BETWEEN:

The preposition between troubles many writers.  The word between always implies TWO objects.  That is why it is INCORRECT to say 'between each row'.  We must say between the rows, or between each two rows.

In the following examples the objects of between are italicized.

Helen sat between him and her.

The apple could be divided between you and me.

The cat ran between them and us.

Drink plenty of water between meals.

Make a hill of earth between each two rows of beans.

When we have two subjects joined by and, both words must be in the same case.  Both must be subject forms or object forms.  There is NEVER any variation of this rule.  Therefore, we must never say, him and I, we and her, or they and us--all of which are incorrect.

((HINT: When there are two or more, and confusion exists as to which form to use, mentally remove all except one and the proper form will show itself, as: 

He insisted upon going with (us, we) girls.  ((Leave out the word girls and say the sentence to yourself.  He insisted upon going with us.  Now add the word girls and you have it. He insisted upon going with us girls. 

He gave the candy to Linda and (I, me.) Leave out Linda.  He gave the candy to me.  Now add Linda and you have it.  He gave the candy to Linda and me.  ((NEVER say: He gave candy to Linda and myself.))

(HINT: Words ending in 'self' may be used correctly in only TWO ways:

{1}- after a verb or preposition to refer to the subject of the verb, as, "I hurt myself."  "We controlled ourselves." He referred to himself.  Et cetera . {2} in apposition with a noun or a pronoun, that is, beside a noun or pronoun, for the purpose of emphasis, as, "I myself envied him," and, "Ernest himself is the one who did it."

MORE TROUBLESOME WORDS:

AFFECT— EFFECT:

Affect — to act on or influence; to pretend or assume; Affect is always a verb; there is no noun 'affect'

EXAMPLES:

He affects an accent. (pretends or assumes).

Damp weather affects his voice. (Acts on.)

Effect — as a noun, means a result.  As a verb, means to accomplish--bring about, produce.

She suffered from the effects of exposure.  (Results.)

The physician effected a cure. (Accomplished.)

EXCEPTIONAL — EXCEPTIONABLE:

Exceptional means unusual, rare, or out of the ordinary. Exceptionable means liable to exception, objectionable.

Examples:

He is an exceptional man. 

She is an exceptional talent.

His remarks were exceptionable; they angered us.

Such exceptionable conduct cannot be tolerated.

EXERCISE:

Write sentences using the following words correctly: between — myself — himself — herself — yourself — itself — themselves — affect — effect — exceptional — exceptionable.

Words to remember:

Invidious — likely to give offense; disagreeable; unjust and irritating.

Aesthetic — appreciative of the beautiful, in accord with the principals of beauty in nature and art.

VERBS:

We refer to verbs as ACTION words and tend to overlook that they are also words of sound and imagery.  Many verbs are truly picture words, as much so as any noun or adjective.  Use strong verbs and select them with care when you wish to describe movement, sound, or appearance.  Verbs that are the very essence of motion can be used to paint word pictures:

Amy Lowell in Men, Women, and Ghosts describes fire by using these effective verbs--among others:  zigzagging, coils, leaps, hisses, quivering, thrusting, dances.

Kenneth Grahame in The Golden Age, uses these verbs to describe wind: chasing, tossed, sprang, whirled, leapt, pulsed.

Robert Louis Stevenson used the following verbs with particular effectiveness: welled, whitened, trembled, sighed, floated, quailed, leaped, fell — among others.

EXERCISE:

Write a scene describing fire.

Write a scene describing wind.

EXAMPLES:

FIRE: Dry pine straw caught fire, blazing up in little explosions and bursts of light, snaking and leaping into brush and up into trees.

Smoke rose like a storm cloud over the pine forest.  Treetops, outlined in bright red-orange streaks, disintegrated into black curling skeletons. FLOOD, DROUGHT, & TRUDY PYBURN

WIND: Wind howled through the trees, bending limbs low, twisting her cloak about her body.  She jerked it free and it ballooned out behind her, pulling her off balance, making her reel and stagger as though she had taken too much strong drink.  Hunger rumbled inside her like a live thing trying to claw its way out.  SONG OF INNOCENCE

INTERESTING FACT: Cattle branding in the United States did not originate in the West.  It began in Connecticut in the mid-nineteenth century, when farmers were required by law to mark all their pigs.

INTERESTING FACT: Edgar Allan Poe invented the detective story.  Before he wrote "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and "The Mystery of Marie Roget" the genre was totally unknown in English or American literature.

INTERESTING FACT: Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes stories, was an ophthalmologist by profession.

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