“I have the utmost respect for Angelina. She’s a very sweet person, very talented and one of my best friends in the world.” - Billy Bob Thornton, about Angelina Jolie

Billy Bob has made an error in parallelism. His second sentence contains a list of items that are not all the same grammatical structure.

Look at the three items in Billy Bob’s list:

• a very sweet person [This is a noun phrase - "a" is an article, "very" is an adverb, "sweet" is an adjective, and "person" is a noun.]
• very talented [This is an adjective phrase - "very" is an adverb, and "talented" is an adjective.]
• one of my best friends in the world [This is a pronoun phrase - "one" is an indefinite pronoun, "of my best friends" is a prepositional phrase, and "in the world" is a prepositional phrase.]

Nouns and pronouns share the same grammatical functions, so using both a noun phrase and a pronoun phrase in a list is fine. However, using an adjective phrase in a list with a noun phrase and a pronoun phrase breaks the parallel structure.

One way to create parallel structure in Billy Bob’s sentence is to change the adjective phrase into a noun phrase.

“She’s a very sweet person, a very talented actress, and one of my best friends in the world.”

“Through all the chaos and torment and everything I go through, I can lay in his arms and finally rest.” - Jessica Simpson, about boyfriend Tony Romo

Jessica has made a common error in diction: she has used the transitive verb “lay” instead of the intransitive verb “lie.”

Transitive verbs have direct objects. The transitive verb “lay” means “to place something on a surface; to put” and requires a direct object. You lay something down.

Intransitive verbs do not have direct objects. The intransitive verb “lie” means “to recline; to be in or take on a horizontal position.” You lie down to go to sleep.

Replace “lay” with the definitions of the two commonly confused words to see the meaning of Jessica’s statement:

“I can place something on a surface in his arms and finally rest.” [This doesn't make sense.]
“I can recline in his arms and finally rest.” [This makes sense.]

This version of Jessica’s statement corrects the error in diction:

“Through all the chaos and torment and everything I go through, I can lie in his arms and finally rest.”

Gisele has correctly used a possessive pronoun with a gerund. In the first sentence, she has paired the first person possessive pronoun “my” with the gerund phrase “getting married.”

A gerund is a verb ending in “-ing” that functions as a noun. When a pronoun precedes a gerund, it should be in a possessive form. A common error is the use of an objective pronoun before a gerund. Gisele did not make the mistake of saying “me getting married.” Nicely done, Gisele!

Remember that gerunds are nouns, so “getting married” is a thing. Replace “getting married” with a different noun to see the logic behind using a possessive pronoun with the gerund phrase.

• Why is the whole world worked up about my hair? [This makes sense.]
• Why is the whole world worked up about me hair? [This does not make sense.]

Just as “hair” is a noun, so is “getting married.”

“I think [Tori] should definitely get paid as much as either of us is getting paid.” - Jennie Garth, about the salaries she, Tori Spelling, and Shannen Doherty were reported to be earning for CW’s 90210 spin-off

Jennie has correctly used a singular verb with the singular indefinite pronoun “either.” A common error is to make a verb agree with a plural object of a preposition (the object of the preposition “of” in Jennie’s statement is the plural personal pronoun “us”). Jennie’s use of the singular helping verb “is” in the verb phrase “is getting paid” is correct. Nicely done, Jennie!

“I am in a pretty good workout regimen that I like, so it inspired me to keep it up. The energy level and the way I feel now is great.” - Jennifer Love Hewitt

Jennifer has made an error in subject/verb agreement. The subject of the second sentence has two parts: “the energy level” and “the way I feel now.” This compound subject is plural, but the verb, “is,” is singular. To make the subject and verb agree in number, change the verb to its plural form.

“The energy level and the way I feel now are great.”

Matthew has made a common personal pronoun error: he has used an objective pronoun as the subject of a clause. The second sentence contains the clause “her and I did.” The subject of the clause is “her and I” and the verb is “did.” Separate the two parts of the compound subject to highlight the error:

• her did [This does not make sense.]
• I did [This makes sense.]

The pronoun “her” is objective; it can function as a direct object ["I see her."], an indirect object ["I gave her the book."], or an object of a preposition ["I gave the book to her."], but it cannot function as a subject.

To correct the error, replace the objective pronoun with a subjective pronoun:

“We had a 14-hour session, she and I did.”

Separate the two parts of the compound subject to test the pronoun:

• she did [This makes sense.]
• I did [This makes sense.]

“I think one of the more physically challenging aspects for me at the time were that there were a couple of scenes where we had quite a bit of dialogue and when you’re in that kind of weather and the wind is slightly blowing and the snow is coming down, your lips actually do freeze.” - Gillian Anderson, on filming The X-Files: I Want to Believe

Gillian has made an error in subject/verb agreement at the beginning of her statement. The subject of the first plural verb “were” is the singular pronoun “one.” Three prepositional phrases come between the subject and the verb; cross them off to isolate the subject:

“one [of the more physically challenging aspects] [for me] [at the time] were”

To correct the error, change the plural verb to a singular one:

“I think one of the more physically challenging aspects for me at the time was that there were a couple of scenes where we had quite a bit of dialogue and when you’re in that kind of weather and the wind is slightly blowing and the snow is coming down, your lips actually do freeze.”

“I love Owen, and I felt bad that he had to deal with all the outside bulls––.” - Ben Stiller, about friend Owen Wilson’s attempted suicide, in Playboy

Ben has correctly used the adjective “bad” after the linking verb “felt.” A common error is the use of the adverb “badly” with a form of the linking verb “feel.” A linking verb connects a subject with either an adjective (the predicate adjective) or a noun (the predicate noun). Adverbs describe action verbs, so using the adverb “badly” with “feel” changes the meaning of the verb: “I feel badly” means that I am having a hard time touching things.

