For a while

Ever wondered about the difference between awhile and a while? If you're like most people, you haven't because you always just use awhile. But there's good news. I'm here to present you with another grammar tip you probably won't remember or use! I'm sure you're as excited as I am.

The rules for awhile and a while are pretty simple as long as you don't think about them too much.

A while is an amount of time; therefore, it's a noun.

Awhile is an adverb.

While we all know the parts of speech, this still may not be a very practical explanation. So here's the quick and dirty version:

Awhile is used after a verb.

A while is used after for or another word like that.

Observe:

I listened to One Direction for a while, but then I realized it was crap and turned it off.

They dated awhile, even though she knew he was trouble when he walked in.

See? One word after a verb, two words after for.

Yes, it's nitpicky. It's grammar. That's kind of its thing.

Myriad

Hey, guess what. You can all go back to using the word myriad as a noun. Some people recently decided that it was not a noun but an adjective, meaning you could only say something like:

The new year presented myriad opportunities.

But a quick look into the etiology of the word informs us that, in fact, the word was actually a noun first. So go ahead. Say a myriad of opportunities if you want. Turns out that we're all right. So just this once...

Who did what now?

Here's a fantastic title for a seminar: 

The 5 Most Common Mistakes That Parents Make Who Are Estranged

Perhaps one of the mistakes was poor grammar that hindered their ability to communicate. Generally when you have a noun ("parents") and a subsequent description of that noun ("who are estranged"), you don't split them up. When you do, you risk confusing sentences like the following real-life example:

I overheard one customer talking about her dog that was outside with a barista.

You would think this sentence is saying that the customer's dog was outside with a barista because that's exactly what it says, but you would be wrong. The sentence is saying that the customer is talking to a barista about her dog and her dog happens to be outside. I know. It's absurd. But that's why you don't split the noun ("dog") from the description of said noun ("that was outside").

This all goes back to my Golden Rule of English: if it sounds stupid, it's probably wrong.

A perspective client

Perspective: point of view (noun)
Prospective: potential (adjective)

You cannot have a perspective client. "Perspective" is not an adjective, and it does not make sense in this context. You can have a prospective client, and you can look at a situation from a client's perspective, but you cannot have a perspective client.

That is all.

How will this effect my writing?

I once saw a headline that said, "How Does Learning a Second Language Effect Our Grammar?" Actually, this was the title of a paper written by an English education student. If you're like me (and I know I am), this headline made you giggle. If you are not giggling or yelling, "Grammar fail!" then you probably should pay attention to this post.