Tuesday, June 3, 2008

On Grammatical Structures

Two words: "Also," "Too."
Sometimes interchangeable,
other times - less so.

Examples of when it's ok to swap these words:
-"She was annoyed, too" == "She was annoyed, also"
-"We, too, dislike awkward sentences" == "We, also, dislike awkward sentences" (not to be confused with "We also dislike awkward sentences," where the also implies other things are disliked in addition to the sentences, rather than implying that multiple groups of people dislike the awkward sentences)

Examples of when it's weird to do the switcheroo:
-"And also, remember that it pisses me off" != "And too, remember that it pisses me off" ...I hear people say this or see it typed all the time. It just doesn't work! Rawr!
-"We also dislike kittens and puppies and candy canes" != "We too dislike kittens and puppies and candy canes." Obviously I don't see the one as often, but it clarifies case two from the previous section.

Right. Shutting up.

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