Tips for Success
Do you know when to use who and whom?
Do you know the rules about single quotes vs. double quotes?
Do you know the difference between lay and lie?
We’ll be answering these questions and more at Tips for Success—the place to come for basic tips on editing and publishing.
When I was growing up, my father drilled into me a love and respect for good grammar. I often got confused over what word to use (who vs. whom), and conversation stalled many times while I sorted out which one to choose. If I was wrong, my father would sit silently, with what I thought was a glare, until I supplied the correct answer.
Language evolves over time. I love some of the newer additions, like nother, but I mourn when a good word (like whom) goes missing. Even popular, well-known authors fail to use it, which means they’re substituting who incorrectly. But such is the way with change.
Here are the rules about who and whom.
Who: Use who as the subject (the person performing the action), a substitute for I, he, she, we, or they.
Example: Who sent this card? (She sent it.)
Example: Who is going to the movie? (They are going.)
Example: Mary is someone who loves cherries. (She loves cherries.)
Whom: Use whom as the object (the person receiving the action), a substitute for me, him, her, us, or them. This is often used with prepositions.
Whom may sound odd (or awkward) if you're not used to hearing it. But let’s save it from a ghostly existence. What do you say? Can we bring it back?Example: Whom did you write? (You wrote her.)
Example: Tom is the one whom I envy most. (I envy him.)
Example: For whom did you buy the roses? (You bought the roses for them.)
I frequently come across single quotes in books that are used incorrectly. There are many uses for double quotes (quotation marks): to set off direct quotes, dialogue, and titles of short works; to indicate irony or sarcasm (a particular word or phrase), for a nickname, to emphasize a word or phrase.
Single quotes, on the other hand, are only used for one thing in the American language: a quotation within a quotation. In that case, the opening quotation is marked with a double quote, and the inner quotation is enclosed by single quotes. (If you’re British, or if you read British literature, you’ll notice dialogue and quotations using single quotes rather than double quotes.)
Even the professionals get confused about lie vs. lay, especially since the past tense of lie is lay.
Here’s the conjugation of lie in the most common tenses:
Let’s contrast the conjugation of lay:
There are two easy rules to help you remember which one to use:
Present: lie/lies (He lies on the bed.)
Past: lay (He lay on the bed.)
Past Participle: lain (He has lain in bed all week.)
Present: lay/lays (He lays the book on the table.)
Past: laid (He laid the book on the table.)
Past Participle: laid (He has laid the book on the table.)
1. People lie and objects lay.
2. If you mean “to recline,” use lie. If you can use “to place” or “to put,” use lay.
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