Thanks, Aimee! Let's check in with Grammar Correspondent Comma King and get his thoughts. Comma?
This is Comma King, reporting live from Spike's Bitches, where local Aimee Conat is requesting help with a paragraph, already in progress.
Knowing exactly what the company does, and familiarizing yourself with their services and products, will give you the opportunity to emphasize your skills, and illustrate how hiring you would be beneficial to them.
Mrs. Conat, all of these commas are extraneous and ungrammatical, but I will defer to your stylistic choice.
Comma King, reporting.
Comma-King, can you tell us how we can better punctuate this sentence? Should we just delete all the commas? Won't that action bring about a war?
AM I ON VOX??
t flips switch
Wait.... which setting was which again?
Remember the Geneva Convention, Mrs. Conat. That sentence will read perfectly smoothly, and the commas will be home with their wives. No blood need be spilled on their behalf.
My own personal peeve, companies are entities, not people. Pronouns should be "it" not "his/her/their." "Its" website, not "their" website in:
Knowing exactly what the company does, and familiarizing yourself with their services and products
Ok, new revision. (And let me just say, if I had had this support system in college the first two times around? I'd've been done LONG LONG AGO)
*Browsing a company’s website is one way to give yourself an edge over other applicants.* Knowing exactly what the company does and familiarizing yourself with it’s services and products will give you the opportunity to emphasize your skills and illustrate how hiring you would be beneficial to the firm. When composing your cover letter, which is the first impression you will make, you can reference a product from the website and show how your prior work experience can help further sales goals. In an interview, being knowledgeable about the company’s values can facilitate better questions from you regarding your part in customer service. It also shows a great deal of initiative, and the employer will remember that you took the time to do your research.
Oh, amych... I am sorry and hope that Lucy's passing is as easy and painless as possible for all.
In this time of dire need and sleeping husbands, I am asking for a quick Beta of the following paragraph for my discussion question today.
Is good, Aimee.
Kittenish stalked and killed the wild bbq chicken pizza slice. Stole it off of the counter and then spent quite a while trying to flip it over so she could get to the yummy cheese and chicken side instead of the not-so-interesting crust side. Dinner thief.
nowing exactly what the company does and familiarizing yourself with it’s services
That's an
its,
ma'am. What are you trying to do, start a war?
In fact, for the hell of it, I will repost my it's/its play.
And now it's time for another edition of Polter-Cow Grammar Theater!
Dramatis Grammatica:
its, a possessive pronoun
it's, a contraction
ACT ONE, SCENE ONE
Setting: The entire world
its: You know, I wish the world would make up its fucking mind.
it's: Seriously! It's getting kind of ridiculous.
its: It's not that hard, really.
it's: You underestimate its difficulty, my friend. Apostrophes can be tricky buggers!
its: You're right. If we were talking about something that belonged to Veronica, we would say it was Veronica's.
it's: That doesn't make any sense. What are you talking about? It belongs to Veronica; it's not a bunch of Veronica clones.
its: No, I used an apostrophe! Didn't you hear me?
it's: You can't hear an apostrophe, you ass. It's the reason people can't tell us the fuck apart.
its: I'm the reason?!
it's: IT IS the reason people can't tell us the fuck apart.
its: Oh! So with the apostrophe, it's like a contraction, kind of like any other subjective pronoun with an apostrophe.
it's: By George, I think he's got it.
its: But what about the possessive? I want an apostrophe too!
it's: No, bitch. Look at all the other pronouns. He's got his, and she's got her, and they've got their. What the hell do I have? I can't do two things at once! I have too much television to watch.
its: Hey, have you been watching Veronica Mars?
it's: Yeah, it's a great show. Hey, see how I totally used myself properly?
its: Oh, that's cake. It's when people try to use the possessive that the shit hits its fan.
it's: Its fan? The fuck?
its: Hey, I was stretching for a gratuitous example. Lay off.
it's: Are you sure you don't mean lie off?
its: Go to hell.
I would also like to say that as one whose writing in the past few years has consisted of talking to the internet people, email, and eBay feedback, SCHOOL IS HARD.
Gods, do I love it!
