Ryan Fisher, Author at BusinessWritingBlog

A hyphen below the title: "When to Use a Hyphen in a Sentence"

Punctuation

What is the Correct Way to Use a Hyphen?

When used correctly, hyphens can act as powerful writing tools to join words together, link ideas, or simply enhance the flow of your sentences. That said, they can be quite tricky, so it is important to know some basic rules when using them. Let’s look… continue reading

Spelling

Spelled or Spelt: What’s the Right Spelling?

Don’t be fooled by thinking one of these words is a spelling mistake. Interestingly enough, spelled and spelt are two spellings of the same word. They act as the past tense form of the verb spell. Although both are correct, they have a dialect bias… continue reading

A drive thru sign with the words through or thru?

Spelling

Thru or Through: Are Both Acceptable?

You may have seen through and thru be used almost interchangeably in your daily life. Perhaps you have seen thru used on a road sign, but through used in a written media. Are both acceptable? Is there a difference? Let’s figure out if its thru… continue reading

Graphic of theatre masks with the text "theatre vs. theater"

Spelling

Should You Use “Theater” or “Theatre” in Your Writing?

As with most similarly spelled terms, theatre and theater are two ways to refer to the same thing. The only difference between them is the dialects in which they are used. So, let’s get down to the differences between theatre vs. theater, and how you… continue reading

Vocabulary

What’s the Difference Between Invoke and Evoke?

Although these two words may not be true homophones, they sound similar. This similarity can often confuse people trying to use them in writing or speech. Thus, what do invoke and evoke mean? And what’s the best way to use them in your writing? Let’s… continue reading

A graphic describing the difference between liar and lier

Vocabulary

Do Lier and Liar Mean the Same Thing?

In English, homophones can be some of the most difficult word pairings. They are particularly difficult in the case of liar vs. lier, as they both sound the same and are spelled similarly. So, is this confusion warranted? Do these words mean different things? To… continue reading

Picture of a robber in stripes with the words "snuck or sneaked?

Vocabulary

Snuck or Sneaked (or Snooked?)

When first learning English, conjugating verbs can often seem like a piece of cake. Although this is true for most regular verbs, the situation can get a little more confusing when you take irregular verbs into account. On top of this, some English words can be… continue reading

Vocabulary

What’s the Difference Between Scarred and Scared?

It is rare in the English language to have tricky words that aren’t homophones or homonyms. Nevertheless, there always seem to be one or two exceptions that are explicitly there to give us a headache! A good example is scarred and scared, which act like, but… continue reading

Vocabulary

Should You Use “Never Mind” or “Nevermind” in Your Writing?

Some English language relationships are so interesting and intricate. Take never mind, for instance. Is it never mind or nevermind? The simple variance in these two terms is enough to make them function differently. In short, when never mind is used as two words, it… continue reading

labeled above an American flag signifying a US spelling, labeled above a British flag, signifying a British spelling

Vocabulary

Labeled or Labelled? Are Both Right?

Was that folder labeled or was it labelled? Although they may seem to be two different words entirely, “labeled” and “labelled” are words that refer to the same thing. To be clear, however, they do have a difference in their dialect usage. When To Use… continue reading

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