Via this column, we'll explore one grammar rule each week. If you have a grammar question you'd like me to address, please drop me a line at grace.lavigne@prnewswire.com and I'll do my best to answer it.

When I was little and had to stay home sick from school, I'd always watch a TV cooking show with my mom, featuring a tall lady with a peculiar warbly voice making really delicious-looking food with lots of butter. I didn't realize until many years later -- when the movie "Julie & Julia" came out -- that my mom and I had been watching reruns of Julia Child.

Watching those reruns was my first introduction to the legendary chef, author and TV personality. I'm sure many of you have your own versions of how you were introduced to Child, whether you're a longtime fan, like my mom, who owns a weathered copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking; or a newer fan, like me, who was captivated by her charm in reruns and modern adaptations like "Julie & Julia."

Child penned 18 cookbooks during her 91 years of life, so she surely was aware of grammar rules like parallel structure. In honor of what would have been her 100th birthday this week, we'll review this principle:

Main Rule: Similar material within a sentence, list or passage should be presented in a consistent manner to ensure grammatical purpose, structure and rhythm.

Within a sentence:

• Julia Child was magnetic, hilarious and wholehearted. [all adjectives]
• Julia Child was charming, a chef and funny. [incorrect]
• Julia Child loved salade nicoise, chicken waterzooi soup and pizza. [all recipes]
• Julia Child loved coq au vin, boeuf bourguignon and baking. [incorrect]

Within a List:

• To cook the duck:
• Debone the bird.
• Discard fat.
• Add the stuffing.
• Heat the oil.
• Brown the duck.
• [Each bullet point starts with a verb.]
• To make pastry:
• Mix flour, salt, sugar and butter.
• Add water.
• Dough into a ball.
• Sprinkle with flour.
• Knead repeatedly.
• [This list is incorrect because "dough" is not a verb.]

Within a passage:

• Chefs who create delicious food don't always get television shows, but one always has the advantage of eating well. [incorrect; switches from plural to singular subject]
• Chefs who create delicious food don't always get television shows, but they always have the advantage of eating well. [correct]

Bon appetit!

ProfNet, a service of PR Newswire, has helped journalists and experts connect since 1992. Writers can search the ProfNet Connect database of more than 50,000 profiles; send a ProfNet query by email to thousands of subscribers around the globe; or get timely experts and story ideas by email.

Via this column, we'll explore one grammar rule each week. If you have a grammar question you'd like me to address, please drop me a line at grace.lavigne@prnewswire.com and I'll do my best to answer it.

The 2012 Summer Olympics featured 26 sports. Summer Olympics staples (at least in the U.S.) always include basketball, swimming, gymnastics, track, etc. -- the ones we all wait for and watch and aren't surprised to see.

But what about the weirdest sports in the Olympics? With the Games winding down, let's take this moment to remember the most bizarre sports we got to watch over the last two weeks, while reviewing if and when to use regard or regards:

Main Rule: The correct phrase is in regard to or with regard to. Not regards.

Examples:

• In regard to track cycling, the bicycle racing sport held in velodromes, why do they bother slowing down? (And what's with the funny helmets?)
• With regard to Olympics makeup, synchronized swimmers take the cake for looking a bit clownish.
• Crotch-grabbing, kicking, punching and gouging, in regard to water polo, looks terrifying!

This may be confusing to some because regards can be used correctly as a verb that means "to consider or think of someone or something in specified way," or as a noun as "attention to or concern for something."

• The synchronized diver regards his teammate's movements carefully. [verb]
• The gold medalist of table tennis sends his regards to the silver and bronze medalists. [noun]

In the 2016 Summer Olympics, watch out for golf and rugby sevens, which were just added to the roster!

ProfNet, a service of PR Newswire, has helped journalists and experts connect since 1992. Writers can search the ProfNet Connect database of more than 50,000 profiles; send a ProfNet query by email to thousands of subscribers around the globe; or get timely experts and story ideas by email.

Via this column, we'll explore one grammar rule each week. If you have a grammar question you'd like me to address, please drop me a line at grace.lavigne@prnewswire.com and I'll do my best to answer it.

Because August has no official holidays, today's post is about the bizarre and wacky unofficial holidays this month!

Did you know that August is Family Fun Month, National Catfish Month, National Eye Exam Month, National Golf Month, Peach Month, Romance Awareness Month, Water Quality Month, National Picnic Month -- or my favorite -- Admit You're Happy Month? (Just admit it already!) These themes are the perfect excuses to do some fun/wacky/healthy things for the next few weeks.

Since the beginning of August, I've been meaning to cover the rules of when to use since vs. because.

Purists will tell you that there's a right and wrong answer about when to use since vs. because -- but the explanation is confusing and not clearly definable. My answer? Go with your gut. It is, however, helpful to understand the types of sentences where each is most likely to appear, in order to avoid sounding awkward.

