Although some believe that the subjunctive mood in English is dying, many of us use it all the time, whether we know it or not. And that means the subjunctive is right for fiction, even in the mouth of a character who wouldn’t know a subjunctive from a subplot.
Like many copyeditors, I sometimes find myself enforcing rules I don’t fully agree with. For one thing, I wouldn’t want anyone who might know the applicable rule to think I’ve made a mistake.
How definite is your knowledge of articles? Find out by taking this month’s quiz, which will test your knowledge of paragraphs 5.70–78 of CMOS 17, on articles, a small but essential trio of adjectives. (We’ll also be taking a brief detour into chapter 8 and titles of works.)
The seventeenth edition of CMOS was the first edition to rule explicitly on whether “too” in the adverbial sense of “also” should be set off by commas. The rule applies also to “either,” which as an adverb can play a similar role in a sentence or clause.
This month’s workout, “Word Usage, Part 7,” once again centers on section 5.250 of CMOS 17. This time we’re focusing on words beginning with the letters n as in “nauseous” through p as in “proven.”
This month’s workout, “Word Usage, Part 6,” centers on section 5.250 of CMOS 17. This time we’re focusing on words beginning with the letters l as in “literally” and m as in “might.”
This month’s workout, “Word Usage, Part 5,” centers on the usage list under paragraph 5.250 in CMOS 17. Today we focus on words beginning with the letters i through k. Writing and editing are more efficient when you never have to look up imply and infer or dither over “in regards to.”
This month’s workout, “Word Usage, Part 4,” centers on the usage list under paragraph 5.250 in CMOS 17. Today we focus on words beginning with the letter h. Writing and editing are more efficient when you never have to look up harken or dither over hangar versus hanger.
This month’s workout, “Word Usage, Part 3,” again centers on the usage list under paragraph 5.250 of CMOS 17. Writing and editing are more efficient when you never have to look up gauntlet or dither over farther versus further.
This month’s workout, “Word Usage, Part 2,” again centers on the usage list under paragraph 5.250 in CMOS 17. Writing and editing are more efficient when you never have to look up biennial or dither over between and among.
