Should you capitalize named keys on your keyboard like Ctrl, Shift, Tab, Delete, and Home?

Yes, according to The Chicago Manual of Style.

They say:

“The basic alphabet keys as well as all named keys (Ctrl, Home, Shift, Command, etc.), menu items (Save, Print, Exit, etc.), and icon names (the Cut button, the Italic button, etc.) are capitalized and spelled as on the keys or in the software.”

I strongly suggest you join the online version of Chicago. It costs only $25 for the first year’s membership. It’s searchable and always up to date.

Robin

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It’s time for our weekly grammar rule for all of those content writers among us.

Come on! I expect more enthusiasm than that! SMILE! Life is good!

Our grammar rule today is used to versus use to.

For example:

I used to belong to the Rotary Club. (CORRECT)

vs.

I use to belong to the Rotary Club.

Why is the first example correct? The final -d is required indicating the past participle. This same rule applies to the word supposed.

(Honestly, what makes grammar something that so many people don’t like is words like past participle. I’m not going to get into what a past participle is unless someone asks. Just remember to say used to and supposed to and everything will be cool.)

This information came from The St. Martin’s Handbook, Second Edition, as well as Woe Is I.

Interesting note:

When the sentence becomes a question or a negative statement, use use instead.

Did she use to belong to the Rotary Club?

She didn’t use to belong to the club.

Why?

Did use is another way to say use. Did move is another way to say move. You wouldn’t say did moved would you? Therefore, you wouldn’t say did used. You also wouldn’t say didn’t moved.

Hope this helps. I certainly learned something with this lesson.

Robin

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Let’s take a small drift to the left-side of our brains for a while and look at another slightly abused grammar problem.

who’s vs. whose

If you use who’s, it should always stand for who is or who has.

Example:

Who’s going to the game tomorrow night?

(Who is going to the game tomorrow night?)

It’s really quite simple. Whenever you use who’s, substitute who is or who has in the sentence. If it works, you’re using the word correctly. If it doesn’t work, whose is correct, which is the possessive form.

Example:

Whose coat are you wearing?

Grammar is really very logical if we’ll only give it a chance. The main problem is that it contains all of these twisted words like gerunds and split infinitives that make our teeth hurt.

Think LOGICALLY and you’ll be so much better off than you think as far as grammar is concerned.

Robin

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For our “left-brain” activity this week, let’s talk about ellipses . . . the three little dots that I used in this sentence.

Here’s what The Chicago Manual of Style says about ellipses:

“An ellipsis—the omission of a word, phrase, line, paragraph, or more from a quoted passage—is indicated by ellipsis points (or dots), not by asterisks. Ellipsis points are three spaced periods (. . .), sometimes preceded or followed by other punctuation. They must always appear together on the same line, but any preceding punctuation may appear at the end of the line above.”

Notice that you add a space before the ellipses begin.

Have a great weekend!

Robin

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This is another grammar rule that is often broken:

If I was versus if I were

For example:

If I were his mother, I’d never let him stay up late on a school night. CORRECT

vs.

If I was his mother, I’d never let him stay up late on a school night. INCORRECT

Why is the first choice correct? When a sentence or a clause (group of words with its own subject and verb) starts with if, and if what’s being talked about is contrary to fact, were is correct.

In the first sentence above, I’m not the child’s mother, so were is correct.

Here’s another one:

If she were President of the United States, would the economy be any better?

Were is correct, because “she” (whoever “she” is) is not the President.

Now let’s look at this one:

If I was rude, I apologize. (I may have been rude, so were wouldn’t be correct.)

And this one:

He acts as if money were the problem. (In this case, money is not the problem.)

Hope this helps. Have a great weekend!

Robin

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