Main Rule: Since generally references time and/or causation, while because generally only references causation.

Therefore, it's more likely you'll use because awkardly; since can be used appropriately in most sentences that require this type of word.

Here are examples of when the words are interchangeable:

• Because/since it's National Catfish Month, catch a big one! [correct]
• Give your girlfriend a big kiss because/since it's Romance Awareness Month. [correct]

Here is an example of when because sounds awkward, due to time reference:

• Since we went peach picking, I've been craving peaches. [correct]
• Because we went peach picking, I've been craving peaches. [incorrect]

In this instance, try inserting the phrase the time after after since to test for grammaticality.

• Since [the time that] we went peach picking, I've been craving peaches. [correct]

Also, there's the obvious case where because just won't sound right:

• Since Friday, I've been thinking a lot about golf. [correct]
• Because Friday, I've been thinking a lot about golf. [incorrect]

Conclusion: If you can't decide whether since or because sounds better, probably just go with since, since it will likely sound less awkward!

Happy August!

ProfNet, a service of PR Newswire, has helped journalists and experts connect since 1992. Writers can search the ProfNet Connect database of more than 50,000 profiles; send a ProfNet query by email to thousands of subscribers around the globe; or get timely experts and story ideas by email.

Via this column, we'll explore one grammar rule each week. If you have a grammar question you'd like me to address, please drop me a line at grace.lavigne@prnewswire.com and I'll do my best to answer it.

"50 Shades of Grey" has taken the "literary" nation by storm. Whether you love it or love to hate it, it seems like it's being read in every book club, every bedroom, every coffee shop right now. With more than 31 million copies sold worldwide (according to Hollywood Reporter), the novels' dull vocabulary, flat characters and unfulfilling plot hold no weight compared to the sexy and enticing fantasy escape being offered. For many readers, it's like a mental vacation from everyday life -- and I can appreciate that. If "50 Shades of Grey" gets people to enjoy reading, who am I to criticize?

But in total, brutal honesty, I read "50 Shades of Grey" after hearing the hubbub, and hated it. I'll spare you the recap -- you probably have some idea of what it's about by now anyway. But the silver lining of reading a book I didn't like is that I've gotten a great deal of enjoyment reading the critiques by people who also found it to be subpar.

One reviewer in particular pointed out an irksome grammar mistake in the first chapter of the first book, when author E.L. James is initially describing main squeeze and heartthrob, Christian Grey:

• He's tall, dressed in a fine gray suit, white shirt, and black tie with unruly dark copper colored hair and intense, bright gray eyes that regard me shrewdly.

Wow! Where can I buy a tie like that?!

There's something essential missing from the second sentence of the quote: a semicolon. Without a semicolon after "black tie," it makes the rest of the description that's supposed to be about Christian Grey seem likes it's actually about the black tie -- as in, a black tie with hair and eyes. As Anastasia Steele would say, "Oh my!"

Without rewriting the sentence entirely (which seems like the best option), here's what the sentence should look like:

• He's tall, dressed in a fine gray suit, white shirt, and black tie; with unruly dark copper colored hair and intense, bright gray eyes that regard me shrewdly.

Lesson: Always be conscious of the subject of the sentence!

Also, check out my post on semicolons: Sherlock Holmes and the Mysterious Case of the Semicolon

What did you think of "50 Shades of Grey"?

ProfNet, a service of PR Newswire, has helped journalists and experts connect since 1992. Writers can search the ProfNet Connect database of more than 50,000 profiles; send a ProfNet query by email to thousands of subscribers around the globe; or get timely experts and story ideas by email.

Via this column, we'll explore one grammar rule each week. If you have a grammar question you'd like me to address, please drop me a line at grace.lavigne@prnewswire.com and I'll do my best to answer it.

Storms have been tearing through the U.S. in recent weeks, causing severe power outages, frenzied hoarding trips to the grocery store, paranoid people staying home from work, excessive online shopping for rain boots, and an unreasonable number of check-ins with the weathermen.

When the clouds start rolling in, do you say it's currently or presently storming? Well, it depends what you mean. So before you start battening down the hatches and squirreling away your freeze-dried food and batteries, consider the subtle difference in meaning between these two adverbs, according to Merriam-Webster.com:

• Presently: before long
• Currently: occurring or existing in the present time

Confusingly, presently doesn't mean "at present," it means "in the near future." Only currently refers to "right now."

Examples:

• The wind's picking up; it will storm presently.
• There is currently thunder and lightning.

Pro Tip: Replace "presently" with "soon" to double check grammaticality and correctness.

So if it's currently thundery outside, you'll need an umbrella presently!

ProfNet, a service of PR Newswire, has helped journalists and experts connect since 1992. Writers can search the ProfNet Connect database of more than 50,000 profiles; send a ProfNet query by email to thousands of subscribers around the globe; or get timely experts and story ideas by email.

image via Flickr user Reckless Dream Photography