Well done, Ben!

“He’s not a guy who feels the suit to be constricting. Wearing the mask and putting on the suit gives him absolute freedom.” - Christian Bale, about his Batman character in The Dark Knight

Christian has made an error in subject/verb agreement. In the second sentence, the subject is the compound noun “Wearing the mask and putting on the suit,” which is plural. However, the verb, “gives,” is singular. One way to correct the error is to change the verb to its singular form.

“Wearing the mask and putting on the suit give him absolute freedom.”

In the first sentence, Christian correctly used the relative pronoun “who” to refer to “guy.” A common grammatical error is the use of “that” to refer to a person. Nice job, Christian!

“As a kid, my parents were pretty strict about manners, so I had the way I was with my friends and then my personality with adults, and that’s continued a little bit.” - Owen Wilson

Owen has misplaced a modifier. The introductory prepositional phrase “As a kid” is the modifier, and it describes the subject of the clause “my parents were pretty strict about manners,” which is “my parents.” This means that Owen’s parents were “a kid.” This does not make sense.

To correct the misplaced modifier, either change the prepositional phrase into a dependent clause or move it closer to the word it modifies.

“When I was a kid, my parents were pretty strict about manners, so I had the way I was with my friends and then my personality with adults, and that’s continued a little bit.”

The introductory dependent clause “When I was a kid” clearly refers to Owen.

“My parents were pretty strict about manners, so as a kid, I had the way I was with my friends and then my personality with adults, and that’s continued a little bit.”

The prepositional phrase “as a kid” precedes “I” and logically modifies this pronoun.

“Barbies have really cool couture clothes in Japan. They made Barbies of Haylie and I and we got to design the clothes and it was really cool.” - Hilary Duff, on the line of doll clothing she designed with her sister

Hilary has used a subjective pronoun as the object of a preposition. In the prepositional phrase “of Haylie and I,” the compound object of the preposition “of” is “Haylie and I.” Separate the components of the compound object and pair each with the preposition to test the case of the pronoun.

• of Haylie [This makes sense.]
• of I [This does not make sense.]

The pronoun “I” is subjective and cannot serve as the object of a preposition. Change the case of the pronoun to objective to correct the error.

“They made Barbies of Haylie and me and we got to design the clothes and it was really cool.”

“There are many parallels between my son and I. We both wear diapers. I don’t have a problem, but I’m too lazy to go to the bathroom. It saves me time.” - Will Ferrell, in In Touch Weekly

Will has incorrectly used a subjective pronoun as the object of a preposition.

In the first sentence of Will’s statement, the preposition “between” has a compound object: “my son and I.” To understand the nature of this error, replace the preposition with one that does not require two objects and pair it with each of the components of the compound object.

• for my son and I: for my son/for I
• to my son and I: to my son/to I
• by my son and I: by my son/by I

These examples demonstrate that using the subjective first person singular pronoun “I” as the object of a preposition does not make sense. Replace the subjective pronoun with an objective pronoun to correct this error:

• for me
• to me
• by me

These prepositional phrases make sense.

This version of Will’s statement replaces the subjective first person singular pronoun “I” with the objective first person singular pronoun “me.”

“There are many parallels between my son and me.”

“The writers needed a big finale, and they didn’t know what to do with Marissa anymore; she’d been through pretty much everything. I mean, I worked tediously for those three years and my character did a lot.” - Mischa Barton, in Teen Vogue, on her departure from The O.C.

Mischa has not made an error, but she has made an interesting choice of words.

The adjective “tedious” means “overly dull, slow, or boring; monotonous,” and the adverb “tediously” means “in a dull, slow, or boring manner; monotonously.” Mischa says she “worked tediously,” which means that she performed her role as Melissa in a dull, slow, or boring manner for three years. Mischa probably did not intend to characterize her own approach to her work in such an unflattering and negative way.

In the article, the writer points out Mischa’s choice of words and wonders if it was “deliberate” or “innocent” or if it was possibly “some kind of Freudian slip.” The writer postulates that perhaps Mischa meant to say that she was “tireless” in her work on the show.

This might be what Mischa intended to say:

“I mean, I worked tirelessly for those three years and my character did a lot.”

“I want to be loved, happy, and not settle for something less than we all deserve.” - Jennifer Aniston

Jennifer has made an error in parallelism. She has listed three items that follow the infinitive “to be,” but two are adjectives and one is an infinitive phrase. Similar items in a series should be structured in a similar way.

These are the things Jennifer wants:

1. to be loved [The word "loved" is a participle; it is a verb form that functions as an adjective. The infinitive phrase "to be loved" makes sense.]
2. (to be) happy [The word "happy" is an adjective. The infinitive "to be" is implied and the entire phrase "(to be) happy" makes sense.]
3. (to be) not (to) settle for something less [The infinitive "to be" is implied. It does not make sense to follow "to be" with the infinitive phrase "not (to) settle for something less."]

Correct the sentence by restructuring the infinitive phrase “not to settle for something less” so that it is an adjective that can complete the list of how Jennifer would like to be (”loved,” “happy,” and an adjective form of “not settling for something less”).

“I want to be loved, happy, and uncompromising.”

“If I hit a bad shot, people five fairways away know it because I’m yelling [his favorite curse word], but if I hit a good shot, I’m yelling too. Everybody knows the difference in the yelling. Either Sam is playing well, or he’s playing bad.” - Samuel L. Jackson, in People, about his behavior on the golf course

Samuel has made an error in modifier confusion: he has used an adjective to modify a verb. Only an adverb can modify a verb.

