Ah, you say, therein lies the rub. A "good" copy editor. Oh, I know there are still some out there, somewhere. Someone who knows the difference between bring/take, between/among, or before/in front of. And this list isn't conclusive. There are more. But I'm going to touch on these today.
Bring/take - I've written about this before. Bring is a word that means to come to a place with someone or something, as in: I will bring the salad to the picnic. (you are here right now, you'll go somewhere else, but return "here" with the salad - 2 actions.) On the other hand, take means to remove something from a place and move it to another place. I will take the salad to the picnic. (you are here with the salad and will physically move it "there" - 1 action.)
Between/among - between is a word used when there are only two people involved - Between you and me. Among is for when there are more than two people - Let's just keep this among the four of us.
before/in front of - before is a word that means during the period of time preceding a particular event, date or time - She had to rest before continuing. The day before yesterday. In some dictionaries, it is also used to mean "in front of", but according to all the grammar books I've seen, in front of is the preferred usage when talking about physical placement: He stood in front of me.
further/farther - although the two are often used interchangeably, farther is generally given preference when referring to space or distance and further when referring to time, degree, or an addition of something. We walked farther into the woods. (distance - far) You'll get no further assistance from me. (meaning more or how much of something).
Okay, end of rant for the day. All I ask is that you keep an eye out for these words. It's all right (note - two words, not the slang, grammatically unacceptable alright) to make mistakes - we all do. But good editors should know the basics. As should good writers. It wouldn't hurt any of us to pick up a good grammar book and take a look at it occasionally.
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Birthdays: H. G. Wells, Stephen King, Fannie Flagg, Marsha Norman
Tips and Teasers: Delete redundant modifiers. Don’t “look up” at the sky. The sky is up. Just look at it. Don’t sit down. Just sit. “Is that a true fact” – get rid of “true” – go through your manuscript and look for redundancies. Some to look for: climb up, basic fundamentals, each individual
Thought for the day: When you make a mistake, there are only three things you should ever do about it: 1. Admit it. 2. Learn from it, and 3. Don't repeat it. - Paul "Bear" Bryant
5 comments:
And yet, not a single person has been able to tell me whether to use bring or take when talking about the action by SOMEONE ELSE to SOMEONE ELSE. In other words, if I'm not part of the action.
I'm not certain of your meaning here, but I'll give it a stab...
If you are talking about Dean as being "here" and Sam being "there":
Dean will take the stake to Sam.
But if you are talking about Sam being "here" and Dean being "there", then Dean will bring the stake to Sam. (assuming an omniscient "you" is in the "here" position.)
Is this what you meant?
No, I mean Dean is in Spot A, and Sam is in Spot B, and I'm in Spot C talking to Megan, and I tell Megan that "Sam will bring/take the steak to Dean." Since I'm speaking but I'm not doing the bringing or taking, and I'm not in the location where the steak starts or ends, and neither is Megan...which should it be?
I had to do this a LOT in the case management reports I used to type. :)
Ah, okay, that clears up what you want. In this case, it depends on which one is the main subject. That then becomes the "you" - If you're talking about Dean, then Sam will bring the steak to Dean. If you're talking about Sam, then Sam will take the steak to Dean. It really depends on the POV subject.
From what I understand, grammar isn't taught anymore. Or that's what I'm told by the editorial candidates I've had to interview ... as an excuse for why they blew the copy editing test!
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