![]() Whether it’s something we send in an email at work or message our friends on a text about something we did for them doesn’t matter. The meaning of “hope this helps” is that we’re hoping that something we’ve provided aids someone with a task. They are often singular statements, made up of a few words, with a period at the end to show that the sentence is over. We make these statements when we don’t need to include much more to get our meaning across. “Hope this helps” is a declarative statement. This is because, we will not discuss “hope these help” further. However, “hope this helps” is the only correct answer in this article. “Help” is the plural form, which would make “hope these help” correct, since “these” is the plural form of “this.” The correct spelling is “hope this helps” because “this” is a singular word that means we have to use “helps” as the singular form of the verb. Is It “Hope This Help” Or “Hope This Helps”? Luckily, we’re here to show you the difference between “hope this help” and “hope this helps” and show you why one is wrong when the other is correct. Perhaps that might be true for some people, but I’ll be the first person to say “I told you so”, when people who read your work get Voldemort and the strippers confused.Singular and plural verb forms can get confusing at times. Personally, in the debate of whether to use Oxford commas or not, I like to err on the side of clarity, instead of seeing it as a nuisance or an overcomplication of an already annoying grammar system. For example, the United States prefer using the Oxford comma, whereas the United Kingdom is rather against it. The usage of the comma also varies from country to country, based on their preferred style of writing. The pro side on the other side prefers the clarity it provides and that it generally doesn’t hurt to spend the extra second to add the comma (Okrent). The con side believes that one should use the punctuation only when absolutely necessary as it clutters and slows down readers (Okrent). To create one coherent system that makes it easier for the masses to understand.ĭue to the discrepancies of its usage, the use of the Oxford comma has been heavily debated, with each side bitterly arguing that they are representing the English language better. This is why grammar and spelling rules exist. If this breaks down, then the writing is not able to connect with people the way it should. Expression, after all, is the vehicle of English. It’s something neat to throw into the mix and possibly even impress some peers with. In short, it’s a tidbit of English information. “Harry talked to the strippers, Snape, and Voldemort.”įor the second example, there is now a clear distinction being made and the reader can interpret that they are three different entities.Īs you can see, the use of the Oxford comma can impact the clarity of the writing. Adding the Oxford comma on the other hand would look like this: This is due to the comma in this sentence serving the function of supplementing information about strippers, namely who they are. Without a comma before the “and” in the sentence, readers are led to believe that the strippers that Harry is talking to, are Snape and Voldemort. “Harry talked to the strippers, Snape and Voldemort.” One of my favorite example to use to highlight the importance of the Oxford comma is as follows: ![]() It is “the comma before the conjunction at the end of a list” (Okrent). This punctuation is indeed named after the Oxford University, as the name suggests, due to their style guidelines. In other words, it is what one could call “optional punctuation”. The most important thing to know about the Oxford comma is that it isn’t a clear cut grammar rule. If you were one of the lucky few in high school to have an English teacher who was particularly passionate about the subject, then you probably know what I’m talking about. The Oxford comma, also known as the serial comma, is one of those writing conventions in English that people either love or hate.
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