Author Archives: Campbell Aitken

I and me

Julie and me walked in the park today. This is very common usage, but ‘me’ is the wrong personal pronoun.  Remove ‘Julie and’ from the sentence above and you’re left with: Me walked in the park today. Which is (if … Continue reading

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The power of the comma

A comma can alter the meaning of a sentence substantially. For example, I noticed the following in the Age recently:  … a married woman Kieran had been her partner since Helensvale High (article by Michael Gleeson about 100m hurdler Sally … Continue reading

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Both the same

 Kids, please stop fighting – your desserts are both the same! All parents of multiple children have uttered the sentence above or some variant of it. I’m no stranger to it myself, but I try very hard not to add the redundant … Continue reading

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Literally

I’ve been meaning to write something about recent developments in the use of the word ‘literally’, and was finally prompted to do so by an article on the subject by Christopher Muther on boston.com (via the Society of Editors newsletter). … Continue reading

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Fewer or less?

Many writers and speakers confuse ‘fewer’ and ‘less’, but the practical difference between them is small; everyone understands what you mean if you say ‘less’ when it should be ‘fewer’, and vice versa.  Nevertheless, the words have a subtle difference … Continue reading

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Snowdroppers

I heard someone use the term ‘snowdropper’ the other day. Whatever happened to snowdroppers? If you’re aged under 30 you’ve probably never heard the term. I ferreted around on the Interweb to see the meanings other people ascribe to it. … Continue reading

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Its or it’s?

‘It’s’ is a contraction of ‘it is’ or ‘it has’ – a less formal version of those expressions.  As an example, the following sentences have identical meanings: It is expected that visitors to France try to speak French. It’s expected that … Continue reading

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That or which?

For practical purposes, it usually doesn’t matter too much whether you use ‘that’ or ‘which’ – sometimes one or the other will simply sound better in a sentence. Nevertheless, in some situations the choice of ‘that’ and ‘which’ leads to … Continue reading

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A number of complaints

Over the past decade or so, Australians (and possibly people of other nationalities, but I haven’t been keeping track) began to use ‘a number of’ to describe quantities greater than one.  This phrase annoys me for a number of reasons … Continue reading

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