can be used a bit differently in the UK. Much the same way as those in the US sometimes use 'rather' it can be sarcastic in its tone so that it means "slightly", "mostly", "sort of" or "very" depending on tone and context.
Quiet = silent. As in "Please be quiet, I'm trying to think."

It’s = it is. As in "It’s a crying shame that Firefly was cancelled." Also used for it has, as in "It’s rained every day this week."
Its = possessive term. As in "The Alliance retracted its statements."

Lose = to suffer loss. As in "The Independents were sure the Alliance would lose the war."
Loose = not tight. As in "Her shoes were loose because they were a size too big."

Loss = the state of being deprived of or of being without something that one has had "The loss of a friend" "It's their loss" etc.
Lost = past tense of 'lose'. "They lost the game." Also 'to be lost' is an adjective: "You're lost in the woods."

Hon = short for honey. As in "See you later, hon."
Hun = a barbarous or destructive person; an invader. Attilla the Hun. Was also used as a disparaging term for Germans during the World Wars. I cannot stress enough: This is an insult. Please stop using it as a term of endearment or short for 'honey'.

Poor = meagerly supplied or endowed with resources or funds "A poor family applied for welfare. " "The

DESERTGIRL

Wednesday, September 19, 2007 4:24 AM

Hey PR - Thanks for continuing the thread, I hadn't realized it had gotten so long. I spent an hour rereading it all. There's a lot to remember.

So here my grammar question: I have a dialogue sentence with the tag stuck smack in the middle. What is the best what to punctuate it?

"blah blah blah. But," she paused to consider her words carefully, "The captain's tetchy, his deals goin' south."

I'm sure there is a correct way to do this, just not sure what it is.

Also - I have read all seven Harry Potter books out loud to my kids, I never noticed her colon thing either. Weird.

RIVERDANCER

Tuesday, March 31, 2009 7:10 AM

Embarking on a master's in English, this thread makes me grin.

I'm probably much too late to help Desertgirl, but the correct way to punctuate would be what's there, only I believe the continuation of the sentence in the second set of quotes would not be capitalized. It's kind of a messy structure, it's best to put that kind of pause between two complete sentences.

I was wondering if there were any threads on commonly misspelled words, a bane of my online and fanfic-reading existence, and I stumbled upon this instead. It seems to have dried up a couple years ago, but maybe we can bring it back for some pointers in spelling as well as grammar?

CELLARDOOR

Tuesday, March 31, 2009 8:03 AM

Ha, I should pass this along to some of the college freshmen to whom I teach writing 101 and 102... I think many of them missed a lot of these tips.

RALLEM

Tuesday, March 31, 2009 11:29 AM

I remember back in the day when I went to school at Vermont Technical College, lots of the engineering students felt that writing was not one of their main concerns, so they failed to put a great deal of effort into that aspect of their education, and looked like a bunch of dumb asses. I myself was a Computer Engineering major, but I did not want to look like a dumb ass to any potential employer, so I put a great deal of effort in my writing classes, and I cajoled my fellow study partners to do so themselves. One trick I used to remember the difference of their, and there was to think of their as a person ((t)heir), and there as a place, ((t)here). I’m sure that to this day I still make a few mistakes, but not with their or there, and I generally catch most of my errors by proof reading my work, and then if time allows I put my work away and come back to it later on to reread with a fresh perspective.

http://www.swyzzlestyx.com/index.html

KWICKO

Tuesday, March 31, 2009 11:45 AM

This should be a Sticky.

The only downside is, those who need this thread most desperately, are least likely to invest the time reading it...

\m/

I'm something of a ne'er-do-well
even though that's something I could never do well...

The "On Fire" Economy -
The Dow closed at 10,587.60 on January 20, 2001, the day GW Bush took office. Eight years later, it closed below 8000 on the day he left office - a net loss of 25%. That's what conservatives call an economic "success".

RALLEM

Tuesday, March 31, 2009 2:09 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:
This should be a Sticky.

The only downside is, those who need this thread most desperately, are least likely to invest the time reading it...

\m/

I'm something of a ne'er-do-well
even though that's something I could never do well...

The "On Fire" Economy -
The Dow closed at 10,587.60 on January 20, 2001, the day GW Bush took office. Eight years later, it closed below 8000 on the day he left office - a net loss of 25%. That's what conservatives call an economic "success".

You’re probably right about the people whom most need this thread not taking the time or effort to use it, but they are taking the time and effort to write fan fics, so they’re not a totally lost cause. Is it possible to make this thread so that the people who are its primary target would want to come here and use it?

http://www.swyzzlestyx.com/index.html

RIVERDANCER

Tuesday, March 31, 2009 6:46 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:
This should be a Sticky.

Agreed! This forum doesn't seem to have those, though, so we just have to hope people will keep bumping it.

You should spell definitely D-E-F-I-N-I-T-E-L-Y. Anyone else have some spelling things that bug them?

PHOENIXROSE

Tuesday, March 31, 2009 6:52 PM

Awww, my thread!

Quote:
Originally posted by RiverDancer:
Anyone else have some spelling things that bug them?

^
Possibly my favorite little icon ever

People who can't spell should get Firefox. Spell-check in your browser. Simple. I love it.

[/sig]

RALLEM

Tuesday, March 31, 2009 7:40 PM

bump

http://www.swyzzlestyx.com/index.html

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