Grammar

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…

The adverb especially, is a very common word we use in writing to add emphasis or precision to a sentence. We use it to say that something is particular or above all else. However, it can cause a little confusion when it comes to using correct punctuation. It’s not always easy to decide on the…

Is it worth taking the time to learn grammar for new writers? Today, you have so many online tools to correct, rewrite, and even auto-generate text, so why bother? But writing is more than simply being correct. It’s about developing your style, voice, and clarity and learning what works with your readers. The best way to…

Correct verb agreement with group nouns, or collective nouns, is usually quite easy because, generally, they are grammatically singular. For a singular collective noun, it needs a singular verb to agree with the noun. For example, The team is celebrating its World Cup victory. But sometimes, you can use a plural collective noun that needs…

Why do we pronounce the last E in recipe but not in the word recite? Only one letter is different in the two words, so they should sound the same. But that’s not always how English works. Unlike other languages, spelling and pronunciation in English are sometimes not the best of friends. Think of words…