In the last sentence, the second instance of the verb “playing” is modified by the adjective “bad.” This is incorrect because an adjective cannot modify a verb. To correct the error, replace the adjective with an adverb.

“Either Sam is playing well, or he’s playing badly.”

“Either Sam is playing well, or he’s playing poorly.”

“I went for my annual mammogram - I’ve been getting them yearly since I was 35 - and [the doctor] saw new calcifications. I wasn’t nervous about it, so when they told me to come back in six months, I left the clinic. Three hours later, my ob-gyn, whom I’ve been seeing for years, called and said, ‘I never recommend waiting six months for anything.’ She set me up with an oncologist, and two days later I had the needle biopsy done.” - Sheryl Crow, in Glamour, on her breast cancer diagnosis

Sheryl has correctly used an objective relative pronoun as the direct object of an adjective clause. Way to go, Sheryl!

In the adjective clause “whom I’ve been seeing for years,” the subject is “I,” the verb is “have been seeing,” and the direct object is the objective relative pronoun “whom.”

A common error is the use of the subjective relative pronoun “who” in an objective role in a sentence. If Sheryl had used the adjective clause “who I’ve been seeing for years,” she would have made such an error.

To determine whether to use “who” or “whom” in a sentence, rearrange the words and replace the relative pronoun with a personal pronoun. It is helpful to use “he” and “him” even if the person is female because both “him” and “whom” end in “m” and both of these pronouns are objective.

Start with the original clause:

• whom I’ve been seeing for years

Rearrange the words so that the subject is at the beginning of the clause:

• I’ve been seeing whom

Replace the objective relative pronoun “whom” with the objective personal pronoun “him”:

• I’ve been seeing him

This makes sense. “I’ve been seeing he” does not make sense, so neither does “who I’ve been seeing.”

“I’m one of those people who dresses according to my mood.” - Mischa Barton, in In Touch

Mischa has made an error in subject/verb agreement. She has also used awkward syntax.

A common error in sentences that contain “one of” is the use of a plural noun paired with a singular verb. In Mischa’s statement, many people are dressing so the pronoun “who” refers to the plural “people.” The verb should be the plural “dress.”

Rearranging the words in the quote results in awkward language, but it highlights the error:

• Of those people who dresses according to my mood, I am one.

The rearranged syntax underscores Mischa’s awkward syntax. She uses the pronoun “my” to refer to the mood that dictates how people dress. Mischa’s choice of words implies that other people dress according to her own mood.

Mischa’s fashion statements may in fact influence how other people dress, but it is unlikely that they choose what to wear based on how she is feeling at any given moment. Changing the pronoun from one that refers to Mischa to one that refers to “people” would make the meaning of her statement more logical.

This version of Mischa’s statement corrects the agreement error and avoids the awkward syntax:

“I’m one of those people who dress according to their moods.”

Notice that “mood” has been changed to the plural “moods” to reflect that each person has his or her own mood.

insouciant - (adj) carefree and unconcerned

A search on Google News for “insouciant Ocean’s Thirteen” produced these results:

“Clooney, Pitt, Damon: as insouciant as ever, tossing off the repartee with an ease that borders on sedation.” - Willamette Week

“…Steven Soderbergh… recaptures the insouciant rat-pack spirit that made his initial remake of Ocean’s Eleven so enjoyable…” - Straight.com

“..in Ocean’s Thirteen, the insouciant charm wears off early, and what seemed carefree about the earlier films comes to seem careless…” - Seattle Weekly

“Fatherhood only changes you if you allow it to change you. I kind of avoided changing me for a while. I just know that I have somebody who, for the first time in my life, I’m in love with, and it’s going to last.” - Colin Farrell, in OK Magazine

Colin has made two pronoun errors. He has also used a colloquialism that is considered to be an error by the writers of standardized examinations.

In the clause “I kind of avoided changing me,” the pronoun “me” is the object of the gerund “changing.” While “me” is in the objective case, its use in this context would be acceptable only if someone else were the subject of the clause. Since the subject and the object of the gerund refer to the same person, the object of the gerund should be a reflexive pronoun. To correct this error, replace the objective first person pronoun “me” with the reflexive first person pronoun “myself.”

The adjective clause “who, for the first time in my life, I’m in love with” contains a relative pronoun in the incorrect case. Follow these steps to determine which relative pronoun to use in this context:

1. Remove the intervening phrase “for the first time in my life.”

• who I’m in love with

2. Rearrange the words so that the subject is at the beginning of the clause.

• I’m in love with who

3. Replace the subjective relative pronoun “who” with the subjective personal pronoun “he.”

• I’m in love with he

4. Recognize that the use of a subjective pronoun as the object of the preposition “with” does not make sense. Replace the subjective personal pronoun with an objective personal pronoun.

• I’m in love with him

5. Replace the objective personal pronoun with an objective relative pronoun.

• I’m in love with whom

6. Rearrange the words and insert the intervening phrase.

• whom, for the first time in my life, I’m in love with

The phrase “kind of” is very common in everyday speech, and Colin’s use of this colloquialism is perfectly acceptable in this informal context. However, this phrase (and the similar phrase “sort of”) may appear on standardized examination questions and you will be expected to identify it as an error in diction. Depending on the context, possible alternatives for this phrase include “somewhat,” “rather,” “to a degree,” and “quite.” The use of these adverbs can make speech and writing sound extremely formal (”I rather avoided changing myself”). Rearranging the syntax to accommodate these adverbs in a less formal manner may result in either a change in meaning or confusion (in the clause “I avoided changing myself somewhat,” the adverb “somewhat” can modify “avoided” or “changing myself”). Possibly the least formal and clearest way to avoid the use of “kind of” in this sentence is to insert “to a certain degree” at the beginning of the sentence.

