Grammar

Grammar is one of my pet topics, and I never stop learning about it. But every now and then, I come across some weird grammar terms that make me scratch my head. Not so much because they are strange structures but because the terms to describe them are so difficult to remember, let alone pronounce…

When you need to include dates in your writing, clarity and precision are essential. Using the appropriate date format, punctuation, and grammar in your text is vital because readers from around the world need to be able to understand it without any confusion. The key points are to be consistent with your date format, use…

I’m an English teacher, so I’m a stickler for good grammar. But I have to admit that some grammar rules are now becoming outdated. Language never stands still and is always changing to reflect the way we prefer to communicate. New words arrive all the time, and even certain slang expressions can become part of…

Parallelism in writing is sometimes called parallel structure or construction. It means using the same or similar grammatical structures within a single sentence or across two or more sentences. The structures you use can be words, phrases, or clauses with the same grammatical function and following a set pattern. When you use parallel structures in…

Prepositional phrases are an essential tool in any form of writing. They are easy to construct and use and can quickly and easily add clarity, depth, or precision to a sentence. The basic structure of a phrase is that it starts with a preposition and ends with a noun, with no verb or subject. The…

In the phrases, the door creaked open, and the door slammed shut; the words open and shut are resultative adjectives. Perhaps it’s not a grammatical term you are familiar with, but you probably use it quite often. In the examples above, you can see that the adjectives, open and shut, are derived from infinitive verbs. However, there are…

When you use participle adjectives, also sometimes called participial adjectives, they help describe things, people, states, and actions in a much more dynamic manner in your creative writing. Verb phrase: The wind was howling and tore branches from all the trees in its path. Participle adjective phrase: The howling wind tore branches from all the…

Knowing when to use commas with names and titles in sentences is easy once you know two simple grammar rules. 1. If a name or title is essential to the meaning of a sentence, and you can’t remove it, you don’t use commas. 2. However, if the name is not essential, and you can remove…

Limiting adjectives, like limiting modifiers, are words or phrases we use to modify nouns by including specific information about them. These adjectives limit or narrow the scope of the noun they describe. Unlike descriptive adjectives, limiting adds precision to all forms of writing. You probably use them all the time without knowing what they are…

I’m always reminding myself to stop using so, so often in my writing. But it’s not so easy. It is, along with for, and, nor, but, or and yet, one of the main coordinating conjunctions we use all the time. It’s rare that you would find writing advice to limit the use of the first…