That vs. Which vs. Witch

Which is it?

It's not so hard, really. Use which, plus commas, when you want to introduce material that isn't necessary for the sentence to make sense.

Whiskey, which I happen to enjoy, is an ancient drink. The stuff between the commas is additional, parenthetical, nonessential to the sentence's main thrust: Whiskey is an ancient drink.

But consider this:

The whiskey that I love comes from Scotland. The sentence implies that, of all the whiskies, I love Scotch best. That is essential to the meaning of the sentence. Grammarians call the clauses that follow that restrictive or essential, and you can see why.

Think you've got it? Then tell me the difference in meaning between these two sentences:

The lawnmower, which is in the garage, is broken.

The lawnmover that is in the garage is broken.

Affect vs. Effect

You can solve this little puzzle if you know the difference between a verb (a word that does something) and a noun (a person, place or thing).

Affect is a almost always verb. It means "to influence." The war will affect millions of people. How will this affect you? Constant boozing can affect your health.

Effect is almost always a noun. It means "result." The professor questioned the effect of his teaching. Too much booze can have an effect on you. What effect did her crying have on you? Here's a clue: Look for the article (a, an, the, etc.) that often procedes a noun.

Knowing that difference should help 99.9 percent of time.

However, effect can also mean "to bring about" or "to produce" or "to make happen," as in The boss effected changes in the schedule. It's a rare usage, though.

Think you've got it? Oh, yeah? Then answer me this:

The novel had a big affect/effect on her career.

Which is it? Weigh in with a comment -- if you dare.

Lay vs. Lie

Lay
Lay is a transitive verb. It must be used with a direct object. The past tense of lay is laid.

• Please lay the gun on the table.
• I laid the magic wand on the table. (past tense)
• Have you ever seen an ostrich lay an egg?
• The reptile laid thirty eggs. (past tense)
• "Now I lay me down to sleep..."
• He laid himself down to sleep. (past tense)

Lie
Lie is an intransitive verb. It cannot have a direct object. (In fact, what follows is usually a preposition.) The past tense of lie is lay.

• Lie down on your pillow, Fido.
• I lay down next to her. (past tense)
• I just want to lie around the house all day.
• Yesterday, he lay in a hammock all day. (past tense)
• He was lying on the futon when I entered the room (past participle)

Think you've got it? Feeling cocky? Good.

I dare you to take a quiz.

Who vs. Whom

Here's what legendary Kansas editing professor John Bremner has to say about who and whom:

"The objective case of who is whom. The usage is tricky, however, when the pronoun looks as if it should be objective but isn’t. This, for example, is wrong: He knows a girl whom he thinks will go. Whom should be who, the subject of will go, not the object of thinks.

"When in doubt, substitute a personal pronoun for the relative pronoun. You wouldn’t say, He thinks her will go.

"This, too, is wrong: Give it to whomever wants it. Whomever should be whoever, the subject of wants, not the object of to. The object of to is the whole clause, whoever wants it. The principle is that pronouns agree with their antecedents in person, number and gender, but take their case from the clause in which they stand.”
-- From Words on Words

Now answer the following:

Hint: Is the pronoun you want a subject (who) or an object (whom) of the italicized clause?

1. The woman (who, whom) rented the room left the window open.

2. (Who, Whom) do you wish to see?

3. After the crap game, Nathan was confused about (who, whom) owed him money.

4. Nathan wouldn’t tell Miss Adelaide (who, whom) he invited.

5. (Who, Whom) did the mayor name to her campaign committee?

6. The jockey (who, whom) the Thoroughbred Association said had thrown the race was cleared today by the Racing Commission.

7. Give the ticket to (whoever, whomever) arrives first.

Say What?

We didn't get to go over the leads at the end of the first exercise Tuesday, so here goes. If you'll recall, you were to look for problems of accuracy and logic.

Here's what you should have found:

1. As of Saturday, at least 26,210 members of the U.S. military had died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. Most died as a result of hostile action, according to the military. Whoa! That's 10 times the actual number! You have to keep up with key numbers in the news.

2. HOUSTON (AP) – A nationwide survey of gas prices released today shows that the average price of unleaded has doubled over the last six years, increasing by nearly 200 percent. Yeesh! Reporters + Numbers = Mistakes. If something doubles, it increases by 100 percent. Want to check my math? Here's the formula for calculating percentage increase: (New number - Old Number) divided by Old Number. Say my salary jumps from $10 to $20. Do the math.

3. New York and eight other Northeastern states have agreed to reduce air pollution by 10 percent by 2020, the federal government announced this week.
The nine states include Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Missouri. For starters, Missouri isn't a Northeastern state. Furthermore, the lead promises nine states. Only seven are listed in graf 2. What gives?

4. (Lead from an obituary) A Holocaust survivor who helped Israeli prosecutors convict a former Nazi concentration camp guard last year has died in a Pittsburgh hospital. She was 48. Holy headache! Numbers again! She'd have to be older than 48. It's been 61 years since the camps were liberated.

5. Using satellite images and metal detectors, archaeologists in Virginia believe they have discovered the site of a pivotal battle between British and American revolutionaries during the Civil War. Sure you've got the right war? Back to history class. And only one of the two parties was "revolutionary."