Barbara Casey's
"Messages from the Soapbox"
(formerly Niche News Marketing E-zine)

Vol 6, No 11 - September 24, 2007

 In This Issue:

- There, Their, They're, Its, It's - Arghh!
- Money-Saving Business Tips
- Printable Lists of Alt Key Keyboard Symbols



~ There, Their, They're, Its, It's - Arghh! ~

For most of us, it has probably been a few years since we had all those grammar and spelling lessons drummed into our heads.

I before E
Except after C.

Believe, perceive, relief, receipt - we remember this spelling rule because of the catchy jingle that comes with it.

In English, of course, there are many exceptions to the rules. You'll have noticed "their" in the subject line doesn't follow the rule at all. That's because there's more to the rule!

I before E
Except after C
Or when sounded as A
As in neighbor and weigh...

(and "their" as it turns out).

A few other exceptions are: foreign, height, leisure, weird, neither. See page 137 of "The Elements of Grammar" for more exceptions to this rule -


"Their" is a possessive, third person, plural adjective relating to "something belonging to them" - as in: their house, their political party, their stupid rules of grammar - and the entities involved have been named earlier, so it's implied that you know who or what
they are. What is being pointed out now is the house, party or rules "owned" by "them." You can just as easily be talking about daffodils, with "their" flowers shimmering in the sun.

"There" has a few meanings. It can mean a physical place: over there, go there - or it can mean a virtual place: stop right there before you say something you'll regret.

Sometimes "there" is used to express satisfaction, sympathy or even defiance: There, it's finished! There, there, you'll soon feel better. There! You do it!

And "there" is frequently used to introduce a sentence or clause: There comes a time...

"Hi there" and "you, there" are sometimes used when we don't remember someone's name right away.

To confuse the issue even more, there's a third usage that sounds the same but is spelled differently - "they're." Here the apostrophe indicates a missing letter. "They're" is an abbreviation for "they are" - as in "they're coming" or "they're not so big."

"Its" and "it's" seem to cause the most confusion.

"Its" is the possessive, third person, singular adjective that typically relates to something other than a person. Again, the noun it refers to was probably mentioned just previously, so you know what "it" is. "Its" refers to something "it" possesses: The dog was so agitated, its barks were deafening. I picked a daffodil in the garden; its petals reminded me of the sun.

"It's" is an abbreviation for (1) it is or (2) it has: (1) It's a foregone conclusion. It's raining. (2) It's been proven long ago. Look at the daffodil; it's gone to seed.

Okay... let's address "whose" and "who's" next.

"Whose" is an adjective that essentially asks a question about the ownership of something: Whose shoes are they? Whose science project won? I don't know whose idea that was.

"Who's" is simply an abbreviation for "who is" or "who has." For example, "Who's coming with me?" or "Who's the man?" "Who's got the tickets" is a colloquial way to use an abbreviation for "who has." We could have said, "Who has the tickets?" but we just as often say "who's got." Fun, huh?

Hope this mini-tutorial has been useful to you. Writers and business people have more credibility when they choose the right word - and the built-in spellcheckers are no help at all - because spellcheckers don't understand the context in which the word is being used.

Their (oops, they're) useful to a point, but if you know the grammar and spelling rules and conduct a good old-fashioned proofreading of your text, its (oops, it's) a good bet that you'll run rings around your spellchecking program.

You'll find additional tutorials at: www.newradiance.com/How-to-Lessons.htm



~ Money-Saving Business Tips ~

With the economy bumping around the way it has been, it's a good idea to keep business expenses under control.

I've started a new page at newradiance.com with tips and resources for paring your business and marketing costs.

For example, you can get business cards from Vista Print for just shipping fees.

I found another resource for cool-looking business checks (including laser) that has very reasonable prices.

Ron Mueller's website has tips for saving on your business taxes. I have his e-book for home business owners "It's How Much You Keep That Counts, Not How Much You Make." Ron's tag line is "Learn how you can reduce your taxes to the legal minimum." For anyone on a calendar year tax schedule... this could be timely reading.

There's more... and I'll keep adding resources as I come across them.

Here's the link for money saving tips: www.newradiance.com/SaveMoney.htm



~ Printable Lists of Alt Key Keyboard Symbols ~

I now have two printable PDF lists for those symbols you can't find on your computer keyboard.

The first is 300 symbols for common text fonts, including copyright, trademark, registered, cents, bullets, arrows, French, German and Spanish accents, math symbols, Greek alphabet and lots more.

The second is for the Wingdings font which portrays graphical symbols - if you know which keys to press - for religious symbols, bullets, check boxes and check marks, arrows, clocks, fancy dividers, mailboxes, smiley faces - 200 symbols in total - that you can type into your Word documents.

Just 99 cents each for handy lists you can keep on your desk.

Click here for keyboard symbols info.

 

=============================================
Barbara Casey's Messages from the Soapbox:
Inspiration for your vision and tools for the success of your
home-based business.

PO Box 86674, St. Petersburg, FL 33738 ~ (727) 397-2702
Copyright 2007 Barbara Casey
www.newradiance.com