Grammar Tips

Overuse of apostrophes

Apostrophes indicate one of two things: Possession or letters missing, as in "Sara's iPad" and "it's" for "it is" (second "i" missing). They don't belong on plurals. When you have more than one of something there's no need to add an apostrophe. Same thing with your last name. If you want to refer to your family but don't want to list everyone's first name write "The Johnsons" not "The Johnson's." Years also shouldn't have apostrophes. For example, "1980s" is correct but "1980's" is not.

Lay vs. Lie

Generally, if you can replace the word in question with some variant of "put" or "place," use "lay." If not, use "lie." So, it should be "I need to lie down" and "He laid his keys on the table." "Lying down" gets confusing when you're talking about doing it in the past, however. For example, it should be "Mark lay on the bed after coming home from work yesterday."

Affect and effect

Maybe you've never mastered the difference between "affect" and "effect.” If that's you, it's time to understand these words now. "Affect" is a verb that means to do something that causes an "effect," which is noun. Just think of the "a" in "affect" also is used in "action," which is what verbs do.