Some Common Errors in Grammar and Syntax

While editing theses, dissertations, and manuscripts for publication, I have encountered a significant number of errors in grammar or syntax that recur frequently. Below is a list of the most common such errors and the grammatical principles of correct usage. Please note that this essay presumes a prescriptive grammar, which will be explained and defended in another article.

Definite and indefinite pronouns:

That is a definite pronoun. It is used to denote a characteristic or identifying position that defines the subject of the sentence.

Which is an indefinite article that introduces a characteristic inessential to the root meaning of the sentence. The meaning can be important to you, or important to the meaning of the passage, but it is not the denotation of the sentence, itself. The sentence can be constructed without the clause following the word, 'which.' That clause could be introduced in a separate sentence.

"I have found the book that explains the meaning of pedantry, which, incidentally, is green," means that you have found one book on pedantry, and it happens to be green. "Hand me the book on pedantry that is green on the table," means that there are several books on the table, perhaps more than one on pedantry, but there is only one green one and that is the point of the sentence. 'Which' can be set off by commas. However, 'that' is never set off by commas.

Some commonly misused words:

Infamy does not mean, really, really famous. It means well known for undesirable reasons or bad characteristics.

Notoriety is closely akin to infamy. It is a fame in the sense of widely known but, as 'infamy' it is for a negative reason.

The parts compose the whole. The whole comprises the parts. The construction, "...is comprised of..." is never correct. Many divers (sic) neighborhoods compose a city. A city comprises many divers neighborhoods. "A city is composed of many divers neighborhoods" is a syntactically identical sentence.

'Divers': various, several.