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Comment by Stacy Tegner on January 6, 2010 at 8:22

Great tip, Jennie ~ I don't get those e-mails, but I always mix those up. Thanks for sharing!!

Comment by Jennie Ann on January 6, 2010 at 5:58

Hi, Roxy! Yeah, I'm sweating it big time. It's the timecoding that's a PITA

Thanks for the reply on the "half a dozen." :-)

Did you receive the latest Jane Strauss Grammar Book "English Tip of the Week" e-mail about "onto" and "on to"? Wow! That was a great tip she shared. I always get those two confused.

For those who may not have received it, here's a copy-and-paste:

On to vs. Onto

An inquisitive reader asked the following question:

When do you use on to vs. onto?

Answer: Use onto as one word if you can add up before on.

Example: He climbed (up) onto the roof.
Example: She held on to her child in the crowd. (She did not hold up her child.)

Comment by Jennie Ann on January 6, 2010 at 2:00

Thanks, Marla. That was a very informative read. I enjoyed it. I especially learned something new with the fractions.

This reminds me of one term that keeps popping up, and that is "half-a-dozen." I always tend to hyphenate it.

Example A. We bought a half-a-dozen.
Example B. We bought a half a dozen.

A or B, which do you like?

Comment by Marla Sharp on January 2, 2010 at 17:27

I just found this site which says "23 percent increase" wouldn't be hyphenated but "23-percent-a-year-increase" would be. Click here.

Comment by Jennie Ann on January 1, 2010 at 4:36

Hey, thanks for that, Keith. I am going to have to get me a copy of Morson's English Guide for Court Reporters. It seems I have every other reference book ever made, but when the Internet came, I quit buying hard-copy books.

I see it is available on Amazon, but it's over 100 bucks. They do offer it on Kindle. You know, if I could get a bunch of reference books on a Kindle, I might buy one. I can see how that would be handy having a bunch of reference sources in one Kindle by my desk.

Thanks for the great info, Keith! :-)

Comment by Keith Rowan II on December 31, 2009 at 23:45

Jennie, just saw your question about percent with the hyphen. Morson says to never put the hyphen with percents like that. She says it is because it is a ratio. I have no idea what that means, but I do agree that it doesn't need the hyphen.

Comment by Christine Kirley on December 7, 2009 at 5:58

Jennie,
I agree with Brenda; the comma before "and "is sufficient, as well as the comma before "but" in your other example.

Comment by Jennie Ann on December 7, 2009 at 3:47

I have often wondered about percentage numbers being hyphenated when preceding a noun.

Example A. We have a 20-percent inflation rate.
Example B. We have a 20 percent inflation rate.

My overloaded brain is telling me that it should be Example A. I never see it that way, though. I think that "20 percent" is almost like a descriptive adjective for "inflation rate." What do y'all think about hyhen usage with percentages?

Comment by Brenda Rogers on November 27, 2009 at 9:47

Again, the one comma before the conjunction is enough.

And thank you! :)

Comment by Jennie Ann on November 27, 2009 at 2:38

Thanks so much, Brenda. I do value your style and judgment a lot.

Please let me throw one more out at you.

Example A. I went to the store, but, when I saw him, I ran away.
Example B. I went to the store, but when I saw him, I ran away.

Which is your preference?

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