Write Smart! I or me?

Should you use I or me in that sentence? Let's get the names of those things out of the way. "I" is a subject. It can do action. "Me" is an object. Actions can be done to it.

Most of us are good with simple sentences like "I went to the store," or "He gave the book to me."

Where we get in trouble is when we add extra people. "He gave the book to Meg and I," or "He gave the book to Meg and me." It's easy to decide which is correct if you take out Meg. Most of us know that "He gave the book to I" is wrong.

Lots of people say things like "Jack and me went fishing." Again, take out Jack, and you'll know in an instant it should be "Jack and I went fishing."

There are other permutations of this same problem of mixing subjects and objects. I'll cover some of those in other hints.

Write Smart! Introductory Word Group

If a sentence begins with an introductory phrase/clause, place a comma after it. See what I did there?

Other examples:
A. Buried under the apple tree for years, the box decomposed.
A. During February, Michiganders rarely see the sun.
B. In fact, none of what Mr. Smith said was true.
C. Unlike December in Australia, Ontario's Christmas month was snowy.
D. The rain slowing to a drizzle at last, we were able to go for a walk."

A. The phrase may be an adverb clause telling when, how, or why.

B. The phrase may be transitional such as "in fact," or "for example."

C. The phrase may express contrast such as "Not surprisingly," or "Unlike..."

D. The phrase may be an absolute phrase such as "The clouds hovering all week"

Write Smart! No Comma Here

If the second part of the sentence isn’t a sentence, don’t use a comma. Example: John ate the chili and burped loudly. (“and burped loudly” is not a sentence- it has no subject, so there is no comma before the “and.”)

Example: The dog and cat fought but made up. However, if you change that last example to The dog and cat fought, but they made up, it now needs a comma because you’ve added a subject (they) to the second part and made it into an independent clause, then joined them with "but" (a conjunction).

The second part is called a subordinate clause (it will not stand alone). Some examples are:
...and gave the dog a bone.
...for two days and an hour.
...but wasn't able to keep up.
...and found the restaurant on a side street.

Write Smart! #1- Connecting Sentences

A sentence is made up of a noun and a verb. The parts of the sentence are called the subject which contains the noun and the predicate which contains the verb.

These can be simple: People is a noun; think is a verb. Subject=People, predicate=think. The entire sentence is, "People think."

The parts of the sentence can also be much more complicated.

If you have two sentences and combine them with any of the following words (which are call conjunctions): and, but, or, nor, for, yet, or so, add a comma before the conjunction. Example: Sue bought skates, but Tom stole them. OR, you could use a semicolon instead of one of those connecting words. Example: Sue bought skates; Tom stole them.

Each part that could stand alone is called an independent clause. They are independent because each could be a sentence all by itself. Sue bought skates is an independent clause. So is Tom stole them.

You can connect them with a conjunction. These are: and, but, or, nor, for, yet, and so. Put a comma before the conjunction.

Example: Sue bought skates, but Tom stole them.

You can connect them without a conjunction by using a semicolon.

Example: Sue bought skates; Tom stole them.

Both techniques make two sentences into one longer one.

(Yes, sometimes really short sentences like this don’t need a comma according to some sources, but your editor will thank you if you use them anyway. He or she can decide if the comma adds clarity.)