By Jenny Fuerst, Director, Corporate Communications

I think we have to admit that we were a little surprised by all the responses to our recent blog post on grammar pet peeves, which even got coverage in Ragan’s PR Daily. The page views, comments and shared links have inspired us to develop a series dedicated to good grammar. You ask; we deliver.

With 140-character limits, text messaging, and all the other instant forms of communication these days, it’s still as important as ever to be grammatically correct, no matter which style you follow. As PR pros, we’re trained as journalists and mostly write for journalists, so we generally follow the AP Stylebook. But, Fahlgren Mortine is part of a full-service communications agency, and as such we often work with advertising copywriters. We understand creative writing and know there are times to take creative liberties. In addition to news releases and story proposals, we’ve also written marketing collateral, speeches, white papers, Web copy, community reports, and even ad copy.

But to break the rules, you first have to know the rules. Here are a few common grammar mistakes that my red pen loves to correct:

• “The secret is safe between you and I.” This one may have been covered in some of the comments on the previous post, but it’s worth another mention. It should be “between you and me.” Me is the direct object of the preposition between.
• “Jessica didn’t talk about it outside of the classroom.” Only one preposition needed. It should be “outside the classroom.”
• Don’t waste space. Please only one space after a period; two are old school style. I love this blog post on the topic.
• “He’s grown an inch over the past six months.” Over is above; during is occurring. “He’s grown an inch during the past six months.”
• “Our Director of Communication thinks Algebra is a tough subject.” Please don’t capitalize random words. It should be written as, “Our director of communication thinks algebra is a tough subject.”
• “Our team is seasoned and have gray hair.” A singular subject requires a singular verb. The correct verb is has, not have.

Please continue submitting your favorites. We’re enjoying them. And be sure to check back soon for another post in our Grammar Rules series. Until then, keep those red pens handy.