This revision of Colin’s statement corrects the two pronoun errors and avoids the use of the colloquial phrase “kind of”:

“To a certain degree, I avoided changing myself for a while. I just know that I have somebody whom, for the first time in my life, I’m in love with, and it’s going to last.”

“I have, like, huge enclosed cages all around in the backyard everywhere, so everyone has, like, their own space.” - Paris Hilton, describing her collection of animals

This quote contains a redundancy, an error in pronoun/antecedent agreement, and two instances of superfluous colloquialisms.

Paris describes the location of her cages as “all around” and “everywhere.” These terms have the same meaning, so the use of both is redundant. Furthermore, Paris has used an extra preposition in the phrase “all around in the backyard.” The preposition “in” is not necessary.

The antecedent, the indefinite pronoun “everyone,” is singular, but the referent pronoun “their” is plural. To correct this sentence, either change the referent pronoun’s number to singular or use an antecedent that is plural (and change the number of the verb to plural as well).

The use of “like” in a superfluous manner in a sentence is a colloquialism. While it is acceptable in everyday conversation, it should never be used in formal speech or standard written English.

These versions of Paris’ statement correct the errors:

“I have huge enclosed cages all around the backyard, so all the animals have their own space.”

“I have huge enclosed cages all around the backyard, so each animal has its own space.”

“I shaved my head when I was 17. I sold it for $500 to a famous Broadway wigmaker. My mother and my brother were so thrilled because my hair had always been so greasy and I always wore it in my face.” - Chloe Sevigny, in US Weekly

Chloe has made a confusing statement. She has used a pronoun without clearly stating its antecedent. While it is easy to figure out the meaning of her statement, it is instructive to examine this quote to illustrate the importance of clearly defining antecedents when using pronouns.

Chloe begins by saying, “I shaved my head.” In the next sentence, she says, “I sold it for $500.” While it is safe to assume that Chloe sold her hair, she has made no mention of it at this point in her statement. The only noun that precedes the pronoun “it” is “head.” The literal interpretation of this syntax is that Chloe sold her head for $500.

Chloe mentions her hair in a subsequent sentence. It is possible for a sentence to make sense when the antecedent follows the referent pronoun. For example:

Having sold it for $500, Chloe thrilled her mother and brother when she showed up without her greasy hair in her face.

As it was greasy and always in her face, Chloe sold her hair to a famous wigmaker for $500.

However, a structure in which the antecedent follows the pronoun may be vague and confusing (and even humorous) in certain contexts. When using pronouns in your writing, be sure that they refer clearly to their antecedents.

To make Chloe’s statement clearer, restructure it so that the antecedent precedes the pronoun.

“I shaved my head when I was 17. I sold my hair for $500 to a famous Broadway wigmaker. My mother and my brother were so thrilled because it had always been so greasy and I always wore it in my face.”

Note: Chloe’s quote is taken out of context. It is possible that she was responding to a question such as, “Do you have anything interesting to say about your hair?” In such an instance, the question would contain the antecedent. However, the statement would remain unclear because the pronoun could still refer to either her hair or her head.

“I was not the kind of artist that had my mommy hold my hand and my daddy managing my career.” - Christina Aguilera in GQ

This sentence contains two errors: an error in pronoun choice and an error in parallelism.

The pronoun “that” refers to “kind of artist.” An artist is a person, so the correct pronoun to use in this sentence is “who.”

Christina uses two different types of verbal phrases: an infinitive phrase and a participial phrase. The structure of the sentence is not parallel.

The infinitive phrase “hold my hand” functions as an adjective modifying the noun “mommy.” Christina has left out the preposition “to” that is generally included with an infinitive. While this is commonly seen in colloquial speech, it should be avoided in formal writing.

The participial phrase “managing my career” functions as an adjective modifying the noun “daddy.”

To correct the sentence, use two infinitive phrases or two participial phrases. Either choice will make the sentence parallel in structure.

“I was not the kind of artist who had my mommy to hold my hand and my daddy to manage my career.”

or

“I was not the kind of artist who had my mommy holding my hand and my daddy managing my career.”

“I sing to myself and my sister looks at me weird.” - Dakota Fanning in BOP

This quote contains a modifier confusion error.

Dakota used an adjective to modify a verb, and only adverbs can modify verbs.

“Weird” is an adjective used, in this sentence, to describe how Dakota’s sister looks at her. Since “looks” is a verb, an adverb should modify this action. Change “weird” to “weirdly.”

“I sing to myself and my sister looks at me weirdly.”

Note that the verb “look” can function either as an action verb, as in this sentence, or as a linking verb. A linking verb can connect a subject with an adjective, as in the following sentence:

“When I sing to myself, I look weird to my sister.”

“There’s only two people in the world you should lie to: the police and your girlfriend.” - Jack Nicholson in In Touch Weekly

This sentence contains an error in subject/verb agreement and an error in diction.

The subject in this sentence is “two people,” which is plural. The verb (the contraction form of “is”) is singular. Change the number of the verb to plural (”are”) to correct this error in agreement.

Jack refers to two people in this quote. However, while “your girlfriend” is a person, “the police” is not a person. “The police” is a group of people. “Police” is a special kind of collective noun, like “people” and “cattle,” that is always plural.

To correct this error, replace “the police” with a singular noun (”a policeman”) or restructure the sentence to remove the reference to two people:

“The only people in the world you should lie to are the police and your girlfriend.”

