James Baquet

    Mark and Ming are in the common room of their dorm discussing a paper Ming has written.

    Ming: Mark, I can’t thank you enough for going over my paper. You’re a life saver!

    Mark: It was my pleasure, Ming. You know, I’m morally opposed to just making changes. So I’ve highlighted some errors, and I’ll work with you to figure out how to fix them.

    Ming: Perfect! That way, my paper improves, and I learn something! Okay, the first thing you’ve marked is the initials “i.e.”

    Mark: Right. Your sentence says, “America produced several great novelists in the 20th century, i.e., Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, and F. Scott Fitzgerald.”

    Ming: Uh-huh. I don’t see what’s wrong.

    Mark: Well, “i.e.” means “that is,” and we use it to say the same thing in other words.

    Ming: Can you use it properly for me?

    Mark: Sure. “My friend is a real Picasso, i.e., he’s a great artist.”

    Ming: I see. In that sentence “Picasso” and “great artist” mean the same thing.

    Mark: That’s right.

    Ming: So what should I have said? I just wanted to give some examples.

    Mark: For that we need “e.g.”

    Ming: Oh, yeah! I confused those two!

    Mark: Yes, you did. E.g. comes from a Latin expression that means “for the sake of example.”

    Ming: Okay. I’ll try to remember that in the future. The next thing you marked is this sentence: “Each and every author on the list are remembered for their eloquent style.” What’s wrong with that?

    Mark: There’s a problem here with number. Look at the verb.

    Ming: Ummm... Should it be “is?”

    Mark: That’s right. The noun here is “author,” which is clearly singular. What else would we fix, if the verb is singular?

    Ming: How about “their?”

    Mark: You got it! By the way, “each and every” is a cliche, and it’s also redundant.

    Ming: Whoa! Too many new words!

    Mark: A cliche is an overused expression. And “redundant” means it repeats itself.

    Ming: So, there’s no difference between “each” and “every?”

    Mark: They mean the same thing, but we sometimes use them differently.

    Ming: How?

    Mark: If we want to emphasize the individuality of each writer, we’d use “each.”

    Ming: And “every?”

    Mark: That implies that each person is the member of a group.

    Ming: So, “Each student should do his own work,” but “Every student is responsible for keeping the room clean.”

    Mark: That’s pretty good! Anyway, how would you revise your sentence?

    Ming: “Every author on the list is remembered for his eloquent style.”