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Superman Movieverse Archive Grammar Guide

A "crash course" for fanfic writers

This list isn't meant to be a complete course in English usage and grammar. Rather, it's a compilation of common mistakes we've seen in fanfic. Take a look at the list below. Do you make any of these mistakes? If so, here's a chance to learn the rules, with an L&C/Superman twist, of course. :)

If you would like further help with grammar than is given here, we highly recommend Guide to Grammar and Writing, a very user-friendly and helpful site. It is divided into sections dealing with all forms of punctuation, as well as sentence parts, use of tenses and other aspects of grammar.

Other sources for information on English (US) grammar and usage: Grammar Handbook from the Center for Writing (U of I Urbana-Champaign), Lynch's Guide of Grammar and Style (Rutger's University).

Don't see your "pet peeve" listed in the examples below? Send it to us: . Maybe we'll add it to the list! Put "Crash Course" in the subject line.

Topics:

upPunctuation

Dialog:

Possessives:

Use of Commas:

For an excellent guide to comma usage, see grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/commas.htm. One good rule to remember at all times is that a comma does not merely indicate a pause. So don't put a comma just because, if you were reading the sentence aloud, you'd pause for breath!

Some examples to avoid:

Using commas in lists:


upUse of Tenses

Stories should, as a rule, be written in past tense, although there have been a small number of present-tense, first-person vignettes. You should avoid changing tense in your story; mixing tenses is incorrect grammar.

WRONG: Lois ran down the road as fast as she can.
RIGHT: Lois ran down the road as fast as she could.

Is, it's, that is or that's are all present tense and do not belong in a past tense narrative.

WRONG: Working at the Daily Planet is what Clark had always wanted.
RIGHT: Working at the Daily Planet was what Clark had always wanted.
WRONG: Lois scanned the paper, looking for the weather report. It's always next to the obituary section.
RIGHT: Lois scanned the paper, looking for the weather report. It was always next to the obituary section.
WRONG: Jimmy felt as if he was struggling through a maze -- until, that is, he found the final clue.
RIGHT: Jimmy felt as if he was struggling through a maze -- until, that was, he found the final clue.
WRONG: Clark stared at the globe as it told him where he came from. That's what he'd wondered about all his life!
RIGHT: Clark stared at the globe as it told him where he came from. That was what he'd wondered about all his life!


upFrequently Mis-Spelled Character Names

Luthor, not Luther
Olsen, not Olson
Jonathan, not Jonathon


upNon-Existent Words

Alright is not a word. All right is the proper spelling.
Irregardless is not a word. Regardless should be used instead.
Never mind, as well, and a lot are two words, not one.
Definate is not a word. Definite is the correct spelling.
Anyways is not a word. The correct form is Anyway.
Wierd is not a word. The correct spelling is Weird.
Layed is not a word. Laid is the correct spelling (and see below under "Frequently Misused Words").
Flied or Flyed are not words. The correct past tense of fly is Flew.


upFrequently Misused Words

Accept and Except

Affect and Effect

Choose and Chose

Defuse and Diffuse

Elicit and Illicit

Its and It's

Lie, Lay and Laid

Lose and Loose

Owe and Own

Peak, Peek and Pique

Shutter and Shudder

Then and Than

There, Their and They're

To, Too and Two

Through and Threw

Where and Were

Whose and Who's

Your and You're

Oh, and it's should have, could have and would have, not 'of'.


upInternational spelling variations

Authors are welcome to use their 'native' spelling of English, whether that be US, UK, Australian, Canadian or any other variant. That is, behaviour is as acceptable as behavior. However, you should be consistent in your usage.


upPrimary Sources

"Practical English and the Command of Words", copyright 1990, The English Language Institute of America.

"Webster's Illustrated Contemporary Dictionary", copyright 1992, J. G. Ferguson Publishing Company.

"The Oxford Concise Dictionary" copyright 1990 , Oxford University Press

Charles Darling's Guide to Grammar and Writing, http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/

This document is from the Lois & Clark Fanfiction Archive and is used here by permission.

Page updated: Aug 28, 2016

Superman is the property of Warner Bros. and DC Comics. Other materials are the property of WEG.
No copyright infringement is intended by the authors of this site, who receive no monetary benefit from their work.
Many ideas expressed here are original, however, and are copyrighted by their authors.
This Web site is in no way affiliated with Warner Bros., DC Comics or WEG