Grammar

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…

It’s very common to use sentences that begin with there is and there are. But using these two structures too often can weaken your writing. Whenever you see one, it’s always a good idea to consider editing the sentence. Sometimes, it’s as simple as deleting the word there and moving the verb. There is a…

Phrasal verb redundancy is a common issue in writing. It occurs when the prepositions after the main verb serve no actual use or purpose. In most cases, it’s easy to fix by removing the extra words or replacing the phrasal verb with a single-word verb. When speaking, phrasal verbs add color, nuance, and flexibility to…

We all know that an ellipsis is a punctuation mark that consists of three dots (…). You can use it to indicate a pause, a trailing off, or an omission of text. But can it be four dots? Yes, and it’s grammatically correct because you usually need a period (full stop) if it occurs at…

You probably know about ChatGPT for AI writing, but you may not know that it is also a remarkable free grammar tool. As a writer like you, AI technology can sometimes feel like a threat. From what I have seen, though, it can’t replace a human writer. However, it is an excellent tool for outlining…

The adjective phrase, the least worst, has been a topic of debate among grammar enthusiasts for years. Many argue that you should avoid it in writing because it is not grammatically correct. In grammar, a superlative adjective defines only one thing as the best, worst, least, or most. However, despite being grammatically incorrect because it…

We often use the word none in writing to indicate the absence or lack of something, but is it a singular or plural pronoun? It’s not always easy to decide, so it’s a common question. The correct answer is that none can be both singular and plural. However, it depends on the context in which…

When you check a thesaurus, the conjunction AND is usually in the list as an AS WELL AS synonym. But it is a little misleading because it is often not possible to interchange these words in a sentence. Generally, and indicates items or things of equal value while as well as introduces an addition, but…

I’ve not, and I haven’t, are both perfectly correct contractions in writing and speaking. This is because some auxiliary verbs, followed by not, can be contracted in two ways. You can either contract the verb or the word not. While they are equal in meaning, your preference might depend on the variety of English you use.…

A periodic sentence and anastrophe are similar because both change the normal order of words. The difference is that one works at a sentence level and the other at a word level. For writers, they are two essential grammar tools to help add emphasis or surprise a reader. When you understand how they work, it’s…