Why some sentences have double subjects. The story behind the old F-like letter S. Schwen schwen on dill.

Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing

Mignon Fogarty, Inc.

Society & Culture, Education

4.5 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 21 May 2024

⏱️ 17 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

987. This week, we look at why people sometimes double their subjects, writing sentences such as "John, he bought a car," and when it's OK (and not OK) to do so. Plus, we talk about the medial S, a strange F-like letter that makes an S-sound and shows up in old documents. We look at how it came to be, its role in English typography, and what made it finally go away.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Grammar girl here I'm in yon Fog your friendly guide to the English
0:09.0	language we talk about writing history rules and other cool stuff today we're going to talk about writing, history, rules, and other cool stuff.
0:13.8	Today we're going to talk about weird sentences
0:16.5	that sound like they might have broken bones.
0:19.4	And why you sometimes see letters in really old documents that should be an S but look like an F.
0:26.6	What is up with those words that look like subject instead of subject?
0:31.9	Before we get started, I am so excited to tell you that Grammar Girl is on the Writers Digest
0:37.0	list of 101 Best Websites for Writers this year.
0:41.6	And it's even better than that because we're on the list for the
0:44.6	podcast in the live streams podcasts and YouTube category and there are only six
0:49.8	shows in that category so it actually means we're one of the six best shows for
0:54.0	writers. So a feel proud about spreading the word. You can tell your friends you
0:59.4	listen to this great podcast they should try because Writers Digest says it's fabulous too.
1:05.0	For this first segment I have a listener question.
1:12.0	Helen wrote, quote,
1:14.0	Would it be possible for you to suggest a way to teach my friend
1:18.0	not to name a noun twice in a sentence?
1:21.0	For example, John, he bought a new car. The Reds, they won the game. And my mom, she looks
1:27.6	pretty and pink. I can't even find a name for this faux-paw in order to find a rule for it.
1:33.2	Google doesn't understand what I'm asking.
1:35.4	Hope you're able to help me. Many thanks in advance, unquote.
1:39.0	Well, thanks Helen. I actually get some version of this question pretty regularly.
	...

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