grammar tips.

mizutaro:

• “In spite of” and “despite” are interchangeable, but “despite” can be regarded as more formal.
• “Than” implies comparison. “Then” refers to time. “My dog is bigger than yours. I’m going to the groomer and then I’m going to the store.”
• Don’t abuse synonyms.
• “Who” and “whom” are used differently. 
• Example: “To whom does this backpack belong to?” vs “Who lost their backpack?” 
• In reference to The Oatmeal, ‘answer your own question by using he or him.’ If the answer is ‘he’ then use ‘who.’ If the answer is ‘him’ = whom.
• Who is subject. Whom is object. The subject is doing something and the object is having something done to them. [x]
• Don’t be needlessly flowery. We don’t need two paragraphs devoted to what your character was wearing or on the scenery. But if you and your partner are well aware that you’re being flowery and just prefer it that way, then go ahead.
• Don’t use commas, that aren’t, necessary.
• Indicative vs. Subjunctive. “His toes were curled” and “Her hand was warm.” Feet is plural and hand is singular.
• “I couldn’t care less.”
• Loose and lose are different. When your character dies in a videogame, you lose. When your clothes are too big for you, they are loose. If your team lost your soccer game, you wouldn’t tell your mom, “We loost.” 
• Its = possession. It’s = it is. 
• Lets vs. Let’s. 
• “My mom never lets me use the car.” 
• “Let’s go shopping.”
• Neither and nor. They’re best friends. Don’t separate them, you monster.
• You write good or you write well?
• Everyone loves formatting things, that’s understandable. I format things too. But it isn’t an excuse to break the rules of grammar.
• Accept versus except. Come on. You accept an award. You love all animals except snakes. Accept is to receive and except is to leave out.
• Lay/lie/laid. I still get confused with this one. Honestly, if you mess this up, virtually everyone does. Here’s a helpful image. [x]
• For all intents and purposes. Intentions and purposes. Not intensive. 
• Supposedly, not supposably.
• DEFINITELY, not defiantly, unless your character is defying something. “He is definitely upset with me. He spoke defiantly about his displeasure.”
• “You ‘bear’ weight with your ‘bare’ hands.” [x]
• “A lot” is two words. 
• “[Person] and I” vs “[Person] and me.” Remove the additional pronoun and see what makes sense.
• “Mary and I went for coffee.” Right. “Mary and me went for coffee.” Wrong. You wouldn’t say “Me went for coffee.” Oog oog.
• This picture sums it up.
• “Too” is not the same as “to.” 
• “I bought that shirt too!”
• “I’m going to the store.”
• ‘Irony’ doesn’t mean what you think it means. It has to be situational, verbal, or dramatic.
• Verbal = sarcasm.
• Dramatic = the audience knows something the character doesn’t. For example, the audience knows that the killer is creeping up on the MC, but the MC doesn’t.
• Situational is when the expected outcome doesn’t happen. You buy a gun to protect yourself, but you end up injured by a gun. Your gun was intended to protect you and instead you were hurt by it.