Thursday, March 12, 2009

Capital Idea

After last week's rant on grammar, I've come to the conclusion that I am not, indeed, the world's worst speller. There are several people that I work with that far outshine me in that category. I've also discovered just how much blatantly improper grammar disturbs me. I've noticed two things that show up in emails that make them particularly difficult to read, both a lack of capitalization and proper punctuation.

Today let's talk about our friend, the capital letter. The capital letter, sometimes known as a big letter, should appear at the beginning of a sentence or a proper name. The word 'I', a pronoun referring to yourself, is always capitalized, and no, I do not know why. Please, for the sake of your reader's sanity, hit the shift key on the keyboard. It's not too hard.

The other issue is a lack of punctuation. The period, the little dot at the end of the sentence, lets you know that the thought is over. You would think that we're in the midst of a period shortage or something. Trust me, you won't use them all up. I should know. I like to use short, choppy sentences, yet I always manage to find enough periods to throw in my writing.

To illustrate my point, I've rewritten the above paragraphs, taking out the capital letters, punctuation, and line breaks. See how difficult it is to read.

after last week's rant on grammar i've come to the conclusion that i am not indeed the world's worst speller here are several people that i work with that far outshine me in that category i've also discovered just how much blatantly improper grammar disturbs me i've noticed two things that show up in emails that make them particularly difficult to read both a lack of capitalization and proper punctuation today let's talk about our friend the capital letter the capital letter sometimes known as a big letter should appear at the beginning of a sentence or a proper name the word 'i', a pronoun referring to yourself is always capitalized and no i do not know why please for the sake of your reader's sanity hit the shift key on the keyboard it's not too hard the other issue is a lack of punctuation the period the little dot at the end of the sentence lets you know that the thought is over you would think that we're in the midst of a period shortage or something trust me you won't use them all up i should know i like to use short choppy sentences yet i always manage to find enough periods to throw in my writing.

4 comments:

BlueMule said...

One of my biggest peeves is the misuse of the possessive of you are (you're) and the word your (as in ha ha ha I stole your car).

Your means it belongs to somebody. It's yours.

You're means YOU ARE.

I hate it when people screw that up.

Quartermaster said...

I completely agree. Another one that gets to me is the misuse of to/too/two.

I have recently discovered that nothing grates on me more in writing than not capitalizing the pronoun I. Screw you e.e. cummings.

Yomper said...

A few days ago I proof-read a story John wrote for school. Lots of missing periods and capital letters, but then he's 10, not someone who's paid to write for CNN.com. (Oooooooh, I hate it when those idiots write poorly!) I made him correct each one. These kids WILL learn to write correctly.

BlueMule said...

Yomper is a grammar fascist.