Grammar and Usage

If you frequently mix up the phrases use to and used to, don’t feel bad–it’s a pretty common mistake! Used to is a phrase that means “accustomed or habituated to,” and it can also refer to something from the past that no longer holds true. Both use to and used to are frequently used… continue reading

Have you ever met two people who share many of the same features? They can be hard to tell apart at first glance! But one way to learn the differences between them is simply to get to know them better; even identical twins have unique… continue reading

When presenting two alternatives, you’ll often use a “neither … nor” or an “either … or” construction. Here’s how these constructions work in a sentence: You can choose either pancakes or waffles for your breakfast. My dad’s car is neither brown nor green. Either is used to present possibilities that are both valid… continue reading

Empathy is a word that refers to the ability to understand others’ feelings as if they were your own. It can also mean projecting your feelings onto another object, such as a work of art. Sympathy, meanwhile, refers to the ability to take part in… continue reading

What is a prepositional phrase? It is a group of words made up of a preposition, its object, and any modifiers of that object. In most cases, prepositional phrases modify nouns and verbs. These two types are referred to as adverbial phrases and adjectival phrases. … continue reading

The word eponymous is an adjective. It refers to the person, place, or thing that something else is named for. Eponymous can also refer to a thing that is named after something else. Humans love to give our names to things. For example, we often name things after the… continue reading

Subordinating conjunctions can be made up of words or phrases. Their job is to connect a dependent clause with an independent clause. A subordinating conjunction shows that a clause has informational value to add to the main idea of the sentence. It can indicate a… continue reading

Relative pronouns are words that introduce a dependent or relative clause and connect it with an independent clause. Clauses that start with a relative pronoun answer questions like What kind? How many? or Which one? That, which, what, who, and whom are all relative pronouns. Relative clauses are also… continue reading