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Thoughts
Often the things you have difficulty with in your non-native languages are the ones that don’t exist in your mother tongue. When I speak and write Swedish for example, I am ‘blind’ to ö, ä, å. I also...
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Differences Between Might and May
Q. How do I use the words might and may? A. May expresses likelihood while might expresses a stronger sense of doubt or a contrary-to-fact hypothetical The difference in degree between “You may be...
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Conditionals Part 1 by Aidan Isherwood
Many of you know my colleague Aidan Isherwood. He is fantastic at grammar and has written the first in a series for the blog. This is on the conditionals. Most grammar I am competent at but the three...
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Greengrocers’ apostrophes
A greengrocers’ apostrophe occurs whenever a writer attempts to pluralize a word by using an apostrophe plus “s” instead of the proper plural ending. A handmade sign in a local grocery store might...
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Grammarly
Grammarly is a Facebook page I absolutely adore. It is a funny and very accurate page about grammar. If you click the like button you will get updates from them every time they add a new post. You...
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10 + 17 Common English Errors
I found this list on the wonderful Listverse which is one of my favourite list sites out there. The first list is from Listverse, the second list is mine. 10 Common English Errors Because English is...
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The word ‘get’
Get/got is one of the words with which I have a love-hate relationship. On the negative side, because of the hard ‘g’ and ‘t’ it sounds very staccato in a sentence. It is also a lazy word. You can...
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A quick informal guide to commas
There are many style guides and rules for the use of commas but I am going to give an informal tip here. Commas denote pauses in sentences. Some people use hardly any, others use them liberally. To...
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its/it’s and whose/who’s
its is possessive (genitive). The cat licked its tail it’s is a contracted form of it is. It’s cold outside. whose is possessive. Whose book is this? who’s is a contracted form of who is. Who’s on duty...
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Compliment and Complement
Compliment Merriam-Webster defines a compliment as “an expression of esteem, respect, affection, or admiration; especially : an admiring remark”. It comes from Middle French, via the Italian...
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Discreet and discrete
Discreet and discrete are homonyms Discreet is probably the more familiar word, and is usually used to refer to people, especially their speech, appearance, or behaviour. It means unobtrusive,...
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Ascribe and Subscribe
by Tina Blue A common error is the tendency to confuse “ascribe” with “subscribe.” The word “ascribe” means to credit or attribute, to refer to a supposed cause, source, or author. EXAMPLES: This...
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Infer and Imply
by Tina Blue The best way to remember the difference between these two words is to think in terms of the model used by communications theorists. Communication consists of a message, a sender, and a...
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Mister Master Mr Miss Mrs Ms Messrs
The words Master and Mistress gave rise to Mr (for Mister) and Mrs/Miss/Ms. Nowadays the term Master is only used for boys and young men, while Mister is used to formally address anyone without a...
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Data
The word `data’, in English, is a singular mass noun. It is thus a grammatical and stylistic error to use it as a plural. So for example: Data is being compiled at the moment Data was lost when the...
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Make and Do
Do We use the verb ‘do’ when someone performs an action, activity or task. do a crossword do the ironing do the laundrt do the washing do the washing up ‘Do’ is often used when referring to work of...
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Commonly misspelled and misused words
Some words are commonly misspelled – by both native and non-native English speakers stationary – means still, not moving. He hit a stationary car. stationery – office supplies. If you need more...
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