Grammar Punctuation Usage Lens
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to set a cross screen
There are a number of commonly confused words in the English language. Writers confuse these words because even though they sound the same (or very similar), they are spelled differently and have different meanings.
In this sentence, the article’s author O’Shaughnessy correctly uses the word set. Sometimes, this word is confused with a similar-sounding word, “sit.” The verb “to sit” means to rest on a surface, while the verb to set means to place onto a surface or into a space. The author uses to set because he is talking about placing or setting one’s body up in a particular position.
I positioned my legs shoulder-width apart and crossed my hands—fists clenched—over my groin to protect myself from the injury that all men fear.
One way to modify your voice in your writing is to use active voice instead of passive voice. Active voice means that the subject of the sentence is doing, or performing, an action. Passive voice means that the subject of the sentence is being acted upon and can usually be identified by the use of a helping verb like am, is, are, was, were, etc.).
This sentence makes effective use of active voice. The subject “I” acts: I positioned my legs … [I] crossed my hands ….
It’s a good idea to use more active voice than passive voice so that your sentences are stronger. However, effective writers deliberately choose which voice to use for maximum effect.
He raised his arms and covered his chest, and I knew that I had entered alien territory.
There are a number of commonly confused words in the English language. Writers confuse these words because even though they sound the same (or very similar), they are spelled differently and have different meanings.
Sometimes, writers confuse “raise” and “raze.” These two words are homophones because they sound the same but are spelled differently and mean different things.
Interestingly, “raise” means to lift up and “raze” means to tear down. Here, O’Shaughnessy correctly uses raised to indicate lifting the arms.
At the very least, I figured, I would be more likely to get cookies at Christmas and a gift at the awards banquet.
Parenthetical expressions are words, phrases, or clauses that writers use to add extra information to a sentence. Parenthetical expressions are also referred to as nonessential since they are not needed to understand the basic meaning of a sentence. Think of them as interrupters, asides, and add-ons to a sentence.
In this sentence, I figured is a parenthetical expression that is not essential to the meaning of the sentence. Because it is nonessential, O’Shaughnessy correctly sets off the parenthetical expression with commas.
Baiting a feminist friend, I told her that I was excited about the change because I could be more relaxed, less intense, and besides, I wouldn’t get any technicals.
A modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that modifies, or describes, a thing or an action.
Modifiers must appear directly before or after the word that is described; when modifiers are located elsewhere, readers can become confused. The most common mistakes writers make with modifiers generally fall into one of three categories: misplaced, dangling, and squinting.
In this sentence, O’Shaughnessy opens with a modifying phrase: Baiting a feminist friend. He places the word that is being modified right after the phrase in order to eliminate any confusion: Baiting a feminist friend, I told her …. He is the one doing the baiting, or trying to get a reaction from his friend, so the modifier clearly refers to him.
Often, descriptors that modify something in the sentence are not placed near what they modify. A misplaced modifier is a common mistake to look for in your writing.
Most boys need a little tearing down before they can be rebuilt on a more solid fundamentals base.
One way to modify your voice in your writing is to use active voice instead of passive voice. Active voice means that the subject of the sentence is doing, or performing, an action. Passive voice means that the subject of the sentence is being acted upon and can usually be identified by the use of a helping verb like am, is, are, was, were, etc.).
In this sentence, O’Shaughnessy uses both active and passive voice to refer to the same subject.
Most boys need a little tearing down uses active voice. In this case the action is more a state of being rather than real, physical action. The word boys is the subject, and it is the boys who act: they “need [tearing down].”
The second part of the sentence, …they can be rebuilt, uses passive voice. They refers to the boys (the subject of the sentence), and the boys can be rebuilt. The boys are not doing the rebuilding—they are being rebuilt by someone else—the coach. Therefore, the second part of the sentence uses passive voice.
Effective writers mix active and passive voice in their writing, depending on how much attention they want to place on the subject of the sentence. For example, you might want to remove the subject if you are unsure about (or want to hide) the person doing the action. For example, “The chair was knocked over” rather than. “My brother knocked over the chair”. Deliberately choosing one or the other voice can emphasize different aspects of your writing.
Girls, whose experience of playground games and watching the all-stars is often limited, do not start with as many bad habits.
There are a number of commonly confused words in the English language. Writers confuse these words because even though they sound the same (or very similar), they are spelled differently and have different meanings.
Sometimes, writers confuse “whose” and “who’s.” These two words are homophones because they sound the same but are spelled differently and mean different things.
Use “whose” as a relative pronoun to describe a noun and show relationships. Use “who’s” as a contraction for “who is.”
O’Shaughnessy correctly uses whose in this sentence to begin the nonessential relative clause, whose experience of playground games and watching the all-stars is often limited. This relative clause acts as an adjective to describe girls.
Imagine my incredulous stare when a girl trying out, in an attempt to explain why she had thrown up and had to sit out of wind sprints, told me she hadn’t run since gym class—the year before.
Parenthetical expressions are words, phrases, or clauses that writers use to add extra information to a sentence. Parenthetical expressions are also referred to as nonessential since they are not needed to understand the basic meaning of a sentence. Think of them as interrupters, asides, and add-ons to a sentence.
In this sentence, in an attempt to explain why she had thrown up and had to sit out of wind sprints is a parenthetical expression that is not essential to the meaning of the sentence. Because it is nonessential, O’Shaughnessy sets off the parenthetical expression with commas. This parenthetical expression is an interrupter that provides a description of the girl’s explanation.
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Girls’ attention to directions was far superior to the boys, most of whom found it physically impossible not to be distracted by any movement anywhere in the gym.
A modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that modifies, or describes, a thing or an action.
Modifiers must appear directly before or after the word that is described; when modifiers are located elsewhere, readers can become confused. The most common mistakes writers make with modifiers generally fall into one of three categories: misplaced, dangling, and squinting.
In this sentence, O’Shaughnessy ends with a modifying clause: most of whom found it physically impossible not to be distracted by any movement anywhere in the gym. The clause is placed directly after the word it modifies (boys) in order to eliminate any confusion.
Often, descriptive clauses that modify something in the sentence are not placed near what they modify. A misplaced modifier is a common mistake to look for in your writing.
My stereotypically gawky center, when told not to leave her feet on defense, said, “I know. I’m sorry. I’m terrible.”
Parenthetical expressions are words, phrases, or clauses that writers use to add extra information to a sentence. Parenthetical expressions are also referred to as nonessential since they are not needed to understand the basic meaning of a sentence. Think of them as interrupters, asides, and add-ons to a sentence.
In this sentence, when told not to leave her feet on defense is a parenthetical expression that is not essential to the meaning of the sentence. Because it is nonessential, O’Shaughnessy sets off the parenthetical expression with commas. This parenthetical expression is an interrupter that explains the context in which the player apologized—for getting out of position or not playing to the best of her ability.
Uncomfortable after years of boys slinking away into corners, I usually responded, “Stretch out.”
A modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that modifies, or describes, a thing or an action.
Modifiers must appear directly before or after the word that is described; when modifiers are located elsewhere, readers can become confused. The most common mistakes writers make with modifiers generally fall into one of three categories: misplaced, dangling, and squinting.
In this sentence, O’Shaughnessy opens the sentence with a modifying phrase: Uncomfortable after years of boys slinking away into corners. The clause is placed directly before the word it modifies (“I”) in order to eliminate any confusion.
Often, descriptive phrases that modify something in the sentence are not placed near what they modify. A misplaced modifier is a common mistake to look for in your writing.
Another time, returning from a late game, when the bus broke down on the highway in 15-degree weather, one player cut the tension with, “Coach, want a chocolate-chip cookie? I made them.”
There are a number of commonly confused words in the English language. Writers confuse these words because even though they sound the same (or very similar), they are spelled differently and have different meanings.
In this sentence, O’Shaughnessy correctly uses the word weather, which is often confused with another word: “whether.” These two words are homophones because they sound the same but are spelled differently.
