Happy September, Everybody!  The year’s winding down fast, huh?  Thanks for checking in on Friday Follies.  I hope you’re all doing great.  I know you kids are excited to be going back to school, and I’ll bet you parents are loving this time of the year too.

Speaking of school, somebody asked me if I’d do a grammar lesson on one of the Friday Follies, so let’s see how carefully you listened to the teacher in English class.  I’ll bet you’ll get a good grade.  I just heard someone on tv say, “I saw less than a dozen people at the event.”  Do you know what the grammar error is?  For those of you who don’t, the word “less” refers to a quantity of one thing, and “few” refers to a small number of countable things.  Look at the following examples:  fewer people, less noise; fewer chances, less opportunity; fewer apples, less fruit.  “If you eat a lesser amount of the pie, you might gain fewer pounds.”  So what is the error in what the person on tv said?

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Another common error is the confusion between the words “imply” and “infer.”  This one is easy if you just mentally substitute the definition of each word before speaking.  “Imply” means to suggest something, and “infer” means to interpret something.  Wrong:  I did not mean to infer that he was rude.  Right:  I did not mean to imply that he was rude.  Wrong:  His comments inferred that the lady believed in socialism.  Right:  His comments implied that the lady believed in socialism.

As usual, we’ve been very busy this week.  In fact, we’ve finished another Heart Hug.  It’s called “Shine Wherever You Are”  I know you do.  I can see you shining from here!

I love you all.  Now go have a fabulous weekend!

Love,

Donna