Grammar

Yes, double negatives are usually a big mistake in writing, but there are certain situations when you can use them effectively. In school, you probably learned that double negatives are always wrong. But that’s not entirely true. Surprisingly, there are particular situations when you can use them for emphasis, politeness, or to express a lack…

I have wanted this feature for years. Now, Grammarly Desktop for Mac integrates with many native Apple apps. The new Grammarly app has been available for a while now, and it works like a charm. The best feature is that I can now use Grammarly to check my emails in Apple Mail. It also integrates…

Absolute adjectives, such as unique, perfect, or dead, cannot typically be intensified or compared. These types of extreme adjectives are classed as incomparable, ultimate, or absolute. They relate to the superlative degree, which means the best or worst, or most or least of something. Most style guides recommend that you should not modify extreme adjectives.…

Why is a wish in the past tense in English when it’s about something you want now or in the near future? You might say that it’s simply grammar. But if you think about it, for a wish to come true, it needs to happen in the past. I wish I had a dog. For…

Is there a comma before such as? The answer is yes, there is, and no, there isn’t. As usual, with grammar and punctuation, it depends on the structure of a sentence. When such as is part of a nonrestrictive clause, you need to use a comma. But if the clause is restrictive, there is no…

Burned or burnt and learned or learnt are two of a small group of verbs that can end with either ED or T. Generally, the ED forms are more common in US English, and the T forms are more frequent in British English. However, in either form of English, you can sometimes make specific choices…

Do you capitalize long prepositions when you prepare your book title for publishing? The general rules for capitalization in book titles are quite straightforward. However, when it comes to prepositions, you should take care. Short prepositions and conjunctions are generally not capitalized unless it is the first word in a title. But when it comes to…

There’s no doubt that being positive in your writing always helps you communicate better with your readers. Who wants to read bad news? All it takes is a few simple grammar or vocabulary changes, and it’s an easy habit to adopt. When we speak, we can use negative sentences with facial expressions that indicate a…

Cleft sentences consist of a two-clause construction and often start with the introductory subjects of what or it. The word cleft is an adjective that means to split or divide something into two parts. In grammar, we use this division to add more emphasis to the first clause in a sentence. There are a lot of…

Gapping in grammar means the omission of a verb in the second of two coordinated clauses. Crossword lovers probably know this clue. A grammar rule that deletes the repetition of verbs. The answer is gapping. John R. Ross, an American poet and linguist, coined the word around 1970. Before then, it was probably referred to as a…