G1: write the rule. Do not just write "G" or "Glossary of usage" in your corrections. Find the appropriate section in the alphabetized list below, read it, write the rule (or a short version of the rule), and correct the error.

 

yet: best used as a coordinating conjunction like but, not as a conjunctive adverb like however or therefore. No comma follows yet. The phrase and yet is redundant for yet.

WRONG: I studied the poem. Yet, the meaning escapes me.

REDUNDANT: I studied the poem, and yet the meaning escapes me.

RIGHT: I studied the poem, yet the meaning escapes me.

RIGHT: It is a difficult yet rewarding poem.

Yet can also be an adverb meaning so far, besides, still or eventually ("I have not done it yet").

 

you: avoid using you to mean "a person." It often causes pronoun shifts (see Sh in Part One), and it may seem to refer specifically to the reader.

WRONG: After students write their first drafts, you will share them in small groups.

RIGHT: After writing first drafts, students will share them in small groups.

WRONG: In Salem you could be prosecuted for witchcraft.

RIGHT: In Salem citizens could be prosecuted for witchcraft.

your, you're: your is a possessive pronoun; you're, a contraction of "you are." "You're my friend." "I'm your friend."