Grammar and Usage

Whether you’re crafting a story, a research paper, or a business report, the flow of your writing can make or break your reader’s engagement. An effective tool to ensure a seamless flow of ideas and maintain your reader’s attention is the use of transitional phrases.… continue reading

There is a common trend of unrelated words with similar spelling in English. To add more confusion to the situation, many related words have unique derived spellings, which can trip up writers. This is just the case with until, ’til, and till, which have strange and… continue reading

Let’s discuss the main question of the day: is it allowed to end sentences with prepositions?  Most sources say you shouldn’t. However, there may be some situations in which it is acceptable or even the best option. Like with most other English grammar rules, the… continue reading

  Let’s have a close look at infer vs. imply.  Is there a difference, and how do we use them? Here is the short answer: When you infer, you are using context clues to make an educated guess about the meaning of something. On the other… continue reading

Is World War, either I or II, capitalized? What about other historical events? Let’s find out. First, here is the quick answer: Historical events such as World War II will be capitalized as proper nouns, as they are specific names rather than general references. These… continue reading

Nouns are the most common parts of speech you will encounter in your writing; however, many people need help identifying these vital pieces of sentence structure. They are a foundation for strong and grammatically correct sentences because nouns function as subjects and serve other important… continue reading

In this post we will discuss nominalization, or the process of turning verbs and adjectives into nouns, through the prism of two distinct styles that literate, communicating adults encounter every day. I refer to the difference between the Impersonal (or I) style and the Personal (or… continue reading

And now, a note on the use of and.  And  is what some traditional linguists would call the “unmarked form”:  other than connection or association, it carries no additional meaning.  Of course, we have other coordinating conjunctions, i.e., words that join two elements of equal… continue reading

Let’s tackle a hotly contested topic in the English language: “Is data singular or plural?” Data: Singular or Plural? The answer to this question comes down to a few points of contention. As a foreign word, people argue whether “data” should follow English plurality rules or the… continue reading