Teaching Report Writing: “But I’m Not an English Teacher!”

Part Three

by Jean Reynolds, Ph.D.

These tips are for instructors and administrators who want to help officers with their writing.

Let’s deal with pronouns first.

Many writers have difficulty with expressions like “John and I,” “him and me,” and “Susan and her.”

There’s an easy way to get these words right every time: Just shorten the sentence.

Take a look at this sentence:Watson told John and I about the missing money.

Should it be “John and me?”Just shorten the sentence, and you’ll have your answer.

Watson told I about the missing money. X

Watson told me about the missing money.

Watson told John and me about the missing money.

Let’s try a few more:

Karen and me met with the bank manager.

Me met with the bank manager. XI met with the bank manager. Karen and I met with the bank

manager.

Him and I searched the basement.

Him searched the basement. XHe searched the basement. I searched the basement.

He and I searched the basement.

Sometimes you’ll need to make a sentence longer to hear the correct answer.

Comparison sentences work this way.

Try this one: Linda scored higher on the test than me.

Linda scored higher on the test than me did. X

Linda scored higher on the test than I did. ✔

Linda scored higher on the test than I. ✔

(Did you notice the spelling of than?)

Now try this one: Sgt. Corelli arrived earlier than him.

Sgt. Corelli arrived earlier than him did. X

Sgt. Corelli arrived earlier than he did. ✔

Sgt. Corelli arrived earlier than he. ✔

(Again: Did you notice the spelling of than?)

You should start most sentences with a person, place or thing.

This is also good police practice because you’ll always have a written record of who did what.

Now let’s look at the word his.

hisIt’s an interesting word because it’s possessive—but his doesn’t have an apostrophe.

Now let’s look at sentence structure.

You can avoid most sentence mistakes by keeping your sentences simple.

But some writers are puzzled when they come across other possessive words that never have apostrophes.

That money is his.That money is hers.That money is ours.That money is yours.That money is theirs.No apostrophes!

This “shorten the sentence” trick will work in many sentences with pronouns:

I, me, he, she, him, her, we, us,

they, them

If you think about his, you’ll never make a mistake with a possessive pronoun.

That money is his.That money is hers.That money is ours.That money is yours.That money is theirs.No apostrophes!

Then is a time word: I unlocked the door, and then I went inside.

Many people never think about a similar word used for comparisons: than.He’s been on the force longer than I have.

What about the possessive of it? The same principle applies: Think about his. No apostrophe.

Joe hurt his foot.The dog hurt its foot.

The coat lost one of its buttons.The club is seeing a decline in its membership.

hisits

But what is the contraction of it is?

Easy: it’s.

I like to pretend that the apostrophe is a tiny “i.”

I think it’s going to rain this evening.

I think itis going to rain this evening.

Here’s one more hint: NEVER put an apostrophe after it: its’ There are only two correct forms:

The dog hurt its foot.I think it’s going to rain this evening.

its (possessive, like his)it’s (contraction of itis)

Let’s look at a few more of these troublesome words.

Passed is an action. (Notice the –ed ending.)

His car passed mine and turned left on Hamilton Avenue.

Past refers to time.Although he had a drinking problem in the past, he’s been sober for five years.

To refers to direction or purpose.

We’re opening a youth center to provide a safe place for teens to have fun.

Too means excess. (Think of a couple of extra o’s: tooooo much.)

I ate too much at lunch and started feeling sleepy.

Additionally, too can mean also.

I drive a Nissan; Harris has one too.

Where refers to a place:

I can’t remember where I laid my wallet.Where did you live before you moved to Rosedale?(Notice the word here inside: where.)

Were is a verb (action).

While we were talking to Mrs. Clemons, her husband returned home from work.

And here’s one more troublesome word: a lot.

It’s always two words, never one.

Most of these words are so ordinary and familiar that some writers never notice

them.

How can students train their brains to stop and think about them every time?

The answer is repetition.

Give the class a list of troublesome words to practice writing from memory for a quiz the following week.

a lothis, hers, ours, yours, theirsit’s, itslose, loosepassed, pastthan, then

there, their, they’reto, too, twowere, wherewoman, womenyour, you’re

When students spend time practicing these words…

…they’ll also develop the habit of stopping to think when they use them in sentences.Result? Success!