What Partners Hate: Eight Grammar Gripes—And How to Avoid Them
- Misuse of commas
Tip: If you have and or but in the middle of a long sentence, check what
follows. If it’s a person or thing, put a comma before the and or but. If not,
no comma. Examples: “He deposited the check, but the client forgot to record the
payment” vs. “He deposited the check but forgot to sign it.” If your issue is
the serial comma, click here instead.
- I vs. me vs. myself
Tip: Myself and herself and himself are almost always wrong, as in “Please
contact Jane Doe or myself” and “The team was led by the client and myself.”
(You need me in both cases.) Click here for more on I vs. me
following
prepositions.
- Who vs. whom
Tip: Recast the sentence by inserting he or him. If he works, use
who. If
it’s him, use whom. So in “He is someone whom I once thought would go to
prison,” the whom should be who: “I thought he would go to prison,” not “I
thought him would go to prison.”
- Tense-sequence errors in a sentence or provision
Tip: Stick to the present tense when possible. In condition-consequence
constructions, use present tense for the condition clause and “will” for the
consequence clause: “If employment terminates, all benefits will terminate.”
- Since vs. because
Tip: Use since only for time. For cause and effect, use because: “I haven’t heard from her
since Friday. Because I haven’t heard from her, I assume she
will reject the proposal.”
- Fewer vs. less
Tip: If you can count it, use fewer: “Our client has received fewer
complaints than usual this year.”
- Using their with a singular collective noun such as a client, party, or
law firm
Tip: In American English, unlike in British English, these words take it or
its,
not their: “The Bank has been known to underreport its liabilities.”
- Errors with possessive apostrophes
Tip: Watch for common typos with words like Debtors’, Debtor’s, and Debtors.
Also decide how you’re going to make the possessive form of a word ending in –s
like Ross.