“She has more fun than anyone I know on this planet. She’s pure passion, that girl.” - Hugh Jackman, in People, about his wife Deborra-Lee Furness

Hugh has made a type of faulty comparison that is commonly found in questions on standardized examinations. The comparison in the first sentence is between “she” (his wife) and “anyone I know on this planet.” The literal interpretation of Hugh’s statement is that his wife does not live on this planet because comparing her to a group of people excludes her from the group.

To make a logical comparison, insert “else” into Hugh’s sentence:

“She has more fun than anyone else I know on this planet.”

This syntax creates a comparison between Hugh’s wife and anyone else in the group of people on this planet.

This type of faulty comparison, which excludes a person or thing from a group, is also associated with the word “other.” Read a discussion of the difference between “any” and “any other” in comparisons.

“I always thought I’d be that girl that lives with no regrets. I have regrets.” - Courtney Love

Courtney has used an incorrect relative pronoun.

In the noun phrase “girl that lives with no regrets,” the relative pronoun “that” refers to “girl.” This is incorrect because “that” should be used to refer only to animals and things. The subjective relative pronoun “who” should be used to refer to a person.

This version of Courtney’s statement corrects the pronoun error:

“I always thought I’d be that girl who lives with no regrets.”

Note: In the first instance of “that,” the word is a demonstrative adjective modifying “girl.”

Heidi Klum has an avidity for shopping at flea markets and she shares her tenets for procuring bargains: 1. if you are vacillating over an item, do not buy it; 2. be coquettish; 3. do not act impetuously; 4. when haggling over a price, name an amount lower than you think you should pay; 5. be amiable.

avidity - (noun) eagerness

tenet - (noun) an opinion or principle believed to be true by a person or group

procure - (verb) to obtain, usually by special effort

vacillate - (verb) to go back and forth, as from one opinion or belief to another

coquettish - (adjective) flirty

impetuously - (adverb) impulsively

haggle - (verb) to bargain

amiable - (adjective) friendly

“Listen, he’s a great man, he’s a great friend, he’s a great actor and so much fun.” - Jennifer Aniston, describing Vince Vaughn

Jennifer has made an error in parallelism. The quote contains a list of four of Vince’s qualities, but three are independent clauses and one is an adjective phrase. Listed items in a sentence should conform to a similar grammatical structure.

These are the four elements in Jennifer’s list:

• he’s a great man [This is an independent clause.]
• he’s a great friend [This is an independent clause.]
• he’s a great actor [This is an independent clause.]
• so much fun [This is an adjective phrase.]

Jennifer has employed a rhetorical device known as “anaphora,” which is the repetition of a word or set of words at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences. One way to adapt the syntax of the sentence so that it is parallel in structure is to change the adjective phrase to an independent clause that begins with “he’s a great.”

This is what Jennifer might have said had she chosen to use parallel structure and further employ anaphora:

“Listen, he’s a great man, he’s a great friend, he’s a great actor, and he’s a great deal of fun.”

Note: While some grammarians believe that independent clauses should never be separated with only a comma (which would result in what they would deem to be a type of run-on sentence known as a “comma splice”), others feel that it is acceptable when the independent clauses are very short and in a series.

“Football is like hockey in that it’s an expensive sport to play. You have to have the proper equipment and finding a place to practice and have games.” - Mark Wahlberg, who stars as football player Vince Papale in Invincible, on the challenges of playing the sport in his youth

Mark has made an error in parallelism. He has paired two verbal phrases, but one is an infinitive phrase and the other is a gerund phrase. Similar items in a sentence should have the same structure.

Mark lists two items after the subject and verb in the second sentence:

1. [You have] to have the proper equipment [This is an infinitive phrase.]
2. [You have] finding a place to practice and have games [This is a gerund phrase.]

The two verbal phrases are different in structure, and the syntax created by the use of the gerund phrase as the second item does not make sense. To create a parallel structure, change the gerund phrase into an infinitive phrase.

“You have to have the proper equipment and find a place to practice and have games.”

This sentence features two infinitive phrases as the compound direct object of “you have.” Notice that the word “to” is implied before “find.” Also notice the compound infinitive phrase “to practice and have games” that functions as an adjective modifying the noun “place.” The word “to” is implied before “have” in this phrase.

“They are not artists in their job, but in their heart they are. Growing up in our house, music was always important - cinema, opera, ballet.” - Penelope Cruz, in Red, about her parents

Penelope has made two errors that are commonly found in questions on standardized examinations. One is an agreement shift in number, and the other is a dangling participle.

In the first sentence, Penelope describes her parents using many plural words: “they,” “are,” “artists,” “their.” However, she uses the singular words “job” and “heart” in a context in which the plural forms would make more sense. Even if Penelope’s parents have the same occupation, each would have his or her own job. Similarly, her mother and father do not share a single heart (figuratively, two people can be described as having one heart; the context of the sentence does not indicate that this is Penelope’s intended meaning). Change “job” and “heart” to their plural forms to correct the number shift.

The subject of the second sentence is “music.” The participial phrase “growing up in our house” is located at the beginning of the sentence and modifies the subject; however, this does not make sense. Music did not grow up in Penelope’s house. The participial phrase is therefore considered to be “dangling” from the beginning of the sentence as it is not clearly and logically modifying any word in the sentence. One way to correct the error is to change the participial phrase into a dependent clause.

This version of Penelope’s statement corrects the agreement shift and the dangling participle:

“They are not artists in their jobs, but in their hearts they are. When I was growing up in our house, music was always important - cinema, opera, ballet.”

“It was a liquid diet where you lose weight really fast. I would not recommend it if someone wasn’t doing a movie because there are other ways to lose weight.” - Beyonce Knowles, on how she lost 20 pounds for her role in the movie Dreamgirls

Beyonce has made two common errors, one involving the use of “where” to refer to a thing and one involving the use of the wrong form of “to be.”

The adjective clause “where you lose weight really fast,” which modifies the noun “liquid diet,” contains a poor choice of words. “Where” refers to a place, but a liquid diet is a thing, not a place. The phrase “in which” should be used to refer to a thing. This usage of “where” is common in colloquial speech and informal writing; however, the writers of standardized examinations and many English teachers consider this to be an error.

Beyonce is speaking hypothetically when she says “if someone wasn’t doing a movie,” as she is referring to an unspecified person who would not be filming a movie. As such, the form of “to be” in this clause should be “were” instead of “was.” This grammatical rule is associated with a quality of verbs known as the subjunctive mood.

This is the “if/were” rule:

• When the situation being described is hypothetical, the verb that follows “if”is always “were,” even if the subject is singular.

This version of Beyonce’s statement corrects these two errors:

“It was a liquid diet in which you lose weight really fast. I would not recommend it if someone weren’t doing a movie because there are other ways to lose weight.”

“She’s brunette, beautiful, smart, sassy, a good businesswoman, and strong-willed.” - Brandon Routh, in USA Weekend, about his girlfriend Courtney Ford

Brandon has made an error in parallelism. He has listed six qualities about his girlfriend, but five are adjectives and one is a noun. Items in a list should conform to the same part of speech.

These are adjectives:

• brunette
• beautiful
• smart
• sassy
• strong-willed

This is a noun:

• businesswoman (The adjective “good” modifies “businesswoman.”)

To impart parallel structure to the sentence, either use an adjective that conveys the meaning of “good businesswoman” or change the syntax by removing the noun from the list.

“She’s brunette, beautiful, smart, sassy, business-savvy, and strong-willed.”

or

“She’s brunette, beautiful, smart, sassy, and strong-willed, and she’s a good businesswoman.”

“It is obvious to me that there is an overwhelming amount of women, of actors I look at, and they’re too thin for my taste.” - Scarlett Johansson, on the pressure in Hollywood for women to stay exceedingly slim

Scarlett has made an error in diction. She has used “amount” in place of “number.”

The word “amount” is used to quantify nouns that are uncountable. Since “women” is a countable noun, the correct word to use is “number.”

This version of Scarlett’s statement corrects the error:

“It is obvious to me that there is an overwhelming number of women, of actors I look at, and they’re too thin for my taste.”

“I remember lying in bed, thinking I wanted to die on the spot. I would say, ‘Please don’t let me wake up. I can’t face another day.’” - Alec Baldwin, about how he felt about living with his ex-wife Kim Basinger

Alec has avoided a very common error in diction. The verbs “lay” and “lie” are commonly confused, but Alec correctly chose to use the present participle of the intransitive verb “lie” (”lying”) to express that he was reclining in bed. Alec did not say, “I remember laying in bed,” which would have been incorrect because “lay” is a transitive verb that means “to place.”

Very nice, Alec!

“No. I mean, we all are either married or have boyfriends in the film, and there are guys, too. It’s us three actresses and a female producer at the moment. We’re looking for a [director of photography] right now and are looking at some females, but it really depends when whomever is available and is the best, obviously.” - Famke Janssen, in response to a question about whether the stories in the movie she is working on with Christina Ricci and Rosario Dawson have female themes

Famke has made two pronoun errors: she has used an objective personal pronoun (”us”) as a predicate nominative, and she has used an objective indefinite relative pronoun (”whomever”) as the subject of a clause. Famke has also used awkward diction.

In the clause “It’s us three actresses and a female producer at the moment,” the subject is “it,” the verb is the contracted form of “is,” and the predicate nominative is the phrase “us three actresses and a female producer.” Pronouns that function as predicate nominatives in sentences that contain linking verbs should be in the subjective case; however, Famke chose to use the objective pronoun “us” in her statement. Replace the objective pronoun with a subjective pronoun in the same person and number to correct the error.

The use of objective pronouns as predicate nominatives is extremely common in informal speech and writing, but when you are taking standardized examinations and writing formal documents, remember that only subjective pronouns (”I/you/he/she/we/they/it”) should function as predicate nominatives.

In the clause “whomever is available and is the best,” the subject is the objective relative pronoun “whomever.” Replace the objective relative pronoun “whomever” with the objective personal pronoun “him” to help you identify this error:

• him is available and is the best

This does not make sense. Replace the objective relative pronoun “whomever” with the subjective relative pronoun “whoever” to correct the error.

Famke has make an awkward choice of words by saying, “it really depends when.” This diction is not uncommon in colloquial speech, but “it really depends on when” is much more common.

This version of Famke’s statement corrects the pronoun errors and avoids the awkward diction:

“It’s we three actresses and a female producer at the moment. We’re looking for a [director of photography] right now and are looking at some females, but it really depends on when whoever is available and is the best, obviously.”

“What luxury item would I take to a desert island? A mirror. It’s true. I’d miss me.” - Simon Cowell, in In Touch

Simon has used an incorrect pronoun. He chose the pronoun “me” to refer to the subject “I.” When the subject and the object in a sentence are the same, a reflexive pronoun should be used. Since the subject is in the first person, the proper pronoun to use in this case is “myself.”

This version of Simon’s quote features a reflexive pronoun that refers to the first person subject:

“I’d miss myself.”