“Weather” is a noun used for the daily meteorological activity of an area (sunny, windy, cloudy, snowy, etc.). The word “whether” is an adverb that is used to indicate probability—if something is likely or not.
Some would crash the boards and clear out space with vicious elbows, and others would avoid any chance of injury or even breaking a sweat.
One way to modify your voice in your writing is to use active voice instead of passive voice. Active voice means that the subject of the sentence is doing, or performing, an action. Passive voice means that the subject of the sentence is being acted upon and can usually be identified by the use of a helping verb like am, is, are, was, were, etc.).
Some would crash the boards and clear out space uses active voice. The word Some is the subject (referring to the “hard, aggressive players” described earlier in the paragraph), and it is these players who act: they crash and clear out.
The second part of the sentence, …others would avoid any chance of injury or even breaking a sweat, also uses active voice. Others refers to the “softer, nice players” described earlier in the paragraph. They avoid both injury and sweaty ball playing, so they are acting rather than being acted upon.
Deliberately choosing active or passive voice can emphasize different aspects of your writing as you change how much focus you want the subject doing the action to receive.
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After six wins and a growing gulf between the cliques, we experienced our first loss.
There are a number of commonly confused words in the English language. Writers confuse these words because even though they sound the same (or very similar), they are spelled differently and have different meanings.
Sometimes, writers confuse “clique” and “click.” These two words are homophones because they sound the same but are spelled differently and mean different things.
In this sentence, O’Shaughnessy correctly uses the word clique. The noun “clique” means a group of friends or colleagues that is closed to outsiders, while the word “click” can be a noun or verb, meaning a short, sharp sound or an action making that sound (for example, to “click” a computer mouse). O’Shaughnessy uses clique to indicate a group of players that had joined together and separated from the rest of the team.
And I was swept up in the intensity of their effort.
One way to modify your voice in your writing is to use active voice instead of passive voice. Active voice means that the subject of the sentence is doing, or performing, an action. Passive voice means that the subject of the sentence is being acted upon and can usually be identified by the use of a helping verb like am, is, are, was, were, etc.).
In this sentence, O’Shaughnessy makes effective use of passive voice. The subject “I” is being acted upon: And I was swept up…. If O’Shaughnessy has chosen active voice, the sentence would read, “The intensity of their effort swept me up.” Choosing who performs the action changes the emphasis of the sentence.
Effective writers deliberately choose which voice to use for maximum effect. Mixing active and passive voice can add interest and variety to your writing.
Fast forward to the conference championship game, where we faced the same team that had blown us out by 35 earlier in the season.
There are a number of commonly confused words in the English language. Writers confuse these words because even though they sound the same (or very similar), they are spelled differently and have different meanings.
In this sentence, O’Shaughnessy correctly uses the word where. Sometimes, this word is confused with a similar-sounding word, “were.” The adverb “where” indicates a place in which an action is located, while the verb “were” is a past tense plural helping verb (for example, “We were winning the game.”). The author uses where because he is talking about a location: the conference championship game.
When the opponent went on a second-quarter run, I impolitely objected to an over-the-back foul and was hit with another technical.
One way to modify your voice in your writing is to use active voice instead of passive voice. Active voice means that the subject of the sentence is doing, or performing, an action. Passive voice means that the subject of the sentence is being acted upon and can usually be identified by the use of a helping verb like am, is, are, was, were, etc.).
In this sentence, O’Shaughnessy uses both active and passive voice to refer to the same subject. This sentence has one subject (I) and two verbs (objected and was hit).
I impolitely objected to an over-the-back foul uses active voice. The word I is the subject (referring to O’Shaughnessy), and it is he who acts: he objected.
The second part of the sentence, … [I] was hit with another technical, uses passive voice. In the second part of the sentence, O’Shaughnessy does not act, but rather is acted upon (indicated by the verb was hit). Therefore, the second part of the sentence uses passive voice.
Effective writers mix active and passive voice in their writing. Deliberately choosing one or the other voice can make your writing have a greater impact on the reader.