Cheap Tricks
on Tricky Words
Drive Me Crazy:
Grammar Pet Peeves
Comma Chameleon
True or False Series:
Success with "S"
Putting "Lay" to "Lie"
100
AFFECT/EFFECT:
She felt the ___ of being at work late, and it ___ed her performance the next day.
What is effect and affect?

If it's a verb, it's affect. Think the a in Affect is for Action.
100
We use this word when we are making a comparison, but we use "then" when we are talking about the progression of time.
What is than?

This is a common mix up. It's incorrect to say, "Great, than we'll see you next week" or "She worked for a big restaurant group and than for an independent restaurant."
100
Red, white, and blue is an example of this piece of punctuation.
What is the serial or Oxford comma?

Wagstaff always using the serial comma, even though it isn't AP Style.
100
True or false: The apostrophe goes after the s in "farmers' market."
What is true?

There is more than one farmer at a farmers' market, hence it's a plural noun.
100
LAY/LIE, PRESENT TENSE:
You have to ___ down after a media dinner because you're so stuffed.
What is lie?

Lay requires a direct object. Lie does not. You lay something down, and people lie down on their own. One trick is to think of the phrase "lay it on me," it being an object.
200
FURTHER/FARTHER:
He only moved the restaurant a little ___ down the street, but they felt like he moved so much ___ away from the heart of the action.
What is farther and further?

Use FARther for distances, but further in all other instances.
200
An em-dash is the length of this capital letter and can be created by typing two hyphens next to each other with no spaces on either side.
What is M?

If you put spaces, then the length is an en-dash, which can only be used for Numerals, like 1970–75, and we Never use the en-dash at Wagstaff.
200
To tell the truth this sentence is missing a comma after this word.
What is truth?

After an introductory element or clause, be sure to include a comma.
200
True or false: You can drop the s after the apostrophe in "waitress's section"
What is true?

The rule of possessives says if a word that already ends in s (waitress) is followed by a word beginning in s (section), then you can drop the s after the apostrophe.
200
LAY/LIE, PRESENT TENSE:
Daily Double!
True or false: Bob Dylan had it (grammatically) right in "Lay, Lady, Lay."
What is false?

It should be lie, lady, lie, lie across my big brass bed. As we learned, lay requires a direct object. Lie does not. You lay something down, and people lie down on their own.

However, Fleetwood Mac had it right in "Second Hand News" when they sang, "Won't you lay me down in the tall grass / And let me do my stuff," since in that case, "me" is the object.
300
LESS/FEWER:
We've hired ___ clients this month, which means ___ money for all of us come bonus time.
What is fewer?

UnLESS you can count it, use less. Otherwise, use fewer. Related, please use "more than" instead of "over" when talking about something greater (e.g., more than $100 million dollars, more than 100 employees).
300
The past tense of the verb "to read" is read. The past tense of the verb "to lead" is spelled this way.
What is l-e-d?

Very common error!
300
Often confused with "that," this relative pronoun should be set off with commas when used in a nonrestrictive clause, that is to say a part of a sentence that is nonessential to understanding what the writer is saying.
What is which?

This is AP style. An example: The Ethiopian restaurant that won a Bib Gourmand also earned a best new restaurant nomination. The Ethiopian restaurant, which won a Bib Gourmand, has just introduced a new chef.
300
True or false: This is how to make a proper noun possessive: "Los Angeles' restaurants."
What is false?

The same rules for possessive nouns apply to proper nouns, so it's Los Angeles's restaurants, but Los Angeles' street carts.
300
LAY/LIE, PAST TENSE:
Last week, Chip ___ down on his office floor after conducting five new business meetings.
What is lay?

Here's where it gets tricky. The past tense of lie is lay. The past tense of lay is laid, so if you're performing the action to the object in your sentence, then use laid.
400
COMPLEMENT OR COMPLIMENT:
The wine pairings ___ the food.
What is complement?

This is a big faux pas I see all the time. Remember it as: I like to receive complIments.
400

The restaurant celebrated ___ 10-year anniversary in October.
What is its?

Restaurant is a singular noun, so its is correct.
400
This type of sentence featuring two related but independent clauses should always be linked together with a comma separating the two clauses.
What is a compound sentence?

Example:
She went to culinary school in the '90s, and she ultimately chose a career in pastry arts.

It is INCORRECT to use a comma if the phrase that follows ISN'T a complete sentence. This is wrong: She went to culinary school in the '90s, and ultimately chose a career in pastry arts.
400
True or false: The correct way to make a last name that ends in s plural is to use an apostrophe, for example, the Jones family is the Jones's.
What is false?

The correct way is to add an -es, so the Joneses is correct.
400
LAY/LIE PAST TENSE:
Last week, Chip ___ the receipts for his expense report in Melissa's inbox to the right of her desk.
What is laid?

As we learned, the past tense of lay is laid, so if you performed the action to the object in your sentence, then use laid. The past tense of lie is lay.
500
COMPRISED/COMPOSED:
Our office is ___ of 99 percent women.
What is composed?

Often people want to say "comprised of," and that is incorrect because comprise means include--not make up. You wouldn't say the office is included of 99 percent women. You can say, however, the office comprises 99 percent women.
500
He then went to work for Levy Restaurants, ___ he honed his managerial skills.
What is at which?

Everyone wants to say where. It's more grammatically correct to say at which.
500
The following is an example of this common sentence structure problem that occurs after an introductory phrase followed by a comma:
After curing in a jar for weeks, Chef Paul Virant introduced the pickled okra to the menu.
What is dangling modifier?

This fancy term just means you've organized the sentence in a confusing way, and the subject of the sentence does not match the introductory clause before the comma. In this case, we've just said that Chef Paul was cured in a jar.

Here's another example I see a lot with a possessive noun after an intro clause:
A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Virant's passion for pickling started at an early age.
In this case, yes, we have Chef Paul's name in there, but the subject is actually "passion."
500
True or false: The s in towards and afterwards should always be used.
What is false?

You don't need that s! It's how we often speak, but we sound way smarter with the correct grammatical form: toward, afterward (backward, forward, etc.).
500
LAY/LIE PAST PARTICIPLE:
Chip has ___ on the floor for days since discovering we lost that big account.
What is lain?

The past participle (i.e., has is included) of lay is lain. Luckily, the past participle of lie is laid, just like the past tense is laid.
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