Speculate about? Speculate as to? Speculate on?

Hello Immanuel and welcome to a2k!!

You asked, "What words generally follow the verb 'speculate'? Are there any ones that shouldn't be used, but commonly are? (I hear people say 'ponder about' and I'm fairly certain that's not correct, but maybe it's okay to 'speculate about.')"

First, you're right about "ponder." It doesn't take a preposition. "I was pondering your question." Second, "speculate" doesn't ordinarily take a preposition either. "She speculated that now would be the time to act." However, I can't say with absolute certainty that there's anything wrong with saying "speculate about."

You said, "Also, I've heard people say 'if it wasn't,' as in 'If it wasn't so sunny yesterday, I wouldn't be sunburned today.' Is that okay, or should it be 'If it weren't so sunny yesterday'? How do you know when to use if-was from if-were? Should if-was ever be used?"

I'm not expert in tenses. Other a2kers may happen along who can provide you with specifics. However, I can't help but note that "If it wasn't so sunny yesterday, I wouldn't be sunburned today," seems awkward. I think it would be better to say, "If it hadn't been sunny yesterday, I wouldn't etc."

You asked, When ending a sentence with an italicized word, should the punctuation mark after it be italicized too? The answer here is yes, usually. The rare exception would be if the punctuation is not linked to the phrase that is italicized. For example, a book title that does not include the punctuation. "Did you read Pride and Prejudice?

I hope this helps. And I'm sure that other folks will be along to respond to your question about "if...was/were."

Speculate on is correct when speaking of investing.

As to "if I wasn't" here's the explanation (with the fewest amount of grammar terms possible):

With conditional statements there are two classes

The completely hypothetical situations and the hypothetical but possibly real one.

For example "if I were you" is a completely hypothetical one.

"If you see her today" is an example of a hypothetical with a real possibility of happening.

The completely hypothetical statements use the following structure.

If I were (for everyone, I were you were etc) I would.

When the real possibility is implied you use this tructure.

If I do I will.

Examples:

If I were you I would run. (completely hypothetical)

If you buy the car I will buy the boat. (real possibility)

Thank you both for your thorough responses. I found them helpful.