“I was trying to submerge myself in everything - the culture, the food, the coffee shops, everything - and the people were really helpful to me. They really were supportive of the movie. I didn’t really meet hardly anyone who wasn’t supportive of the film.” - Forest Whitaker, on the people of Uganda’s reaction to the production of The Last King of Scotland

Forest has used a double negative in the last sentence of his statement. While this type of construction is common in colloquial speech, it often appears in questions on standardized examinations with the expectation that it will be recognized as an error.

The phrase “didn’t really meet hardly anyone” contains a negative (the contracted form of “not”) that negates the verb “did meet.” The adverb “really” expresses the degree of significance of the action.

The adverb “hardly” means “barely; not to a significant degree.” In modifying “meet,” “hardly” negates the verb and expresses the degree of significance of the action.

Both the “really/not” construction and the adverb “hardly” are negatives that intensify the degree of significance of the action. The presence of both in the same sentence creates a double negative.

These two versions of Forest’s statement avoid the double negative:

“I didn’t really meet anyone who wasn’t supportive of the film.”

“I hardly met anyone who wasn’t supportive of the film.”

“Me, Kanye, Timbaland and Pharrell are the ones that make music people want to hear.” - Justin Timberlake, on his ability to set trends in the same way as Kanye West, Timbaland (Timothy Mosley), and Pharrell Williams

Justin has used an objective personal pronoun as the subject of this sentence. He has also chosen an incorrect relative pronoun.

The first person singular objective pronoun “me” is part of the subject of this sentence. Change the plural verb “are” to the first person singular form “am” to test the use of the objective pronoun.

• me am

This does not make sense. To correct the error, use the first person singular subjective pronoun “I” in this context.

The adjective phrase “that make music people want to hear” modifies “ones,” and the word “ones” refers to Justin, Kanye, Timbaland, and Pharrell. These are people, so the correct relative pronoun to use in this sentence is “who.”

This version of Justin’s statement corrects both pronoun errors:

“Kanye, Timbaland, Pharrell and I are the ones who make music people want to hear.”

“I guess it’s the questioning in them. I find these films and the genre itself is about questioning: where we are, where we will be, what’s going on, who we are.” - Keanu Reeves, in OK Weekly, on what he likes about science fiction movies

Keanu has made an error in subject/verb agreement.

In the noun clause “these films and the genre itself is about questioning,” the subject is “these films and the genre itself” and the verb is “is.” A subject that consists of two or more nouns and/or pronouns connected by the conjunction “and” is plural. The plural subject in this clause does not agree with the singular verb. To correct the error, make the number of the verb plural.

“I guess it’s the questioning in them. I find these films and the genre itself are about questioning: where we are, where we will be, what’s going on, who we are.”

Note that the addition of commas around the component of the subject “and the genre itself” would still result in an error in subject/verb agreement because “these films” is plural. To use a singular verb, the subject would need to be singular.

“I guess it’s the questioning in them. I find this type of film, and the genre itself, is about questioning: where we are, where we will be, what’s going on, who we are.”

Since “and the genre itself” is set off by commas, it is not part of the subject.

“Fast Track is a very funny, silly comedy. I think it’s like Office Space meets Meet the Parents. I go to work for my father-in-law Charles Grodin because it’s my turn to be the breadwinner since my wife is a high-paid lawyer who’s just had our baby, played by Amanda Peet.” - Zach Braff

Zach has misplaced a modifier. In the clause “my wife is a high-paid lawyer who’s just had our baby, played by Amanda Peet,” the participial phrase “played by Amanda Peet” obviously refers to “my wife”; however, the phrase follows “our baby,” so the literal interpretation of Zach’s statement is that Amanda played the role of a baby in the film. Move the participial phrase closer to the word it modifies to create a sentence that is more straightforward in meaning than the original.

“I go to work for my father-in-law Charles Grodin because it’s my turn to be the breadwinner since my wife, played by Amanda Peet, is a high-paid lawyer who’s just had our baby.”

Note: The baby is played by Peyton Conn.

Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe, who have spoken candidly in the past about the challenges of matrimony, announced that they are formally separating. In 2002, Ryan explained that they were seeking marriage counseling because “the biggest mistake” is circumventing the problem and allowing the relationship to disintegrate as a result of indolence. At that time, Reese commented that she was “not interested in the fallacy of the Hollywood relationship” that perpetuates the myth of a consummate union free from altercations and vicissitudes.

candidly - (adverb) frankly, honestly, openly

circumvent - (verb) to avoid; to bypass

indolence - (noun) laziness; sloth

fallacy - (noun) a false idea

perpetuate - (verb) to prolong; to cause the indefinite continuation of

consummate - (adjective) complete or perfect

altercation - (noun) a fight or quarrel

vicissitude - (noun) a change; the quality of changing

Courtney Love explains that should she need to mitigate indigent circumstances for her daughter Frances, she would not hesitate to sell Nirvana songs for pecuniary gain. She realizes that this may create a schism between her and the fans of her late husband Kurt Cobain, but she would rather incur their wrath than condemn Frances to a life of penury.

mitigate - (verb) to decrease in intensity; to alleviate

indigent - (adjective) extremely poor

pecuniary - (adjective) relating to money

schism - (noun) a state of disagreement; a break of a group into factions

incur - (verb) to bring upon (oneself); to subject (oneself) to

wrath - (noun) extreme, often vindictive, anger

condemn - (verb) to express dissatisfaction or disapproval of; to sentence

penury - (noun) extreme poverty

Adam Brody and Luke Perry visited Kent State University to speak in support of Democrat Sherrod Brown in his campaign to represent Ohio in the U.S. Senate. Both Adam and Luke exhorted students to exercise their right to vote. Adam offered his perspective to the prospective voters, telling them, “You are no longer the future, you are the present.” Luke, a former denizen of Ohio, opined that too many people have died in combat in Iraq and that the return of Ohioan troops is necessary to revive the state.

exhort - (verb) to encourage or urge, usually with a strong argument

perspective - (noun) a view or visible scene; a mental view or position

prospective - (adjective) relating to the future; likely to be

denizen - (noun) an inhabitant

opine - (verb) to express an opinion

Jay-Z is collaborating with the United Nations in an endeavor to focus attention on the world’s water crisis. The paucity of clean water affects one third of the global population, and over 4,500 children die every day from preventable diseases caused by noxious water and substandard sanitation. MTV is filming the star’s international tour to produce a documentary called “Diary of Jay-Z: Water for Life,” which will include footage of his visits with denizens of countries with a dearth of potable water.

collaborate - (verb) to work together

endeavor - (noun) a purposeful attempt or effort [The verb form of this word means "to work towards a specific goal."]

paucity - (noun) a scarcity; smallness of number; a dearth

noxious - (adjective) harmful to living things

denizen - (noun) a resident; a person who frequents a certain location

dearth - (noun) a scarcity; smallness of number; a paucity

potable - (adjective) suitable for drinking

“For now, it’s just nice for me to get back down to where I feel more comfortable with me.” - Janet Jackson, on her recent weight loss

This quote contains an error in pronoun choice. In the adverb clause “where I feel more comfortable with me,” Janet uses the pronoun “me” to refer back to the subject “I.” When the subject and the object (or, as in this case, the object of the prepositional phrase that refers back to the subject) in a sentence are the same, a reflexive pronoun should be used. Since the subject is in the first person, the proper pronoun to use in this case is “myself.”

This version of Janet’s statement corrects the pronoun error:

“For now, it’s just nice for me to get back down to where I feel more comfortable with myself.”

The Kalahari Bushmen have besought Leonardo DiCaprio for succor in their battle with the government of Botswana. The Bushmen are facing imminent eviction from their land in the Central Kalahari Desert so that the government can consummate an agreement with mining companies over the rights to cull diamonds from the region. Leonardo stars in Blood Diamond, a film that elucidates the repercussions of lapidary mining in Sierra Leone, where the revenue generated by diamond syndicates helps to finance civil wars. The Bushmen believe that Leonardo’s prominence will focus worldwide attention on their predicament and ultimately allow them return to their land to resume their halcyon lives of hunting and gathering.

beseech - (verb) to beg urgently or eagerly [The past tense and past participle of this verb have two forms: "besought" and "beseeched."]

succor - (noun) help during a time of need [The verb form of this word means "to provide help during a time of need."]

imminent - (adjective) likely to happen in the near future

consummate - (verb) to complete; to fulfill [The adjective form of this word means "complete; perfect; having supreme skill."]

cull - (verb) to gather

elucidate - (verb) to shed light upon; to make clear

repercussion - (noun) an indirect result of an action; a reverberation or echo

lapidary - (adjective) pertaining to precious gems; marked by the sort of precision necessary to cut precious gems [The noun form of this word means "an expert in precious gems or the art of cutting precious gems."]

predicament - (noun) a difficult situation

halcyon - (adjective) calm; carefree; prosperous

“No matter what anybody says about my being a father, they have no idea how I am with my kids. That’s my number one priority - my children.” - Kevin Federline in Life and Style

Kevin has followed the grammatical rule that requires a possessive pronoun or the possessive form of a noun to precede a gerund when a person or thing is associated with it.

In the first sentence, the gerund “being” is part of the gerund phrase “being a father.” Kevin correctly used the possessive pronoun “my” before the gerund phrase. He did not say, “me being a father,” which would have been incorrect.

Nice work, Kevin!

Kevin’s statement features syntax that is extremely common in informal speech and writing but has yet to become acceptable according to the rules of standard American English. The lack of a gender-neutral singular personal pronoun in the English language often creates a problem: when the antecedent (in this case, the indefinite pronoun “anybody”) is singular, agreement with the pronoun that refers to it requires the use of the awkward “he or she” or the gender-restrictive “he” or “she.” (Read more about singular antecedents and plural pronoun referents.) One way to avoid this situation is to use a plural antecedent.

This version of Kevin’s statement avoids this error in pronoun/antecedent agreement:

“No matter what people say about my being a father, they have no idea how I am with my kids. That’s my number one priority - my children.”

“I definitely cook pasta the best, but I’ve learned to walk away and let him get on with it. It’s a metaphor for our relationship.” - Ellen Pompeo, in Eve, about her boyfriend Christopher Ivery and their competition in the kitchen

Ellen has used a superlative adverb in place of a comparative adverb.

In the clause “I definitely cook pasta the best,” Ellen’s use of the superlative adverb “best” is incorrect because she is comparing her cooking skills with those of only one person. Since only two sets of skills are being compared, a comparative adverb should be used.

“I definitely cook pasta better, but I’ve learned to walk away and let him get on with it.

“I was talking to a fan and she told me how her and her husband always sit down to have dinner together and watch the show and hold hands. It wasn’t until the end of the conversation that I realized that the woman’s husband was dead.” - Jennifer Love Hewitt, on the impact of her show, Ghost Whisperer

Jennifer has made an error in pronoun case. She has used the pronoun “her,” which can be either objective or possessive, as the subject of a clause.

In the clause “her and her husband always sit down,” the subject is “her and her husband.” Separate the two parts of the subject and change the number of the verb to test the case of the pronoun:

1. her husband sits down [This makes sense.]
2. her sits down [This does not make sense.]

To correct the error, change the case of the pronoun to subjective.

“I was talking to a fan and she told me how she and her husband always sit down to have dinner together and watch the show and hold hands.”