Whiskey Jacks

As we polish our writing and prepare to send a piece off to an editor somewhere out there in the scary world of publishing, we accept we are in competition with other writers. We hope our writing is good enough to catch the editor's eye. But the editor will never have a chance to be moved by the magic of our words if he or she stumbles over your spelling and grammar.

Nothing signals amateur louder and clearer than a mistake-filled manuscript. Over-worked editors have to make quick decisions, and no matter how brilliant the writing, your messy ms almost certainly will be tossed onto the reject pile.

Spell-check is helpful, but be cautious about relying on it too much – it won't help you with it, its or it's, nor with there, their or they're, or when to use affect vs. effect, etc.

If you're not completely confident with your knowledge of these details to know you are submitting at polished ms, here are a few ideas.

have a grammar-nerd friend go over it with you
spend a few (worthwhile) dollars to have a professional editor have a look. Be aware there are two types of editing – line-by-line and content. Line-by-line looks at grammar, spelling, usage and punctuation. Content is self-explanatory. If you like your story the way it is, make sure your editor knows you are just seeking line-by-line editing assistance.
research online. E.g. ask Google, When do I use there, their or they're? And you'll get about 500 million hits. Really!
take an online grammar course. Again, just Google it.
buy an English language usage book. Strunk and White's Elements of Style is short, simple and an old stand-by. The funnest way to learn punctuation is Lynn Truss' Eats, Shoots and Leaves. Popular today, largely because of the catchy title is Kiss my Asterisk by Jenny Baranick. It is self-described as being “like a bikini – fun, flirty and covers only the most important bits”. As it turns out that is partly true, but is so full of grammatical errors in doing so, I hesitate to recommend it.
if you want to get really serious, have a look at the Chicago Manual of Style – this is the English language editor's bible.

One final word. Although a bit of a purist, I try not to be grammatical policeman. That can be as irritating as someone who tells the same bad joke over and again. However, if I hear one more sportscaster say “Between you and I...” I'm gonna head down to the station and strangle someone.

As my parting shot, let me explain the rule. But before we go there we have to understand the difference between “subjective” and “objective” for those who slept through English classes. “I” and “We” are subjective pronouns. “Me” and “Us” are objective pronouns. “I am hungry”. “I” is the subject of the sentence. “Please feed me.” “me” is the object of the sentence. OK,got that?

Now, an inviolate grammatical rule is that only the objective form of a pronoun can follow a preposition. Prepositions as we all know begin a phrase that is critical to adding information to a sentence. Common prepositions include: at, by, for, from, in, into, on, to, with, as well as (drum roll please) BETWEEN. Examples: Hand the book to me. He is waiting for us. She wants to buy one for him and me. Always, always, always the objective pronoun. And therefore, correct phrase is Between you and me.

Here's a tip. Even if you don't want to delve into subjective vs. objective, all you have to do it think about what sounds right when you put it into the plural. You would never say “There is very little difference between we.” Obviously we say “There is very little difference between us.” Why oh why oh why then, is it so popular to say “Between you and I”? It is just so wrong.

And if all this is just too tedious, just memorize this one phrase and I will be happy. BETWEEN YOU AND ME.

Paul Nicholson is a former journalist, communications consultant, English language usage nerd and writer. He would be happy to answer any questions related to grammar or usage. He can be reached here