A misplaced modifier could cause readers to misunderstand your blog post, and a poorly-punctuated résumé could lose you a potential job interview, so it’s important to think about the relationship between what you write and what you mean, especially the grammar and wording. That said, minor linguistic errors or ambiguities …
While many people puzzle over whether to use that or which, the basic rule is pretty simple: use that when providing essential information and which when providing extra information. In order to implement this rule, you need to look beyond the specific sentence you’re writing and think about context. That …
The Why Maybe there’s a new language that intrigues you, but you never seem to get around to actually learning it. You already know that learning the language would help you communicate with more people, understand more media, and maybe qualify for more jobs. But, in case you need a …
Scrabble and Words with Friends can be tons of fun, but if you’re looking for an English language-based game that’s a little further off the beaten track, there are plenty of options out there. Here are five that will tickle your interest – and maybe even teach you something along …
Extinct forms of life are documented in the fossil record. Obsolete forms of language are documented in what are known as linguistic fossils. Some of these fossils can be found in everday English. Linguistic fossils are not preserved texts or audio recordings – they are features that were once common …
In the previous post, we talked about eggcorns – versions of words and phrases that are “incorrect” but that nevertheless make sense. Sometimes, eggcorns even become so popular that they become the standard, “correct” version, and the original is forgotten. Of these six words/phrases, some are now considered standard and …
In some languages, like Latin or Esperanto, you have the freedom to put words in different orders because case endings or other language features can make your meaning clear. In other languages, like Old English, word order is essential to the meaning of a sentence. “The man poisoned the …
Last time, we went over some common sets of homophones. Often, when people get those mixed up, they actually know which one is which – it just takes a little effort to keep them straight. The sets in this list may be a bit more confusing. How many do you …
Many Western intellectuals of the eighteenth century highly valued Latin and logic. Attempts to codify a prescribed English grammar often attempted to use the rules of Latin and of mathematical logic. Here are a few examples of prescriptivist grammar rules and where they came from: Don’t use a double negative. …
Whether you’re a native speaker or not, chances are you’ve struggled with English spelling at one time or another. It’s not because of you – it’s because of English’s spelling system (or lack thereof). Here are five reasons it makes no sense. The Alphabet 1) The alphabet wasn’t designed for …
