English teacher: how to use "a lot" and "all right"

Boy, Thursdays seem to roll around quickly! Time for me to put on my English teacher's hat.

Today I'd like to begin a discussion of words that can present special challenges to writers. There are some words that we use often and easily in conversation; they just seem to roll off our tongues. So we use them in our writing, too, but they don't roll off our fingertips quite so easily.

A prime example of this is the term "a lot," meaning a large amount or often. We use this term a lot, don't we? (Sorry. I couldn't resist.) It really is a useful term. You should know that it is TWO words: a lot. It's not "alot." That's not a word. Now, "allot" is a word; it's a verb meaning "to divide into portions," but it doesn't give us much trouble.

If you're talking and someone is listening, they'll never know if you say "alot" or "a lot." But if you're writing, you should know that the correct way to write this expression is "a lot." Two separate words.

The same thing is true for the expression "all right." This is the correct spelling of the term, although you may often see "alright."

Now the question of the day: does it matter? Well, that's really for you to decide. I'll state my thinking on grammar once again: grammar is simply a tool for using language, and the purpose of language is communication. If you write "alot" or "alright," your readers are probably still going to understand what you're saying. So I wouldn't put these errors at the top of the list of importance. But if you're writing something that you need to make sure is just right, you should know the correct spelling. When I learn the proper use of a word, I like to make a habit of using it correctly, even in settings where it may not seem to matter. After all, it takes no more time to write words correctly than to write them incorrectly!

As always, please let me know if you have a specific question about English grammar. I'll be happy to help if I can!

All in one

They're finally in bloom. Hallelujah.

Could all this beauty, all these different colors, really come from the same plant? Amazing.

As I arranged these for a bridal shower, I started thinking about the bride. She's pretty; she's sweet and kind; she's incredibly intelligent; she's funny; she's thoroughly modern in some ways and touchingly traditional in others. Amazing.

Wasn't it kind of God to make so much of His creation an echo of the depth and complexity of His being? He could have kept His goodness all to Himself. But He chose to share it with us.

What a gift.

--Unwrapped with Emily at Chatting at the Sky

Same old furniture, brand new space

My last post featured photos of our old house--one we sold in February 2005. In March 2005 we moved into our current house, which is where I hope we'll live for a very long time.

We bought this house as it was being built. The builder took us on a tour as it was nearing completion, and he reminded us of a feature we'd nearly overlooked. Our basement is a "terrace level" space that includes a bedroom, a bathroom, a large family room, and an exercise room. As we toured the space, he said, "Don't forget this room is pre-wired for a home theatre."

Can you imagine how long it took my husband to find a purveyor of A/V equipment?

I know that the term "home theatre" conjures images of fancy spaces with tiered seating. In our house, "home theatre" refers mostly to the equipment. Once the equipment was paid for, there were no funds for making the space fancy. So instead of tiered theatre seating, I needed to make the space work with the same old sectional sofa we'd had for years.

I wanted to change the look into something more fitting for the new space. . . but I needed to do it with very few dollars. My friend Renee' has very good taste and understood the look I was trying to achieve, so I took her with me to the fabric store, and we found fabrics to make new throw pillows for the sectional sofa and new floor pillows. I simply measured my old pillows and sewed new covers for them using same technique I described in this post. I bought a covered-button kit at JoAnn's and added a button to two of the pillows. What a difference a change of pillows makes!

The old floral painting wasn't going to work for the walls in this space, but I didn't have money to spend on the kind of cool art I wanted. The solution? Movie posters from allposters.com. We chose posters representing some of our favorite series of films (remember, I have three teenage boys). The posters cost less than $20 apiece. I had them dry mounted and framed in simple black frames.

To round out the room, I found a $20 coffee table at a thrift store and painted it black. Then found a cool lamp for the side table at Target. Done!

(It's hard to get good photos in this room because it's pretty dark. The room has six French doors and windows, so there's plenty of natural light, but those are covered by wood blinds lined with black-out shades. Makes a great place to watch a movie but not such a great place to take pictures.)

Our media room is now one of our favorite spaces. The fact that it contains no expensive or fancy furniture or art has turned out to be a good thing. Believe me, when you have 16 thirteen-year-old boys watching an action-adventure movie, you don't want expensive decor. You just want fun.

Do you have a space in your home that's just for fun?

I'm linking to these great parties:

• Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
• DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land
• Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage